"Firepower For Freedom"
Greetings From The NJ Submarine Commissioning Committee It is an honor to be part of the commissioning of the USS NEW JERSEY (SSN 796). We are working diligently to ensure that all i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed – our goal is to have “the best commissioning ever.” There Read More
[Elizabeth, NJ – April 3rd, 2023] The crew of the USS NEW JERSEY (SSN 796) visited the ELIZABETH PUBLIC SCHOOLS and the City of Elizabeth as part of a namesake visit to the State of New Jersey to further the relationships between the boat and its namesake, the state of New Jersey, and to raise awareness Read More
Thanks to Mayor Bollwage of the City of Elizabeth, NJ for hosting a Q&A with Commander Steven Halle (CO of the submarine PCU NEW JERSEY), and Stephen Hutton, Chairman of the Commissioning Committee. We explained the purpose of a commissioning committee, and shared information about life aboard a submarine. We Read More
[Camden, NJ April 2, 2023] As usual we kicked off our most recent crew visit from the USS NEW JERSEY (SSN 796) with a visit to the prior USS NEW JERSEY, the Battleship New Jersey (BB 62). It’s a tradition now that the visiting crewmembers sign a banner to show Read More
The USS NEW JERSEY(SSN796) Commissioning Committee partnered with Boy Scouts of America to host a STEM Merit Badge Fair where nearly 200 Scouts from across New Jersey learned about topics like Nuclear Science, Chemistry, Oceanography, Digital Technology and Computer Programming. The event was organized by Monmouth Council’s Middlesex District and took Read More
The crew of the USS NEW JERSEY (SSN 796) had breakfast with the Boy Scouts aboard the Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial on Sunday. As part of this namesake visit, the crew were able to talk with the Scouts and their parents about the building and testing of the newest Virginia-class submarine Read More
Today (11/18/22) crew members from the new Virginia-class fast attack submarine PCU NEW JERSEY (SSN 796) visited the Naval ROTC unit at Rutgers University. This visit is part of our committee’s continuing efforts to bring the crew to her namesake state to conduct youth outreach, community service projects, cultural and Read More
On October 3rd, 2022 Stephen Hutton and John Koehr made a presentation to the veterans group at ‘Renaissance’, a 55+ community facility in Manchester Township, NJ. The group were really engaged and asked some great questions. Despite the weather (it was raining) we were delighted to see a large turnout Read More
This morning committee members Paul Blodgett and Stephen Hutton had the opportunity and privilege to make a presentation to the Rotary Club of Morris Plains describing our mission and informing about the future addition to the submarine fleet: the USS New Jersey (SSN 796). The presentation was well received and Read More
On Sunday the 29th of August, the crew was given a tour of the Battleship New Jersey BB-62 and observed CPO Initiation Ceremony conducted onboard the battleship. After an outstanding tour, the crew was hosted by the Iron Worker Union Local 12698 at tailgate and Phillies versus Pirates baseball game. Read More
The following day after the Atlantic City Air Show the committee and crew members visiting from the USS New Jersey were granted the chance to visit the 177th Fighter Wing, NJ Air National Guard. Big thank you to committee trustee Marshall Spevak for organizing the visit! Joining Marshall, were committee Read More
Weather was a little on the warm side but the sky was clear and just right for the Atlantic City Air Show on August 24th. The committee got to the boardwalk a little early, with Steve Hutton making the delivery of our tent, table, weights, and giveaways and Joe Velez Read More
On Tuesday August 23rd the visiting sailors from the USS New Jersey, along with members of the commissioning committee were invited by the Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce to attend a reception being given primarily for military participants in the upcoming Air Show. Principal among the attendees were the pilots Read More
Only a few days away from the Atlantic City Air Show and we are ready. Look for us on the boardwalk by ‘Boardwalk Hall’ right next to the tent for the Battleship New Jersey. We’re bringing several crew members up from the new submarine the USS New Jersey to visit Read More
August 5th: Cmdr. Jared Smith, the CO of the Submarine New Jersey, and his wife attended a ceremony on the Battleship’s fantail for the USS New Jersey Veterans Reunion. The CO also attended and spoke at their dinner the following evening August 6th, 2022.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2022 | ATLANTIC CITY, NJ We’ll be there, will you? Premium seating: https://airshow.acchamber.com/premium-viewing-areas/ Performers: https://airshow.acchamber.com/performers/ Social Media: INSTAGRAM- https://www.instagram.com/airshowac/?hl=en FACEBOOK- https://www.facebook.com/AirshowACTWITTER- https://twitter.com/AcAirshow
A fantastic ‘SubFest’ was organized by the Montgomery News to celebrate the new USS New Jersey (SSN 796), a Virginia Class Fast Attack Submarine currently under construction and scheduled to join the fleet in 2023. The event took place on cool and windy June 18th 2022 Plenty of food and Read More
On Thursday June 16th five crew members from the brand new USS New Jersey SSN 796 were invited along with members of the Commissioning Committee (Stephen Hutton, Joe Velez, and John Koehr) to visit Johnson & Johnson’s corporate HQ in New Brunswick, NJ. The first part of our visit was Read More
A festival to show support for our newest US Navy warship named after the great state of NEW JERSEY! The USS New Jersey (SSN 796) A music and food festival featuring the Bon Jovi tribute band “Slippery When Wet” who will be performing on stage this coming June 18th at Read More
Today consisted of tours of the Battleship New Jersey (BB-62) for crew members and setting up displays in the officers’ wardroom to showcase the submarine, the commissioning committee, and US Navy recruiting. Several tours went through the battleship and visitors stopped by to meet the sailors. The weather was horrendous Read More
