Caleb Schneider was the September 17 speaker who discussed the Commissioning Committee's work for the USS Iowa Virginia Class Nuclear Powered Submarine.
President Vernette and John Ockenfels expressed their thanks to the 22 people who worked on can sorting on September 14. Sorting of 11 bins was completed in record time with this crew.
Deb Ockenfels announced that the two months of the Food Fight resulted in 39,659 lbs of produce and 390 lbs of toilet paper being distributed to the CommUnity Foodbank. Total giving from the participating clubs was $24,685.20. A tie was declared for the most food in pounds per capita: Downtown Club contributed $284/member and IC AM contributed $282/member. The Golden Turkey will be shared for this Rotary year.
Mark Patton, Membership Chair for this year, announced that next week's club members will draw for meeting dates to bring a guest as a potential new member. Be talking to your friends and neighbors about joining Rotary!
Caleb Schneider is a former Naval officer who served on a submarine after over 2 years of training for his job. He grew up in Iowa City and came back to the area after his service. He and his wife, Jordan, are the Eastern Iowa Directors of the USS Iowa Commissioning Committee. The Commissioning Committee is not only responsible for all the publicity and events around the commissioning of this submarine, but also for honoring and welcoming the crew and families of this ship. Another Commissioning Committee goal is building a strong awareness among Iowans about this submarine that is named for our state. They also help to supply the ship with extra comforts that would not be present on the submarine otherwise and to help take care of families of sailors who are lost during the submarine's missions over the years. None of the work of the Commission is supported with public funds.
This Virginia Class Sub was proposed in 2015 by the Secretary of the Navy, had its keel built in Groton, CT in 2019, the hull built in 2021, christened by Christie Vilsack and launched in 2023, and is expected to be commissioned in spring 2025. The crew moved on board in May 2024 and it is now in the process of test runs. The sub is 377 feet long and has a 34 ft beam. It has a mixed crew of 134 and is the first US sub to be designed from the start to house a male/female crew. This is the fourth ship to have the name USS Iowa, the most famous of which was the World War II and Korean War battleship otherwise known as BB-61. The new sub is tiny by comparison. Its home base will be Groton and is anticipated to primarily serve missions in the Atlantic. It is expected to be in service at least 35 years.