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As we know that our Government is concerned about foreign currency, which should come to India by exporting good quality of goods in order to improve our economy. But due to the heavy custom duties Exporters have to pay on the Capital machinery imported for the production requirements, they usually compromise with the quality of the goods. The higher the price of the Machinery used, the higher was the custom duty and this functionality started affecting the competitiveness & quality of the manufacturing process, and thus thereby decreasing exports from India.To overcome this situation the Government of India came up with the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG scheme) where it was allowed to import capital goods at zero customs duty ie duty-free import for producing high-quality goods and services. And the only condition associated with the scheme was to export finished goods produced from imported machinery under EPCG License worth 6 times of actual duty saved within a period of 6 years from the license issued. This is known as Export obligation (EO) under EPCG Scheme. The main goal of the EPCG Scheme is to improve India’s competitiveness in the manufacturing sector.Watch this short introductory video on the EPCG Scheme; which explains the complex concept of EPCG in an easy to understand manner. It Explains What is EPCG Scheme and its application process; details about Export obligation & Redemption of EPCG License; entire summary and step by step procedures involved in the EPCG scheme.Types of Capital Goods that can be imported- The Capital Goods may be used for production, pre-production & post-production stages of finished goods.Goods include refrigeration equipment, power generating sets, packaging machinery and equipment, machine tools, equipment and instruments for testing, research and development, quality and pollution control.It may be for use in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, aquaculture, animal husbandry, floriculture, horticulture, pisciculture, poultry, agriculture, and viticulture as well as for use in the services sector.Capital Goods also include Computer systems and software, Spares, molds, dies, jigs, fixtures, tools & refractories and Catalysts for initial charge plus one subsequent charge.Eligibility: EPCG License can be issued to the following category of Exporters:Manufacturer Exporter.Merchant Exporter with a supporting manufacturer.Service Provider (who is exporting services) For Example. Hotel Industry.Export Obligation (EO) under EPCG Scheme:Export Obligation can be completed by Direct Export, Supply to SEZ Units, Deemed Exports (i.e. Supply to EOU, STP, BHTP, EHTP Units), etc.The time period to complete Specific Export Obligation is 6 years form the EPCG License issuance date.Export Obligation is of two types and details are as below:Kindly Note : “If EPCG Authorisation holder has fulfilled 75% or more of specific export obligation and 100% of Average Export Obligation, in half or less than half of the export obligation period, remaining export obligation shall be condoned and the Authorisation can be redeemed by RA.”I hope you have come to know about EPCG Scheme but to know more let's have an example:My company name is M/s. ABC and my company want to Import - Tufting Machine which is used to bind Toothbrush handle with Bristles. Therefore our Export product is “Toothbrushes”. Now we will go step by stepWe will gather all the documents which are required ie. To calculate average export obligation, we will require an average of preceding three financial years of the export product (same or similar) which is to be mentioned in the license, Valid RCMC with the export product mentioned, IEC (mandatory), MSME/SSI/Industrial license, copy of GST, Certificate from Status House (If applicable).Before proceeding with online application, we need to confirm that all export products with their ITCHS Code will be generated from the Imported Capital Goods.Now we will calculate duty saved amount i.e. the amount we will save if we apply for EPCG License.As per the above table it can be seen that the duty saved amount will be Rs. 776530. Therefore the Specific export obligation will be 776530 X 6 = Rs. 46,59,180 to be completed in six years.Now suppose we had an average export of 1 Cr in the last three years for our export product “Toothbrush”. Then Average export obligation will be Rs. 1 Cr [for each year] to be maintained over and above the specific export obligation until the specific export obligation is completed.Considering the EO in mind, Now we will proceed with the online application, and also uploading suitable documents as mentioned in the Sr. no. 1.Within 10–15 days we will get the EPCG license from DGFT.Once License received we need to register at Customs and execute a bond or bank guarantee.After registration of license at customs, we will import and install the capital goods in the registered address and generate the Installation Certificate from Independent Chartered Engineer and submit the original copy in DGFT RA and will receive an acknowledgement from the same.Complete both the export obligation in 6 years and submit the documents for redemption/Closure and get the Redemption Certificate.Once you receive Redemption Certificate from DGFT, submit the copy to customs and cancel the bond or bank guarantee.To get complete details about the procedure to apply for EPCG Scheme, Kindly refer our Article on “EPCG License Procedure - How to obtain and close an EPCG License”Afleo Consultants is a one-stop solution for all your DGFT related needs, where you can find all the solutions to your query. We are India’s No. 1 DGFT Consultants, that provide services like EPCG, SEIS, MEIS, Advance Authorisation- issuance and redemption, DFIA, RoDTEP, RoSCTL, TMA Scheme, etc. Get in touch for more details.Please share your thoughts about the answer in the comments section.

“Guardians from Hell” is a term coined by Tablet Magazine regarding “The completely legal, utterly grotesque system for undermining the rights of the elderly.”Tablet Magazine caters to stories about Jewish life. For Jews, predatory guardianship, in which a person loses all of his or her civil rights, bank accounts, properties, and is placed in a nursing home against his or her will, is particularly scary — a reminder of what transpired in Nazi Germany.The latest Guardianship Nightmare story was published in The Tablet on June 21, 2018. Here it is: (I have written extensively about the guardianship nightmare. Please read my other posts about this topic.)******By Gretchen Rachel HammondAt 92-years-old,Virginia Jean Wahab hadn’t lost any of the vitality and health she maintained throughout her life. She raised two daughters as a single mom and made a home for them in the Detroit, Michigan suburb of Oak Park. Wahab worked on her feet and didn’t retire from her job at a local family restaurant until she was 88.Fiercely independent, Wahab was quite happy living at home after retirement. She had a healthy social life. She did her own grocery shopping and chores. She so rarely needed to pay a visit to a hospital that her health insurance was barely touched.Her eldest daughter Mimi Brun converted to Judaism at the age of 18. She went on to become a prolific Jewish artist, who sold her work all over the world. In 2010, she began to establish art schools for children under 12 in France and then Chicago. Although Brun was estranged from her younger sister, she and her mother were extremely close. Wahab was Catholic, but Brun noted that she had the fastidious nature of a Jewish mother.Wahab’s legal affairs were in order including a durable power of attorney she had signed in January, 2016 which named Brun as a patient advocate (the handler of her medical needs) as well as giving her daughter charge of her financial affairs should she ever become incapacitated. Wahab’s home was also registered in Brun’s name in a quit claim deed signed by Wahab on December 29, 2014.The two talked on the phone every day. Brun particularly relished visits with her mother during which she would gift her a piece of art. Wahab was an eager collector of Brun’s work.That was two years ago. Everything has changed since then.In 2016, after a fall at her home, Wahab was diagnosed with a slight cognitive problem but otherwise deemed healthy. Wahab’s doctor recommended that Brun find her a short-term rehab facility.“I looked for a Jewish one,” Brun said. “They were all full. I found Lourdes because it had a five-star reputation.”On February 23, that year, with the approval of her HMO, Wahab was admitted for short-term rehabilitation at Lourdes Senior Community in Waterford, Michigan—a nonprofit elder care facility founded by Dominican nuns in 1948. According to the organization’s 2016 I-990s, Lourdes listed end of year assets of $22,096,166.00. Expenses totaled $14,476,851.00Brun said she made her mother’s meals and went to each of her physical and occupational therapy sessions.“The insurance granted her up to 120 days,” Brun remembered. “She was excelling like a champ but the therapist at Lourdes started telling me she suspected Mom should not live alone. Mom and I decided that I was going to go back to France and Chicago, put my businesses on hold, rent out my homes and move my work and studio to Mom’s. It was what she had dreamed about—to spend the end of her life living with me.”Brun left for France, placing her aunt and sister in charge of caring for Wahab while she was in rehab.“I called Lourdes every day,” Brun said. “Then the insurance cut off.”Brun asserted that she spoke to Lourdes social worker Sara Van Acker and pledged that she would enter into a payment plan. Shortly thereafter, however, she received an email from a Lourdes administrator which stated “Your payment plan with Sara Van Acker was not approved by me. I cannot receive partial payment nor be patient for your payment plan time frame.”On June 6, Lourdes filed a petition for guardianship on the grounds of a $31,416.65 past-due bill. Brun said that the petition notice was sent to an address that was not hers. The petition shows that the address used to serve Brun belongs to an apartment complex in Harper Woods Michigan—one hour’s drive from Lourdes and 30 minutes from Oak Park. On the address, no apartment number is listed. It is also not the address listed on the Power of Attorney paperwork Brun says she provided to Lourdes.Brun rushed back to Michigan. On the morning of June 29, 2016, she attended a hearing presided over by Oakland County Probate Judge Linda Hallmark, one of four judges serving there. Hallmark vacated Wahab’s power of attorney and appointed a local attorney Jon Munger as Wahab’s guardian. According to Brun, neither she nor her mother ever requested Munger’s services.Also appointed by the court was a man named Matthew Jason Brown, another local lawyer. Brown was named as Wahab’s guardian ad litem (GAL)—a person entrusted with investigating what course of action is in the best interest of a person unable to care for themselves. The June 29 hearing was also attended by two representatives from Lourdes: Van Acker and Lisa Hibbert from the organization’s accounts receivable department.According to court transcripts from that morning, Van Acker stated that she had filed the petition for guardianship because “there’s a concern about the nursing home being paid.”Brown wanted to know if an application for Medicare benefits for Wahab had been made.“Not to my knowledge,” Van Acker replied.“Are you familiar with [Wahab’s] medical condition?” Brown wondered, to which Van Acker answered “slightly.”When Brown asked Brun if she had any objection to the petition, Brun replied “I am contesting this hearing because I was not served. I’ve had no time to get a lawyer.”“Well, you’re here Ma’am,” Hallmark replied, “and it’s a guardianship so there is some urgency about it, so we’re going to proceed.”When Brun protested that she had been appointed as Wahab’s guardian through a power of attorney, Hallmark quickly rebuked her.“That’s different than an appointment by the court,” Hallmark said. “Has any court appointed you guardian?”“No, but I haven’t applied for it yet,” Brun replied. “I’d like to petition for it, but I need time.”Hallmark did not respond to this request.In delivering his report to the court, Brown went on to state that he had visited Wahab at Lourdes only two days earlier. During that visit, he said, he “explained to Wahab her rights and gave her a copy of [the petition].”