The committee deferred to the Navy Week activities today and all crew members from the New Jersey participated throughout the day at a Habitat For Humanity project in the Trenton, NJ area. Sorry – we don’t currently have any pictures from today. We’ll see if we can get some and Read More
Today we switched out crew members, bringing new sailors up from VA while the original ones headed back to the submarine and shipyard. The XO remained for continuity and oversight to ensure things continued smoothly. While six sailors joined the Navy Week activities at a ‘rescue mission’ in Trenton, the Read More
Our originally scheduled school visit had to be cancelled due to some issues getting sufficient youngsters to attend. The 12 PCU New Jersey crew members instead joined the rest of the Navy Week sailors at a cleanup operation at Alberta Woods Park in Camden, NJ. Our own committee member (recently Read More
Our committee’s portion of Navy Week (which we’re supplementing with additional crew members as a ‘namesake visit’) kicked off with a visit to the major defense contractor L3Harris in Trenton, NJ. https://www.l3harris.com/ The folks at L3Harris really rolled out the red carpet and gave us an extensive tour allowing crew Read More
Today the committee started our own portion of the Navy Week with a tour of Princeton Plasma Physics where the crew and commissioning committee members were treated to a chance to view the NSTXU fusion reactor. This spherical device is shaped like a cored apple rather than the doughnut-like shape Read More
‘Navy Week’ is coming to Trenton and the surrounding area the week of May 2nd and crew members from the New Jersey will be joining. The committee has managed to double the number of attendees from the submarine and will be combining Navy Week with our own activities to create Read More
On May 26th the Eagle Oaks Golf and Country Club will be holding a day at a championship quality golf course to honor U.S. Military and benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. This will be their 14th annual event. Crew members from the under construction PCU New Jersey will be Read More
On April 14th the dry dock was flooded and the New Jersey entered the water for the first time. Another major milestone in bringing her closer to joining the fleet! Pictures below:
Join us to meet and celebrate crew members of the new Virginia-class submarine THE USS NEW JERSEY! She’s currently wrapping up construction and will be joining the fleet next year. Meanwhile we’re bringing her crew to her namesake state to join the Jersey family and get to know us while Read More
The crew of the NJY intends to maximize its support for Trenton Fleet Week 2-8 May. We look forward to seeing a large portion of the crew attend several events and continue to better get to know its namesake state!
Crew members visited New Jersey this past weekend for the second of our ‘namesake visits’ where we introduce the crew to NJ and NJ to the crew. Each visit is intended to highlight aspect of New Jersey’s history, economy, and culture and to let as many people in NJ as Read More
On a windy but sunny Saturday in Virginia, the USS New Jersey was christened! A major milestone in the life of a US Navy vessel is the christening. In this case it was an opportunity to officially name the USS New Jersey and also recognize and honor the men and Read More
Committee Chairman, Stephen Hutton, met with the Rotary Club of Montgomery/Rocky Hill to present information about the submarine USS New Jersey (SSN-796) and the commissioning committee’s goal and objectives. The audience were very engaged and had lots of questions about the boat and it’s crew. Thanks to Paul Blodgett for Read More
On October 1st six crew members visited NJ as part of an ongoing series of ‘namesake’ visits designed to build a lasting relationship between the new submarine and the state of New Jersey. Day 1 After driving up from Virginia the sailors gave a brief presentation and conducted a Q&A Read More
On August 19th several committee members travelled to Hampton Roads Navy base in Virginia to present sailor the year awards We also met the incoming CO to discuss *namesake visits and other activities the committee will be involved in with the crew of the boat. More details and photos to Read More
Thanks to the RBPS for inviting us to speak at their annual picnic event at the John C. Bartlett, Jr. County Park at Berkeley Island this past weekend. We appreciate the opportunity afforded us to present information about the PCU New Jersey*. The Colors, Pledge of Allegiance, and Introductions The Read More
At this year’s installation dinner for the Central Jersey Council of the Navy League of the United States the commissioning committee honored the submarine’s ‘Sailor of the Quarter’. This was the first occasion that the committee joined with the Navy League to present an award to the submarine’s sailor of Read More
On January 24th, 2020 the CO, XO, COB and several family members sharing dinner with committee members at Harolds in Edison NJ.
The Commanding Officer, CDR Joseph (Joe) Spinks; Executive Officer, LCDR Phil Jones; and Chief of the Boat, STSCS(SS) Hamilton T. Felt joined with committee members for an introductory dinner in New Brunswick at Old Man Rafferty’s on Thursday November 7th. This was a great start to what we hope will Read More
The Battleship welcomed CDR Joseph M. Spinks, Commanding Officer, and STSCS(SS) Hamilton T. Felt, Chief of the Boat, PCU New Jersey (SSN 796) The PCU New Jersey is a Virginia-class submarine, currently under construction in Newport News, Virginia. For more information about the visit and the Battleship New Jersey visit Read More
On May 24th 2015, during a Memorial Day ceremony at Liberty State Park, then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus officially announced that the USS New Jersey will be the name of a new Virginia-class submarine. Our council were honored to be invited to attend and meet SECNAV Mabus as well as to Read More