From late 2004 thru mid 2007, I was stationed at COMSUBFOR (Commander, Submarine Forces), previously referred to as COMSUBLANT (Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet). I worked on the Admirals Staff, as the military EKMS (Electronic Key Management System) Manager for the US Submarine Fleet. I worked with Molly, my civilian counterpart, at the NSA (Naval Support Activity) compound in Norfolk. The NSA Compound was previously referred to as CINCLANTFLT (Commander in Chief, US Atlantic Fleet), until "W" Bush decided nobody should be called "Commander in Chief" except for him. I had Johnny Walkers old job - the Russian spy from the 70s & 80s. In the office next door was John, the guy who developed "SailorMail" and sold it to the navy. Rumor has it that he sold it to the navy for $1.5M, and additionally receives $0.10 for every email sent or received through the system, as well as a contract for ongoing maintenance and development. John was a nice guy, so long as he could be the smartest man in the room.

What's so important about the sailormail system? After all, everyone gets email these days. The military works on the NIPRNet and SIPRNet (Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network and Secret Internet Protocol Router Network). Sailormail is simply a system that allows unclassified personal emails to be sent & received via SIPRNet systems, with a capability to ensure the data packets sent back and forth from ship to shore are sent and received complete. The sailormail program allows for security censorship of all incoming and outgoing email, from anyone aboard the ship.

CENSORSHIP!?

We sensor email before sending or delivery, both for operational security, and personnel well-being. When it comes to operational security, we don't want all the guys (submariners were all men at the time I retired) telling their friends and family all the details of our missions. When it comes to personnel well-being, when bad things happen on the homefront, letting the sailor receive the bad news becomes the perogative of the CO (Commanding Officer/Captain). During a critical life & death situation, we all need to have our heads in the game. So it's up to the CO, to determine when to tell a member of the crew that his entire family was just killed in a car accident, or whatever the bad news may be, so that he can ensure the appropriate resources are on hand to help the guy, or that we're at least in a place where we can afford the guy to mentally check-out. For a family emergency/tragedy, we will always receive am American Red Cross message regarding the situation, but the emails always get there first. All incoming/outgoing email is run through a word checker, and if one of the key words are detected, the email is highlighted for screening. We can add or change words as necessary in the program. When an email pops for screening, the RMOW is required to read the entire email, to determine whether it is appropriate to send as written, returned to the author to make appropriate changes, or forwaded to the CO to deal with. Needless to say, the radiomen really, really get to know the crew on their boats - more than we ever want to know.

Back to John.....John sometimes liked to take his yacht out on nice weekends, anchor somewhere, and spend the weekend alone. I happened to be out with my wife and some friends on our boat, and while anchored and swimming, recognised John in his yacht, anchored next to us. We became friends of sorts, as he was a really cool guy personally, but really condescending to his colleagues. I worked in the same department at SUBFOR, and used his program when on sea duty, but in my role as EKMS Manager, there was no place where our jobs intermingled, allowing us to maintain a friendly relationship. I'm a cordial, friendly, and outgoing guy who typically gets along with everyone, but I've never been a fan of work politics, being pushed around, or people who are their own biggest fans. If you worked with submarine communications in the early 2000's, you know who Molly and John are. Anyway, in mid-2007, I transferred early to BOISE, as they needed a Comms Chief - they lost theirs somewhere along the way.

The Molly information is kind of superfluous stuff, so far as this story goes, but this started as a comment response to a fellow submariner, about a military story. The comment response would not upload. I think it was too long for a response? The failure to upload didn't elaborate on why it failed, only that it failed to upload.

I reported to BOISE during a workup for a mission. Upon return from that mission, we rolled into pre-deployment workup. Pre-deployment workups are very work and time intensive, as there are a lot of certifications, training sessions, intensive maintenance and repairs, outfitting the ship for missions outside of normal operations, and installation of specialized equipment. Naval units in Norfolk were under COMSECONDFLT (Commander, US 2nd Fleet) operational control. Our upcoming deployment had us steaming east from Norfolk far enough to fall under COMSIXTHFLT (6th Fleet) operational command for a short period past Iceland, where we would turn north and sail under the North Pole. Before steaming under the ice, we fell back under COMSECONDFLT operational control. We were under the ice for a total of 3 weeks, and surfaced through the ice at the North Pole once, to play football (and do some other stuff). We emerged from the polar ice in the Bering Straight and continued SSW to Yokosuka, Japan, where we fell under COMSEVENTHFLT (7th Fleet) operational control.

