Originally posted by rogue1
Would they launch ? Of course they will, they are conditioned and brainwashed not to think about the consequences. People with individual tendencies tend to be excluded from jobs such as this. I like that movie Cromson Tide.

You seem to know an awful lot considering you've probably never set foot on an SSBN ? The boat's job is deterrence. Of course the crew is trained to fulfill that duty.

People with individual tendencies tend to be excluded ? Hah. Submariners are among the most colorful individuals serving in uniform. The performance and intellectual standards are high. I doubt there is another enlisted military force anywhere, with as many bright and educated people as the submarine service. Crimson Tide was a good movie but not very realistic. Pure hollywood entertainment.

SSBNs are probably the most vital defense system. It's evident in the extra money and support over SSNs. No slack in a fast attack, no pride in a trident ride.

Actually that saying is out of jealousy more than anything. SSBNs have it easy compared to SSN crews.

Someone usually pulled Das Boot out of the movie locker once a deployment.
Certainly puts into perspective the horrors of war.

The worst part of Crimson Tide was the Skipper's pet dog. Give me a *$^@ break.

SSBNs really are the crown jewels. When something breaks and they pull into port, there is a tiger team of support people to get it fixed ASAP. When something breaks on an SSN, someone is likely to get served. Always a struggle to get everything you need from squadron. We've been to sea on local ops for weeks. Go back to homeport for a weekend to get parts and supplies and half the engineering dept never got liberty because they're working 24/7 to fix ________. Then back at it for a week to a month. Really crappy when you're married. SSBNs are nice and regimented. You know a year in advance what days you'll be at sea and what your work and training schedule will entail. They get more optar money, more of everything, exercise equipment, endless chow perks. Only bad thing to say about SSBN service is they almost never visit foreign ports. Puerto Rico at best.

In typical scenarios, SSNs are operated with far more at risk. They're the tip of the spear. SSBNs are the ultimate insurance policy. I've "heard" of cases where SSNs operated in conditions in contravention of NAVSEA-08 and other force level operating guides/instructions. They leave it all to the CO's discretion. The Submarine CO culture looks down on missing sea days due to material issues. I guess they figure they need to give the taxpayers their moneys worth. It's amazing how much power and responsibility the commanding officer of a nuclear submarine, or any large combatant vessel holds. At sea, they're pretty much God. All line officers have a number of ascension. It's serial, so if the CO/XO are killed and two officers of equal rank remain, they know who takes command. I believe the lower the number, the more senior. On subs, the chain of command goes CO, XO, ENG.



[edit on 13-4-2009 by Schaden]