Anchors aweigh: Navy Week launches in Albuquerque Monday

Home port for USS Desert Ship (LLS-1) is New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range.

Yeah, that’s right. It’s awash in sand.

The ship’s LLS-1 designation stands for Land-Locked Ship-1.

“Well, it’s not actually a ship,” said Greg Trapp, historian for the New Mexico Council of the Navy League of the United States, a nonprofit, civilian educational and advocacy organization.

Trapp said Desert Ship, constructed in the 1950s, is a concrete-block test platform with the characteristics of a naval warship.

Before new missiles or gunnery systems are put on Navy ships, they are tested on Desert Ship, operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center at White Sands. The Navy has been at White Sands since 1946.

“New Mexico is very much entwined with the Navy,” Trapp said. “People don’t realize that because we are a landlocked state. But we are a maritime nation.”

The Navy’s presence will be more pronounced than usual in Albuquerque this week, which is Navy Week in the city. More than 50 sailors from across the country will be here Monday through Sunday to take part in education and outreach programs.

Adm. Stuart Munsch, who was commander of the submarine USS Albuquerque (SSN 706) from 2002 to 2005, is serving as senior executive for Navy Week in Albuquerque. During a recent Zoom interview from his duty post in Naples, Italy, Munsch said he has visited the city about six times.

“One of the really rewarding experiences in commanding the Albuquerque was the relationship with the namesake city,” he said. “Terri Cole, who is still CEO of the (Greater Albuquerque) Chamber of Commerce, brought together the business community, the government and education communities, different cultural organizations and even the Isotopes baseball team, all to support the submarine and the crew.”

The hardest things

Navy Week, initiated in 2005, is the Navy’s main effort to tell its story in areas not generally associated with seagoing services, places not near the ocean.

Munsch, who grew up in North Dakota, can appreciate that.

“North Dakota is the geographic center of North America, so you can’t be in North America and have grown up farther from an ocean than I did,” he said.

“The purpose of these Navy Weeks in the interior cities in the country, such as Albuquerque, is for folks to learn what we do to defend and deter against aggression that might happen against the U.S. and how we maintain peace and prosperity for America.

“And it’s also an opportunity for young people to learn about the challenges and opportunities that we can give them to help develop themselves.”

Navy Weeks were not around when Munsch was a youngster, but he could almost be a poster boy for the kind of success the Navy can offer those willing to work hard.

Oakes, North Dakota, where Munsch attended junior high and high school, is a town of about 1,700. But he went from that small place to the U.S. Naval Academy.

“I was into doing the hardest things you can do,” Munsch said. “And I thought going to a service academy would be harder than going to a regular university. I did research and the Naval Academy was always ranked higher in U.S. News and World Report than the others.”

He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1985 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering.

Then he was selected for a Rhodes Scholarship and attended England’s Oxford University, where he earned a bachelor of arts and a masters of arts in philosophy, politics and economics.

“Oxford opened up my perspective a great deal by giving me the time to study widely and get exposed to things you might not get exposed to in a small town in North Dakota,” he said. “It taught me how to reason for myself and argue effectively.”

Now, he is Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe/Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Africa/Commander, Allied Joint Force Command, Naples.

What we do

Navy Weeks take place in up to 15 cities a year. The program last visited Albuquerque two years ago.

In Albuquerque this week, sailors will engage with high school students, participate in community efforts at Roadrunner Foodbank and Habitat for Humanity, make themselves available for discussion of the Navy’s mission during visits to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, the New Mexico State Fair and downtown Albuquerque.

Navy Band Southwest will offer free musical performances at various venues throughout the week.

“Something I learned when I was commanding the USS Albuquerque is how important it is for the sailors to have an opportunity to interact with the general public,” Munsch said. “That acts as a strong reminder about why we do what we do — because they’ll get asked those questions. Usually, there’ll be some very positive feedback from folks, and that becomes a motivator for the work that we do. And that improves the performance of the command.”

A high point of Navy Week in Albuquerque this year is a presentation outlining plans for a monument honoring the submarine USS Albuquerque and its crews during more than 30 years of service. Mayor Tim Keller and Munsch will be among the speakers at the program, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday at Pascetti Steel Design, 2114 Claremont NE.

Between the time it entered into active Navy service in May 1983 and it was decommissioned in February 2017, the USS Albuquerque, an attack submarine nearly 362 feet in length, chalked up 500,000 nautical miles during 19 deployments.

It was dismantled at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, but the City of Albuquerque’s Office of Military and Veteran Affairs, the Parks and Recreation Department and the New Mexico Council of NLUS joined forces to save the submarine’s sail (tower mounted on a sub’s topside) for use as a monument.

Various pieces of the sail were delivered to Kirtland Air Force Base in February 2023 and stored there until they were moved to Pascetti Steel Design.

When put back together, the sail will weigh 52 tons and stand 19 feet tall.

Awesome boat

Lawrence Edwards, a 1980 Cibola High graduate who served on the USS Albuquerque, is chairman of New Mexico Council of NLUS’ USS Albuquerque Sail Committee.

“I’m so glad the city took this (the USS Albuquerque monument) on and I can cheerlead for it,” Edwards said. “I was actually at the Puget Sound Shipyard when the Albuquerque came in for decommissioning. It was pretty sad. I had put a lot of work into her overhaul (in 2001-2003).”

Edwards joined the Navy in 1982 as a member of the enlisted ranks but rose to the rank of chief petty officer in 1994 and was commissioned an officer in 1998.

He was with the USS Albuquerque during its refueling overhaul 2001 to 2003 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Munsch took command of the sub in the midst of that overhaul.

“I would brief Adm. Munsch every morning on what was coming up and on what we had accomplished the night before,” Edwards said. “We completed the refueling overhaul in 22.3 months and came in $16 million under budget.” The USS Albuquerque was commended for its historically swift and cost effective overhaul operation.

“She was an awesome boat,” Edwards said of the Albuquerque. “And she had an awesome crew.”

After retiring from the Navy in 2008, Edwards worked 11 years for the Puget Sound Shipyard, which is why he was there when the Albuquerque arrived for decommissioning.

More recently he has been living and substitute teaching in Edgewood, when he’s not pulling his Airstream trailer to national parks throughout the country.

But he’s in Albuquerque for Navy week and eager to attend as many events as he can, especially Monday’s program about the USS Albuquerque monument.

“I think Navy Week really highlights New Mexico’s commitment to the Navy,” he said. “And I think the (USS Albuquerque) memorial is like the cherry on top, showing the city’s concern for the submarine and its crew.

“It’s nice to be back home and see that support.”