CHAPTER 4 . MIRACLES (CONT'D)

In today's post, I conclude my chapter of miracles by including 2 events.  The first is my selection to attend the Navy War College located in Newport, Rhode Island.  This year at the War College was a significant point in my career.  It opened many doors for me and gave me incredible credibility when I was dealing with high level military personnel.  The second is my escape from serving on the maiden voyage of the USS Pueblo, the navy spy ship which was captured by North Korea in 1968.  I hope you enjoy these two stories.

SELECTION TO THE NAVAL WAR COLLEGE (1978).  The navy moved the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) from the Washington, D.C. area to the Mississippi/Louisiana gulf coast in 1974.  At that time, the R & D portion separated from NAVOCEANO and became the Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity (NORDA).  I remained active in sea ice research, but I expanded my area of interest to include mine warfare (see the miracle of Davis Strait and COMINEWARCOM presented in earlier posts).  Also, in 1976, I was actively involved with Dr. Ralph Goodman and his Assistant Secretary of the Navy-directed assessment of the navy’s exploratory development research program (also discussed earlier).  Following the latter, I was assigned to Dr. Goodman’s staff, and I was tasked to became familiar with all the R & D programs being conducted at NORDA.  In 1978, another opportunity fell into my lap.  I was asked to throw my hat into the ring and apply to attend the U.S Navy War College located in Newport, R.I.  The Navy War College offers advanced programs for leading officers of all the military services (including the Coast Guard), civilians from various government agencies, and for selected officers from international navies.  To graduate from the Navy War College’s 1-year program is a career enhancing event for our military officers.
When I looked into this opportunity, I found that the Chief of Naval Research (CNR), an admiral, had one billet allowed each year to attend the Navy War College.  Again, as with selection to the NSAP program discussed earlier (and which occurred later in my career [1982]), I felt my chances for selection were slim.  CNR had hundreds of senior scientists/managers which would be more qualified than me.  However, I felt that the opportunity would be very career enhancing if I were selected.  So, I applied.  I was still a GS 13 at the time.  This grade is equivalent to a junior Commander in the navy, and all the military officers at the War College would be senior Commanders and Captains (Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels in the other military services (See Appendix C)).  Even if I were selected, by some miracle, I would be a very junior student.  I considered this before I sent my application to CNR, but I felt that I was worrying for nothing since I would not be selected.
        Well, somehow, I did get selected.  I never found out how many applicants there were for that one billet, but I have always felt that Dr. Goodman may have had some influence in the selection process.
The year I spent at the Navy War College (August 1978-August 1979) had a significant impact on my future career.  I became friends with a fellow student, CDR Paul Gaffney, who later attained flag level (i.e., an admiral) and eventually became the navy’s Chief of Naval Research.  I also got to know several other naval officers who would later reach the rank of admiral.
I remember on one occasion, I was giving a talk on the environmental effects on mine warfare at a primarily military conference held in San Diego, CA.  When I walked into the conference hall, I noticed that an admiral was surrounded by several officers of lower rank.  This is normal because admirals attract people like bees to honey.  I further noticed that the admiral was one of my fellow students at the Navy War College.  When our eyes met, he immediately excused himself from this entourage, came over to me, and gave me a big hug.  We had a lot to talk about.  I could see the other officers looking at me and wondering who I was.  My credibility skyrocketed, and my talk was highly successful.  I’m sure my talk was more successful because I was a “buddy” of the admiral.  Whenever I was at a gathering of military officers, I was taken more seriously when they discovered that I attended the Navy War College.

THE USS PUEBLO.  In the near-death chapter, I presented the story when the USS Banner (AGER 1) was purposely rammed by a Soviet derelict ship.  As I mentioned, the Banner was the first of a class of spy ships outfitted to conduct oceanographic research as a cover for the primary objective of its missions.  The second ship of this class was the USS Pueblo (AGER 2).  I was assigned to be the oceanographer on board for the Pueblo’s first deployment.
God then changed my life once again.  My wife, Sylvia, became pregnant with our first child, Monica.  Monica’s projected birth date was late February, well within the scheduled deployment of the Pueblo’s mission.  Sylvia asked me to leave the Banner/Pueblo program so that I could be with her during the pregnancy and the birth in February.  I put in a request to be transferred out of the program, and the request was granted.  My two great friends, Dunnie Tuck and Harry Iredale were assigned to the Pueblo.
The rest of this story is in the history books.  The Pueblo was assigned to conduct a spying mission off Pyongyang, North Korea.  On January 23, 1968, the Pueblo was attacked by N. Korea, seized, and towed into port in the Pyongyang River.  One Pueblo crewman was killed during the attack, and Dunnie and Harry, along with the other 80-plus crewmen were held prisoners for 11 months.  They were beaten and tortured, both physical and mentally, during the 11 months of captivity.
In the famous photo below (Figure 19), Harry is the second from the left on the back row.  I feel badly for Harry and Dunnie, who had to suffer through 11 months of hell.  However, I can’t help but thank the Lord for the pregnancy of my first child that saved me from that ordeal.

     FIGURE. 19  Famous Photo of Some Pueblo Captives Giving the Glad-Hand Signal