I mention all this minutaie because, while the rest of the ship steams on like normal, i.e. all navy ships work on GMT time, meals are served the same as always, maintenance continues as normal, the ship's control party drives the boat as the specified depth, on the specified courses, the reactor makes dust (with a heat biproduct), the dust goes into the garbage - but the heat is used to make steam, which turns the turbines, which generate electricity and turn the propellor shaft via the reduction gears.

Life goes on normally for most everyone, except for communications. Every time we switch operational control, all the satellites, frequencies, broadcast times, broadcast locations, and crypto changes. Additionally, before every deployment, Comms Division loses all of our storage, due to the specialized equipment installed for our various SPECOPS (Specialized Operations). The radio room on a Los Angeles Class Fast-Attack Boat is about 4' wide and 20' long. Normally there are 2 people on watch in Radio; the RMOW (Radioman of the Watch) and ESM (Electronic Support Measures). The RMOW manages all communications to and from the ship. The ESM watch monitors signals to ensure we are not detected by radar, or other surveillance means, meant to detect submarines. The ESM watch classifies landbased, surface, and airborn surface search radar, to determine national origin, signal strength, and capability of detecting our masts & antennas when they penetrate the surface of the ocean, while at periscope depth (PD). Normally, when the ship is at PD, the offgoing ESM watch assists the RMOW, as someone to help reconfigure equipment for changing communications necessities, changing crypto when necessary, and as a runner, to get time sensitive information to command staff immediately. When on SPECOPs, the ship is at PD for the better part of each day collecting whatever intelligence the mission demands. The ship takes on additional personnel, who operate the specialized equipment previously installed in the radio room. While on SPECOPS, there are 10-15 additional people standing watch in radio....it gets crowded fast.

Whats important about radio to the general crew? #1 is email (sailormail), #2 is news & sports.

So, lets revisit the pre-deployment period for a second, to note that SN McFly checked aboard the ship. SN (Seaman/paygrade E3) McFly is fresh out of Submarine School, where he trained as a Navigation Electonics Technitian (NAV ET). He showed up one day with orders to BOISE. His Chief started him on his check-in process. My place with personnel check-ins, is with their security clearances. I checked his (Standard Form) SF-88 information, ensuring everything was complete and accurate. He has an interim TS clearnance, and I sent his information off to the NAS (National Security Agency) to be adjudicated, with the anticipated result of a full TS clearance. I signed my block on his check-in sheet, said "Welcome aboard," and sent him on his way.

A few months later, we're on deployment, underwater in our little people tank, rolling fat, dumb and happy...for boat life, when one day, through a random combination of letters, McFly's email pops for screening, where it was discovered that the email was in written in Spanish. The sailormail screening program only screens English. McFly's email simply had one of the screening words, or a combination of letters, that formed a screening word (i.e. "die" is one of the screening words. If a person were to mention "SanDiego" in an email, the email would pop for screening because of "die."). The screening program was not sophisticated enough to discern "die" from San Diego, and would pop, thus requiring the RMOW processing emails at the time to have to read the email for security purposes. It seems that nobody thought of foreign languages being used with sailormail, including me.

Since it was an email from McFly, being sent to his wife, I removed it from the [send] queue, to deal with later on. When I has a few minutes, I found McFly, and explained to him that emails had to be sent and received in English to ensure they could be appropriately screened. He told me that he's the only person I his family who could read/write in English, and that he would not be able to communicate with his family if he could not do it in Spanish. There were 3 ways of dealing with the McFly problem...#1 add the Spanish translation of every word that sailormail screened for, #2 find someone trusted onboard who could screen McFly's emails, #3 deny McFly the ability to communicate with his family via email. Adding the Spanish translation of the screening words wasn't practical because no RMOWs could read the emails if they popped for screening. Denying anyone the ability to communicate with their family was a non-starter I wouldn't entertain, so long as any other option were available. I told McFly that I'd see what I could do, but in the meantime, he would not be able to send or receive any email, until a solution was found.

