Immediately following the terrorist attack of 11 September 2001, frantic callers were unable to contact Chief of Navy Chaplains Rear Admiral Barry C. Black. Unbeknownst to the public, Admiral Black was 200 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean on board a ballistic-missile submarine when the Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon.
"At least four or five times a year," he explained, "I try to get on one of the major platforms in order to get some hard data regarding what our personnel think and feel. So I was doing one of those trips at the time when I heard about 9/11. I was out of pocket, and because my mission was classified, when people called, my staff didn't tell them where I was. And then friends tried to reach me by cell phone and couldn't. Others tried to reach me on my pager and couldn't. So reports of my demise began to circulate."
When he returned to his office, Admiral Black had more than 200 e-mail messages waiting for him. One message announced, "Admiral Black is missing and presumed dead."
"It was nice to see that I will actually have mourners," he joked. "It was very, very interesting. I was able to get some of the major people in my church to put out the word that I was alive, and it didn't require resurrection."
Experiencing life on board a submarine during a time of national crisis gave Admiral Black an even greater appreciation for the faithful duty of those in the Silent Service.
"We really were very safe," he said. "But let me tell you, there was a tremendous anxiety, probably more so than on a surface ship, because you were incommunicado. You don't have the advantage of being able to talk with your family at all, and you're not getting the news, and many times what you're getting is a distortion of the news. It's a tough situation to be in. I really have a much greater respect for the submariners."
Admiral Black says that in the wake of 11 September, in yet another indication that people from all walks of life are rallying to support national defense, he has taken several calls from clergy asking how they can enlist to become chaplains. He was especially pleased to report that after the attack, made in part on the basis of religious intolerance, enlistments are up and the Navy now is on track to reach its chaplain recruiting goals for 2002.