“She didn’t have any objection to the appointment of a public administrator at that time,” he added. “But I would note that she was not oriented to date, time, and place.”Brown also stated that he “went over [Wahab’s] medical condition with Ms. Van Acker and she went over with me sheets that said she was suffering from dementia, unspecified lack of coordination, osteoarthritis, two…type two diabetes, muscle weakness and hypertension.”Transcripts from that day indicate that Hallmark never asked for medical reports to prove Brown’s assertions.Brun told Hallmark that she had witnesses who would speak on her and Wahab’s behalf. Those witnesses, however, were never called.“My Mom needs love,” Brun went on to tell Hallmark. “No one loves my Mom more than me. When I asked my mom ‘what’s your greatest desire?’ she said ‘I want to go home. I want to go home with you.’”“I want to take her home,” Brun begged Hallmark.“I’m going to grant the petition,” Hallmark said. “I would like to appoint Mr. Munger [as guardian]. If he thinks that an independent medical or some other action is required that’s fine. I’m also going to appoint [Munger] as special fiduciary to make sure we have the Medicaid application on track. I’ll revoke the power of attorney today. If it’s appropriate that [Brun] should serve, if you want to get counsel and bring the matter in, we’ll consider that.”“She hasn’t lost any of her rights…” Hallmark added, speaking of Wahab. “She has a guardian and it’s Mr. Munger…”Brun made one last desperate plea. “Is there a reason why?”“Yes,” Hallmark replied. “Because she’s in need of a guardian and I’m appointing Mr. Munger. That’s why.”Hallmark never mentioned the grounds by which she was revoking the power of attorney.The court adjourned.Brun’s fight to have her mom released from Lourdes would eventually result in Hallmark issuing an injunction restraining her from entering Lourdes premises, denial of her visitation rights (even when chaperoned by a nun and a locally renowned, retired judge) and a bench warrant from Hallmark’s court for Brun’s arrest.Two days after Munger had been assigned, Brun received an email from his office which stated “It will be necessary to close [Wahab’s] bank accounts and locate all assets in order to apply for Medicaid. I understand that there is at least one account at ****** Bank with both of your names on it. It would be more efficient if you cooperate with the closing of the account(s). I will need proof of closure for the Medicaid application. I will then open a guardianship account at ******** for your mother, pay her bills, and apply for Medicaid.”Even though Wahab was originally admitted for a short-term rehab at Lourdes, on July 1, 2016, according to his own accounting, Munger completed a long-term medical assistance application that entitled Lourdes to three months of retroactive disbursement, faxing the application to Michigan State’s Department of Human Services. Five days later, Munger completed and mailed another admissions packet to Lourdes for Wahab.A July 17, 2016 affidavit, signed by Wahab and filed in court, read “I want to go home with my daughter Mimi.”On August 15, 2016 Brun’s then-attorney sent a letter to Lourdes CEO Sr. Maureen Comer stating “Ms. Brun has not and has never been opposed to negotiating the payment of the outstanding bill. Ms. Brun has made arrangements to take Ms. Wahab home and Ms. Wahab has even signed an affidavit stating she wants to return home.”Two days later, Brun, her attorney and Lourdes received an email from Munger which stated that he was clarifying “for both Lourdes and for yourself, that I am not authorizing either Mimi Brun or yourself to discuss, negotiate or otherwise become involved in any potential discharge plan nor payment.”Munger also went on to say “there have already been repeated complaints about your client’s behavior while at Lourdes facility. I have not yet taken full steps to curtail your client’s visitation, but we may need to revisit that issue.”In a subsequent series of emails Brun’s then-attorney called Munger’s actions “highly inappropriate. You are needlessly dragging on this litigation so you can keep billing and billing.”Munger replied “You and your client will cease any communication with Lourdes administration or management. Your failure to abide by this requirement will simply force me to place the matter before Judge Hallmark, where I will ask that both you and your client be sanctioned for this grossly unprofessional, abusive and threatening behavior. I simply will not allow either of you to interfere with Virginia’s care.”On August 18, 2016, Munger billed Wahab $245 for his drafting “of a petition to limit visitation.”An email that day from Munger to Brun’s attorney stated that it was “due to your attempts to pay Lourdes.” It makes no mention of any complaints about Brun’s behavior.Because he was Wahab’s guardian, Munger was legally permitted to bill his ward for any work on her behalf. A 2017 statement of other fees and services billed to Wahab by Munger and Associates shows that in little over a three-month span, Munger billed Wahab a total of $6,097.00 in fees and services.Brun filed an emergency petition to have Wahab released from Lourdes. In an October 5 hearing in Hallmark’s courtroom, Munger was represented by attorney Joseph Ehrlich.Munger billed Wahab $450 to “attend hearing on court motions and “[a] conference with judicial staff attorney.”Following the hearing, Ehrlich secured an order from Hallmark compelling Brun to pay $25,000 to Lourdes and gave her 25 days to come up with the cash.Brun told me that, because it did not include the provision for her mother to be released, she refused to pay it.A subsequent motion Brun filed to vacate the order stated that “upon review of the transcript of this hearing, at no point did Brun ever agree to pay $25,000 to Lourdes. It does not comport with the settlement placed on record.”Lourdes retained attorney Mary Lyneis to represent them.A November 2016 letter from Lyneis to Brun accused her of violating “Court Orders entered into the Probate Court.”While it did not mention which of those orders Brun was supposed to have violated, it went on to accuse her of “Threatening conduct toward the staff at Lourdes. In addition, you upset your mother with unfounded allegations the staff at Lourdes. As a result, you are hereby notified that you are no longer permitted on the premises. Should you attempt to enter the premises, appropriate law enforcement will be contacted.”The letter offered no evidence of any court order sanctioning a decision to bar Brun from the premises.In a February 2, 2017 email, Lyneis told Brun “We want to be paid. You cannot expect to show up to see your mother when you have not paid for the privilege and you have disappeared since November.”A subsequent email from Munger to Brun stated “If you want to visit your mother and or even remain in contact with her, you would be better served by complying with the existing court order than by continuing to harass everyone trying to see your mother. In particular, pay the $25,000.”Concerned about being able to pay her legal fees, Brun sold her and her mother’s home to Michigan banker Bradley Silverstein on the proviso that he draft a lease for her and Wahab to live there. A lease with that condition was drafted on February 28, 2017.Two days later on March 1, 2017, Ehrlich, Lyneis, and Munger appeared before Hallmark and asked for a series of ex parte orders against Brun.Ex parte orders are issued without the presence of or even notification of the parties it affects. Since due process is Constitutionally guaranteed, these orders are supposed to be temporary while allowing ample room for them to be contested.Brun was not present at the hearing when the ex parte orders were issued. At the time, with the support of her doctor and with his medical order in the court file, she had requested a two-month medical leave from the court.Hallmark also issued a permanent injunction against Brun restraining her from entering Lourdes premises, and a bench warrant for arrest alleging that her refusal to pay the $25,000.00 was in contempt of court.Regardless, Munger and Ehrlich requested that the house be transferred back to Wahab’s name “and then [to] permit Jon Munger to sell the house in order to pay for her care, so that [Wahab] would then qualify for needs-based benefits.” The court issued this order on June 28, 2016.Brun told me that, in the months that followed, Munger attempted to force his way into the house. On August 8, 2017, she filed a police report, complaining that Munger had attempted to enter the house on three separate occasions.When Brun replied that she had never received such an order, Munger wrote “A hearing was held on June 21 in front of Judge Linda Hallmark, and you received notice of that. I have every legal right to enter your mother’s home, and I have done so.”A June 30 email from Munger to Brun read “As you are aware, Judge Hallmark entered an order in the eviction case requiring you to vacate your mother’s home by Wednesday, June 28th 2017. I went to the home with several others on the following day, June 29th, and it was apparent that no one was residing in the home. Accordingly, we had the locks changed and the home secured. Upon our entry into the home, it was apparent that you had left a great deal of valuable personal property behind, including artwork. We deem this to be abandoned property under the law. For the time being, we are holding that personal property and artwork as security for repayment of the $25,000 you were ordered to pay on October 5.”Brun has filed criminal police reports for larceny home invasion and theft against Munger with the Oak Park Police. The police took no subsequent action.On August 30, Munger billed Wahab $245 for “a hearing to set aside deed” and $119 for calls to the real estate agent and the locksmith.Brun said she was not present at any such hearing.Brun’s attorney Phillip Strehle would later tell Hallmark “In October ’16 [Munger] filed a forwarding address card with the post office which has Mimi’s name on top and Munger’s address on it. So, he already knew, as of October ’16, that whatever mail he sent to the house, she would never get, because he sent it to himself. Mr. Ehrlich told me out in the hall that the order of August 30 was entered because it was uncontested. There’s a reason why it was uncontested; because Ms. Brun was not properly served.”Brun finally got a break in October 2017 when attorney Lisa Orlando became Wahab’s new Guardian ad Litem.In two reports Orlando submitted to Hallmark in 2018, she wrote “I visited [Wahab] at Lourdes Senior Community first on November 16, 2017 and then again more recently, on February 28, 2018, at which time I again served her a copy of the petition, notice of hearing and the order appointing a Guardian ad Litem. I don’t believe that Virginia was able to understand the information being presented, however she did clearly say that she did not want to go to court. I then asked her if she wanted Mimi to be her guardian and she said ‘of course!’”“In the opinion of this GAL, it is Virginia Wahab a 94-year-old woman, who is paying the price of these ongoing legal disputes and suffering harm by not being able to see her daughter for more than 17 months,” Orlando added. “To isolate and prohibit an aging Mother from seeing her daughter is heartbreaking to this GAL. Mimi Brun has priority under the statute and is Virginia’s choice to be her Guardian.”An affidavit signed by Wahab’s sister Sr. Helen Essa reads “Mimi is a devoted daughter and attended to every detail of her mother’s care not ever putting her own needs first. I know how desperate my sister is to go home with Mimi and have Mimi care for her. I pray, as we all do, that my sister will not die in a nursing home.”In concluding her report, Orlando cited Michigan statutes.“Under MCL 700.5313(3)(b), [Brun] has priority over a professional guardian,” she wrote. “’If suitable and willing to serve as guardian, the court shall appoint, an adult child of the legally incapacitated individual.’” Under MCL 700.5313(2)(b), [Brun] is Virginia’s choice to serve as her guardian. I discovered no clear and convincing evidence why the Petition should not be granted.”Yet, Munger still remains as the sole guardian for Wahab who is still at Lourdes. Despite her best hopes, Brun has yet to see her and bring her homeThe question remains as to why the Oakland County Probate Court effectively became a debt collector for a nursing facility and why the now 95-year-old Wahab is still held there despite her own Guardian ad Litem opinion that Brun replace Munger as guardian and family members’ pleas to Hallmark that Wahab be allowed to go home with her daughter.On May 25, 2018 Hallmark vacated the order to pay $25,000.00. Hallmark also found Brun not guilty of contempt of court.Brun does not believe the petitions she filed in October to have Munger removed as guardian will even be heard until July.