SSN 680 Plan of the Day

Robert Burns, Scottish poet and lyricist, may have known something when he wrote those oft quoted words, “The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry!”. Those of us that served in the boats were more than aware that “no plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

So it should come as no surprise to you when I tell you we have to change the dates of REGROUPEX 20.

What!!! I can hear it now. I hope that nobody has purchased plane tickets that can’t be rescheduled, because believe me, if there was any other way to deal with this, I’d take it. But there’s not, or so it seems, so here we are.

It turns out that today’s Navy is not the Navy we left years ago. Today’s Navy doesn’t work weekends, at least when it comes to providing tours of in-port submarines. I recently got off the phone with the Kitsap Naval Base Public Affairs Office, and they politely reminded me that boat tours at Kitsap are only scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays! I understand the scheduling concerns, but I’m highly suspicious that the Saturday and Sunday duty sections just want to sleep in!

So, that means we have to adjust. To improvise, to adapt, to overcome.

After wrestling with the options and contingencies, the core dates for REGROUPEX 20 have been changed to Monday through Thursday, the 22nd through 25th of June, 2020. Why mid-week? Because the tour can only accommodate 35 visitors at a time, which means we will need two tours, and therefore two days, to allow all our shipmates and families to visit an active duty boat.

Now before you get your socks in a knot, or anything else, this isn’t your ordinary boat tour - this is an all day affair that involves a bus ride to and from the base, a bit of security paperwork, a visit to the Trident Training Facility on Delta pier, a tour of the Missile Maintenance Shop, a little time in the Control Simulator (full motion!), a tour of the Torpedo Maintenance Shop, a specially prepared lunch in the Base Dining Facility, and a two-hour Ohio-class submarine tour in groups of 4-5, as well as an opportunity to support the boat’s Rec Fund by shopping in their Ships Store.

So the change will be worth it. Much better than traveling to the Northeast and not having a boat tour at all. I’ll follow up with more details and and opportunity to reserve your spot on the boat tour list.

So update your calendar. The core dates will be June 22-25, 2020, with extra days available to tie into either weekend, and make sure your email and phone numbers are current on the website so we can keep you in the loop.

Stay tuned!