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US Navy Submarine Experiences
Katherine Hoekstra grew up in Holland and graduated from West Ottawa High School. She decided to join the US Navy and received an ROTC scholarship to attend the University of Michigan where she majored in Physics and minored in Music. After graduating from UM, she was commissioned as an officer in the Navy. After commissioning, she moved to Charleston, NC. In Charleston, she graduated from the Navy Nuclear Power School of the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command and then the Nuclear Power Training Unit. The first school gave the theory of nuclear power operations and the second gave hands-on experience running Navy reactors.
After finishing the nuclear training, Katherine moved to Groton CT to attend Submarine Officer Basic School. In Groton, she learned about all of the other systems on a submarine. After completing this schooling, she was assigned to the USS Florida in Kings Bay Georgia.
US Navy Submarines
The US Navy has two main classes of submarines, fast attack, and ballistic submarines. The USS Florida is an Ohio class ballistic sub that is one of 4 that were converted from nuclear weapons to cruise missiles as agreed to under the START treaty. This class is designated as SSGN and includes the USS Ohio, USS Michigan, USS Florida, and USS Georgia. These submarines have a length of 560 ft, a beam of 42 feet, four stories within the hull, and 2 stories in the sail.
The SSGN submarines handle many special missions including missile strikes, and Navy SEAL missions. There is a special entrance/exit for the SEALs and their special vessel.
Katherine is scheduled to serve on the USS Florida until Oct 2024. The boat has two crews, each owning the boat for about 4 months at a time. During that time, they dock about once a month. The sub is in communication every 8-12 hours and the sailor's email is sent and received if there is time. Her days consist of standing watch for 8 hours (generally as the Engineering Office of the Watch), training and filling out paperwork for 8 hours, and (theoretically) having 8 hours to sleep. Meals are served every 8 hours.