“I have been offering to pay Lourdes the money to let my mother go but Munger refuses to accept my working with the facility,” she said. “I promised Mom that her last chapter would be her best. But I think my mom will die before Munger ever lets her go.”Strehle, who has been Brun’s attorney since October, 2017, told me that he felt the entire case against Brun was “bizarre.”“The transcript of June 29, 2016 does not comply with the statute or the court rules,” he said. “There’s not a single bit of evidence to support even the creation of a guardianship; not one iota of evidence.”He added that for a nursing home to present a petition for guardianship based on a past-due bill is something “I’ve never seen in all my years of doing probate. Ever.”In the [June 29, 2016] transcript, the guardian ad litem [Brown] is the one that’s asking the questions,” he added. “Not Munger. Not an attorney for Lourdes. That’s even more bizarre. Usually, the person asking the questions is the petitioner not the guardian at litem. The court grated it because of an overdue bill. That’s not a basis for getting even a limited guardianship.”Strehle also addressed the March 1, 2017 subsequent bench warrant and injunction issued against Brun.“In my view, the bench warrant against Mimi was entered improperly because of the $25,000 provision which the court recently vacated,” he said in an interview with me. “In her petition Lyneis was seeking a restraining order against Mimi. A restraining order lapses on its own in 14 days. That’s not what she got. The court granted her a broad injunction. Lyneis had a huge burden of proof to get the restraining order. After that, she was supposed to notify us of a hearing within 14 days. She didn’t do that. It was based on no evidence whatsoever.”“After all this time, I still have not seen any evidence to support [Munger’s] guardianship,” he concluded. “I have emails from Lourdes saying ‘we don’t want [Wahab] here.’”“Twice on the record now in open court Ehrlich has said he wants to get the house to pay fees,” [referring to both his and Munger’s legal fees]. “I don’t see how that’s a basis for keeping this poor woman in this location, isolated, with no visitation. I’ve never seen it before in 31 years of doing this.”I reached out to both Lourdes CEO Sr. Maureen Comer and Lyneis. In a series of email responses, Lyneis requested my “credentials” in the form of a “CV”. When I refused to provide her with a resume, Lyneis declined to confirm or deny any of the emails or statements on court transcripts made by her or Lourdes staff members. She also refused to answer a long list of questions pertaining to everything from Wahab’s initial medical diagnosis to why a petition for guardianship was filed over a past-due bill.I also reached out to Hallmark via email and telephone and was told by a staff member in her office that, since she had not responded to my email, it was an indication that she had no comment.An Oakland County Probate Court Administrator later replied, “In the interest of fairness to those involved, it is this court’s policy not to comment on pending litigation.”Wahab’s first GAL, Brown, however, did respond. “As I stated in my report, Ms. Wahab consented to the guardianship,” he wrote. “I also felt, after interviewing Ms. Wahab, that she needed a guardian to be appointed. The information regarding the medicals was given to me by the nursing home regarding Ms. Wahab’s medical condition and are consistent with my report and testimony.”This is not a story drawn from a dystopian fantasy. It is happening today all over America, where Probate Courts employ an exponentially growing network of professional, for-profit guardians.I talked at length to six other families—in Michigan, Arizona, New York and Illinois respectively about their experiences with predatory guardians; some are court appointed professionals, others are family members granted leave by Probate Courts to cut their siblings out of a ward’s life.The tapestry of each story was as complicated as it was heartbreaking. Each narrator pulled on the memory of each thread of that tapestry and found tears, despair, rage and frustration behind it.In October, 2017 WXYZ television in Lansing, Michigan launched an investigation into the Oakland County Probate Court and its court appointed guardians Barbara Andruccioli and Thomas Brennan Frasier whom a family member accused of neglecting and financially exploiting her parents Lorrie and Sandy Kapp.Andruccioli and Brennan have yet to respond to these allegations.The Oakland County Probate Court judge in the case, Daniel A. O’Brien, issued an ex parte order denying WXYZ the ability to show the Kapp’s faces.Andruccioli was subsequently fired as a public administrator and has become part of a still ongoing criminal investigation by both the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Sherriff’s office yet she still remains conservator and guardian for cases at the Oakland County Probate Court.According to court documents from the Michigan Court of Appeals, in 2011, Hallmark appointed Munger as guardian to Angela M. Robinson who had been declared legally incapacitated. In 2012, her parents Remo and Marie Marzella petitioned Hallmark to remove Munger as guardian and transfer her to their care. They claimed Munger “had not investigated Angela’s best interests or made proper decisions regarding her future care.”Following an evidentiary hearing, Hallmark denied the petition.“I am not going to remove Mr. Munger at this point,” she said. “I don’t find that Mr. Munger did anything wrong.”In a subsequent 2014 lawsuit, the Marzellas accused Munger of committing legal malpractice. Among the complaint’s allegations, Munger “failed to investigate and ascertain Angela’s best interests with respect to her living arrangements, advocated for Angela to live in an institution instead of with her family” and “failed to foster Angela’s family relationships and family involvement in her care and life.”“Angela and her special needs trust were subsequently shorted and she and her family suffered economic and non-economic damages,” the complaint added.Munger claimed that, because Hallmark had already ruled he “did nothing wrong” during the petition for his removal, the Marzellas were barred by “collateral estoppel” (preventing an issue from being relitigated.)In 2016, the Michigan Court of Appeals found that “no discovery was even conducted before [the evidentiary] hearing. Simply stated, the probate court’s decision not to remove Munger as Angela’s guardian was not tantamount to a finding that Munger did not commit legal malpractice or breach fiduciary duties owed to Angela.”It concluded that the Marzellas “never had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issues underlying their claims.”The same court dealt with the 2007 case of Brenda Cupp—who suffered head injuries after a car accident. According to court documents, her sister Dana Browning had been appointed as guardian. After Cupp’s attorney contested the case, Munger was appointed co-guardian and co-conservator of Cupp’s special needs trust.Five weeks later, Munger petitioned the probate court for Browning’s removal as co-conservator “on the basis that she acted erratically during Cupp’s independent medical examination [IME] and Munger heard second-hand that Browning intended that the money in Cupp’s estate would not be used to pay legal fees.”The petition was granted.In 2010, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled “the IME incident was not sufficient good cause to remove Browning from her co-conservatorship position a mere five weeks after her appointment” and that “the probate court abused its discretion in finding that good cause existed to remove Browning as co-conservator.”In 2002, Joseph Ehrlich, was sanctioned over $113,000 by a Michigan Court for “pursuing frivolous litigation” in a case disputing the estate of John J. Fannon, Jr.Ehrlich appealed in 2005 and, in denying that appeal, the court stated that “The record reflects that, when they joined the case, Ehrlich and his firm continued to file pleadings and documents that lacked factual and legal support. The record clearly reflects that Ehrlich failed to make reasonable inquiry into the factual and legal merit of the claims he asserted on behalf of plaintiff when he knew or should have known that they lacked such support.”On his website, Munger claims to be an Oakland County Public Administrator although an email from State Public Administrator Michael Moody reads “Mr. Munger’s appointment as an Oakland County Public Administrator was terminated on October 6, 2017.” Munger is also not among the Oakland County Probate Court’s list of Public Administrators.Between June 29, 2016 and September 19, 2017 Munger’s statement of fees and services billed for his guardianship of Wahab totaled $12,282.I reached out to Munger by email and telephone and was told by his office secretary that he had no comment.I reached out to Ehrlich via email and telephone. His office secretary responded that Ehrlich had never received the email. When I asked to speak to him in person, she concluded the conversation.There are also a number of cases involving Holocaust survivors.Al Katz barely escaped numerous Nazi camps, including Dachau, only to become the ward of guardians in Florida at the age of 89, as court documents show.“My father came to the United States in 1946,” his daughter, Dr. Beverly Newman, told me.“His mommy, daddy, little brother, older sister, her husband and their one-month-old baby had all been murdered. He was a walking skeleton with no money, no job and didn’t know the English language. He felt very alone.”Nevertheless, Newman remembered that her father never lost a wonderful sense of humor while he lived by the motto “Never forget, never forgive and never be bitter.”It was at a Purim ball in Indianapolis that Katz met Sophia Passo.“He was stricken with love,” Newman laughed. “He asked her over and over again to marry him. She just would not do it.”Katz started to work in bakery and then a packing house where he was injured twice. It was when Sophia was visiting him in the hospital that she relented.He and Sophia were married in 1947. Katz began a successful insurance career. The couple had two children, Newman and her younger brother, and were inseparable for over thirty years until Sophia passed away in 1977.The devastation Katz felt remained with him the rest of his life.After retirement, Newman said that her father became a snowbird, spending winters in Florida.In 2009, concerned for his health, one of Katz’s doctors contacted a public guardian.That individual was M. Ashley Butler who worked in the Office of Public Guardian for three Florida counties since 2006 together with a partner, Jo Eisch, under the business name Aging Safely, Inc.Newman maintained that the first she heard about it was when she was told by Katz’s Indianapolis attorney that “there are people poking around about putting your father into guardianship. That was August of 2009.Newman added that hospital records she obtained from the time include numerous orders made by the guardians not to inform her of any medical decisions or procedures.“On Rosh Hashanah, September 18, [Butler and Eisch] filed papers to put my dad into Emergency Temporary Guardianship,” Newman said, adding that neither guardian had ever met her father. “They didn’t even know him. I have the transcripts of the hearing. The judge knew that I had not been contacted and went ahead and approved it anyway. Things then moved very quickly.”A 2011 Florida Supreme Court complaint filed by Newman and her husband noted that Bradenton attorney Ernie Lisch was appointed by the court to act as Al’s counsel.