The Submariner by Dr. Joyce Brothers

First off, I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year. Did you make your resolutions? I know the biggest one is the people who say they will go to the gym. Well I am a member at a gym so I guess the attendance will increase for about 4 weeks and then die off...LOL

For those of you that don't know, I retired from the Navy after 20 years in the submarine service. Here is an article by Dr. Joyce Brothers which I felt I had to share with you all so you can possibly understand what we go through in the submarine force:

The tragic loss of the submarine Thresher and 129 men had a special kind of impact on the nation....a special kind of sadness, mixed withuniversal admiration for the men who choose this type of work. Onecould not mention the Thresher without observing, in the same breath how utterly final and alone the end is when a ship dies at the bottom of the sea......and what a remarkable specimen of man it must be who accepts such a risk. Most of us might be moved to conclude, too, that a tragedy of this kind would have a damaging effect on the morale of the other men in the submarine service and tend to discourage future enlistment.

Actually, there is not evidence that this is so. What is it then that lures men to careers in which they spend so much of their time in cramped quarters, under great psychological stress, with danger lurking all about them?

Bond Among Them

Togetherness is an overworked term, but in no other branch of ourmilitary service is it given such full meaning as in the so called"silent service." In an undersea craft, each man is totally dependentupon the skill of every other man in the crew, not only for topperformance but for actual survival. Each knows that his life dependson the others and because this is so, there is a bond among them thatboth challenges and comforts them. All of this gives the submariner aspecial feeling of pride, because he is indeed a member of an elitecorps. The risks, then, are an inspiration rather than a deterrent.The challenge of masculinity is another factor which attracts men toserve on submarines. It certainly is a test of a man's prowess andpower to know he can qualify for this highly selective service.However, it should be emphasized that this desire to prove masculinityis not pathological, as it might be in certain daredevil pursuits, suchas driving a motorcycle through a flaming hoop.

Emotionally Healthy

There is nothing daredevil's about motivations of the man who decides to dedicate his life to the submarine service. He does, indeed, take pride in demonstrating that he is quite a man, but he does not do so topractice a form of foolhardy brinkmanship, to see how close he can getto failure and still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. On thecontrary, the aim in the submarine service is to battle danger, tominimize the risk, to take every measure to make certain that safetyrather danger, is maintained at all times. Are the men in the submarine service braver than those in other pursuits where the possibility of sudden tragedy is constant? The glib answer would be to say they are. It is more accurate, from a psychological point of view, to say they are not necessarily braver, but that they are men who have a little more insight into themselves and their capabilities. They know themselves a little better than the next man. This has to be so with men who have a healthy reason to volunteer for a risk. They are generally a cut healthier emotionally than others of the similar age and background because of their willingness to push themselves a little bit farther and not settle for an easier kind of existence. We all have tremendous capabilities but are rarely straining at the upper level of what we can do, these men are. The country can be proud and grateful that so many of its sound, young, eager men care enough about their own stature in life and the welfare of their country to pool their skills and match them collectively against the power of the sea.