NAVY NUCLEAR WEAPONS ASSOCIATION “KEEPERS of the DRAGON”ÓÔ www.navynucweps.com NNWA BULLETIN   JANUARY 2011                                      WINTER ISSUE

ÓÔCopyright 2000-2011 and Trademark of the Navy Nuclear Weapons Association.  All rights reserved worldwide.

 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Navy Nuclear Weapons Bulletin is produced by the Association’s Board of Directors and is distributed free to NNWA members.  Edited by: Dave Cobb.

 

President’s Message

 

Shipmates and Ladies,

 

The past year has been a very trying year for me and the Board to say the least. I was extremely disappointed when I had to cancel the Nashville Reunion because of the devastating flood that hit the Nashville area. I did visit Nashville this past October and found that there were many venues that we were planning on going to that still were not open or operating. The Opryland Hotel and Convention Center and the Opryland Mall still were not open.

 

Due to the 2010 Reunion cancellation, we conducted our first (and hopefully our only) election of Directors by mail. I was very pleased with the response by the membership. The results of the election can be found in the Nominations and Elections Committee Chairman’s report in this Bulletin.

 

In case you haven’t heard Sid Hart one of our Board members passed away November 12, 2010. Sid has served on the Board for many years in various capacities. He was always ready to step up to the plate and help and he was elected again for another term in the most recent election which shows he was well liked by his shipmates. He will be sadly missed by me and all those who knew and served with him.

 

But on to happier note, John O’Malia is putting together the 2011 Albuquerque Reunion for this October 12th – 16th, 2011 at the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel.  I know that it’s going to be another great one so everyone mark your calendars now and get ready to have some fun in the home of the Navy Nuclear Weapons Program. You will find additional information in this Bulletin for planning and hotel reservations. Detailed information on the tours, costs and reservation form will be in our June Bulletin.

Mike Snyder our present Historian is planning on stepping down this year and I really need someone to step up and volunteer to run for a position on the Board who would be willing to take on this very important job. The Board is exploring various ways to make it easier for the Historian to store and transport the memorabilia, but will not decide what is necessary, until it’s known who and what would be required for the individual to accomplish these duties.  As you know, we elect five (5) members to the Board every year at our annual business meeting. I would like to encourage any member in good standing and who has e-mail capability to volunteer for service on the Board of Directors by submitting their name to the Nominations and Elections Committee Chairman, Chuck Weber.

 

Bill Beard the Host of the 2012 Reunion to be held in Rapid City, South Dakota has already started his planning. The dates of the reunion will be Monday September 17, 2012 thru Sunday September 23, 2012 at the Grand Gateway Hotel Rapid City, SD. 

 

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in Albuquerque.

 

 

Jim Hambley

 

 

From the desk of the Vice-President:

 

Well shipmates another year has passed and that makes us all another year older.  I am looking forward to seeing and meeting a lot of you at our annual reunion, this year to be held at the home base for our program, Albuquerque, NM.  For those youngsters in the organization I would hope you try to make it so you can see why all of us old timers talk about it so much.

 

We are going to start something new this year!  We will start a video/oral history of the program from the mouths and minds of our members.  I will be conducting interviews of shipmates to record their memories of the program.  I would like to start with our oldest members in attendance; we don’t want to lose their memories of deploying with their one weapon from the NSWU’s to the few ships that were capable.  These are some of the sea stories that you will miss out on if you don’t attend.  Remember there weren’t always Type 3 trainers.  Alright let’s start prepping this Mk 3 (three) for strike; it will only take 3 or 4 days.  Come and learn about what the real OLD Salts had to do.  Those of you who only worked on the wooden bombs have no idea what they had to go through.  Don’t miss this part of your Nuclear Weapons heritage.  Those of you who are those OLD Salts be prepared to assist me in answering questions on camera.  It would be nice to have a couple of you just talk together reminiscing about what it was like.

 

Larry J. Sneide

Vice President

 

 

Navy Nuclear Weapons Association

Secretary Report

 

Because there was no NNWA Reunion last year, there are no minutes to report.  I would like to report that in lieu of our Business Meeting, the Board of Directors directed that the election of Directors, By-Law changes, and granting the Treasurer permission to pay our outstanding bills was done by mail.  I sent letters out to our active members and was very pleased with the response.  We received over 203 responses to our mailing. However, because some were received past the November 30, 2010 deadline, only 203 were processed.

