Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but disappointing
Review: As a former submariner and SSBN crewman, I was greatly looking forward to this book. I've long hoped for a book that I could hand to friends and family, one that would serve to explain to them what the life was like.And I was vastly disapointed in 'Big Red'. It's glaringly obvious that the author did not in fact spend 'three months onboard a Trident submarine'. In fact, it appears the book was assembled only from interviews, with no first hand experience at all. The book only covers a week or so of refresher training. It barely mentions refit, and does not cover the off-crew portion of the cycle at all. The actual patrol period itself is covered in only forty pages (out three hundred plus) at the end of the book. (And the bulk of those are given over to Halfway Night and the transit to NSB Kings Bay.) If this book was written to cover an airline flight from Los Angeles to New York, it would begin with pushing the throttles forward at the end of the runway of the Los Angeles Airport, and end with the planes wheels leaving the ground. The book is filled with numerous minor technical errors. In referring to the DPER, the author gravely informs us that it is named 'deeper'. DPER is an acronym that is pronounced 'deeper'. On several occasions he mistakenly refers to the Nebraska's sail as a 'conning tower'. When the CO issues the order to 'warm the main engines', the author goes off into a two paragraph description of the power plant, but leaves off the final two sentences that would actually explain what the order meant. A complete list of the errors would stretch to almost the same length of the book, while correcting them would increase the length of the book hardly at all. Annoyingly, this book continues the all too common pattern of largely ignoring the enlisted crewmen in favor of concentrating on the CO and a few officers. In a segment of the book dealing with repairing a simulated failure, two paragraphs are devoted to depicting the Engineer rushing forward and discussing the problem and it's solution with the CO. The crewmembers who actually performed the troubleshooting, and who would do the work of the repair are dismissed in two sentences. Such writing does a vast disservice to the teamwork that is a submarine crew. Historically enlisted crewmen are partners with the officers onboard a submarine, and this book fails to illuminate that relationship. Lastly and most disappointingly this book utterly lacks any sense of history, proportion, or Naval and Submarine force traditions. The reader of this book could easily be forgiven for believing that the USS Nebraska is the only submarine in the fleet, the author completely fails to connect events and objects onboard the submarine with history or the rest of the fleet. During a man overboard drill, the author informs us that the crew of the Nebraska have nicknamed the dummy 'Oscar'. He fails to mention that this nickname is Naval tradition of long standing. During 'angles and dangles' the author informs us of why the CO intends to perform this drill. He does not mention that the 'angles and dangles' drill is a standard one in the submarine service dating back decades. Along with the technical errors in this book, I don't believe that the manuscript was ever read or commented on by a knowledgeable, unbiased observer. 'Big Red' is worth reading for the content it does have, but the reader should be aware of what was left out as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Plank Owner
Review: As a member of the USS Nebraska commissioning crew I was excited to find a book about the boat I once called home. I served on the Nebraska as a sonar technician from April of 1993 through the end of my enlistment in 1996. I was there when she first put to sea and submerged for the first time. You might think- "Why would someone who served on the boat want to read about it?" I served in the USN at an odd time in history: The USSR had collapsed but the US continues to build and deploy missile-boats. The military was being down sized and long time service members were being moved to retirement. When we went on patrol #1 in 1994 there was little if any contact with foreign navies and none with any hostel ones. I was interested in what life on these seemingly obsolete yet devastatingly powerful boats was like in the late '90s. Mr. Waller did a superb job in conveying life on an SSBN. Though I suspect the Navy arranged more perks than is normal (mid-shipmen runs and steel beaches are considered easy duty and were rare events). But despite that I found the book excellent. Other books about submarines like Rising Tide and Blind Man's Bluff offer more "excitement" in terms of daring missions and Cold War drama and while not to lessen those books, Big Red is real life on a submarine and written by a man who met active duty submariners and lived there life with them. The other books seem to be written by wannabes who though fascinated by submarines never bother to convey the human element of the routine and isolation nor understand why the stories they are reciting are inaccurate because they have never served on a submarine. e.g. Rising Tide has an story of Soviet submariners dying for failure to decompress. Submarines are obviously air tight and since they are sealed at sea level the pressure inside is always close (in does change a bit) to sea level so there is never any need to decompress. If the sailors in the story actually had to pressurize to the stated depth- 5000 ft- in order to escape their downed boat they would likely have died anyway as at that pressure the human body would be badly damages- sorry all you Abyss fans. One criticism however, submarines are referred to as "boats" not "subs". The author constantly uses the later and it drove me nuts. Other books do the same. I would also recommend Dark Waters about the NR-1. Offers both the exploits of an incredible boat but also is written by a member of her original crew thereby combining both elements.
