“There are two crews. “
Well Master Chief, that is true for boomers.
But for a conventional missile boat? It’s questionable.
SSNs have only one crew. Why not SSGNs?
I did not think non-boomer submarines had two crews. I blanched when I read that tour duration.
I would whine about a 6-8 month deployment during peacetime with port calls. Now I feel like a wuss.
But if true, Gen. Blather’s point is a good one. I hope to hell that isn’t true. If we were in a hot war, of course that would be a completely different thing.
After further review:
“We have demonstrated the versatility of SSGN [guided missile submarine] platform to operate anywhere at any time,” said the Florida’s Blue crew commanding officer, Captain Peter French. The submarine has Blue and Gold crews which alternate operating the boat.
Most likely because they are such a limited asset, and we need them underway. They are also converted SSBNs, so the Blue/Gold crew manning structure was already in place.