 

Of the 203, 13 were declared invalid (no signature), leaving us with 190 valid ballots.  All directors were re-elected, the By-Law changes Passed (170 for, 20 against), and Paying the NNWA’s outstanding bills passed (188 for, 2 blank). Thank all of you who took the time to support your association.  These ballots will be held by the Secretary until December 1, 2014.

 

On a personal note, it is always sad to hear of a shipmate’s passing, but Sid’s passing hit me hard, as I knew him to be a hard worker for the NNWA, and I considered him and Jody, close friends. When I was putting this newsletter together, thinking of Sid’s loss, I think we should all read the Historian’s last paragraph and the VP’s plans for video and heed their requests.

 

Dave Cobb

Secretary

 

NAVY NUCLEAR WEAPONS ASSOCIATION

TREASURERS REPORT

 

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO ALL: You still have time to break your New Year’s resolutions. As the Treasurer and Keeper of the roster let me welcome our new and Reinstated Members since the last news letter.  We have 58 new and reinstated members for 2010.

 

Magee, James W.             Stevens Jr., James K.          Zeoli, George

Duffield Jr., Alden W.    Bourque, Ronald P.             Lee, John R.

McNalis, James J.            Riley, David G.                   Yearwood, David L.

Lancaster, Anthony E.  Osilka, John (Jack) M.         Chipperfield, Dwight

Obley,Jeffery B.              Gramando, Joseph A          Skramstad, Douglas D.

Prusa, Fred E.                  Bunch, Charles R.              Schiffman, David M.

Samsell, Lewis P.             Purdie, Charles (Chuck)      Edwards, Bruce A.  

McDowell, Gary S.          Harvey, James I.                  Brown, Christopher 

Abriel Jr.,Warren W.     Walls, Larry W.                   Neeb, Louis (Lou)

Pope, Lucille                    Pope Sr., Robert                 Pope Jr., Robert

Colburn, George E.        Bradford, Anthony            Reynolds, Donald J.

Sonier, Robert (Bob)

 

We now have 684 members listed on the membership roster. 427 members in good standing, 50 life members (spouses of deceased members), 207 past members (members that have not paid their dues for three years, and 1 Honorary member (NAAV). Past members will not receive news letters or reunion information until their dues are brought up to date. Membership is $10.00 per year. Past members can be reinstated by sending $10.00 reinstatement fee plus $10.00 for each year they wish to pay their dues. This is an effective policy due to the cost of mailing newsletters and reunion information. If you are unsure whether your dues are up to date and receive your newsletters by mail, the date in the upper right corner of the mailing label shows the month and year to which your dues are paid.

 

If you receive your newsletter electronically and wish to know your dues date, Log onto our web site (navynucweps.com). The dues date will be listed in the date column on the right of your name on the membership roster. Some members find it convenient to pay several years in advance. This can save you postage and save the Treasurer, Secretary, and Web master a considerable amount of time in processing payments.

 

 

The following members have been listed as past members because of their dues being in the arrears for three years. If you know the status of any of these or any past members PLEASE notify the Treasurer or any of the board members.

 

Allison, Darell B.                                     Boess, Bill                                          Brickhouse William T. 

Brown Albert L.                                    Brown, Ed W.                                   Case, Joseph B. 

Castillo, Robert A.                                 Caveney, Mack F.                             Curtis, Ronald W. 

Dutton Jr., Mark A.                              Gilliam, Derrell S.                             Hardman, Barry G.   

Hunt, Ronald L.                                     Johnston, John E.                             Ketter, Clark R. 

Knick, Jackie D.                                    LeBlanc, Albion C.                           Lynch Jr, James B.   

Moody, Ryan S.                                     Morgan, Ralph H.                             Radwan, Robert  J.    

Reich, Ron W.                                        Reid, David                                        Reuman Scott D.   

Remond, Michael R.                              Sexton, Laurence                              Shiparski, Kerry P. 

Specher, Robert J.                                 Stephens, Henry G.                           Ussery, James D. 

Wernimont, Don                                    Wilkinson, Robert P.                        Williams, Michael A  

Workman, Robert L.

 

The current membership is posted on our web site (navynucweps.com) Members not on line may request a hard copy by calling or writing Frank M. Kelly, 1087 Frank Kelly Road, Society Hill, SC. 29593 Ph# 843-378-4026. Again for our survival it is Imperative that we keep our roster and dues up to date. Please review the roster and notify the Treasurer or any member of the board of any changes to your status.

 

We now have $15,190.96 on deposit with the bank Wachovia (Wells Fargo). Payment in due for the Web-site fee: approximately $115.00. Payment will be paid upon receipt of invoice.   