I found the NAV (ship's Navigator), my department head, and discussed the problem and options. He knew LT. Smith could speak Spanish fluently. We spoke to Smith, and found that he was fluent in reading/writing Spanish too, and was willing to screen McFly's emails. I also had him send me a list of random words in Spanish, to add to the screening system, so we could take care of anyone else who may be doing the same thing.

When people know they're emails are being screened, they sometimes develop their own lingos or word combinations, attempting to skirt the screening. I encouraged my guys to be creative, and be attentive in casual situations with the crew, so we could subvert their attempts to skirt the screening as much as possible. I also conducted training for everyone, to ensure everyone knew of the English requirement.

Back from the deployment, standdown over, I ran over to see my friends at SUBFOR, and mentioned to John what happened with McFly and our work around. We discussed some of the other various shenanigans that inevitably take place when 135 men are sealed in a glorified sewer tube underwater for months. The conversation was light, and there was a lot of laughing. I suggested that an improvement to the screening process might be to add a foreign language detection ability to the screening system in the future. How do you do that? It's not my job. For the interim, I suggested simply coming up with common words in several foreign languages, so any emails with common foreign words would be caught in screening.

About a week later, the shit hit the fan. Behind the laughing and smiles, apparently, John was offended by something and decided my sailormail workaround was discriminatory towards McFly, and contacted the COMSUBFOR Legal Officer. He reasoned that while everyone elses emails only get read by the RMOW when they pop for a screening word, ALL of McFly's emails are being completely read through, this McFly is a victim of discrimination. How did I find out that John wasn't happy with me, you ask? One day after lunch, the NAV comes into radio and tells me the CO wants me in the wardroom for a critique.

Critiques are the first step in fixing problems, when someone screws up. Everyone sits in a circle (rectangle - the table in the wardroom is rectangular), holds hands (not really), figures out who or what is to blame, the completes the COs 5-vector model of recovery (don't ask).

"A critique for what?" I asked. "The McFly email issue." He responded. "The McFly email issue was a non-issue." I said, but started to put things together in my head, having just discussed the whole thing with John the previous week. The NAV said, "The Commodore and some LT from squadron legal are in the wardroom, with some guy from SUBLANT named John. They're are all in the wardroom with the CO, waiting for us. Lets go."

When I was stationed at COMSUBFOR, my detailer called me one day to tell me that BOISE needed a Communications Chief. Taking the job would mean terminating my shore duty 6 months early, to report to BOISE in time for pre-deployment workups. As it was my choice, whether to take orders to BOISE, I asked if I could ride the boat first. BOISE was getting ready to pull in at the Submarine Base in King's Bay, GA. The COMSUBRON EIGHT (Commander, Submarine Squadron 8) Commodore was flying to Jacksonville, then driving up to meet the boat, so I tagged along and we travelled together. During the trip, we had several discussions, and family was one of the discussions. My wife and I were trying invitro fertilization at the time, and discussing adoption, if things didn't work out. He and his wife went through the same thing, and they ended up adopting. Their adopted children were well loved by the Commodore and his wife, but they had several obsticals to overcome. My wife is a pediatric psycologist, so we ended up having quite a bit to talk about, and ended up friends.

In the critique, I told my part, John told his part. The NAV and LT. Smith were there because they were briefed, and perticipated in the workaround. In the end, so far as the Commodore and Legal Officer were concerned, there was no discrimination. I simply did what was necessary to allow a sailor to communicate with his family, while ensuring COMSEC and OPSEC standards were met. The Commodore said that he would forward "his very serious sailormail security concerns" to COMSUBFOR personally (that pissed John off). The Commodore shook my hand, and said, "Good job, Chief," said his farewells to everyone else and left. The Legal Officer, John, and LT Smith, left the wardroom as well.