“Despite many irregularities at the hearing, Lisch took no steps to advocate for or protect the rights of his client,” the complaint reads. Lisch contested these allegations, and the Florida Appellate Court ruled in his favor.Newman discovered that Katz had been placed in Casa Mora Nursing Home in Bradenton.In 2015, the Bradenton Herald reported that the facility was one of three on a Florida watch list “due to prior problems or deficiencies.”The Herald noted, among those deficiencies, “A 58-year-old Casa Mora resident and the resident’s representative had requested in a resuscitate order that the resident receive CPR if she was ever found unresponsive. This procedure was not followed when she fell unresponsive. She was pronounced deceased after not receiving CPR.”According to the article, these deficiencies have since been corrected.Casa Mora is no longer on the state’s watch list.Newman and her husband Larry immediately drove from their home in Indianapolis down to Florida.She asserted that, shortly before they arrived on September 20, Butler utilized the Florida Baker Act—which allows for involuntary commitment—in order to place Katz in Manatee Memorial Hospital.“They said that he had taken his walker and bumped it into someone at the nursing home,” Newman said. “But my Dad was barely able to use a walker. He was in very poor physical condition and not a danger to anyone else. They never told him anything. Not what was going on, nothing. We arrived while daddy was in the Manatee Hospital emergency room. It was horrifying. My dad just wanted to go home. A psychiatrist chosen by Butler and Eisch made a No-Contact order. The hospital kept my daddy in an underground unit, like a dungeon. There were armed guards and these huge electronic doors. A nurse told us he was pacing the halls like a caged animal. It was traumatizing.”She added that Katz was there for three weeks.Newman remembered Katz calling Butler and Eisch “Nazis” to their faces.Meanwhile, like the family members in Michigan, Newman launched a fight to have Butler’s guardianship removed and her father returned to her care, as court documents show.Opposed by Lisch, the case was heard on October 26, 28, and 30, 2009 in Florida’s Twelfth Judicial Circuit Court.“In the intervening three weeks, Katz was repeatedly hospitalized and near death,” the 2011 complaint noted.“Guardianship in Florida is a very lucrative industry,” Newman said. “People who go into guardianship lose every cent they ever had. Their families are wrecked.”She stated that the guardians even took control over her father’s Holocaust Survivor Compensation checks as part of their oversight of her father’s assets.I attempted to track down Butler. The telephone numbers for Aging Safely have been disconnected. Email addresses for Butler have been shut down. The last I-990 tax return filed by the organization in 2014 listed bet assets of $1,767.00.As of publication, Eisch had not returned phone calls or email requests for comment.In Newman’s case, Florida Circuit Court Judge Paul E. Logan (now retired) restricted visits to her father to only three hours-per-day. “He said I could never tell my daddy that I was fighting in court to get him home or that he was under guardianship,” Newman asserted. “If I did, I would lose visitation completely. Daddy was crying and saying, ‘Take me home!’ ‘Why do you have to leave me?’ ‘Why can’t I go home with you?’ and I was prohibited by court order from telling him the truth.”On November 23, 2009 Newman won her petition for guardianship of her father but not his property.“I didn’t care,” she said. “I just wanted to get daddy out of the nursing home and hospitals and give him a real life. It was such a relief that I couldn’t stop crying.”However, by then, Katz was extremely ill and in the hospital.“I spent Thanksgiving that year with my daddy and in the hospital,” Newman said. “In some ways, that as the best and worst Thanksgiving of my life. At least I could shower him with love and attention.”By the time Newman and her husband got Katz home, it was Hannukah.“He was finally smiling,” she said. “By New Year’s Eve, he was able to eat and talk. We took him to a restaurant that he liked. We got him all dressed up. He wanted us to take pictures of us celebrating New Year’s Eve. It was a happy time.”Their time was all too short. Katz passed away on July 11, 2010.“He had no catheters or feeding tubes in him,” Newman said. “He was just as normal as you could be at 90-years-old.”In January that same year, Lisch filed a petition for $24,354.15 in attorney’s fees and expenses.“For doing essentially nothing,” Newman asserted.She opposed it and took the case all the way to Florida’s and then the United States Supreme Court, the latter of which declined to hear the case. Ultimately, Lisch prevailed in his original petition.Even nine-years after her father’s death, Newman said she is still subjected to verbal abuse and numerous accusations from those with a vested interest in a system against which she has actively taken a stand. Meanwhile, she continues to fight in Indianapolis to settle her father’s estate and to remove liens on Katz’s properties.In 2006, in the case of Marshall v. Marshall, the USSC determined that issues dealing with Probate Courts are “reserved to state probate courts” and “also precludes federal courts from disposing of property that is in the custody of a state probate court.”In memory of her father, the Newmans founded the Al Katz Center for Holocaust Survivors and Jewish Learning in Bradenton.“We serve many hundreds of persons every year through advocacy and programming open to the entire community,” the Center’s website reads, “and we are life-sustaining and life-saving to elders in peril and trauma.”On the opposite side of the country, the probate and guardianship system created another activist and family advocate out of an individual who found herself opposing those who have successfully exploited it.The Bradenton police department wouldn’t help Newman. Brun said that the police in her case were similarly unable to act, unless it was to prevent her from entering Lourdes to see her mother.[T}here is an organization that advocates for those working in the profession.The National Guardianship Association (NGA) was formed during a national conference in Chicago in 1988—one year after the AP’s article was released.In the 30 years that followed, the NGA’s membership increased to over 1,000.Sally Hurme is an attorney and member of the NGAs Board of Directors. She said that, while she is not and has never been a guardian, she has been involved in developing guardianship policy for decades.“NGA does not have any mechanism by which to do anything other than to keep developing standards of practice and educating individuals who want to provide excellence in guardianship,” she said.According to the NGA’s website, those standards of practice have increased from the original seven to their present number of 25. In 1997, the NGA voted to create an entirely separate entity, the Center for Guardianship Certification (CGC) on whose board Hurme has also served.It states its vision as one in which “every professional guardian will obtain and maintain CGC certification.”“The CGC is the only national certifying body for guardians,” Hurme said. “Any guardian; professional, family, public or volunteer is welcome and encouraged to become certified.”Among the five pillars Hurme listed as necessary to obtain certification is an examination.To become a Nationally Certified Guardian (NCG), the $375 exam is scored on core competencies including professional practices, knowledge of person under guardianship, application of surrogate decision making, medical decision making and personal and financial management.The competencies listed in the $525 examination to be certified as a National Master Guardian (NMG) are basically the same with the addition of “professional practices of a master guardian” and knowledge of the guardianship planning process.Hurme stated that, at present, there are approximately 1,500 certified guardians.“There is an agreement to a disciplinary process which receives grievances, determines whether there is probable cause to go forward with a professional review board,” she stated.Ironically, according to Hurme, the professional review board is one in which “due process” is afforded to a certified guardian while a determination is made as to whether or not they have violated standards of practice.“The professional review board has a range of sanctions from a letter of concern, to suspension, dismissal to decertification,” Hurme said. “The one problem with the CGC process is that we can only hear grievances if the individual is certified. If we receive a complaint about a guardian that is not certified, our hands are tied. There’s nothing the CHC can do.”The CGC’s list of disciplined guardians posted on its website numbers 12 and includes April Parks alongside guardians from Oregon, Texas, Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon and Michigan.The CGC lists 12 States that ask for mandatory CGC certification for its guardians or have their own State-specific licensing requirements. In the case of California, it’s a combination of the two. Michigan is not among them. Since 2016, Florida has employed The Office of Public and Professional Guardians (OPPG) to regulate “more than 550 professional guardians statewide, which includes investigating and, if deemed appropriate, the discipline of guardians in violation of the law.“NGA and many of the other organizations such as those that are members of the National Guardianship Network are continually striving to make guardianship work better for those individuals who will need it,” Hurme said.As an example of those efforts, Hurme noted the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship, and Other Protective Arrangements Act (UGCOPAA). The over 150-page document was drafted, over the course of two years, by a committee consisting of multiple stakeholders including representatives from the American Bar Association (ABA) and was approved and recommended for enactment in all US States at a July, 2017 meeting of the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws.Hurme stated that members of the NGA, herself included acted as technical advisors to the commission “in making sure that the new model; law addresses many of the issues that are floating around in guardianship; perhaps that there are too many guardianships and that there needs to be more emphasis in limiting the authority of the guardian, better recognition of the due process rights of the individual and a more person-centered focus of the individual in the hearing process that limits the authority of the guardian.”American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Senior Legislative Representative Diana Noel was part of the drafting committee.“I felt as if it was a very thorough process that was very public,” she said. “There were a lot of people in the room. One of the things that is very important; that the drafting committee really wanted to come across, which is why the name is so long, is to recognize that guardianship was a system that was really not including the individual that it was about. One of the things the act did was to update terminology. Instead of using the term ‘ward’, it’s ‘individual’ so that the focus is on the individual and so that they have a say in their care.”A Uniform Law Commission document encouraging States to adopt the UGCPOAA, declares that, under the act, “Each guardianship and conservatorship will have an individualized plan that considers the person’s preferences and values. Courts will monitor guardians and conservators to ensure compliance and approve updates to the plan in response to changing circumstances.”It adds that “Without a court order, a guardian under UGCOPAA may not restrict a person under guardianship from receiving visits or communications from family and friends for more than seven days, or from anyone for more than sixty day” and that the act “prohibits courts from issuing guardianship or conservatorship orders when a less-restrictive alternative is available.”These provisions and others in the UGCOPAA could have protected Brun and her mother had the act been adopted in Michigan.It hasn’t.As of the time of publication only Maine has adopted it. The New Mexico State Legislature introduced it this year and opened it up for public comment.Hurme pledged that the NGA would direct its advocacy efforts to assisting States in understanding the importance of what she called “a forward-thinking law.”“This isn’t a partisan issue,” [Noel] asserted. “This isn’t a caregiving and an aging issue. I don’t want you to think that, because States haven’t adopted it, that means that they are not looking at it. They may be looking at it. These things take time. They look at their current laws, they see what’s working and what’s not working and how things like the Uniform Act could help fix what’s not working or enhance what is.”