 

Frank M. Kelly

Treasurer and Keeper of the roster

 

 

NAVY NUCLEAR WEAPONS ASSOCIATION

SERVICE OFFICER REPORT

January 2011

 

Fellow Dragon Keepers,

 

Please find below a few items that I think you may find of interest.

 

Yours in service,

 

Chuck Weber

Service Officer

NNWASO@ptd.net  or

VetSO@ptd.net           

 

 

 

Social Security Credit for Veterans - The following email has been going around:

 

“You qualify for a higher social security payment because of your Military service for active duty any time from 1957 through 2001 (the program was done away with 1 January 2002). Up to $1200 per year of earnings can be credited at time of application - which can make a substantial difference in Social Security monthly payments upon your retirement. You must bring your DD-214 to the Social Security Office and you must ask for this benefit to receive it!”

 

NOTE Part of the above statement is incorrect and misleading.  The credit is automatically applied if you served on active duty from 1968 to 2001, so you don’t have to do anything.  You only have to ask for the credit for active duty from 1957-1967. Further, if you entered after 1980 and didn’t do a full two years, you won’t get the credit.

 

The premise for this credit is that the pay for service members was so low that additional credit of earning is warranted.  The credit is applied at the rate of $300 for every federal fiscal quarter in which at least one day of active duty was served up to a maximum for $1,200 per year.

 

An organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is providing benefit and general information on the VA and gathering personal information on veterans.  This organization is not affiliated with the VA in any way.  Beware!

-

US Navy Veterans Association is a fraudulent organization and its officers have been arrested.  Do not join this organization.  Do not confuse it with Navy Club USA which is legitimate.

 

The political arm of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW-PAC) has largely shut down operations amid a member backlash after it endorsed a slew of Democratic incumbents, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Effective 16 OCT, VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard Eubank removed all 11 board directors since the organization is not supposed to favor any political candidate or party.  I wouldn’t recommend giving them any contributions until this mess is sorted out.

 

No COLA has been authorized again for 2011.  So, there will be no increases in Social Security, VA benefits, military or civilian retirement annuities this year.

 

Toxic exposures have been confirmed for veterans who served at Fort Detrick, Parris Island and Basara, Iraq.  Free screenings are available at any local VA Medical Center or outreach clinic.

 

The VA has dropped a proposed change in reimbursement policy that would have been troublesome for some veterans….veterans who must travel to a VA facility to receive health care services are still eligible for reimbursement at 41.5 cents a mile subject to standard deductions.

 

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) will relocate more than 100 million records to a new $112 million modernized facility. Crews broke ground on the facility on 16 NOV 09. This location was ravaged by a 1973 fire. The fire destroyed an estimated 16 - 18 million individual military personnel records. The records lost include those of Army personnel discharged between November 1, 1912 and December 31, 1959, and Air Force personnel discharged between September 25, 1947 and December 31, 1963 with names alphabetically following Hubbard, James. Some records were salvaged from the disaster and reconstructed.  Care has been taken to ensure that all records to be moved will be electronically recorded before moving and will be placed in fireproof storage at the new location.

 

 

It’s Tax Time again - DFAS-Cleveland does not withhold states taxes unless asked to do so by the retiree. To have state income tax withheld from retired pay, contact DFAS-CL in writing or visit a local Retirement Services Office to complete a form.

-           States with no income tax:  Alaska, Florida (Imposes an intangible personal property tax), New Hampshire & Nevada (Imposes tax on certain capital gains, dividend and interest income.), South Dakota, Tennessee (Imposes tax on certain dividend and interest income), Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

-           States Which Exempt All Military Disability Retired Pay: Arkansas, Arizona, California,  Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia,  and Wisconsin.

 

States Which Exempt All Military Retired Pay: Alabama, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan (Does not exempt USPHS or NOAA retired pay), New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and  Wisconsin (full exemption for those in Armed Forces as of 31 DEC 63, or those who retire as of 31 DEC 63).

