A Greene County resident will be one of 2,000 expected guests for the commissioning of a new submarine on Saturday, the USS Iowa. 

Randy Winkelman served in the US Navy as a submarine sailor and was stationed in Groton, Connecticut, where he says is the home of the largest submarine base in the world, and the location of the USS Iowa commissioning ceremony. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that he is excited to see his first trip to watch a submarine be commissioned in person. Winkelman shares his thoughts about why he wanted to attend the ceremony.

“Well I guess it was kind of a ‘no brainer.’ Now my brother is actually going to join me. He is also a submarine sailor. So we decided a couple of Iowa boys better go out and watch this momentous occasion. And he was actually on an earlier boat than I was, he was on a diesel powered boat and I was on a nuclear powered boat, which this new class will be nuclear powered as well.”

Being a submarine service veteran, Winkelman describes his passion for the service he gave before his time was up in the late 1980s.

“It’s just a way of life that every submariner will tell you, it’s a brotherhood unlike any other else. Most people think we’re crazy, which to some degree is true for even being in one. Every time you go out to sea, you just hope that every dive has an equal raise. If that number is not the same, there’s a problem.”

Winkelman adds that he gets to tour the new nuclear submarine ahead of the ceremony and is excited to see how technology and materials are used to build today’s submarines compared to when he served. He invites everyone to the watch party on Saturday morning at the Jefferson VFW Hall, with the doors opening at 7am and the ceremony to be broadcasted live at 9am. There will be free refreshments and other items that people can take home following the ceremony.