Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Super Nuke by Charles Cranston Jett


Blurb:

Super Nuke! describes what once was a carefully guarded secret—one of the most highly sophisticated, powerful and effective war machines ever designed by man—the first operational nuclear fast attack submarine specifically designed to “go up close and personal” against the Soviet Union in the Cold War—the Super Nuke!

The book takes you on entertaining journey about what it takes to become a nuclear-qualified submarine officer, the meticulous detail in building the Super Nuke, the first three super secret "special operations," and the successful efforts to communicate and share the lessons learned by this Super Nuke with the entire US Naval submarine force toward the collective effort of winning the Cold War.

This is a first-hand and eyewitness account of the highly classified and spooky world of the nuclear fast attack submarine—largely invisible to the general public throughout the Cold War. It should serve to motivate young people to consider the nuclear navy as a career, to share some of the lighter and darker moments in the history of nuclear submarines, and to properly credit the significant contributions of an amazing commanding officer as well as the highly competent officers and crew who quietly and effectively served their country with honor and dignity.

Super Nuke is not a “tell all.”  In fact, it has been cleared for publication by the United States Navy to share a story about service and contributions of a combination of money well-spent and individual competence of the highest caliber. Put simply and not so modestly, the US Naval nuclear submarine force—both ballistic missile and fast attack submarines—quietly won the Cold War!

About the Author:


Mr. Jett is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

He served in the United States Naval Nuclear Submarine Force where he created the nuclear attack submarine (SSN) predeployment training program for covert submarine operations, the tactical doctrine for the nuclear submarine electronic surveillance system (AN/WLR-6), and is the creator of the geographic plot (Geo Plot) for covert tracking of Soviet submarines from the SSN platform.

He has had fifteen years’ experience in the management consulting and executive recruiting world, where he participated in strategic planning, marketing, and organizational development engagements, and CEO and Board of Directors searches.

He has worked with corporate organizations in the area of critical skills identification and skill profiling to assist them in their corporate development programs as well as enabling them to target specific skill profiles for recruitment for entry level management positions.

He created the career management tool known as the “Doom Loop” which has become popularized as a highly useful tool for anticipating and addressing various “career crises” as well as enabling organizations and executive search professionals to assess the skill capabilities, potentials, and current situations of individuals in corporate environments.

He is the author of several publications including the magazine articles “Whatever Happened to Corporate Loyalty?” and “Critical Skills and the CEO”—both of which were published by Chief Executive Magazine and have become widely popular articles in the reprint world. He is also the author of two new books: Wanted: Critical Skills!! and Career Crises and the Doom Loop.

He is an accomplished speaker on the subject of Critical Skills having been featured by many of the nation’s top business schools (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Northwestern, Chicago, Michigan, etc.), as well as the American Psychological Association. He focused on skill development at the high school level and was featured in the US Department of Labor’s publication, Teaching the SCANS Competencies which was distributed nationwide. To facilitate high schools’ and training organizations’ ability to create and manage work-based learning programs to teach critical skills and the SCANS competencies, he created the software management tool known as “Coop2000®” and served as a national school-to-work technical assistance provider as well as a national workforce investment act technical assistance provider.

He is the author of Super Nuke!, WANTED: Eight Critical Skills You Need To Succeed, The Doom Loop, and Field Studies—all published by Outskirts Press.

Review:

As the former wife of a nuclear tech submarine sailor, I couldn’t resist Mr. Jett’s book. I found his explanations of the workings of the nuclear reactor and steam turbines a bit simplistic, but then I had heard them before in slightly more detail, although my ex-hubby never disclosed any classified information, nor was I ever allowed aft of Frame 57 (where the nuclear reactor and turbine were situated in a 637-class nuc Boat) on any of my visits aboard either the USS Pogy SSN 647 or the USS Sunfish SNN 649.

I did learn from Mr. Jett’s book, however. Between the fact that most of the Boat is submerged even when she’s in port and the finite perspective one has sitting in Crew’s Mess, I always thought Frame 57 was more or less amidships. I never realized a full two-thirds of the Boat was aft of “the forbidden frame.” I appreciated Mr. Jett’s praise of the enlisted men aboard the Ray. Not all officers take the time to listen to those who wear crows rather than gold and silver stripes. I also appreciated Mr. Jett’s comments about the special stamina of us submarine wives.

The other thing is, Mr. Jett obviously is not a professional writer. He uses way too many exclamation points. But, aside from that, I found his book both entertaining and informative. Although by their hull numbers I’m sure both of my ex’s boats were built before the Ray, Tim served in the early seventies—after the missions Mr. Jett talks about in Super Nuke! I’m sure when he qualified for his dolphins, Tim had to learn something about the programs Mr. Jett developed. The rest of the time Tim was aft of Frame 57 when he was on duty. Oh, and Mr. Jett—congratulations on getting Admiral Rickover to smile. Everyone was always terrified of him, as I recall.

Heat Rating:  G
Length:  241 Pages
Prices:
Print:  $15.89
Digital:  $2.99
Hardcover:  $27.04

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