Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go right to our KOA Commons Spirit Health hotline,
where I am so pleased to be joined by Commander
Justin Reeves. He is commanding officer of the USS Colorado
for the Navy ship nerds out there. That would be
SSN seven eighty eight, and that is a Virginia Class
(00:23):
fast attack submarine. And I just thought it would be
a lot of fun to have Commander Reeves on the
show because he's commanding a ship, a sub named after
our state, not the first Navy ship named after our state,
by the way, Commander Reeves.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Welcome to Kiowa.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I am the son of two US Navy officers, both
of both my parents, and it's a pleasure to have
you on the show.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yet there, can you hear me? You?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I hear you very well.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
No need to call me sir, although maybe difficult to
break you of that habit.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
You can call me Ross.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
It might be a little bit rotten. I've been in
the Navy for twenty two years. Uh huh. I got
the privilege to lead USS Colorado right now, and we
got a great relationship with the state and Colorado Association
since the ship was commissioned in twenty eighteen and so
they organized for us to come out to Colorado meet
(01:17):
with some of the local schools and talk about our
experience in the Navy and the Submarine Force, and meet
with some of the people who live in Colorado and
get to tell them what we do, since you know,
it's not every day you get to see someone from
the Navy out here. So I got myself, the chief
of the boat, and two of my high performing sailors
(01:38):
that got to visit the state and we're just loving
this trip. But I'm originally from Sterling, Virginia, near the
DC area, and like I said, twenty two years in
the Navy. This is my fourth submarine. I've served on
submarines in Pearl Harbor Banger, Washington, which is right out
(01:59):
of Seattle, and up in Kiddery, Maine, right at the
Maine New Hampshire border, doing a variety of missions, all
nuclear powered and just it's been a lot of fun.
I love every minuting of it. I joined the Navy
specifically to be in the Submarine Force. I was a
(02:20):
mechanical engineer in college and when the opportunity came up
to you know, operate nuclear actor and all the mechanical
components on a submarine. I kind of jumped on that.
That's kind of what got me excited about the Navy,
the fact that submarines are so cool. But really now
it's morphed and it's the people I get to work
(02:40):
with every day. Just phenomenal people that we recruit into
the Submarine Force, a bunch of guys that are down
there hard working every day to accomplish our mission. I
learned from them every day, you know. You know, even
though I've been in maybe twenty two years, there's always
something that they are teaching me. And so at this
(03:01):
point it's just a pleasure to serve with them and
see them excel while I'm in command, and you know
that is my goal, is to create an environment for
them to be as successful as possible.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So I won't I won't quiz you on history, but
you're probably already aware that your submarine is the fourth
Navy ship named Colorado, and, according to the Navy website,
the first since the battleship USS Colorado was decommissioned in
nineteen forty seven. So here's my one question for you.
(03:38):
How deep did you have to submerge to be able
to go underneath and then come up here in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, so, like you said, we are the fourth to
be named USS Colorado and that was one of the
great things we got to do was visit the USS
Colorado Battleship Memorial Adams, a regional park. That was a
great trip in a great park that they've got there. So,
like you kind of mentioned, you know, we can operate
(04:09):
depths of greater than eight hundred feet on speeds greater
than twenty five knots. USS Colorado was commissioned in twenty
eighteen and they were homeported in Groton, Connecticut, where they
did three deployments to the European Theater of operations, so
doing port calls in Norway, the UK, and Spain while
(04:33):
doing submarine operations in that area. And then in twenty
twenty four we did a Arctic transit, so we actually
traveled up the east coast and traveled under the ice.
