Simmons Says Sub Service Has Been Too Silent

Sep. 10–GROTON — U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District, told a packed gathering of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut on Friday that the nation’s submarine service needs to continue to educate Americans about its valuable role in national defense and homeland security.

“The Silent Service is all together too silent,” Simmons said. “It’s important to begin to highlight the critical importance of the Silent Service to our national security.”

Simmons said he recognizes that many of the submarine service’s roles are covert and cannot be discussed, but that too few Americans realize the commitment and dedication shown by submariners. He said there is a lack of understanding about the sophistication and capabilities of submarines.

Simmons, who was addressing several hundred business leaders and local officials during a chamber breakfast meeting at the Groton Inn & Suites, said the possibility that the Pentagon could have succeeded in shutting down the 90-year-old sub base showed more needs to be done to bolster the nation’s understanding of submarines.

“This is where we have the design and development of the best submarines in the world,” Simmons said of the sub base and the nearby Electric Boat submarine shipyard. “That is what was most at risk with this center of excellence.”

The Pentagon announced in May that it wanted to close the submarine base as part of its plan to close or consolidate more than 60 major bases and more than 700 smaller installations to save nearly $50 billion over the next two decades. But the independent Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission in late August voted 7-1 to overturn the Pentagon’s proposal and keep the base — and its 10,000-plus jobs — operating as usual.

Simmons told the chamber audience that many factors played a part in the decision to overrule the Pentagon’s plan, including letters of support from more than a dozen top Navy brass, a letter from former President Jimmy Carter as well as tours of the Groton facility by many of the base-closure commissioners, including its chairman, Anthony J. Principi.

“I am so pleased to be in a place that was, has been, and always will be the submarine capital of the world,” Simmons said to sustained applause.

He said the intensive months-long effort over the summer to win support for the base by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, the state’s congressional delegation and the local coalition, dubbed “Team Connecticut,” was critical to the base-closure commission’s vote.

“The reason we won was because we were a team — Team Connecticut was the dream team,” Simmons said.

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