Jane's Defense magazine spokesman Paul Beaver criticized the proximity of civilians to the controls of the Greeneville last week. By all means take them to see a nuclear-powered submarine, but don't allow them to be in the control room. But the Navy denies that the men were actually in control of the emergency operation. In a press conference, Navy spokesman Pietropaoli told reporters that crewmen never relinquished control. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the investigation, it seems clear from preliminary reports that the Navy has procedures that are too loose in regard to civilian passengers.
Nuclear submarines are compact vessels with controls and perils spread throughout.
If the Navy is unable to control the movement of its passengers or the commanders of any vessel permit civilians to be in positions or areas that compromise the safe navigation of a ship or submarine, then it may have to reconsider permitting them aboard. The monument to these nine lives may be to restrict the Navy's operational capability to do these things. That's what the Navy may have to do to pay for the accident. Daryl Lindsey is associate editor of Salon News. The list of civilians aboard the USS Greeneville doesn't reveal a fundraising scandal, but it does underscore the link between money and access to power.