The ship surfaced at the North Pole, so our submarines
have the capability to surface through the ice, so we
(04:54):
had about a foot of ice that we were able
to literally punch through. Give the crew some opportunity to say, hey,
I've been at the North Pole. A couple of them
brought some baseball bats and baseballs and played a little baseball.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
My gosh, and that's fabulous.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Let me jump in with a couple of questions because
we only have a couple of minutes left and I
have so many things I want to ask you, and
some of them would probably involve classified information, and you're
just going to say, I can't tell you that.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So let me ask you one that's not classified.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Did any did any of your crew go off the
submarine and walk on the North Pole?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yes, some of them had the opportunity to get down,
act did you that wanted to? So? Unfortunately, change of
command happened in last August. So okay, so the boat
got to Pearl Harbor, I took over, and I did
not get that opportunity. And that is one on my
submarine bucket list that I haven't got.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
For sure for sure. All right, So when you're doing
a run like that, this this will be a question
you might not be allowed to answer.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And that's fine.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
But when you're doing a run like that, is there
any part of it where a specific part of the
mission is to see can we go quietly enough around
here that the Russians don't know where we are?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
We don't necessarily exercise that, So that was just to
get from Rotten Connecticut to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. But stealth
is always a priority wherever we operate.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
So tell us a little and I've got about maybe
ninety seconds here, generalize just a little about the Virginia
class submarine, Colorado's Virginia Class, Right, yes, sir, Okay, give
give us just a few seconds on what's special about
the Virginia Class.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
So it's our newest fast attack submarine, lots of great technology,
nuclear powered. It brought some increased sensor and processing capability
compared to some of our previous submarines. We've got about
one hundred and fifty officers and sailors that go underway
at any time, and that nuclear power really gives us
(07:03):
a endurance and stealth. So I can remain submerged as
long as I've got food to feed the crew. I
can make my own oxygen, I can make my own water,
and I can do all the other things I need
to sustain the crew for an extended period of time,
which gives our nation a great advantage during strategic competence.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Okay, so I'm President of the bad analogy club. So
is the nuclear power sub Is nuclear powered sub quiet
compared to a diesel sub in a way that an
electric car is quiet compared to a gasoline or diesel
powered vehicle.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
They can be about the same. You know, we build
our submarines very well, so we're definitely some of the
stealthiest in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Very cool, Right, So tell us I've got time for
one one more question for you. What's been the most
fascinating memorable moment for you as the commander of the submarine.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
You know, again, it's really seeing the sailors succeed. Uh
So for us, we're repairing the submarine. That revolves shutting
down all our systems. So the crew has recently started
back restoring those systems. And every time the shipyard is
ready for us to do something, the crew is ready
(08:23):
to do it, they do it flawlessly. And right now
we're ahead of schedule, so we can get Colorado back
to see as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
That was That was a very team oriented answer, which
I would expect from a good commander. It wasn't real
necessarily the kind of story I was I was looking for,
but I but I appreciated any commander who you know,
cares about their crew that much. Who answers a question
that's designed to get a personal story and and makes
it about the crew. That probably is what makes you
(08:53):
a guy who deserves to command the USS Colorado, one
of our one of our most important ships on our navy.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
So so thank you, thank you very much. Commander. It's
Justin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
He commands the USS Colorado as a as a Navy
I didn't serve, but as a Navy brat and the
son of two US Navy officers, I'm I'm grateful for
everything you do and for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
All right, thank you very much, and you have a
good day. And like I said, it's great to be
here in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
All right, thanks for doing it.
Let's go right to our KOA Commons Spirit Health hotline,
where I am so pleased to be joined by Commander
Justin Reeves. He is commanding officer of the USS Colorado
for the Navy ship nerds out there. That would be
SSN seven eighty eight, and that is a Virginia Class
(00:23):
fast attack submarine. And I just thought it would be
a lot of fun to have Commander Reeves on the
show because he's commanding a ship, a sub named after
our state, not the first Navy ship named after our state,
by the way, Commander Reeves.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Welcome to Kiowa.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I am the son of two US Navy officers, both
of both my parents, and it's a pleasure to have
you on the show.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Yet there, can you hear me? You?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
I hear you very well.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
No need to call me sir, although maybe difficult to
break you of that habit.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
You can call me Ross.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
It might be a little bit rotten. I've been in
the Navy for twenty two years. Uh huh. I got
the privilege to lead USS Colorado right now, and we
got a great relationship with the state and Colorado Association
since the ship was commissioned in twenty eighteen and so
they organized for us to come out to Colorado meet
(01:17):
with some of the local schools and talk about our
experience in the Navy and the Submarine Force, and meet
with some of the people who live in Colorado and
get to tell them what we do, since you know,
it's not every day you get to see someone from
the Navy out here. So I got myself, the chief
of the boat, and two of my high performing sailors
(01:38):
that got to visit the state and we're just loving
this trip. But I'm originally from Sterling, Virginia, near the
DC area, and like I said, twenty two years in
the Navy. This is my fourth submarine. I've served on
submarines in Pearl Harbor Banger, Washington, which is right out
(01:59):
of Seattle, and up in Kiddery, Maine, right at the
Maine New Hampshire border, doing a variety of missions, all
nuclear powered and just it's been a lot of fun.
I love every minuting of it. I joined the Navy
specifically to be in the Submarine Force. I was a
(02:20):
mechanical engineer in college and when the opportunity came up
to you know, operate nuclear actor and all the mechanical
components on a submarine. I kind of jumped on that.
That's kind of what got me excited about the Navy,
the fact that submarines are so cool. But really now
it's morphed and it's the people I get to work
(02:40):
with every day. Just phenomenal people that we recruit into
the Submarine Force, a bunch of guys that are down
there hard working every day to accomplish our mission. I
learned from them every day, you know. You know, even
though I've been in maybe twenty two years, there's always
something that they are teaching me. And so at this
(03:01):
point it's just a pleasure to serve with them and
see them excel while I'm in command, and you know
that is my goal, is to create an environment for
them to be as successful as possible.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So I won't I won't quiz you on history, but
you're probably already aware that your submarine is the fourth
Navy ship named Colorado, and, according to the Navy website,
the first since the battleship USS Colorado was decommissioned in
nineteen forty seven. So here's my one question for you.