“As long as I’ve been here, I’ve been working on this issue,” she said. “States have been working on and updating their statutes because they are pretty outdated. They’ve been around for a very long time. It’s a very complicated system. What we’re doing and what states are doing is making sure that policy and practice meet and complement each other.”The Elder Abuse and Prevention Act passed by the senate and signed into law by President Trump in 2017, charged the Department of Justice with establishing “best practices for data collection on elder abuse” and “in coordination with the Elder Justice Coordinating Council, [to] provide information, training, and technical assistance to help states and local governments investigate, prosecute, prevent, and mitigate the impact of elder abuse, exploitation, and neglect.”“We have a real long history in combatting abuse and exploitation and ensuring that State laws address and prevent abuse by a guardian or a neighbor or whoever,” Noel said. “We’ve really been engaged in working not just with State legislators but State courts.”Wondering about the laws in a State like Michigan and how far they extended in the protection of wards and their families from predatory guardians and the probate courts which employ them, I reached out to probate attorneys across the State.Nathan R. Piwowarski is a highly respected lawyer and share-holder at the firm of McCurdy Wotila & Porteous, PC in Cadillac. He has been practicing trust, estate and elder law for ten years.Ronald Dixon has practiced law since 1975 and served as a hearing panelist for Michigan’s Attorney Discipline Committee for approximately 25 years.Neither Dixon nor Piwowarski were asked to comment on or given the details about any case pending or decided in Michigan Probate Courts.“The problem is that when a person needs a guardian or conservator, frequently the family members are not worked with by the court or by the guardian appointed,” Dixon said. “The families are concerned, always, about the living conditions for the ward.”He added that a conflict between a conservator and the family can be easily avoided with a durable power of attorney that specifically names a family member and an alternative as guardian and conservator “and none other.”However, if judges arbitrarily strike down a durable power of attorney in favor of a court-appointed guardian, Dixon noted that “they should not do that. They should follow the family wishes. If that happens, it should be immediately appealed.”He added that a judge needs to demonstrate sufficient grounds as to why a power of attorney listing a family member can be discarded.“The record should be complete,” he said. “Showing the reasons why this person is not qualified or cannot maintain their position.”Piwowarski noted that the issue “can get a little bit complicated” depending on whether the power of attorney is generic and related to financial transactions or whether it concerns healthcare and placement issues (a patient advocate designation.)“In the case of the latter, unless the court specifically invalidates that document and removes the patient advocate, it remains in place,” he said. “The law presumes that the patient advocate would continue serving. That document should stay around unless there was some problem with it like there were not an adequate number of witnesses when it was signed. There are also situations where there is a valid document, but the patient advocate is not doing their job or honoring the person’s preferences.”In terms of the Constitutional rights a participant in Michigan’s Probate Courts can expect, Piwowarski cited Michigan Compiled Law (MCL) 700.5304 (4) through (6) which addresses the rights of the individual who is allegedly incapacitated.“They include the right to a jury trial [or] a closed hearing, if they request it, the right to be present at a hearing, the right to obtain an independent medical examination,” Piwowarski said. “There are other procedural rights and protections that are supposed to be afforded the individual who is the subject of a guardianship petition. For example, they’re entitled to personal notice in advance of the hearing. The minimum personal notice requirement is seven days. They are supposed to be given a visit by the Guardian ad Litem who is then supposed to report back to the court, in a timely manner, about whether that individual desires to contest any aspect of the petition or exercise any procedural rights such as the right to request something less intrusive than a full guardianship.”According to Piwowarski, different rights are afforded to those who have an interest in the subject’s welfare.“There are certain rights that they just don’t have,” he said. “They can’t demand a jury trial. But if there is a durable power of attorney, all of those individuals are entitled to notice and entitled to participate in the proceeding.”“In terms of who should be serving as a guardian, the nominated patient advocate is right near the top of the list,” he added. “So, the court should be looking to the patient advocate before almost anyone else. The way the statute should work and the way that it’s written is that the court can only intervene in a person’s affairs if that person is legally incapacitated and if there’s an actual need for the court to intervene. The court should evaluate, on the record, why a patient advocate is inadequate. There are express provisions in the Estates and Protected Individuals Code that tell the petitioner and the judge that they have to identify why the court has to actually intervene alternatives short of guardianship can’t be used.”The question of how much power a professional guardian in Michigan has Piwowarski noted both a statutory and political dynamic.“In terms of the statue, a guardian has the right to set appropriate access and limit access for a protected individual,” he acknowledged. “That said, the guardian is specifically required by statute to do everything they can to have as full of a life and as high of a level of function as possible. In terms of financial transactions, the court can issue protective orders to remediate situations where a vulnerable person made a property transfer when they didn’t understand it or were under inappropriate influence. A conservator is not able to do something like that without a court order and there should be pretty significant showing before a court would reverse a transaction like that.”“In my experience the court is typically appreciative of the willingness of a public fiduciary [guardian] to serve,” Piwowarski added. “There is such a need right now for a variety of reasons; families are smaller and more spread out. The public fiduciaries typically are overworked so I can certainly see a situation where a court adopts an overly deferential attitude because of the role that they serve in keeping the local legal system functioning.”“Oakland County is the wealthiest county in Michigan bar none,” Dixon said. “Frequently estates are incredibly large. Public administrators can err on the side of greediness for him or herself. Frequently, because the judge trusts them to carry out their tasks properly and in good order and rely on them for accurate information.”On a national level, the sheer power that has been extended by Probate Courts over wards and family members raises the question as to what the point is of making any kind of will when it can be rendered meaningless.******Gretchen Rachel Hammond is an award-winning journalist and a full-time writer for Tablet MagazineGuardians from Hell - Tablet Magazine

“If you were in the military, what were your duties and when and where did you serve?”At first, I was going to bypass this question as being too bulky, but then I decided OK, what the heck. Why not? I’ve answered it, partially, in the past, in various questions, so we’ll see how long it takes, this time. Hours, I’m sure.This is covering nearly 14–1/2 years, longer than the resume of many younger-generation workers. I’ll start with the “when and where” because it’s a lot easier.12/76–3/77. Recruit training, RTC/NTC (Recruit Training Command/Naval Training Center) San Diego, CA. I spent Christmas in my first week of boot camp, on purpose, because I didn’t like having to go to Christmas Dinner at my sister’s In-Laws (upper-crust jerks). I was 18, 5′7″ and 118 lbs (That’s not a typo. I was starving to death, living on my own.)3/77–4/77. Home on leave.4/77–6/77. FLEASWTRACENPAC (Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center, Pacific), San Diego, CA. A-School to become an STG (Sonar Technician, Surface), even though I had volunteered for Submarine Service. The all-knowing, never-wrong, Navy decided that was where they needed me, in the surface fleet. Specifically, operating the SQS-26CX active sonar system and MK 114 ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) Fire Control System. While there, in the course of various phases of the training, I was advanced from SR (Seaman Recruit) (E1), to SA (Seaman Apprentice) (E2), SN (Seaman) (E3), STGSN (Sonar Technician, Surface, Seaman) to STG3 (Sonar Technician, Surface, Third Class) (E4).7/77. FTG (Fleet Training Group) San Diego. Fire Fighting, Damage Control, and First Aid training. My first Independence Day in the Navy, I had Barracks Petty Officer duty, and watched the fireworks from the door to the barracks. Part of the transfer period was spent at Treasure Island, CA. Went to San Francisco to stand in a three-block-long line to watch Star Wars.8/77–9/77. FLTACTS (Fleet Activities), Yokosuka, Japan. Cultural Awareness Training while waiting for my first ship to return from sea.9/77–4/78. USS Lockwood (FF-1064), 3rd Division (The ASW division, which had Sonar Technicians, ASROC Missile Gunner’s Mates, and Torpedomen), a Knox-class frigate, forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. The First Responders for international events in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Most of the time was spent at sea. Much of the time was in and out of the Navy base in Chinhae, South Korea. In my first six months, we deployed with the USS Midway (CV-41) Carrier Task Group to the Indian Ocean. We visited Singapore, The Philippines, Bunbury, Australia, Diego Garcia (British Royal Navy base), and Bandar Abbas, Iran, Navy base (Under the Shah, before the Iranian Revolution). The last three months were spent in drydock, for a mini-refit, which included installation of a new passive towed array sonar system (SQR-18). I was transferred to another ship in the squadron, as a trade. The other ship had an extra VDS technician, and mine didn’t have any. They transferred me one week before my birthday, which really sucked. The first ship gave birthday-boys a day off. The new one didn’t.4/78–7/79. USS Francis Hammond (FF-1067), AS Division (same thing as 3rd Division, just a different name). We visited Chinhae, of course, Hong Kong, Taiwan (before the US broke diplomatic ties to Taiwan, in deference to the People’s Republic of China), The Philippines, and Pattaya Beach, Thailand. While enroute to Thailand, we rescued two boat-loads of Vietnam “Boat People” refugees (77 men, women and children). Our visit was extended while the US negotiated with Thailand to allow the refugees to go ashore. The end result, as I remember, was that the US had to guarantee they would give them refugee status in the US, and pay for their transport. Thus began Operation Boat People over the next few years, looking for, and rescuing them at sea, hopefully before the pirates got to them. The crew was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal. My last four months was spent in drydock, doing another mini refit, identical to the first one. During my final year, after a lot of pestering the Chain-of-Command, writing an essay, and having an interview with the Commodore in command of the submarines in Japan, my request for transfer to submarines was approved. While there, Star Wars was released in Japan. The actor Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) was there, and visited the Base. It turns out that he’s a Navy Brat, and graduated from high school at the Yokosuka base High School. He visited his school, got a tour of the base, and a tour of our ship. When done, he visited with the crew in the Crew’s Mess. He told us he was proud of us, that WE were the REAL Star Wars, and then signed autographs. I was surprised at how short he was, when he shook my hand. A great guy!While there, I nearly finished PQS (Personnel Qualification Standards) for the new ESWS (Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) designation (What submariners derisively called “Skimmer Dolphins”), but didn’t have