A contingent of Burr Ridge residents got the chance to see the newest U.S. Navy submarine put into action.
“It was a big deal. It was quite a rewarding and heart-warming experience to see our military guys out there,” said retired Naval officer and Burr Ridge resident Dale Bottom. “I am proud of them and proud of our country.”
Last month’s commissioning of the USS Illinois submarine — as any Navy commissioning or christening — was financed through private donations. A friend of Bottom’s, a Peoria doctor, was one of the benefactors and invited the retired Naval officer to the commissioning at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn.
Bottom, 84, took an extra ticket and offered it to Burr Ridge Mayor Mickey Straub.
“Mickey is a very patriotic guy,” said Bottom, who supported Straub’s mayoral campaign including having meet-and-greets at his home. “Mickey is very supportive of veterans and our country.”
Straub said he was thrilled to get the opportunity to see the newest Naval vessel put into action.
“It was the chance of a lifetime,” Straub said. “I was humbled and excited to be there. I was a bit intimidated by the sheer responsibility of what (the Navy personnel) do and what they are in charge of.”
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Straub and Bottom also got the opportunity to tour the $2.7 billion vessel. The mayor said the enormity of seeing a sub put into commission was not lost on him.
“They only build one or two a year to replace ones already out there,” Straub said. “It was like Xbox with all the joysticks and buttons.”
Bottom said it was impressive to see how they put more than 130 seamen, as well as their rations and all the latest technology, in a boat the length of a football field.
“It’s a remarkable piece of machinery … I can’t believe all the equipment it has and how they made it fit,” Bottom said. “They have to house 134 people, missiles, all the food for the people providing them three meals a day. That’s a lot of hamburgers and hot dogs. They have to create their own oxygen. There is no periscope. It is not needed with all the electronics. They can see where they are going.”
Burr Ridge residents Bill and Leslie Hickey were also on hand for the commissioning, as was first lady Michelle Obama.
Bottom was originally commissioned with the Air Force, spending time in strategic air command. He later moved to the Naval air reserves, spending a total of 20 years in the military.
He noted that it is fitting that nearly every member of the USS Illinois has a connection with the Land of Lincoln.
“Except for one or two senior chiefs, all members of the 134-man crew come from Great Lakes,” the only boot camp left in the Navy, Bottom said.
He said some people may question why an inland base is handling Naval training.
“Eighty percent of all recruits are within a 500-mile radius of Chicago,” the retired Naval officer said. “It’s a big population area.”
He said technology is so good that simulators have trainees depart from one harbor, go out on patrol, conduct a battle mission, and arrive at a different harbor, all without living the classroom.
“The simulators are so realistic you could be in the desert and simulate Naval activity,” Bottom said.
Bottom said he is proud to have served in the military from 1954-77, with three years off for graduate school. He said serving in the strategic air command during the Cold War was a stressful time.
“People forget how tense those times were,” Bottom said. “They do not remember kids ducking under their desks during air raid drills.”
He remembers being stationed off the coast of northern Africa and conducting drills every day or every other day with the Russian city of Kiev the target of the 20 megaton nuclear weapon on board.
“We would sit there on alert, ready to go,” Bottom said. “Thankfully for the world we never got word to act.”
Kevin Beese is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press