Commanding Officers Look Back at Career Spanning Friendship

POLARIS POINT, Guam (NNS) -- The guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN 726) said goodbye to Apra Harbor after completing almost three weeks of maintenance by the submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40), May 6.

Aboard the Ohio, Commanding Officer Capt. George Norman also had to say goodbye to a friend and fellow graduate of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Frank Cable Commanding officer Capt. Pete Hildreth.

"We met at NROTC as freshman, but being a relatively large class, more than 60, we didn't really get to know each other until later in our freshman year when we both joined the same fraternity - Phi Gamma Delta," said Norman. "We are both charter members of the Tau Nu chapter."

Both graduated from RPI with a Bachelor of Science with a major in engineering. Capt. Norman received a degree in Electrical Engineering and Capt. Hildreth received his degree in Materials Engineering.

"I found Materials Engineering to be an interesting degree and it didn't require as much math as Electrical Engineering," Hildreth said. "A degree at RPI was great preparation for the Naval Nuclear Power Program and it has served me well professionally."

After graduation, both men attended Nuclear Power School and Prototype, where they shared a house with another RPI fraternity brother. Afterwards their careers took them to different places, and according to Capt. Norman, the two men have mostly been on opposite coasts. However, that didn't stop them from continuing their friendship for the past 25 years.

"Whenever we can, we try to see each other and each other's family," said Norman. I've seen Pete while traveling to Hawaii and Pete has seen me while in Washington D.C. Pete and his family attended my change of command in Maine; so it is definitely more than a casual acquaintance."

Capt. Hildreth said that it was easy for them to stay in touch through the years, using both their fraternities and the submarine force since there were not a lot of submarine officers in their year group.
Throughout their career spanning friendship both men attribute a lot of their success to hard work and dedication they had during their studies at RPI. According to Hildreth it was also great preparation for future successes.

"Good study habits are essential; it is good to develop the discipline in High School or your freshman year," said Hildreth. It is competitive, and if you're not disciplined in getting your work done, you probably won't be successful. A friendship spanning 25 years, Capt. Hildreth and Capt. Norman finally got an opportunity to share old memories and create new ones for the Sailors of Frank Cable and Ohio.

For more news from USS Frank Cable (AS 40), visit www.navy.mil/local/as40/.