enough time. I DID qualify as an In-Port Repair Locker Leader. I also was advanced to STG2 (E5), after my first advancement exam.7/79–9/79. At home on leave, and transiting to my next duty station.9/79–10/79. Submarine School, New London, CT. Learning all the basics about submarines and, in my case, unlearning all of my surface-ship “bad habits”. LOL Most of my classmates were fresh out of boot camp, and I was a PO2 (E5). In fact, I found out later, most of them were afraid of me, since their only experience with Petty Officers were their boot camp Company Commanders (a Navy Drill Instructor). I thought it was pretty funny.After graduation, I was given the SU (Submarines, Unqualified) designation, STG2(SU)10/79–11/79. BEE/NTC (Basic Electricity and Electronics/Naval Training Center) San Diego, CA. An 8-week “Independent Study” course, that I finished in 4-weeks, just to get out of that training-base hell hole. Watched the World Series for the first time in my life. I remember watching Kent Tekulve, and his crazy pitching style.11/79–5/80. FLEASWTRACENPAC, San Diego, CA. C-School, for an STS (Sonar Technician, Submarine). Before starting the technical training, I had to beg for some submarine sonar operational training. In their infinite wisdom, the Navy said I already GOT my A-School, back in ‘77, and they couldn’t give me a student billet. I argued that me SURFACE operational training was useless on a submarine, because submarines don’t use an active sonar. They compromised, by allowing me to monitor an STS A-School class in my off-time, and loaned me tapes to listen to, to learn the sounds of the sea and learn how to do a turn-count (timing, by ear, the speed of a ship). So, I was doing training about 17 hours per day, M-F. Fortunately, my technical training was on the swing shift, and the operational training was day shift. I had zero social life.The C-School training was for the 0421 job code, making me a SPACE-Tech (Special Purpose Auxiliary Combined Equipment), which meant I could be assigned to any submarine. Everybody else got a C-School that locked them in to either a Boomer (SSBN) or Fast Attack (SSN), with nearly zero cross-over. That fact served me well, later. The equipment I trained on did everything EXCEPT detecting anything on sonar. Tape recorders, spectrum analyzers, underwater communications, navigation equipment, oceanographic measurement equipment, you name it, I fixed it all. And, in a pinch, I could figure out how the main sonar systems worked, and help fix them, too.After I graduated, I converted from STG2(SU) to STS(SU)6/80–8/80. SUBRON (Submarine Squadron) 15, Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, HI. Waiting for the submarine crew I was assigned to. They were on patrol and, later, in training, while somebody decided who I would actually go to. My job was working in the abandoned hanger where single men on patrol could store their cars. Every week, a crew would return from patrol and get their cars. That took one or two days. I had a little cart with several charged car batteries I used to give a jump start, and some gasoline to prime an empty carburetor (no fuel injection, back then). The rest of the time was roving security, and shooting the shit with the Senior Chief in charge. Finally, I was called in to Squadron at lunch, and told to pack my sea-bag with deployment clothes, don a travel uniform (Summer White), and catch a Pan Am flight to Guam. I was finally going to the boat and crew I had original orders for!8/80–3/81. USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) Blue, a George Washington-class Polaris SSBN operating out of Guam. This was the first class of SSBNs, built in the ‘50s. This boat was the second one, and, together with the USS George Washington, did all of the trial launched of the first A1 Polaris missiles. This class was the boats where they took a Skipjack SSN, and stuck a missile compartment in the middle. This particular one carried the Polaris A3 missiles. Later boats carried the Poseidon missile, which was too big to fit in our smaller missile tubes. On my first patrol, we got a rare mid-patrol break, and visited (guess it) Chinhae, South Korea! My old stomping ground! In fact, my old frigate was there, and I visited with some of my old shipmates, who had arrived just before I left, 18 months earlier. For off-crew, we flew back to Ford Island on an Air Force MAC flight. I re-enlisted then, and used my re-enlistment bonus to pay six months advance rent on an apartment on the other side of Oahu, on a secluded golf course near Kahuku. In the middle of our next patrol, I qualified submarines, four weeks ahead of schedule. No quals for a couple of weeks was a dream come true, then they handed me a binder of watch-stander qual cards, and told me to “turn-to” (from the surface ship announcement, “All Hands Turn-to, Commence Ship’s Work’). While on patrol, we got word that our boat had been selected to be the next SSBN to be converted into an SSN (due to the SALT treaties with the USSR, reducing the nuclear arsenals). So, when we got back from patrol, they would be consolidating the two crews, and transferring the rest to the rest of the fleet. One of my shipmates, the other SPACE Tech in our crew, had orders to an old, archaic SSN, and DIDN’T want to go. I did, so we swapped orders. Another good choice for me. Once again, I was transferred just before my birthday.3/81–3/83. USS Seadragon (SSN-584), an ancient Skate-class SSN, built in the ‘50s, the first SSN class in the US Navy, Pearl Harbor, HI. The pier where she usually moored, next to the Sub-Base Enlisted Club, was generally known as the Seadragon Pier, because she spent a lot of time there, broken. The boat was 25 years old, in a unique class of 4 boats, with two different first-generation reactor designs, so repair parts were scarce. That included sonar, so maintenance and repair was a challenge. I LOVED it! Work-arounds were the Order of the Day.Before reporting aboard, I was given orders to a special sonar school, SSSA (Submarine Sonar Subjective Analysis). It is, in my opinion, the hardest school in the Navy, because it’s entirely subjective. This is where we learned to distinguish exactly what contact we were listening to, by class of ship/sub, sometimes down to the exact hull. Is that a Victor I or a Victor III SSN? Is it a Yankee or a Delta II SSBN? Is it a Kashin destroyer or a Krivak frigate ? Is it a Permit or a Sturgeon? Is it a Knox FF or a Spruance DD? Nothing is written in stone, because they’re all similar, and sound conditions may obliterate part of the expected signal. That’s why it’s “subjective” and that’s why AI, to date, won’t work. It’s not like the movies, at all. You can’t just feed it into a computer and get a print-out.Once I reported aboard, came a huge surprise. Just before I arrived, nearly the entire sonar crew was discharged from the Navy for illegal drug use. The only survivors were the top two, the Chief and the STS1. And I was the replacement for the First Class. I suddenly went from being a junior nub STS2 on my first boat, to the senior non-Chief on the new one. The Chief did all the paperwork, and left the rest of the leadership to me, to figure out on my own. More about that later, when I discuss duties.While on Seadragon, in addition to myriad short deployments (the other reason they called it the Seadragon Pier was because most of our sea-time was M-F, being a training target for the skimmers and airedales), we made two WestPac deployments. We visited Hong Kong, the Philippines, Hobart, Australia, Midway, Guam (another old stomping ground) and a short visit in Yokosuka, Japan (all the skimmers were deployed, so we were alone). Interesting note about Yokosuka. Unlike all of the other submarines in the fleet, our topside sentries weren’t armed with a pistol. Our Captain had us armed with a shotgun. When we arrived in Japan for some maintenance, none of the shipyard workers would set foot on the boat, because of the shotgun. The base Admiral ordered our Captain to ditch the shotgun and arm us with a .45, instead, or go back to sea, broken. Most of our deployed time was doing Special Operations in sundry places near Japan.While there, I met my wife in the Philippines, got married, and got a new apartment near the Laie Mormon Temple and Brigham Young University, where most of my friends were. It was in Hanohano Hale, on the beach, next to the Pat’s at Punalu’u condos in Hau’ula. (I LOVE those Hawaiian names!!). I chose that location, and didn’t own a car, because my Division Officer was a jerk who liked to wake me up in the middle of the night, to work on stuff that could wait until the next morning. When I was single, it was OK, but as a newlywed, it was unacceptable. The bus didn’t run all night, and I always caught the first one in the morning, arriving on the boat just after 7:00. One time, he wanted to call me at 11:00 at night, so the Senior Chief had a little talk with him. “Sir, you know he rides the bus to work every morning, right? And he gets here at 7:00 every morning, right? Is it so important that you want to send the Duty Driver to Hau’ula, a two-hour round trip, to get him here, now?” “No.” “Then sir, why call him, now? Why don’t you let him get some sleep? He’ll fix it in the morning.” And I did.While on Seadragon, I spent a lot of time wrangling orders to my next school, to the newest top-of-the-line part of the submarine service, TRIDENT SSBNs. I was eventually told that I would be receiving orders, soon, to go to school for a year in Bangor, WA, a few miles from my home. One of the best aspects was that the Trident program was different from all previous submarine programs. There was just one base (eventually, two), where EVERYTHING was done. The boats were there, the refit facility was there, the training was there, all afloat and ashore administration was there, all family housing was there, on one base. Consolidation made this program popular with the crews, because you could put down roots, knowing that your family never had to move, and popular with Congress, because it saved so much money.BUT. We were short-handed, and the boat kept postponing my transfer. Until we were about to leave Hobart, Australia. We got an urgent message, directing the boat to transfer me ASAP, because I had a school to go to, and they wouldn’t reschedule it. So, the night before we were supposed to leave and return to Pearl, the boat’s Yeoman had to stay aboard, while everybody else was partying, writing my orders and arranging my flight home, and my flight, with my wife, to Bangor, and my move out of my apartment (actually easy, because our apartment was fully furnished, so we had no household goods.).While there, I was advanced to STS1 (E6), after my first advancement exam, about one year before transfer. Also while there, a new, more senior STS1 arrived, as the Chief’s replacement. So I maintained my position as ALPO (Assistant Leading Petty Officer), and gained a friend and better mentor.3/83–4/83. On leave at home and transferring to new duty station.4/83–3/84. TRITRAFAC (Trident Training Facility) Bangor, WA. Another C-School, getting the 0426 Level III job code, fixing EVERYTHING on an Ohio-class SSBN. Not just the detection sonar systems, but all of the auxiliaries, too. My wife and I initially got an apartment in Bremerton, near the Shipyard, but, after a few months, got a base-housing unit, a five-minute walk to the school building. While going through class, we all got orders to the same boat, then under construction, following the class that left six months before us, going to the same boat.3/84–5/84. On leave and transiting (driving) to the Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, CT.5/84–10/84. PCU (Pre-Commissioning Unit) Henry M. Jackson (ex-PCU Rhode Island) (SSBN-730), Groton, CT. I say “ex-Rhode Island” because the name of the boat was changed after Senator Henry M. “Scoop” Jackson (D-WA) died of an aortic aneurysm. He was one of my Senators, and instrumental in authorizing the TRIDENT system and getting the base built in Washington.Out of the 24 of us, I was, again, the senior sonar white-hat (non-Chief). We had three Chiefs. After commissioning and splitting the crew, one crew (Blue) would have two Chiefs, and the other would have one, with me being, again, the ALPO.Out of the 24, only one other had been to sea before. During construction, we sent one of the first 12 TDY to an earlier boat (USS Michigan, IIRC) to go on patrol and get some sea experience. So, when we went on our first sea-trials, there were six experienced guys, enough