Fortuitous Decision

Gregg Pennington was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. His Dad was a sharecropper, farming 80 acres. After several years of farming his father took a job in HVAC and the family moved to Brownsville, Texas. Gregg worked during the summer while in high school and when he graduated, he knew that he could not continue to live at home and chose to join the military. He visited the United States Recruiter Office and took the 100-question placement test. Gregg did well on the test and was offered Nuclear Power Training leading to an assignment on a Nuclear- Powered Fast Attack Submarine. That decision led to a six-year obligation with the 
Navy commencing in August 1960.

Gregg went to bootcamp in San Diego, Electronics Technician training at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay, then on to Connecticut for submarine training. He returned to San Diego to his first duty assignment aboard the USS Capitaine (AGSS-336) which was the first step in the program to qualify for Nuclear Training. After six months on the USS Capitaine, Gregg was transferred to Vallejo, California, for Naval Nuclear Power School. He was then transferred to Saratoga Springs in New York for Nuclear Reactor 
Prototype Training. After completion of Prototype training, Gregg was transferred to the USS Scorpion (SSN-589) in Charleston, SC, as a Reactor Operator. He made four patrols on the Scorpion which lasted 60-77 days submerged. He also participated in training deployments around Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. 

In November 1967, Gregg reached the end of his enlistment and chose to leave the Navy. That was the most fortuitous decision of his life, because 6 months later (May 22, 1968) the USS Scorpion was lost at sea with the loss of the entire 99-member crew. 

This was the loss of dear friends developed over the 4½ years aboard Scorpion; an event never forgotten.

Gregg moved to California to start his civilian career and was hired to work at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center in Pleasanton, CA, with a continuation of his Nuclear Training in the Navy. Gregg subsequently was transferred to Joliet, IL, to receive Boiling Water Reactor Training with General Electric. He was subsequently recruited by Westinghouse as Operations Manager, building simulators to train Utility personnel after the Three Mile Island event. He went on to Japan for 13 months for the Startup of a Commercial Pressurized Water Reactor. After returning from Japan, Gregg was approached by a Westinghouse mentor who convinced him to obtain a college degree. 

Gregg graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and was promoted to Startup Manager for 13 Commercial Nuclear Power Plant Start-ups in the U.S. and Asia. After accepting an early retirement package from Westinghouse, he worked for 16 years for Jacobs Engineering on numerous nuclear related projects nationwide. In Gregg’s own words, “My Navy Nuclear Training provided the basis for a wonderful lifetime career.” 

What an exciting career can be had after training in the United States Navy!