Saturday, February 24, 2001

By Donovan Brooks
Guam bureau chief

Donovan Brooks / Stars and Stripes Capt. Dick Corpus gets a kiss from his daughter, Alexis, following the reactivation ceremony of Submarine Squadron 15 on Friday aboard the submarine tender USS Frank Cable in Apra Harbor, Guam. Corpus will command the squadron.

APRA HARBOR, Guam — A Naval submarine squadron was re-established here Friday almost 20 years after it was deactivated.

When fully operational, Submarine Squadron FIFTEEN will increase the Navy submarine presence in the Western Pacific by 60 percent, Rear Adm. Joseph Krol, commander of Submarine Group SEVEN, said during a ceremony to reactivate the squadron.

Under sunny skies, about 150 guests witnessed the event, held aboard the Guam-based submarine tender USS Frank Cable.

By midsummer of 2002, the Los Angeles class attack submarines USS Corpus Christi and USS San Francisco will be based in Guam, Krol said. The Navy has said another yet-to-be-named sub will join the others in 2003.

The move will allow sailors to spend more time with their families, squadron commodore Capt. Dick Corpus said. About 1,400 additional sailors and their families will move to Guam.

From 1964 until 1981, the squadron saw 23 subs make almost 700 patrols from Guam, Krol said.

"In large part, the Cold War was won by [ballistic missile submarine] patrols from this beautiful island," Krol said.

The Navy decided to bring subs back to Guam after realizing it needed a common-sense solution to keeping enough subs operating in the Western Pacific, Krol said.

"The single overwhelming choice was Guam," Krol said.

The island is a great location that gives quick and easy operational access to the entire region, and Apra Harbor has world-class facilities that required no upgrading, he said.

But most importantly, Krol said, Guam enthusiastically supported to the plan.

"They rolled out the red carpet."

Corpus, who served as Krol’s chief of staff before assuming command of Squadron FIFTEEN, said Guam has outstanding facilities for family support, which is very important considering submarine sailors can spend half the year at sea.

The move places the subs in a strategic location.

Closer to potential adversaries, the subs can reach striking points much faster than subs based in Hawaii or California, Corpus said.

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