Rating:
Summary: Real Life "Underwater" World
Review: Big Red by Douglas C. Waller has given me more information about life on a submarine than I could ever get from an actual crewmember of the Nebraska. They do tend to edit their experiences. It was an eye-opener. Every detail, from launch to port, was so real that it must be the honest truth. If you didn't realize what our Navy men must endure in their day to day life at sea, this book will answer all your questions.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Companion to Blind Man's Bluff
Review: Big Red is the book that Tom Clancy probably wish he wrote for "SSN." While there is no shortage of technical detail, Waller's crew profiles are what makes this a great book. Although it cost me some valuable sleep, I could not put it down on a recent trans-Atlantic flight. Unfortunately, the book's timing coincides with the Ehime Maru's fatal encounter with the USS Greenville. Despite Captain Waddle's recent resignation after evading a court martial, this book raises many unanswered questions about the incident. Waller's accounts of constant drills and adherence to procedures on the USS Nebraska now sound contrived when compared to the corporate joyride on the USS Greenville. For anyone interested in subs, I would recommend the troika of "Blind Man's Bluff", "Big Red", and Brayton Harris' "Navy Times Book of Submarines." All are excellent reads packed with information to satisfy any military buff.
Rating:
Summary: Big Red deseerves an award
Review: Big Red
Three Months On Board
A Trident Nuclear
Submarine
By Douglas C. Waller
Harper Collins
Doug Waller is probably the best military writer alive today in the non-fiction category.
His earlier book, "Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilot," was must reading for anyone who has the slightest interest in military aviation.
Now he's come out with a fascinating 330-page insider's report on another aspect of the military spectrum. It's called "Big Red" because "Red" is the USS Nebraska, SSBN-739, a top secret "boomer," a nuclear-powered, long-range, ICBM-carrying undersea warship which patrols silently and secretly for up to three months at a time.
Somehow, Waller persuaded the Navy brass to let him ride along on a three month patrol and write down what he saw and heard. In this book, you'll find out that the nuclear threat portrayed in the popular film "Crimson Tide" couldn't happen, and why. You'll also learn that boomer sailors may be among the hardest working crews ever to take to sea; in the modern Navy, anyway.
For 90 days, they exist on 18 hours days, of which 12 of those are either standing watch, working their specialty, studying, practicing, eating or reading manuals. In between, there are drills, drills and more drills. From battle stations to man overboard to launching missiles to fire in the torpedo section, sub sailors are constantly called upon to perfect their craft.
All this without even a window to look out of.
What possesses a man to seal himself inside of a metal tube for 90 days, twice a year, out of touch and out of reach of family, friends and loved ones, only to face endless seven-day weeks of training, studying, drilling and worse - with no privacy? Isn't it like being in prison with the possibility of drowning?
After you spent time with Big Red, you'll better understand these modern heroes and feel a lot more secure about whose fingers are on the nuclear buttons.
Waller's writing is fast-paced, conversational and fun to read. An amazing book.
Rating:
Summary: Big Red deseerves an award
Review: Big Red
Three Months On Board
A Trident Nuclear
Submarine
By Douglas C. Waller
Harper Collins
Doug Waller is probably the best military writer alive today in the non-fiction category.
His earlier book, "Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilot," was must reading for anyone who has the slightest interest in military aviation.
Now he's come out with a fascinating 330-page insider's report on another aspect of the military spectrum. It's called "Big Red" because "Red" is the USS Nebraska, SSBN-739, a top secret "boomer," a nuclear-powered, long-range, ICBM-carrying undersea warship which patrols silently and secretly for up to three months at a time.
Somehow, Waller persuaded the Navy brass to let him ride along on a three month patrol and write down what he saw and heard. In this book, you'll find out that the nuclear threat portrayed in the popular film "Crimson Tide" couldn't happen, and why. You'll also learn that boomer sailors may be among the hardest working crews ever to take to sea; in the modern Navy, anyway.
For 90 days, they exist on 18 hours days, of which 12 of those are either standing watch, working their specialty, studying, practicing, eating or reading manuals. In between, there are drills, drills and more drills. From battle stations to man overboard to launching missiles to fire in the torpedo section, sub sailors are constantly called upon to perfect their craft.
All this without even a window to look out of.
What possesses a man to seal himself inside of a metal tube for 90 days, twice a year, out of touch and out of reach of family, friends and loved ones, only to face endless seven-day weeks of training, studying, drilling and worse - with no privacy? Isn't it like being in prison with the possibility of drowning?
After you spent time with Big Red, you'll better understand these modern heroes and feel a lot more secure about whose fingers are on the nuclear buttons.
