SSBN-826
The Crew
Introducing the Officers, Chiefs, and Sailors selected to operate the Navy’s newest, most advanced, and most capable submarine.
Like all U.S. SSBNs, at the time of Commissioning, the USS District of Columbia will have two complete Crews, called the Blue Crew and the Gold Crew.
The Crews alternate manning and taking the submarine on patrol. Blue and Gold Crews maximize the SSBN’s strategic availability by allowing them to operate at sea approximately 70% of the time; reduce the number of submarines required to meet strategic requirements; and allow for proper Crew training, readiness, and morale.
Captain Heath Johnmeyer
2025 was a remarkable year for the DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA crew, marked with momentous personal and team accomplishments, and with the promise of much more in 2026 and beyond. Over the course of this year, we have continued developing our understanding of this brand-new platform, which will underpin U.S. strategic deterrence into the 2080s. Our dedicated sailors have completed countless watchstation qualifications, enabling deeper system and operational understanding at all levels of the command, and ensuring the crew will be ready for each construction milestone. We have also continued building our strong partnership with the shipbuilders, and we look forward to supporting their incredible efforts to deliver this technological marvel to the Navy and the Nation.
What does it take to succeed in this demanding environment? The Navy notes that operating the intricate machinery aboard a nuclear submarine is incredibly complex and requires a mastery of technical topics such as thermodynamics, electrical engineering, and nuclear propulsion. Submariners must also know safety, damage control, seamanship, and sonar operations.
...You doubtless know that every man who serves in a submarine must be a highly technical and highly trained man. There are no landsmen there for instruction. Every man must either be a very competent machinist, or an electrician, or a gunner’s mate for gun and torpedo work. Their must also be a radio operator in case the boat carries wireless.
In addition to all these technical qualifications the men must have distinctive moral attributes. They should be men who have volunteered for this duty, and not men who have simply been assigned to it on account of their technical knowledge.
They must be the kind of men who are willing to take a sporting chance. Men who have not the mental habit of imagining disaster; that is men who have not too much imagination. Moreover, they must be the kind of men who set no store by physical comfort…
— Letter from Captain William S. Sims to Walter S. Meriwether, 1917
Today's submarines and their onboard systems are significantly more advanced and technologically complex than the U.S. Navy's first submarine, the USS Holland (SS-1), purchased on 11 April 1900.
Yet, the knowledge, skills, and qualifications a Submariner must master is relatively similar to those described by then Captain William S. Sims in his 1917 letter responding to Walter S. Meriwether's question about what it takes to be a Submariner.
An ability to lead people to accomplish the mission is as critical as technical expertise. Teamwork and decision-making are essential skills to succeed in this unforgiving environment.
Commanding Officer
A career Submarine Warfare Officer, Captain Johnmeyer reported aboard in March 2024 as the first Commanding Officer, PCU District of Columbia (SSBN-826).
Executive Officer
Chief of the Boat
Meet the men and women standing the Watch on our behalf
Members of the USS District of Columbia Crew following graduation from S1B Design School. S1B is the name of the Columbia Class SSBN's life-of-the-ship reactor core which will remain in service without refueling.
"As every ballistic-missile submarine has since the keel laying of USS George Washington (SSBN 598) here at Electric Boat in November 1958 – the District of Columbia, and all those in its class will continue to serve as the most survivable leg of the nuclear triad – standing constant watch far beneath the waves, as we have done for over 63 years – a stalwart deterrent against those who would seek to do the unspeakable.”
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