for two complete watch sections. I, personally, went on every trial, first as a Sonar Operator, then, on the longest (two weeks) one, as a Sonar Supervisor, so one of the Chiefs could stay home with his family.Before commissioning, half of the Gold crew (those with families) were given the option to transit to our home port (Bangor, WA) one month before Commissioning. Most of those chose to drive to the West Coast, including me.10/84–12/84. Leave and transiting to Bangor, WA.12/84–1/87. USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) Gold. Home port was NSB Bangor, Silverdale, WA, but, initially, the boat itself was still operating out of NSB New London, Groton, CT, for post-commissioning modifications in Groton, and missile testing and certification in the Bahamas. While in Bangor, my crew went through a lot of training, including some factory training on a new sonar system, at the Rockwell factory in Anaheim, CA. We elected to drive there, using the excess travel time as leave, and brought our wives. They had a GREAT time, sight-seeing while we sat in the classroom or went on the factory floor.After the missile testing, our crew had the opportunity to take the boat through the Panama Canal, and dip below the equator, to initiate a new batch of polliwogs into the Order of Shellbacks. This was my third excursion (after USS Lockwood and USS Seadragon). Good times were had by all!Once in Bangor, over the next several months, both crew did tests of the new sonar system, then our crew loaded 24 missiles, and took the boat out on patrol (The other crew got the honor of the First Patrol, after we did the hard work loading the missiles LOL). Just before our 2nd patrol, our Chief was suddenly transferred (don’t know why, specifically), we couldn’t get a new Chief on short notice, so we went on patrol with me as the LPO. I made another patrol, with a new Senior Chief.In that period, I passed my Chief’s Exam the first time, and was board-selected for advancement to Chief.At the end of the patrol, I re-enlisted, was advanced to Chief, participated in my CPO Initiation (At the Keyport CPO Club), and was transferred. It’s traditional to transfer a new Chief immediately, so he has an open slate in his new leadership role.1/87–2/90. TRITRAFAC Bangor. Instructor duty. Four weeks of Instructor training, earning the 9502 job code of Navy Instructor. Lead Instructor for the Level III portion of NEC 0426 (BQQ-6 maintenance), the Sonar Supervisor course, and the TSOT (Trident Sonar Operational Trainer) simulator, teaching new tactics to all of the sonar crews. Later, put in charge of the maintenance of all of the sonar lab equipment (an entire operational sonar system and two simulators, plus lab-only equipment).2/90–2/91. USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) Blue. CPO of Sonar Division.2/91–5/91. NSB Bangor Public Relations Department. Discharge processing. Discharged after two patrols, for being overweight.Over 14 years of outstanding service and advancement, gone because I didn’t look like Tom Cruise (Actor in Top Gun) and couldn’t lose weight. I say “couldn’t”, they said “wouldn’t”. Turns out I was right, “couldn’t” due to a hormone imbalance issue not diagnosed until 1995. Note that, with the exception of the PBF (Percentage of Body Fat) measurement, I was in excellent physical condition, outperforming my students in the PRT (Physical Readiness Test), and the PBF measurements were bogus because of the hormone imbalance shifting the distribution of fatty tissue.Now, for duties. The list is long and variable, depending on duty station (sea duty, vessel type, shore duty) time in service (experience), rate (rank), rating (general job description), collateral duties (morale, secret publications librarian, etc.), NEC (similar to Army MOS, a specific job category), training (operational, technical, leadership, administrative), assigned watch stations (underway, in-port, shore), warfare specialty (Surface, Submarine, Aviation, Special Operations, etc.), and others (religious, supply, service, construction, etc.). I’ll list mine in the various categories, starting with the universal and generic, and going deeper from there.I’ll start with shore duty, because I didn’t have much.Recruit Training.Student.Marching.Exercise.Sentry.Special Company (Specializing in PR performances). Mine is in bold. It’s all voluntary, chosen on the first day.Drum and Bugle Corps. Musical performancesPrecision Rifle Team. Skilled rifle manipulation.50 Flags Team. Precision marching with National, State, and Organization flags.Bluejacket Choir. Musical performances.Collateral Duties.RCPO (Recruit CPO). Recruit in charge of Company.(RPO1) Recruit PO1. Assists RCPO.Yeoman. Administrative.Master-At-Arms. Company security.Supply Petty Officer. Orders supplies.Religious PO. Religious/moral support. Leads voluntary evening prayers. Mine happened because our first evening was just before Christmas, and I joined the group going to evening Christmas service without getting permission first, or telling anybody. Everyone started to panic when I missed the evening bunk check. Fortunately, I was marching with the Christmas group when we returned, proving where I had been. They all thought I had “gone over the fence” (desertion). Naturally, the next day, my CC (Company Commander, i.e. DI) asked if I was interested in volunteering.Training commands.Student.SentryStaff.Command Duty Officer (Monthly, overnight, supervising security, CO representative). Our officers didn’t do diddly-squat, so the Chiefs had to take-up the slack.Lead Instructor. In addition to being an instructor (which includes instructing, examination, lesson preparation, lab preparation, test preparation, and contributing to the exam data bank), supervising and in-class monitoring the group of instructors assigned to your particular course(s). Mine were an advanced maintenance course, Sonar Supervisor course, and the tactical simulator (training all of the region submarine sonar crews, both as the individual sonar crews, and, together with the officers in THEIR tactical simulator, as a weapon-control team.Supervisor of Sonar Division lab equipment (sonar systems, simulators, stimulators, special equipment, etc.) maintenance and repair, supervising several junior technicians. Doing all maintenance administration and division budgets. Yearly personnel performance evaluations.Collateral duties. Secret Material Librarian. MARS (Military Affiliate Radio System) radio station Chief Operator, building, maintaining, operating and supervising operations of the volunteers.Sea Duty.Surface ships (much different from submarines).Eight-hour work day, both underway and in-port.Cleaning. If you’re not doing anything specific, clean. Twice a day, for 15–30 minutes, EVERYBODY cleans. "Sweepers, Sweepers, man your brooms. Give the ship a clean sweep down both fore and aft! Sweep down all decks, ladders and passageways! Dump all garbage clear of the stern. Sweepers."Collateral duty. Damage Control Petty Officer. Did PMS (Preventive Maintenance System), AKA planned maintenance, on all damage control equipment in our divisional spaces, every week. This included fire extinguishers, fire hoses, submersible pump hoses, etc.. The equipment all belonged to the Damage Control Division, but they didn’t have the manpower to do it all, themselves. They did the administration, so we had to annotate their weekly maintenance schedule when we completed a task (such as the monthly weighing/inspection of all CO2 fire extinguishers). Everybody else in the division hated doing it, because you had to get dirty. I loved it, because I grew-up fixing old cars. If there was something going on in the division, and I wanted out of it, or if I just wanted to wander the ship without somebody telling me what to do, I’d grab one of my DC gear MRCs (Maintenance Requirement Card, a laminated card that detailed all of the steps to do the task, plus a list of tools and material needed to do it), stick it in my back pocket, visible, hang a greasy rag out of another pocket, or tuck it into my belt, put a tool of some sort, such as a spanner-wrench, hanging out of another pocket, and wander the ship. If somebody saw me, it was obvious I was doing useful work, somewhere, so they never bothered me. As long as I got my assigned work (both sonar work and DC stuff) finished every week, they didn’t care, and they never told me to go clean something. Besides, would you send a guy with a greasy rag in his belt somewhere to clean?Other duties. “Fire Watch Division” Assistant LPO. When we were in extended refit, with lots of shipyard welders needing a fire-watch (somebody with a fire extinguisher, looking for stuff the welder accidentally set fire to, putting it out), the damage control guys were short-handed, plus some divisions didn’t have ANY welding in their spaces, while others had lots. So, to be fair, every division had to contribute some junior guys, on a proportionate basis (larger divisions contributed more people). These people were formed into a special division, working for the Engineer. They mustered every day, as a division, with the DCA (Damage Control Assistant) as the Division Officer, and the leading HT1 (Hull Technician) as the LPO (Leading Petty Officer). He was really busy, so I was volunteered to be his ALPO (Assistant LPO). My only duty was to assign a fire watch to every shipyard welder who showed-up. Sometimes, we ran out of people. When that happened, I called the LPO of the affected division and told them to send another guy. I was only an STG3 (an E4), and they were all First Class (E6), so I got a lot of static, at first. I got things like “You already have three of my guys, use one of them.” Or “You’re not doing anything. YOU do it!” I would tell them where their other guys were (usually in their own space, already), and for the last one, a simple “If I do that, the next time a welder comes along to weld in your space, there won’t be anybody to find a fire watch for him. He’ll go back to the shop, tell his supervisor, and the Ship Supe will come running to the ship, find you, and demand to know why the hell you’re holding-up the work! Maybe you should go talk it over with Petty Officer Case (the HT1) or the DCA.” After a week of me being a hard-ass, they quit whining, and PO Case LOVED me! He had too much work to do, without listening to a bunch of whiners. Yeah, First Classes whine just as much as anybody else, but only when there’s nobody else in ear-shot! They can’t let the junior guys hear it. A Filipino Chief drilled that into my head, once, soon after I made Second Class. Pissed me off, but he was right.In-port.Sentry Duty. Because I was a PO3, I stood POOW (Petty Officer Of the Watch), armed with a .45 pistol, assisting the OOD at the Quarterdeck. I controlled access (ID cards), made 1MC (ship-wide PA system) announcements (Reveille, Quarters, Turn-to, Sweepers, etc.), kept the official Ship Log, raised/lowered the Ensign for Colors (8:00 AM and sunset), watched for approaching senior officers on the pier (Captain and Squadron Chief of Staff most common) to make the appropriate announcement (<ding-ding ding-ding> on ship’s bell “Lockwood, Arriving” <ding>), alarms (General Alarm for fires, with an announcement), calling various spaces on the phone (call AS Division for the Duty Sonar Tech to come to greet a visiting ST). When at anchor, watch for approaching boats, and make appropriate announcements (especially if it’s something like another ship’s Captain’s Gig, so the CO can greet him).Damage Control Party. Once qualified, I had various assignments, for fighting fires, flooding, etc. (hoseman, P250 pump operator, submersible pump hose, etc.).Underway.Sonar Watch. Operating various sonar consoles, fire control consoles, communications phone talker.Battlestations. At different times, in addition to sonar operation, operated other systems, such as the VDS (Variable Depth Sonar) hoist, the T-Mk-6 torpedo countermeasures hoist, XBT (Expendable BathyThermograph) launcher, Torpedo Tube loader.UNREP (Underway Replenishment, receiving fuel and stores from other ships). Working the Phone and Distance Line, a line going from the ship to the other ship, which had a telephone line in it (so each bridge could talk to the other) and a series of flags at set intervals, to let the OOD know the distance between the ships, 100 feet or so).Sea and Anchor Detail. Being part of Weapons Department, AS Division was responsible for one or two mooring lines on the fantail. In addition to faking the lines on deck, in preparation, after mooring, the