USS Montana’s Submarine Sailors Soaking Up the Big Sky Country

If I had to spend as much time underwater as these guys do, I would talk about nothing but the beautiful Big Sky of Montana all day long too.

I was at the University of Montana for the military appreciation game and the military alumni reunion on Saturday and had the great honor of catching up with the sailors from the USS Montana submarine that were on the ground in Big Sky Country the past few days.

Coming up Tuesday, I'll share audio on the radio of our interviews with the commander of the USS Montana, the chief of the boat, and some of their outstanding junior sailors.

Commander John Gilligan is the commander of the USS Montana. The Montana is a Virginia class nuclear-powered submarine. We chatted in front of the historic USS Montana bell at the Adams Center ahead of a Montana Grizzly football game.

Commander Gilligan discussed the submarine's mission, which includes anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, and support for special operations forces.

One of the things they got do on this trip to Montana was visit Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Aaron Flint: "I understand you got to go to Malmstrom Air Force Base, and they're in the middle of this massive Sentinel missile system upgrade. And so- pretty interesting having a couple of legs of the triad right there in one one room.

Commander Gilligan: "It is. It was very interesting to get to see what our brothers in the Air Force do. And the the triad really does work best as a triad. One of the most important parts of national defense is that nuclear triad. As a fast attack submarine- we're not a ballistic missile submarine. So we're not directly in that job. We're out on the pointy end, doing the rest of the work that those guys let us go do."

We also got to catch up with Command Master Chief Ernie Scott, known as "the chief of the boat." He talked about the friendliness of the Montanans they got to meet on the trip. He also told us about the Montana specific items you will see on the USS Montana submarine.

Master Chief Scott: "Throughout the we have the crew's mess we have the Glacier National Park wrap on on the inside of the crew's mess, which is named the Big Sky Saloon appropriately inside the submarine. All the birthings are named after various towns, Great Falls, Havre and so on, as well as the passageways are all named after various rivers. And the- my favorite is the machinery room, which is nicknamed the Big Hole, which it has appropriate signage everywhere, as well as Blackfeet Indian artifacts that were presented during the commissioning. Those are displayed as well, and various art from CM Russell, which we got to visit the CM Russell museum and see the pieces in real life, which was an extraordinary experience."

They all talked about the BIG SKY...and how you see Big Sky referenced throughout the USS Montana sub...but now they got to see it and feel it.

We will have full audio coming up on the Montana Talks app by Tuesday afternoon.