Documentary Set

To Air March 4;

Previews Begin

Sunday Evening

Thanks to WJHL-TV, with key cooperation from The Greeneville Sun and the U.S. Navy, Northeast Tennesseeans will soon have a chance to get reacquainted - in depth - with the nuclear submarine that in a sense "belongs" to this area.

Fourteen years after the U.S.S. Greeneville joined the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet in 1996, the Greeneville is back in its homeport - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - training to take on a critical new assignment.

Its basic mission, of course, remains the same: helping defend American interests in one of the world's most volatile regions.

Named for this community in 1989 after a very intensive three-month grassroots campaign that involved the support of much of Northeast Tennessee and even other areas of the state, the U.S.S. Greeneville is preparing for its sixth deployment, which will occur sometime this fall.

The precise timing and other specifics of the mission are Top Secret; the Navy only will say the submarine will be assigned to the "western Pacific."

There, the U.S.S. Greeneville and its crew of 140 men likely will patrol the depths off the coasts of some of the world's political hotbeds, gathering information and standing ready for orders as the Navy's most state-of-the-art warship.

While the Greeneville is halfway through the 30-year average lifespan of a submarine of its type, much of the inside of the submarine is brand-new after what the Navy termed a "significant" technical upgrade in 2008 and 2009.

In real terms, that means the submarine that carries Greeneville's name carries military war technology that's more advanced than ships built within the past few years.

Hour-Long Documentary

An hour-long documentary called "The U.S.S. Greeneville Rising" will be broadcast on 11 Connects WJHL-TV (CBS) on Thursday, March 4, at 7 p.m.

Several "sneak peeks" of the broadcast will air on newscasts next week. The first is set for broadcast Sunday during 11 Connects News at 11 p.m.

The documentary relies heavily on the archives of The Greeneville Sun, which played a critical role in the 1989 campaign to name the submarine after the community, and which remains the most complete source of the sub's historical record.   

11 Connects news anchor Josh Smith and digital journalist Phillip Murrell received clearance from the U.S. Navy to go to sea with the submarine for several days last month.

In mid-January, they traveled to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, home base for the U.S.S. Greeneville and the rest of the Pacific Fleet.

Long Accompanies TEAM

The WJHL team was accompanied by Dale Long, of Greeneville, director of printing and distribution for The Greeneville Sun and president of U.S.S. Greeneville, Inc., the submarine's official support group.

In 1989, Long was a key production manager at what was then Greeneville Industries, Inc., a local subsidiary of Newport News Shipbuilding that was producing parts for the still-unnamed submarine.

The plant was closed in the 1990s after U.S. naval construction was cut back sharply.

He was the person who first suggested that the community try to have the submarine named for this community, and has maintained close ties with the submarine and its commanders and crews ever since it was commissioned for service.

The WJHL team and Long lived alongside the crew during the January trip, sharing the crewmen's food and their cramped living space and observing as the primarily-young group of men endured a grueling training schedule.   

'This Amazing Story'

"We felt it was time to retell this amazing story," said Jack Dempsey, general manager of 11 Connects WJHL-TV, which is based in Johnson City.

"The city of Greeneville did something that no other city of its size has ever done in not only naming but supporting the crew of a Navy fast-attack sub.  And that connection continues to today."

Dempsey said he's anxious for viewers to see the documentary.

"Our crew was given unheard-of access to the submarine and its crew.

"I believe you will be amazed not only by the power of the ship named after Greeneville but the people involved in taking it to sea."

"We're grateful to the United States Navy and The Greeneville Sun for their assistance with this project," Dempsey said.

'Back To Life'

The upgrade and new mission represent new opportunities for the U.S.S. Greeneville to move forward.

The Greeneville made world news in 2001 when it was involved in an accident with the Japanese fishing boat Ehime Maru off the coast of Hawaii.

Nine people on the fishing boat died.

The accident prompted a formal apology from the United States government and a reexamination of Navy protocol.

Since the Ehime Maru incident, the successive commanders and crews of the Greeneville have made major progress in rebuilding the previously-excellent reputation and record of the submarine.

Now,  almost a decade after that accident, with a new crew and an almost-new boat, the captain of the U.S.S. Greeneville told 11 Connects News in January that he's eager to redefine the Greeneville's legacy.

"We're bringing that ship back to life and we're bringing that crew back to life, learning our jobs and our tasks to be able to take the ship on deployment," said A.C. Carullo, commander of the Greeneville.

"We're to defend freedom and democracy around the world. We say that creed a lot.  We take that inside, and it helps us understand what we're out here doing."

 

For more information and stories, see today's edition of The Greeneville Sun.