lines are doubled, frapped (wrapped with a cord to keep the three line portions together) and rat guards installed. To do the last two, one person, wearing a life preserver, straddles the line, frapping it as he inches to the other end. Once done, he installs the rat guard in a position where a rat couldn’t jump over it, from the pier.Now to the Sonar Technician (ST) Rating. That’s my specific job. An ST is both a technician (maintenance and repair) and an operator. Historically, when the rating was first invented, there were technicians (ST) and operators (SO). As time went on, big differences developed, between sonar on ships (active pinging) and sonar on subs (passive listening). It was considered too difficult for junior men to learn all about both (I disagree, but I’m weird), so they were split. There were four kinds of soundmen (the original phrase before the term “sonar” was applied to the crew), Two for submarine (STS and SOS) and two for surface ships (STG and SOG). There has always been debate about why “G” was chosen for the surface-ship rating. When I was in STG A-School in 1979, we were told that STG stood for “Guns” because one ASW weapon, then, was the depth-charge K-Gun. Members of the National Sonar Association (https://sonarshack.org) have made many searches, and have not been able to find credible evidence about the origin.The difference between the rating badge for ST and SO was only in the direction of the arrow. The ST arrow pointed left, and the SO arrow pointed right. Since the ST was a left-arm rating and the SO a right-arm rating (IIRC, right-arm ratings were operational, and left-arm ratings were administrative and technical), in both cases, the arrow pointed forward. When the left-arm/right-arm distinction was eliminated throughout the Navy, the SO rating was eliminated and absorbed into the ST rating.Initially, the two ratings were combined into one ST rating, at the PO1 level. Then, it was done at the CPO level. When I joined the Navy, it was at the Senior Chief level, and by the time I was studying for advancement to Chief, it was split all the way to the Master Chief Level, where it is, today. This is interesting, because today, there are few differences between the two, operationally. All Sonar Technicians now use both active and passive sonar systems, all use towed arrays, and all conduct passive TMA (Target Motion Analysis). The biggest difference is in equipment, where submarine equipment is more sophisticated (spherical arrays, backless bow arrays (with NO hydrophones… amazing!), line arrays, flank arrays, sail arrays, chin arrays, mast arrays, ice and bottom sounders), and surface ships can use air-dropped sonobuoys and low-frequency ACTIVE towed arrays (to dig-out bottomed submarines in littoral regions).Operationally, the duties are sonar system operators, external equipment operators (VDS hoists, towed array reels, countermeasure reels, XBT/SSXBT launchers, etc.), torpedo/rocket fire control operators (surface ships), communications phone talkers, and manual plotters on paper (DRT, geographic plot, contact evaluation plot, time-bearing plot, expanded bearing plot, frequency plot, all used to manually evaluate the target of interest) and external computation devices, to do things like sound propagation analysis, sound path ray analysis, etc., plus other new things I have no clue about, but can imagine.Technically, the duties varied by training and experience. For all maintenance ratings there are the PMS schedules. At the bottom is the maintenance worker, who looks at a weekly schedule to see what needs to be done each day. When a job is completed, it is x’d out. If it’s partially done, it’s circled, if not done, not annotated. The next level is the Work Center Supervisor, who monitors the workers’ activities and originates the weekly schedule, based on a monthly schedule. From this point, who does what, administratively, depends on the individual command. The people above the Work Center Supervisor are ALPO, LO, LCPO, Division Officer, and Department Head. For schedules, the monthly schedule is derived from a quarterly schedule, the quarterly schedule is derived from the annual schedule, and the annual schedule is derived from the cycle schedule. After each schedule is completed, the exceptions are annotated on the back, the originator signs it, and sends it up the chain for review and signature.Other administrative items include things like the Equipment Status Log (every malfunction or issue is logged, updated at least weekly with status or completion, and reviewed (and signed) by the Division Officer and (sometimes) the Department Head.Other maintenance paperwork includes includes casualty reports, repair assistance requests, etc., with names like 2-Kilo (2K) and 2-Lima (2L).For parts, a junior petty officer is assigned the duty of RPPO (Repair Parts Petty Officer) who maintains the parts logs, orders whatever repair parts that are need, and goes to Supply to get them when they arrive (if on order) or are picked from stock on board. This isn’t just repair parts. It’s anything the division needs from Supply. If the division runs out of pens, the RPPO can order a box.Another administrative duty is training. A more senior person may be designated as the Training Petty Officer, whose job is to schedule individual and classroom training for all members of the division.Then, there is career planning. Somebody, usually the Chief, with assistance from the Department and Command Career Counselors, monitors and guides each division members progress in advancement, future career planning and milestones, what each person wants to do, and where to go, in the future, and either talks with the career detailers (the people in Washington who decide where everybody goes) or arranges for the individual to talk with them.Finally, there’s service record administration, specifically periodic evaluations. The LPO or Chief interviews each person, writes an evaluation, and sends it to the Division Officer, then Department Head, and XO (Executive Officer, the Second in Command,beneath the CO.) At each level, changes are made and, in some cases, interviews happen. Eventually, it’s done, and goes to the CO for final signature.I’ve had all of those jobs, except for the RPPO. I missed that one when I was thrust into leadership at a young age.Other collateral duties included things such as Ship’s Key Custodian and Classified Material Custodian.Submarines are very similar, except that many jobs and duties are consolidated, reducing the number of crew required.To begin with, the culture is completely different. Surface ships are very strict and hierarchical. Submarines are much looser. Relationships between officers and enlisted are much looser. Sure, submariners still say “sir” and “ma’am” and address junior officers as “Mister” but they’re also more colloquial, and willing to have fun. Example, officers are often involved in pranks. The junior ones are instigators or collaborators, the senior ones are willing victims. Many things happen, such as stealing the XO’s stateroom door. The last time I saw that happen, the XO started with putting the crew into Battlestations, until the culprits confessed and returned the door. That didn’t work, but the XO “knew” who had done it, he just had no evidence. So, he took the two off the underway watch-bill, and put them into a port-and-starboard rotation, being his stateroom door. When somebody came to visit the XO, they would shout “knock-knock-knock” then, as the person walked by, a “screee” of a door hinge, followed by a “thump” when the door was closed. This went on for two days, until some other accomplices managed to rehang the door, while the XO was “asleep”.Another time, somebody stole the Captain’s mattress. Once, a group of guys kidnapped the XO’s favorite mug, a Canadian McDonalds thing (with maple-leaf drawings), holding it ransom, taking hostage demand photos throughout the ship, using an illegal Polaroid camera (before cell phones, NOBODY was allowed to have a camera aboard, except the Ship’s Photographer and the XO (to take pictures of dolphin-award ceremonies). We went to Battlestations many times, had an extra day-long Field Day instead of the normal drills, the XO would ransack the compartment shown in the latest photo (of course, it had been surreptitiously moved). The kidnappers identified themselves as The Desperadoes. This went on for three weeks, at the end of the patrol. In this case, by the end of patrol, the mug was still missing. Then, during our flight from Guam to Hawaii (a rare Commercial Flight, booked to satiate Pan AM), the flight attendant delivered to XO’s alcoholic drink in his missing mug. The photographer was a senior Sonar Tech.Anyway, certain jobs, even divisions, just didn’t exist. For example, there were no Department and Command Career Counselors. The only trained CC was at Squadron. There was no Master-At-Arms (ship police) force. There were no separate LCPO, LPO, ALPO, or Work Center Supervisor. Just the Chief or, sometimes, a PO1 if there were no Chiefs available.For grunt work, on a surface ship, only non-petty officers had to be Mess Cooks (cook assistants. Every division sent one). On submarines, it was PO3 and below. On surface ships, only junior people cleaned the head. On submarines, EVERYBODY cleaned the head. During my first Field Day on a submarine, they made it a point to assign me to clean the toilets, even though I was a PO2. Then, before it was over, they made it a point to take me to Crew’s Mess, where the Chief Cook was on his knees, waxing the deck. On surface ships, junior people cleaned the Goat Locker (CPO Quarters) and, during Field Day, all the Chiefs did was supervise. On submarines, the Chiefs cleaned the Goat Locker, including the Chief’s Head. On surface ships, the Chief’s ate in the Goat Locker. On submarines, they ate in crew’s mess, at the “Chief’s Table”. (Anybody could eat there, if they got permission first, or the Chiefs were done eating). Also, the Chiefs didn’t stand in the chow line. When a meal started, a Mess Cook was sent to the Goat Locker, and the Chiefs ate first, until the Chief’s Table was full. Then, they waited, just like everybody else. On a surface ship, the officers ate their own food, and had to pay for it. And, most of the time, the Captain ate alone (not in the Wardroom with the other officers.) On submarines, the officers ate the same food as the crew (still had to pay for it), but in the Wardroom, on fancy dishes, WITH the Captain.On subs, the Chiefs did all of the paperwork, except for some things delegated to more senior members of the division. On my second boat, even though I was the Chief’s assistant, I had no idea what he did when he wasn’t on watch. He had no mentoring capability, at all. I only set foot in the Goat Locker once, in all the years I was aboard, and that was to ask one of the Chiefs to go wake my Chief up. On my first boat, we had no Sonar Chief, so our PO1 slept in the Goat Locker and relaxed in the Goat’s lounge. One time, they had me make them a new cu of coffee. I didn’t drink coffee, myself, and had no idea how to make it. They refused to tell me, so I guessed. The end result was triple-strength coffee-mud, and they never, ever told me to do it, again! HAHAHASo, yes, submariners had the same duties as on a surface ship, but the distribution was totally different.OH, I forgot! Submarines don’t have a Quarterdeck or ANY of the in-port foofarah surface ships have. At the brow, there’s one (on an SSN) or two (SSBN) Topside Sentries, always junior enlisted. If they need anything, they use the Bridge Suitcase (an intercom box) to call down to the Control Room and get some help. He also checks forward and after draft every hour or so. If there’s unknown flooding below decks, he may be the first one to know, when the draft suddenly changes.For in-port, a surface ship duty section has a Command Duty Officer representing the CO, and the on-watch OOD at the Quarterdeck. A submarine has a Duty Officer, for the whole ship, and an Engineering Duty Officer, for the reactor. Everything else is all enlisted men. There’s a Duty Chief, an Engineering Chief, and, forward on watch, a roving Below Decks Watch. He visually checks the status of the Topside watch every 30 minutes or so. The nukes have more, back aft, but exactly who varies, based on reactor plant status. Oh, yeah, back to topside! For Colors, the Topside Watch does the Ensign and the Below Decks Watch does the Jack.Bottom line, on a submarine, enlisted do a lot of the duties that officers do on surface ships.