(03:38):
How deep did you have to submerge to be able
to go underneath and then come up here in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Yeah, so, like you said, we are the fourth to
be named USS Colorado and that was one of the
great things we got to do was visit the USS
Colorado Battleship Memorial Adams, a regional park. That was a
great trip in a great park that they've got there. So,
like you kind of mentioned, you know, we can operate
(04:09):
depths of greater than eight hundred feet on speeds greater
than twenty five knots. USS Colorado was commissioned in twenty
eighteen and they were homeported in Groton, Connecticut, where they
did three deployments to the European Theater of operations, so
doing port calls in Norway, the UK, and Spain while
(04:33):
doing submarine operations in that area. And then in twenty
twenty four we did a Arctic transit, so we actually
traveled up the east coast and traveled under the ice.
The ship surfaced at the North Pole, so our submarines
have the capability to surface through the ice, so we
(04:54):
had about a foot of ice that we were able
to literally punch through. Give the crew some opportunity to say, hey,
I've been at the North Pole. A couple of them
brought some baseball bats and baseballs and played a little baseball.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
My gosh, and that's fabulous.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Let me jump in with a couple of questions because
we only have a couple of minutes left and I
have so many things I want to ask you, and
some of them would probably involve classified information, and you're
just going to say, I can't tell you that.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So let me ask you one that's not classified.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Did any did any of your crew go off the
submarine and walk on the North Pole?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yes, some of them had the opportunity to get down,
act did you that wanted to? So? Unfortunately, change of
command happened in last August. So okay, so the boat
got to Pearl Harbor, I took over, and I did
not get that opportunity. And that is one on my
submarine bucket list that I haven't got.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
For sure for sure. All right, So when you're doing
a run like that, this this will be a question
you might not be allowed to answer.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And that's fine.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
But when you're doing a run like that, is there
any part of it where a specific part of the
mission is to see can we go quietly enough around
here that the Russians don't know where we are?
Speaker 3 (06:11):
We don't necessarily exercise that, So that was just to
get from Rotten Connecticut to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. But stealth
is always a priority wherever we operate.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
So tell us a little and I've got about maybe
ninety seconds here, generalize just a little about the Virginia
class submarine, Colorado's Virginia Class, Right, yes, sir, Okay, give
give us just a few seconds on what's special about
the Virginia Class.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
So it's our newest fast attack submarine, lots of great technology,
nuclear powered. It brought some increased sensor and processing capability
compared to some of our previous submarines. We've got about
one hundred and fifty officers and sailors that go underway
at any time, and that nuclear power really gives us
(07:03):
a endurance and stealth. So I can remain submerged as
long as I've got food to feed the crew. I
can make my own oxygen, I can make my own water,
and I can do all the other things I need
to sustain the crew for an extended period of time,
which gives our nation a great advantage during strategic competence.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Okay, so I'm President of the bad analogy club. So
is the nuclear power sub Is nuclear powered sub quiet
compared to a diesel sub in a way that an
electric car is quiet compared to a gasoline or diesel
powered vehicle.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
They can be about the same. You know, we build
our submarines very well, so we're definitely some of the
stealthiest in the world.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Very cool, Right, So tell us I've got time for
one one more question for you. What's been the most
fascinating memorable moment for you as the commander of the submarine.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
You know, again, it's really seeing the sailors succeed. Uh
So for us, we're repairing the submarine. That revolves shutting
down all our systems. So the crew has recently started
back restoring those systems. And every time the shipyard is
ready for us to do something, the crew is ready
(08:23):
to do it, they do it flawlessly. And right now
we're ahead of schedule, so we can get Colorado back
to see as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
That was That was a very team oriented answer, which
I would expect from a good commander. It wasn't real
necessarily the kind of story I was I was looking for,
but I but I appreciated any commander who you know,
cares about their crew that much. Who answers a question
that's designed to get a personal story and and makes
it about the crew. That probably is what makes you
(08:53):
a guy who deserves to command the USS Colorado, one
of our one of our most important ships on our navy.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
So so thank you, thank you very much. Commander. It's
Justin Reeves.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
He commands the USS Colorado as a as a Navy
I didn't serve, but as a Navy brat and the
son of two US Navy officers, I'm I'm grateful for
everything you do and for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
All right, thank you very much, and you have a
good day. And like I said, it's great to be
here in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
All right, thanks for doing it.
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