CHAPTER 4. MIRACLES (CONT'D)

I continue this week with the posting of the miracles in my life.  This week's post details my selection as a science advisor in the Navy Science Assistance Program.  I provide some details of the NSAP program, and I describe how I got selected against all odds.  In the following posts next week, I will report some of the extraordinary things that happened to me during this 2-year mission.

NAVY SCIENCE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (NSAP).  Another important adventure in my professional life was my involvement in the NSAP program.  This program was essentially that the Chief of Naval Research (CNR) would send carefully selected scientists from the various research labs under his command to be on the staffs of the major naval commands around the world.  These scientists, called Science Advisors, would answer to the admiral’s Chief of Staff and advise on all science-related issues that would arise.  Since no one person could possibly be able to answer all the questions that could arise, an important aspect of this position was to know where to find the answers from the work being done at the many research labs under CNR.  Each laboratory had an individual who was called the NSAP Representative.  The NSAP rep would respond to queries posed by the Science Advisors and offer immediate help, if possible.  The role of Science Advisor was a very prestigious position for the individual.  The position was a 1- to 2-year temporary assignment.  The temporary assignment was necessary to ensure a constant rotation of scientists on the staffs.  Often, if a fleet command was experiencing unique or recurring problems, a specialist would be assigned to the fleet to address that problem.
SELECTION TO THE NSAP PROGRAM (early 1982).  The year was early 1982, and I was assigned to Dr. Goodman’s immediate staff.  What this meant was that I was assigned tasks that did not involve specialized research.  I was supposed to be familiar with all the research programs being conducted at NORDA.  One day, our NSAP rep, Dr. Chet Wilcox, came into my office and told me that there was an NSAP specialist position becoming available on the staff of Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific (COMSUBPAC) located at the naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  He said that I should consider applying for it.  I asked him what the position was called, and he said Acoustic Advisor.  I laughed and told him that my knowledge of underwater acoustics was next to nothing.  I further said that there was no way that I would ever be chosen for that job.  Chet persisted and eventually talked me into submitting my resume to the NSAP office for consideration.
I knew that there were hundreds of people in the labs out there that were much more qualified than me, so I did not take my chances for selection very seriously.  A few weeks later, Chet came back into my office and told me that I was still in the running for the job and that I had been selected for an interview in Washington, D.C.  I was really surprised by this, but I still thought my chances were slim.  However, the first thoughts of fear crossed my mind.  What if I did get the job?  Could I do it?  I knew that I was not qualified.
I went to Washington for the interview.  When I went into the office where the interviews were being conducted, I entered an ante room where 4 others (3 men and 1 woman) were sitting there waiting to be called in for their interview.  We talked and found out that none of us were being interviewed for the same position.  Then, a man who had just finished his interview came out of the conference room, shook his head, and said “Good Luck”.  I was already nervous, and this did not help.
When my turn arrived, I entered the room and saw a very long mahogany conference table with about 8 people sitting around it, including an admiral, several other naval officers, a woman, and several civilians in coat and tie.  It was very intimidating.  They welcomed me by name and pointed to a seat at the middle of the long side of the table.  They started with the usual small talk to put me at ease, then they started firing questions at me in rapid succession.  The question topics varied from scientific, to how my family was feeling about moving to Hawaii, would my children mind moving to another school, and how I felt being assigned to an operational military staff.  The majority of questions were on how I would handle hypothetical situations which could arise working closely with the military and with the need to respond rapidly, since I would be in an operational situation.  I thanked the Lord that they did not test my knowledge of underwater acoustics.  I actually left the interview feeling that I had done pretty well.
About a week later, Chet told me that I had been selected for the position of Acoustics Advisor for COMSUBPAC.
I started to panic as my acoustics problem began to sink in.  I had about 5 months or so before I had to report to COMSUBPAC.  I started to read primer textbooks on underwater acoustics.  The more I read, the more I realized how ignorant I was in that field.  It is a very difficult subject to master.  I knew that I was doomed.
In the few months before my report date in August 1982, I had a week’s training on the NSAP program at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in White Oak, Maryland and a week visit in Hawaii to meet the present Science Advisor at COMSUBPAC, Dr. Joe Kranz.  I would be working closely with Joe (as a team), and we both reported to the Chief of Staff.  The meeting went well with Joe.  However, while there, I also got to meet the person that I would be replacing, Dr. Klaus Janota.  Klaus worked at the Applied Research Lab (ARL) at Penn State University.  ARL is a major contractor to the navy in underwater acoustics.  Klaus was also an internationally-recognized expert in this field.  This is the man I was replacing!  After only 5 minutes of talking to him, I realized that I was a babe in the woods when it came to underwater acoustics.  My sense of impending doom deepened.  I knew that in a few short weeks I would probably embarrass myself, the NSAP program, and most importantly of all, my parent lab, NORDA.