SSN 680 Plan of the Day
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- Brad Williamson
Sean Gawne's reminder that it was 30 years ago that we did 'absolutely nothing to nobody nowhere near anywhere we would never be caught dead at' or something like that, snapped me out of my near comatose Friday evening exhaustion and I realized that I hadn't written anything on the site in almost a year. Well, my apologies, shipmates.
It's been a busy last ten months. I'm the Human Performance Manager at DC Cook Nuclear Power Plant, and it was almost exactly a year ago that I was commissioned with turning the plant's culture around. I'll spare you the gruesome details, but a year later, and we've really done it. I can't believe the change in things at the station - I wish I knew the things about human behavior I know now back when we were on the boat. It could have really been a different place, not that I'd trade those experiences for anything.
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- Brad Williamson
Saturday morning started off with a bang. I sat down at my desk at D.C. Cook (we are in the middle of a refueling outage, so I'm pretty much living there right now) and found this e-mail from Lee Johnson.
As a site administrator, that has roughly the same effect as waking up to the sound of the collision alarm! So I jumped over to the website, and sure enough, I found an entertaining and visually appealing message (not!) from some poor misguided son of Islam, who went on to suggest that "I bear witness to God but Allah" (sic) and "I bear witness that Mohammad is his slave and messenger". Well, there's a fine howdy-do, I said. I'd show you his handiwork, but he doesn't deserve the privilege of additional air-time I'd give him by posting his hack.
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- Brad Williamson
Everbody knows how powerful smells and odors can be in provoking memories. Walking down the city street, if you catch that perfect combination of diesel smoke, rancid river water, and grilling meat, you are instantly transported to the streets of Olongapo (or any of a hundred other ports), no matter what city you are in. All that's missing is a frosty bottle of San Migoo, and the sing-song chant of "I love you, Joe! Buy me a drink?"
A picture, we know it is said, is worth a thousand words, and by that measure, we have close to two million words worth of photographs on the site, which are pretty good at bringing back memories as well.
Somewhere in between photographs and odors, sounds from the past can be pretty evocative, and thanks to Neal Degner and his trusty tape recorder, we now have been able to add audio to our collection of memory prompters.
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- Brad Williamson
Neal Degner tracked me down a few months ago and sent some new photos and documents my way. Thank Neal for generously sharing. His generosity is your gain.
First, three new official Navy photos of the boat. They can be found at:
The Boat >> Official Navy Photos
Then a couple of real gems - actual Navy Unit Citation letters from 1975 and 1976. These are available at:
Logroom >> Archives, or by clicking through the links on the Honors >> Unit Awards and Citations page.
While it's a hoot to admire the photos and official records that others contribute, the real message is for you to get off your duff
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- Brad Williamson
Veterans Day.
November 11th, 2011.
11-11-11. Some say that's significant, even auspicious.
I say they're right, but not because of a triplet of elevens. I say this day is significant because of what it represents.
A day of recognition. A day of honor. A day made honorable by the men and women for which it is named.
Veterans Day.
Born as Armistice Day in 1911, President Woodrow Wilson said it well.
"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."