 

Nominations and Elections Committee Chairman’s report:

                                                                   

 NAVY NUCLEAR WEAPONS ASSOCIATION

CERTIFICATE OF ELECTION

 

Whereas, the undersigned Director was appointed by the President of the Association as Chairman, Nominations and Elections for his 2008-2010 term, and

 

Whereas, the President of the Association has called for a mail-in election of Directors and vote on resolutions subsequent to cancellation of the 2010 annual reunion and business meeting, and

 

Whereas, a call to the membership for nominations for Directors from June 2010 through August 2010 resulted in no nominations from the membership for Directors, and

 

Whereas, five incumbent Directors consented to nomination to continue, and

 

Whereas, sufficient notice of two proposed resolutions was made to the membership, and

 

Whereas, ballots for such election and vote were mailed to every member of the Association in October 2010 for return not later than November 30, 2010, and

 

Whereas, the President of the Association did appoint the Vice President and Secretary of the Association as members of an election committee to count and tally such votes, and

 

Whereas, the returned ballots were checked for eligibility, validity and count, were tallied and reported individually by the members of the election committee to the Chairman, therefore

 

It is certified that the election of Directors and vote on resolutions were properly conducted, and

 

 

It is further certified, that the results of balloting did result in the following:

·         Election of Regular Members Jim Hambley, Lonnie Cucinitti, Sid Hart, Jack Grieves and Chuck Weber as Directors of the Association for the term 2010-2012.

·         A resolution to change Art VI, Section 8 of the Bylaws of the Association regarding Dues and Delinquencies was adopted.

·         A resolution to pay routine bills and pay a $500 deposit for the 2011 Association reunion was adopted.

·         It is further certified, that Sid Hart, properly elected, did meet his demise on November 12, 2010, much to the sadness of the Board of Directors and the Association, and in accordance with Article VII, Section 2 the Board of Directors has the option of appointing a Director to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 2010-2012 term.

 

For:     Navy Nuclear Weapons Association

 

 

By:      //S//                                                                              Date:  January 10, 2011

            Charles J. Weber Jr.

            Director, and

            Chairman, Nominations and Elections

 

 

 

Spalling and Exudate

 

The NNWA Historians Report of January 2011

 

While reviewing correspondence and donations looking for material for this article I ran across an envelope from an old shipmate, Lcdr Tom Perkins whom I knew in the early '70's when I was a GMT-1 he was my department head aboard USS Puget Sound (AD-38).  We were reacquainted as a result of my travelling to Naval Ship Yard, Bremerton for the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) deactivation.  Tom later sent me a personal invitation he received to the Kitty Hawk commissioning at Naval Base Philadelphia where he was concurrently stationed.  Reading that pristine April 1961 engraved invitation threw me back through fifty years to a time when I was an NWSN. 

 

W Division, under LT. Jerry Callaghan, an ETC LDO, was the first organized division to report to Philly from pre-commissioning detail in Norfolk.  We lived in a huge, ancient brick and stone cube of a barracks and travelled daily by bus across the Delaware River to New York Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. where the carrier was built.  We worked in the SASS spaces cleaning, painting, and reaming and lubricating those thousands of threaded holes drilled in the deck.  BMC McInnis seemed to have a shipyard welder attached to his hip as he rapidly moved from place to place pointing, holding up an arcane piece of metal and saying, "Put this here!"  One afternoon a half dozen of us NW's visited the dry dock next to us where the nuclear powered ship Savannah was nearing completion.  We hurried aboard un-noticed and toured the ship for a half hour or more before we were rounded up and escorted to the pier.  It was gorgeous!  All stainless steel, carpets and glass formed in modern flowing shapes.  Back in the Navy Yard we had a secure warehouse space where our technical library, store rooms and offices were installed.  I think it was here where I learned about study and diligence paying off.  The men, formerly of the Special Weapons Assembly Teams in Norfolk; now ships company, were studying for the first rating exam that would convert them to NW's.  They were rated as BM, GM, AO, ET, EM, IC, EO, and myriad other rates including SD (steward).  As we junior men entered changes into classified documents the older men, all second and first class and chief, checked them out for study.  They formed study groups; they worked at night and weekends getting up to speed on the various aspects of our complex rate.  And they all passed.  Some were advanced.  None were disappointed.  They had it all in one sock as the saying goes.  Unlike the rest of the ship.

 

Kitty Hawk was in horrible condition!  The yard was more than six months behind its building schedule.  There were reports, later found to be true, that high pressure steam lines held cans of welding rods, flight deck welds were found filled with rods and a bead run across the top, catapults so misaligned they couldn't be tested, jet fuel plumbing systems totally inoperative, and more, much more.  It seemed everything the Navy inspected was found faulty.  In W Division weight and magnetic flux testing showed the special weapons bi-rail hoist tracks were unsafe because the welds had been ground off.  Lt. Callaghan had me and another seaman carry four broken pieces of rail up to the CO's aerie where he said very bluntly, "Captain, here's your nuclear weapons handling system".  The hair stood up on the back of my neck waiting for flames to shoot forth.  They didn't.  It turned out to be one more issue in a very long list of crisis. 

