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The
Silver Dolphin Issue
Point
of View No. 001
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| I thought it was fitting to lead off
the POINTS OF VIEW page with an excerpt from a posting recently (1997)
made on Ron Martini's BBS by
Hal Bollman aka "bo The Nook".
bo has captured much of what we feel
about our Enlisted Silver Dolphins.
For the benefit of any who still don't
"get it", we were all in our late teens or early twenties when
we proudly put on the Silver Dolphins. For the majority of us it was the
most visible public symbol of achievement that we had ever received and
perhaps ever would.
More from bo can be found HERE.
Also go to bo's WebPage HERE.
Sid
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mailto:hbollman@napanet.net
bo's Quals
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I reported to the USS SEAWOLF (SSN-575)
at the end of August, 1974. I'd been in the Navy for just over two years.
Boot camp and Machinist Mate 'A' School in Great Lakes, Nuclear Power School
at Mare Island (Class 7304), Mechanical Operator and Engineering Laboratory
training at the A1W reactor plant prototype at NPTU Idaho Falls, all of
that time and all of those schools were behind me. It was time to really
put everything that I learned to the test.
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I mess cooked for the first couple
of months on the boat, time spent underway. Mess cooking, for the uninitiated,
is the submarine service's answer to KP....up at 0400, set up the crews
mess for breakfast, get the cook whatever he needs, play waiter to a bunch
of sleepy (read grumpy) squids, wash dishes, tables, and decks...well you
get the picture. I started on my qual card a month after coming aboard.
During the time I worked on my qualifications for Ship's Quals, I also
worked on my Engineering Quals.
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Every system on the card was traced,
drawn, technical manuals and ships information books referred to and studied,
and finally a check out from a qual petty officer or chief. Eventually,
the checkouts were walkthroughs with officers, culminating in a final walkthrough
with the Qualification Officer that lasted about 17 hours over a three
day period. In this instance, his name was Lt. Budzik, and he was one hard
case, hard nosed SOB, mainly because he didn't want his name on the card
of some dirtbag that didn't deserve dolphins. The boat later instituted
qual boards for the final signature. I thought that they made a huge mistake
by doing so. I really don't think there is any way you can adequately test
a person's knowledge in an hour, no matter how in depth the questions.
The skipper signed my card on the 6th of November, 1975, 14 months and
change after I reported onboard.
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I worked hard for my dolphins. But
during the entire time I worked on my Ship's Quals, I also "participated"
in field day, qualified Engineering Laboratory Technician, Engine Room
Lower Level, Engine Room Upper Level, Feed Station, Diesel Operator (the
nuc's owned the diesels on Seawolf, both operations and maintenance), Basic
Engineering Qualification (the nuc's version of ship's quals as related
to the engineering plant), and i had most of the signatures required for
my Engineering Room Supervisor qualifications.
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To think that the Navy that I served
in for 8 1/2 years, 6 1/2 of them onboard the Seawolf would even consider
granting Silver Dolphins to a Midshipman out for his summer cruise tears
my heart out. I busted my ass, as did every other crewman onboard, to earn,
no EARN my dolphins. I sweated blood getting the diesel fired up during
a reactor scram, I cleaned oil out of the Lube Oil bay bilges, I delivered
uncounted breakfasts, lunches, and dinners while mess cooking.
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I did all of those things while working
on my qualifications. And so did every other qualified submariner. Our
dolphins didn't mean that we studied systems enough to bull our way through
a checkout. Our dolphins meant that we went through our apprenticeship,
that we stuck with it through everything that living on and operating a
submarine had to offer. Silver dolphins for middies.....what a disgrace
to the men who really deserve to wear them.
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