Hurley, Robert, YNCM

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY.
I grew up in the small town of Eliot, Maine, only two miles from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. My dad had worked for more than 20 years at the shipyard building and repairing submarines. When I attended Eliot High School there were several of my close friends who had joined the Navy and I loved hearing their "Sea Stories" when they came back home on leave or liberty. A lot of them had volunteered for Submarine Duty and bragged about the extra pay, better food, and outstanding liberty ports they visited. It all sounded great to me, so I enlisted in the Naval Submarine Division at on the Reserve Training Submarine LIONFISH (SS315) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as soon as I turned 17 in my Junior Year of High School. I was later ordered to report to Submarine School, New London, Connecticut for two years active duty on 15 December 1960.

OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
USS GRAYBACK (SS 574) was the best tour I had in the Navy and the only place I was stationed that proved to be better than all the wonderful stories I had heard about the liberty there. Really enjoyed traveling to other ports around WESTPAC on GRAYBACK.

I was a single Chief when I first arrived on GRAYBACK in the Philippines for a 15 month tour of duty. Every night that I went out in Olongapo on liberty I became more convinced that "I had died and gone to Heaven!" Every bar, nightclub and restaurant you went to there were beautiful young Filipino girls. There was no doubt that the only reason they were there was "To make us sailors happy!" and they were extremely good at accomplishing that task. I was such good duty that I agreed to keep extending and stayed there for 3 1/2 years. I was advanced to YNCS(SS) just prior to transfer back to the good ole USA.

Six months prior to transfer back to the "real world" a "sweet and innocent" 19-year old Filipino Ship Repair Facility Apprentice worker (Madelyn Borja) came on board the GRAYBACK to put some tile in the Wardroom. I had a touch of temporary insanity, allowing myself to be captured, married Mady, and brought my newly acquired "Philippine Souvenir" back to "reality" in the good old USA!

FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
USS ALBACORE (AGSS569) was an Amazing Experimental Boat. Her official motto, "Praenuntius Futuri" or "Forerunner of the Future" was to prove appropriately chosen for the many innovative systems and devices that were to be tried on Albacore.
Even with her limited conventional battery power, she could reach twenty-seven knots in short bursts. But speed was not her sole asset. She could do tight turns and dives as if she were a jet plane. In fact, her control room resembled the cockpit of a jet, her diving officer directing her course and depth with a single "stick" while strapped into a bucket seat complete with seat belt. Her crew, as she dived and turned with startling swiftness, hung on to overhead straps like subway riders. From Albacore, the design all of the Navy's modern, nuclear-powered submarines has evolved. A series of ten dive brakes were installed around the periphery of the hull to aid in slowing the boat down in case of an uncontrolled high speed dive.
Another Modification added counter-rotating propeller for greater propulsion efficiency, a new semi-automatic propulsion control cubicle and a Silver-Zink Battery. It was with this battery that Albacore reclaimed the title of the world's fastest submarine in 1966. Also installed were an emergency recovery system and a new main ballast tank blow system.
Albacore pioneered the single control yoke for bow and stern planes and rudder. Thus, one person (the pilot) was able to perform the functions formerly done by three. By combining other functions, the number of crew members required to dive and operate the boat submerged was reduced from ten to three - the Conning Officer, a pilot and another crew member to operate the blow and vent and trim manifolds.
An autopilot system was also tried on Albacore. It was essentially a system borrowed from a blimp. The system eliminated human failures due to lack of coordination or slow reaction, stress, fatigue, boredom, and distraction. With the autopilot engaged, the boat was quieter and operated with less large control surface motion.
It was like being on a Space Ship compared to the Diesel Submarines I had served on and ridden during Submarine School.

OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
Receiving Submarine Dolphins was without doubt the most difficult and rewarding accomplishment during my career. Every week after reporting aboard, for about a year, they were assigned different systems and equipment to learn. You had to be able to draw systems by memory showing their specifics and locations, such as hydraulic, air, fuel, communications, electronics, engineering, weapons and propulsion systems. You had to know how to operate every piece of equipment on the boat so that you can keep the ship operational in case of an emergency if there are no other personnel left alive in the compartment. In the qualification walk through test they would even blindfold you and expect you to to be able to locate and know how to operate equipment to test your ability if we lost lighting in the compartment in an emergency. The Submarine Qualification Program was demanding and required us to satisfactorily pass rigid written and oral exams weekly. If you failed qualifying on a system, you were "Delinquent" and restricted to the boat until you caught up and back on schedule. During the entire time you spent in the Qualification Program, you were considered "A Non-Qual Puke." Until you got Qualified in Submarines you were not allowed the pleasure of "goofing off" while aboard the boat and better not get caught by your qualified shipmates looking at magazines, watching a movie,or just laying around looking lazy. Your shipmates constantly were on your back making sure you were doing what was expected of you, because they knew their lives depended on how well you have learned about the submarine systems in case of an emergency. However, once you earned your "Dolphins" you became "Brothers of the Phin." Every different submarine you were assigned to in the future also required a "Re-qualification Program" to ensure you were familiar with all the systems and equipment in the new boat.

CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
While assigned to the USS TENCH (SS417) transiting to the Mediterranean we had to attend a briefing regarding protecting ourselves against sexually transmitted diseases. Immediately following the briefing, one of our older and salty Enginemen got up and told us that if we want to be sure we were getting a girl that was clean and had been checked recently for sexually transmitted diseases, we should check to see if she was wearing "White Socks!" He said that any shipmate that has been to the Mediterranean before will agree that it's important that you do this.
When we went on our first Liberty in Naples Italy, a bunch of our newer crew members stuck together and went bar hopping. When they went into a bar, if one of the girls there tried to take one of our sailors out for a treat, one of the guys would lift up her dress a little and check to see if she was wearing white socks. If she wasn't, the sailor was not allowed by his shipmates to leave with her. The girls started asking why there were expecting them to be wearing white socks, but nobody would tell them. Low and behold, within a couple of days, the majority of the bar girls in Naples were wearing white socks!!!

WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
When I retired from the Navy in July 1986, I returned to the home we had built in St. Marys, Georgia. I decided to take a year off from looking for a job to see if we could survive on Military Retired Pay and we did just fine. About a year later Mady got selected for a GS-1 Civil Service Job at Officer in Charge of Construction at Submarine Base Kings Bay. A short time later I got a Civil Service job at Trident Training Facility as a Technical Library Manager GS-7/9. I didn't get along with the female Lieutenant I worked for and resigned about six months later. A few months later a friend of mine suggested I apply for a position at the Personnel Support Department Kings Bay as a Transportation Clerk GS-4/5 and I was selected. I worked there for about four years and was reassigned as a result of an Equal Opportunity Complaint to the Family Service Center as a Social Service Analyst GS-9 with back pay and allowances to March 1992. I became the Retired Affairs Program Manager and later in addition also served as the Relocation Assistance Program Manager performing two GS-9 positions for one GS-9 pay check until I retired for the second time in July 2003 with 15 years of Satisfactory Civil Service.

BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE NAVY?
Serving in the Navy is not easy and can become a burden on relationships because of the amount of time you could be required to spend at sea or other assignments away from your friends and family. The military is just like any thing else in life and you will get your share of both good times and bad any where you go. However, if you make the effort to get a positive attitude and try to do your very best at any task you are assigned, it will really pay off in the long run. The military takes pride in assisting and seeing their people achieve advancement and frequently gives them awards for their accomplishments to keep their morale high.
If you take advantage of the training available to you it won't take long for you to advance in rate or rank and significantly improve your quality of life. There are superb benefits for both service members and their family while on active duty and even when retiring after twenty years. Being able to retire after only twenty years of service with a monthly retirement check, medical benefits, and use of military base facilities can make the rest of your life a lot more enjoyable.