The Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts at 35, with Bradley Peniston
timeless
History, heritage, ethos, and institutional culture are more than just books, lectures, static displays, songs, stories and rituals - they are part of a tapestry that define the characteristics of an organization and a people.
In a cold, neutral review of individual parts, it can be a challenge to see why they are important, what they really signify ... why we keep, remember, and practice them.
On occasion, events suddenly reveal how that tapestry creates a culture and the amazing things that culture can accomplish. Those events become in themselves a story and reinforce and expand the tapestry.
One such event took place 35 years ago this April, the mine strike of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) on 14 APR 1988.
Returning to Midrats today from 8-9pm Eastern to discuss the events of that day and the very real legacy we see today from the ship and her crew will be Bradley Peniston, deputy editor of Defense One and author of the reference book on the mine strike; No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf (Naval Institute Press, 2006), which has been featured in the Chief of Naval Operations' Professional Reading Program.
Brad is a national security journalist for a quarter-century, he helped launch http://Military.com , served as managing editor of Defense News, and was editor of Armed Forces Journal.
Join us live if you can, but it not, you can get the show later by subscribing to the podcast. If you use iTunes, you can add Midrats to your podcast list simply by clicking the iTunes button at the main showpage - or you can just click here. You can find us on almost all your most popular podcast aggregators as well.
Served 4 years aboard an OHP FFG. Best and most fun tour I ever had. That ship is still in service in the Polish Navy. Was mindful of USS Roberts and USS Stark while aboard FFG-9. Had a shipmate who had gone the CWO (Elex-Tech) route as a former EWC about the time I went Op-Tech. He served on USS Stark as EMO for 3 years and retired just before it deployed in 1987. I saw him in Jacksonville in 1990. He owned a pet store at the time. We talked about USS Stark. The two Excocet missiles had struck Stark topside above IC Central. It was possible he'd have perished in that attack. I could tell by the conversation that he felt guilt about not being there with his shipmates when the attack occurred. Living on an FFG was like living in a small town. He knew all 30 sailors who died.
Both Roberts and Stark were saved by their crews by outstanding leadership and damage control. In the aftermath of it all, the outcome for several senior officers on Stark was severe, though mitigated somewhat by their bravery post-attack. Every time we read the Captain's Night Orders on FFG-9 we took it to heart, the lead-in: "Eternal vigilance is the price of victory".
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/07/28/two-officers-on-uss-stark-are-allowed-to-quit-by-navy/e09bee93-f1de-4a7d-a0de-af029cc9237a/
This is a great book. It is very significant that the first CO appoiinted a full LT as the DCA instead of an Ensign or LT (jg). This LT took it very seriously and really drilled damage control into the crew. That paid big dividends later.