 

The ship was taken from New York Shipbuilding and moved to Philadelphia where she would be made ready for sea . . . almost.  W Division was shipped lock, stock and tech manuals to NWS Yorktown, Skiffes Creek Annex where we went to work in the plant assembling weapons.  We were there six months or more before returning to Philly for sea trials and commissioning.  Ultimately, we got underway, stumbled to Norfolk for outfitting, then to Guantanamo Bay for refresher training and around Cape Horn to San Diego.  Enroute the fresh water evaporators failed and we went on water hours with salt water piped to the showers.  Of course with no fresh water the chill water system failed and the berthing spaces got hot, very hot.  We persevered though, until the after crew woke one morning to four inches of jet fuel in our berthing space.  That's when we all moved into the cool, quiet magazines to live and sleep.  With no weapons aboard it was an easy decision for our division officer to make.  We crossed the equator enroute to Brazil and were inducted into the Realm of Davy Jones.  I recall seeing Lt Callaghan, a big, heavy man, tiredly making his way across the salt drenched flight deck in giant diapers and a pink hat after rubbing hundreds of sailors faces into his greased navel as they kissed the Royal Babies Belly.  With three port visits under our belt we arrived in San Diego just in time to host President Kennedy.  The wardroom bought a rocking chair to ease his aching back.  We, in-turn, spruced up the entire ship.  W Division primped and polished our type 3 trainers and set up a display in a remote corner of the hangar bay behind security screens.  I was chosen to be one of the representatives to salute the President as he came through the display.  With razor sharp uniform and spit-shined shoes I WAS READY!!  The day before the President was to visit, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn died and Kennedy flew off to Washington.  Kitty Hawk, flying to San Francisco, conducted an outrageous high speed run that put green water on the flight deck and destroyed a signal battery on the starboard sponson.  We spent six months at Hunter's Point Naval Ship Yard fixing everything before leaving on our first WESTPAC deployment.  Since leaving Philly Chief McInnis had amassed, seemingly, hundreds of pounds of coffee spirited away in heat-sealed bags of genuine nuclear weapons support material.  Used for cumshaw in the shipyard, he bought himself another full time welder.  Boy, was that tough duty!!  Six months in San Francisco in the early '60's!  Some of us only barely survived.

 

After getting her feet beneath her, Kitty Hawk steamed through forty years of highly successful operations.  Now she lies in Bremerton alongside three others of her ilk, turning white with age, only gulls shooting deck launches and recoveries.  It is easy to tell you that my 24 year career was begun among those wonderful hand-picked men of W Division in Kitty Hawk.  Old and young, there were special people among those special weapons and they influence me to this day.

 

Now, here's the standard appeal.  Shipmates, remember to write your histories.  If you don't your special weapons experiences will be lost forever.  If it isn't written or recorded it will exist only as long as you do.  You'll enjoy the writing experience and so will your kids and grand kids.  And please send the NNWA a copy.  Also remember to send photos or copies of photos of SWU's and W Divisions with as many names as possible identified.  Group orders and rosters and lists compiled from your memory are a big help in identifying the men and woman of the Navy Nuclear Weapons Program.

 

Live well and stay safe.

 

Mike Snyder, NNWA Historian

 

 

NAVY NUCLEAR WEAPONS ASSOCIATION

 

26^th Annual Reunion

Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

Wednesday, October 12^th through Sunday, October 16^th, 2011

 

Mark these dates on your calendar NOW. 

Hotel reservations must be made no later than September 21, 2011.

 

Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown

2600 Louisiana Boulevard N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87112

Reservations:  1-800-325-3535

 

 

$79 per night plus tax.  Rate is good 2 days before and after

the reunion.  Ask for the Navy Nuclear Weapons Association Reunion

 

 

 

 

 

ACTIVITIES

 

Bus tour of the Turquoise Trail via Madrid, then onto the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos.  We will return through the beautiful Jemez Mountains, with stops at the Valle Caldera and Soda dam.  A buy your own lunch stop will be at the Buffalo Thunder Casino in Pojoaque.

 

 

 

 

A tour of the Defense Nuclear Weapons School unclassified weapons display.  This school traces its history back to the Manhattan Project.  A magazine tour of the old Manzano National Stockpile Site is in the works also.