There are 4 people onboard any submarine you want as your best friends:

1. The Doc (Corpsman)

2. The Pork Chops (Supply guys)

3. The Yeoman (Admin)

4. The Cooks

You want the Doc and Yeoman as your friend because they have the power to administratively ruin your life should you make a "bad tactical decision" and make them mad at you (OOPS! Lost your Shot Record - need to redo all your shots!). Chop's are always needed - you cannot survive without them authorizing, or providing, supplies to keep your gear running. Things can always get "lost" if you make them mad.

But the cooks are the heart and soul of any submarine or ship - a bad cook can destroy morale onboard within a very short period, especially if the boat is involved in any particularly stressful operations. On my last major deployment to the North Pole, our cooks really saved us. Having lost our refrigerant/freezing capacity about a month after leaving port, and needing to continue our mission, we survived on the creativity of what the cooks made for us out of the canned food that was still good. Everyone lost weight (some of us were trying to anyway - it just made it easier), myself almost 70lbs during that run. Still, the cooks' ability to maintain a decent meal 4 times a day (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Midnight Rations, or MidRats), kept our spirits up and helped ensure the success of our mission. You would not believe what can be created out of a large can of canned Tamales.

Having said that, I still won't eat to this day a Ham and Cheese sandwich. We were able to save a lot of canned refrigerated items like Ham and Cheese by storing them in an empty Torpedo Tube (the water in the Arctic Ocean is a constant 28 degrees F), which acted as a natural refrigerator. It was one of the few things we had a lot of.

Cooks are also relied upon by the CO and the Doc to maintain proper nutrition and health for the crew. For example, all ships and submarines have an Ice Cream machine. This is not a novelty or morale booster - it is intended to maintain necessary Vitamin D levels in the crew while underway submerged, as fresh milk is used within the first week or two, along with fresh fruit and vegetables. Powdered milk is pretty bad, and most crew won't drink it, so the Ice Cream (soft serve) is used as the primary dairy supply tool. I remember my first CO wanting to 'discipline" the crew for something by taking away our Ice Cream privileges - he was overruled by the Doc, and onboard any Navy vessel, the Corpsman or Doctor is the ultimate authority in health matters, having even the power to relieve the Commanding Officer if deemed unfit for duty.

The problem with that is unfortunately, there aren't any real checks and balances on the Medical branch, and it's a problem.

All cooks are always busy - there are meals to be prepared, dishes, pots, & utensils to be cleaned, trash to be compacted and disposed of (through a tube that goes to the bottom of the boat). In port, supplies must be ordered, obtained, unpacked and stored, and all space is at premium. When a boat is readying for an extended period at sea, a "Stores Load" working party consisting of all hands will move via daisy chain all food items from the pier to the cooks and supply guys. Initially, there is usually more food than there is space to put it, so the crew actually has to "eat" their way through to get the space back over time. Certain "premium items", like Cashews or Hot Chocolate packs intended for the Wardroom, can mysteriously disappear during a Stores Load. We always made sure our own people were positioned in the right spots just in case.

Submarine cooks have it somewhat easier than their surface ship counterparts. I've got friends who were originally surface cooks who volunteered for submarine duty, and who liked the change of pace. Submarine crews are more tight-knit, and cooking for an average of between 50-100 people at a time is nothing compared to 5,000 or more. The quality of cooking is better, and Submariners are afforded the best food available in the service. Submarine cooks are encouraged also to take the initiative and vary the menu to develop their skills. Unlike some services, all Navy personnel are trained to be individual experts in whatever job they've chosen or been given. Most of the cooks on my old boat went on to open their own successful restaurants after leaving the Navy. As a cook, you learn all aspects of the food service industry, from washing dishes to full scale management of a large scale operation.

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