Waller's writing is fast-paced, conversational and fun to read. An amazing book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Technical Treatment/Superb Sociological Study
Review: Douglas Waller has a real talent for immersing you in the world of the present-day American submariner. He deals not just with the technical nuts and bolts of the nuclear powered Trident submarine Nebraska, but he gives you a real feel for the crew, both individually and collectively. I suspect that this is a somewhat sanitized view of life under water; after all he did live with these men for an extended period of time, undoubtedly shared confidences with them, and almost certainly grew to like and admire them. He probably wouldn't produce a "reveal all" expose as a result. Yet having stated that caveat, to the uninitiated at least the book nonetheless rings true. This a valuable contribution to our understanding of why the American military is usually so successful, and offers an insight into how it maintains the United States as the last remaining superpower. In many respects, Waller's writing does for the undersea navy what the likes of Anna Simons ("The Company They Keep: Life Inside the U.S. Army Special Forces") have done for other branches of the military. Not only is this a good, entertaining read, but it is an excellent study into the sociology of a very unique, small, but surely very important social group!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Audiotape version highly recommended
Review: Fantastic book. Narrates the technical prowess of a Trident "Boomer" sub and the men that run it. Demonstrates America at its best. The sailors are highly intelligent, hardworking and disciplined. They dedicate several years of their lives to the navy and the navy pays for their education. An amazingly large number of them have graduate degrees in high tech fields such as electrical/mechanical engineering etc. The story takes you thru the strategy, stresses and daily duties of running a nuclear sub. Sub is nuclear because it is powered by a nuclear reactor and can remain submerged for 8 mos. The sub has 24 ICBMs with a range of 6,000 mi and the w-88 warhead with a kill radius of 100 mi. These are perhaps the USA's #1 deterrent. It was nuclear subs, not that silliness for the mainstream media about moving land missiles that forced Krushchev to back down during the Cuban missile crisis. Another great book about nuclear submarines is blind man's bluff. The book is also a model of how to run a large organization.Thank God for the USA navy and the submariners, for it is they who are the great protectors of the free world.
Rating: 
Summary: Something Seems Amiss
Review: I believe one of the most extraordinary accomplishments of the Author, Mr. Douglas C. Waller, is his gaining permission to spend the length of time that he did on a Trident. However based on my reading I would not bet heavily on how much of the entire cruise he actually spent on the ship. The book does not read as though he was onboard for the entire cruise. I thought there were far too few details about what he experienced that would seem to be essential to communicating to other civilians what life on board The Nebraska is like. Where did he sleep for 3 months, how was he affected mentally/emotionally by the strain that even the most experienced of the crew endure every time they go out? I rarely felt as though I was reading an eyewitness account. This book seems to hit some highlights, reviews some major events very briefly (like the refit), and just does not read, as a first person account should. I suppose it's possible the Navy restricted what he was allowed to divulge, as he certainly cannot have the security clearances the crew requires, but definitive time he spent on the boat would not seem to qualify as a secret. This is not like the books and movies, "Red October, and Crimson Tide", however a good deal of dialogue during a missile firing simulation lent credibility to the latter of the two movies I mentioned. This is fairly dry reading unless you choose to really read about what this 1.8 Billion dollar weapon is capable of, the complexity that is almost beyond comprehension, and the fact that this ship that would stretch higher than The Washington Monument is crewed by only 162 men with an average age of 27. The age may seem surprisingly low, but after you meet members of the crew, I did not find one who did not appear very highly capable despite their sometimes-young age. There were some issues I enjoyed reading about and whether they were or were not possible and why. And even if theoretically possible why the likelihood of their happening is essentially zero. Can a captain fire missiles without the concurrence of The President? How many people must actively participate in a launch that is sanctioned, how do those who do so feel about what they may someday be required to do? Is it in fact possible for a ship to be without the ability to communicate with Washington? And finally when the seemingly endless steps that are required to authenticate and prepare for a launch are complete, what discretion does the Captain have if he has any at all? The discussion on gay males serving aboard the ship was the most intelligent I have read. Politicians who know less about Submarine life than they do about most other topics they make decisions about also were not spouting it. The same can also be said as to the validity and the practicality of women serving on a Nuclear Submarine. Neither issue is without their problems, however to read intelligent solutions as opposed to moronic declarations from Politicians on photo opportunities was a pleasant change. The passage in the book that is the most riveting is the simulated missile launch. If you can imagine the launch preparations as real, and imagine what is going on with the people participating, or perhaps how you might feel, this book is as intense as any imagined novel. A good book for those who want to know more, but perhaps do not know better. This is a light treatment of what goes on at times, not a diary of a three-month voyage.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I bought this fascinating book to prepare for my next holiday. With extreme sports yesterday's news for adrenaline junkies, and the defence spending cuts by the British government leading to the explosive growth of the Armed Forces action holiday industry, I followed the smart money and booked a two month break on a nuclear powered sub. And this well-researched and humorous book gave me the perfect preparation in gripping fashion. Some common misconceptions are dispelled and fascinating insights are provided (cool chunky woolen roll-neck sweaters actually are still provided as standard for submariners, even though gayness is discouraged), as the author takes the reader into the chilly world of the deep.
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