I was on my way out of the wardroom as well, when the CO asked me to have a seat. The mid afternoon fireworks show wasn't over yet. As it turned out, in the pre-critique tailgate party I wasn't invited to, there was a CYA meeting between the CO, XO, and COB. During the pre-deployment rush - before our 7 month deployment, when McFly reported to the boat, not much of the normal check-in screening was done for McFly. McFly completed my part of the check-in, as well as a few other parts, then took some leave. He married his wife in Mexico, returned to the boat, and the rest of the check-in was forgotten. In his SF-88 paperwork, he was a single man. He made no mention of his wife as a close associate or friend, and nobody notified me of the marriage upon his return. His Chief knew though, as wellas the ship's YNs (Yeoman), who maintain the crew service records. As pay is handled differently for married personnel, the CO and XO (Executive Officer) would know McFly got married as well. While the email i caught in Spanish happened to be to his wife, I don't remember every single detail, for every single individual on the boat, to think "weren't you single when you first arrived?" While I don't know the dirty details, McFly's wife entered the US illegally, and he moved her to Norfolk, where they found a place to live, and he deployed. His wife knew nobody, could not communicate in English, in any form, had no car, and no family for support. As his check-in wasn't done properly, and nobody in charge seemed to know of the marriage, even the wives support group were ignorant to having a crewmember who's wife may need some help or resources.

Apparently that whole situation came up when the Commodore first called my CO, to have a meeting onboard BOISE, regarding this discrimination accusation. The Commodore thought, surely McFly's wife could translate everything for the rest of the family? Oh, she knows no English, and lives in Norfolk? They must have family in the area that could help? No car? OK. Who exactly was set up to help this woman navigate in an unfamiliar area, with no husband or family around, while having no transportation, and not speaking the common language, in a country where most citizens don't fluently speak a 2nd language?

This is exactly why there's a thorough check-in process - to find and take care of these problems. People can't focus on their jobs, when they're worried about the welfare of their families. McFly was definitely wrong for the whole immigration mess, but had he been properly checked in, that problem would have been found and corrected.

McFly was put on leave, so he could deposit his wife back in Mexico, until she could be legally brought back into the US. Upon his return he received the counseling and resources to get he and his wife on their feet.

Back to me in the wardroom....Surely I was still in the wardroom because we were going to discuss McFly's security clearance issues, regarding his wife? Not really a big deal....just a little paperwork and a lot of waiting. McFly was not one of my guys, so I wasn't responsible for his lack of a proper check-in. So why was I still needed in the wardroom, you may ask? The CO, while plenty competent to fight the ship, and oversee all our missions, was otherwise a little bitch. He felt butt-hurt, and needed someone to blame.

The CO told me he's angry with me because "I brought a bad light on the ship." He said, "It's your fault this whole email thing has blown up into a - into a - a diplomatic incident!" He was waving his hands like a crazy man. He continued, "I knew nothing about this! Why was I not informed there was a problem with McFly's email?!" I just sat, staring at him. He said, "Well, Chief, I'm waiting!" I responded, "I had a seemingly simple problem to overcome, found a solution that satisfied security requirements, while keeping all parties involved happy. My chain of command knew and approved of my actions." He said. "Well I didn't know. Why wasn't I informed?" I said, "I don't know. That seems more like a wardroom problem than a radio room problem, sir. We all have problems to deal with every day. I solve mine and move on. I only knock on your stateroom door for problems that rise to a level to be discussed with you. Otherwise, my assumptions are that the NAV will discuss anything requiring your level of participation.." Then I said, "Sorry NAV, if I'm throwing you under the bus." The NAV responded, "Captain, I probably should have mentioned it, but it didn't seem like a big deal at the time." The CO yelled, "No! Chief (OP) should have informed me!" I said, "No sir! Where's the line? Do I inform you personally, every time a light bulb burns out? How about if one of my guys gives me attitude? Do I run to the Captain? The real issue here, has nothing to do with email. The discrimination concern was simply retribution from John feeling a bit "butt hurt" over me, a moron in his mind, suggesting a problem with his sailormail. Even the Commodore declared the email a non-issue for us. His concerns are with sailormail security. I provided an interim solution for THAT problem, and since I'm here, you get to take credit for BOISE providing the interim solution. The real troubles came with an incomplete check-in, a marriage, and an immigration issue. While this is clearly a BOISE problem, it's not a problem I created, or even let happen. I can fix any clearance issues that come up over this, but I can't do it from the wardroom. The people who need to be here are the Chief Yeoman, McFly's Chief, you, the XO, NAV, and COB (Chief of the Boat/Command Master Chief). Why am I still here? I have no place in the discussion that should be going on,." The COB jumped up and yelled, "Get to the chiefs quarters now, and wait for me!" I said, "Sure thing COB," and left.

The COB and I had it out later that day. It's been almost 16 years since I've spoken to John. I don't even know if they still use sailormail.