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Honolulu Lite
JUST a few days before the devastating collision between an American submarine and a Japanese fishing boat off Honolulu, I was aboard a Coast Guard rescue boat watching a helicopter practice picking up victims off the stern of our vessel. Civilians, submarines
dangerous mixOur little group of civilians was even allowed on the bridge, where the serious driving takes place, although we weren't actually allowed to take control of the craft.
Had our Coast Guard boat accidentally plowed into a fishing trawler while going through the practice rescues, I'm sure someone would have asked whether our presence on the bridge distracted the crew and contributed to the accident.
That is exactly what is happening now that we know civilians were not only present on the USS Greeneville when it smashed into the Ehime Maru but were actually sitting at some of the controls.
Ironically, the very Coast Guard vessel on which we were being given an orientation cruise took part in the rescue effort following the submarine collision days later.
Japan officials are outraged that civilians were allowed anywhere near the controls of a U.S. nuclear submarine. And, at first blush, it does seem a rather cavalier way to run a railroad. These submarines are heavily-armed, zillion-dollar pieces of complicated machinery. They are engaged in the serious business of protecting the country. During the Cold War you could get arrested for simply trying to take a photo of one of these bad boys.
But there are some good reasons why civilians are given rides on submarines, aircraft carriers, helicopters and jets. For one thing, it's great PR. The most famous civilian ride-along had to be when Sen. John Glenn hitched a ride on the space shuttle. Sure, they claimed that the elderly Glenn was researching that most serious problem: the effect of weightlessness on old codgers. But he really was just up there having a blast. The space program got lots of positive news coverage and NASA made at least one good contact in the U.S. Senate.
OTHER famous people have gone on civilian orientation excursions, including Tipper Gore, who was shown on CNN at the controls of the Greeneville in Hawaii several years ago. The wife of the vice president of the United States didn't crash the sub into a foreign fishing boat, so we were lucky there.
Members of the news media often are allowed fly with the Air Force's Blue Angels or camp out on the carrier USS Enterprise. I flew with the 25th Infantry from Hawaii to Washington State and actually took part in a practice invasion. During the trip, our plane refueled another one in the air. I sat in the control booth in the back of the plane, right next to the guy operating the refueling boom.
Landing the boom in the refueling puka on the nose of the other plane is tricky, not to mention hair-raising. I remember thinking at the time that it seemed rather irresponsible to let a clumsy guy like me get so close to two large aircraft going 400 miles per hour only a few yards apart. But I figured they knew what they were doing.
The Greeneville incident may lead to banning all civilians from orientation trips on military subs, boats and planes. That would be unfortunate. You have to remember: the military doesn't own these chunks of hardware, we do. It's important for the general public to understand exactly what these weapons are and how they are used. But it's a exceedingly bad idea to let us at the controls.
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to cmemminger@starbulletin.com.
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