Did that headline get your attention??? Well, it was a real headline in the Seattle Times on July 21, 1994.
Back in the days not long after the end of the Cold War, some people in the U.S. military were seriously thinking about eliminating “all eight of the Bangor-based submarines” and discontinuing purchases of Trident missiles (and who knows what else). One can only wonder how such a move might have changed history. Would the Chinese have pursued an aggressive program to build a fleet of ballistic missile submarines? Would Russia be rebuilding its fleet of ballistic missile subs?
Admiral Mike Boorda, who was Chief of Naval Operations at the time, was quoted in the article below regarding the review of strategic forces. Boorda said “These things [the Trident submarines and missiles] are not inexpensive and they affect our security in a very real way.” Indeed they do; in a very negative way.
Rather than wisely spending the huge Cold War dividend, we squandered it, and we have done so at our (and the entire world’s) peril.
As you read the following article, consider how such a decision (as was contemplated back in 1994) would have affected global disarmament and nonproliferation efforts.
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Navy May Mothball Sub Fleet At Bangor
Seattle Times Staff: Seattle Times News Services
Thursday, July 21, 1994
Pacific Northwest
BREMERTON – Top Pentagon officials are considering phasing out the Trident nuclear submarine fleet at Bangor starting in four or five years, according to Navy documents.
The Navy plan, which is under review but not approved, calls for eliminating all eight of the Bangor-based submarines within about 10 years as a response to the end of the Cold War.
A briefing paper provided to top planners at the Pentagon July 5 said top officials are considering the “probable removal of the (Trident) C-4 system in the late 1990s.”
The C-4 system is another name for the nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles carried by eight older Trident 1 submarines homeported at the Naval Submarine Base at Bangor on Hood Canal.
Trident submarines on the East Coast carry a newer missile dubbed the D-5, or Trident 2.
The Navy plan, dubbed “Alternative 1,” would also discontinue all Trident missile purchases after Sept. 30, 1995 – including the more accurate D-5, or Trident 2.
Admiral Mike Boorda, chief of naval operations, said a final decision on the fleet will be announced in the “fairly near future.”
“There is a serious review (of strategic forces) in the Department of Defense to look at what we have and what we need for the future,” Boorda said. “These things are not inexpensive and they affect our security in a very real way.”
Copyright (c) 1994 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.
Original Source URL:
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940721&slug=1921474
