The SAOC (Central) executive consists of both elected and appointed positions, each holding office for a term of at least one year. Click on the positions to see who has their hands firmly on the levers of power.
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Peter "Hollywood" Heppleston was elected as our new President after demanding we suitably recognize his previous role as the star of the hit 1980 film Virus, co-starring Chuck Connors, George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn, Olivia Hussey, Edward James Olmos, and Glenn Ford. In his off hours, Pete relaxes as the Submarine Castings Manager at DNPS 4.
Firmly denying rumours he was the inspiration for the "Jonesy' character in Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October, Gord Burns qualified submarines in 1979 as a Sonarman and served on all three Oberon boats. Putting his years of experience at ticking wets on the Junior Rates Mess fridge to good use, Gord is the current Vice President of the SAOC (Central). When not gleefully saying "Only the President can authorize that.", Gord is the Senior Technologist for skimmer Underwater Sensors and Handling Equipment at DMSS 7 in NDHQ.
Bill Irvine is the past president of the SAOC (Central), and qualified submarines in 1976 as a Sub-Lieutenant. On Perisher, he managed to avoid the dreaded bottle of scotch long enough to become Command Qualified in 1984 and served as Commanding Officer of HMCS OJIBWA and HMCS OKANAGAN. When not pining away for the days when he swung a gavel autocratically at SAOC meetings, Bill is a Project Manager with BMT Fleet Technology.
Inventor of the well-loved post-entrée delicacy, and rumoured to be the inspiration for "Duff" beer on the Simpsons, Rick joined submarines in 1991 as a Combat Systems Engineer and quickly shot to fame by being the only officer ever banned from the SUBRON One wardroom for two full years. (Feel free to ask him to spin you his "buddy" and "incompetent" dits sometime.) While he served on all three Oberon boats, he only sailed on OJIBWA where, rather ironically, he held the position of Wardroom Bar Manager. When not spending other peoples money as the SAOC (Central) treasurer, Rick is currently the 140KW MG engineer for DNPS 4 in NDHQ.
Falling for the oldest trick in the book - "Hey buddy, got a pen?", Stuart Glen suddenly found himself "volunteering" for the position of Secretary. He warmed to the job after realizing what a perfect opportunity this was to subtly wreak havoc with the well-oiled machine that is the SAOC Central. As Life Cycle Manager for submarine torpedo tubes at NDHQ, he is perfectly placed to angrily storm over to the President's desk demanding a recount every time something irritates him.
As a former submarine sonarman, UC1, and CHOPS of many years standing, Fred Schatz is ideally suited to be membership director for the SAOC (Central). Fred can hear wheels touching runway whenever a new membership candidate arrives in town, and assumes the Ultra Quiet State to silently track his target. As a long-serving member of the SAOC, Fred is also the newsletter editor and remains eagerly hopeful each month for the chance to yell 'Stop the presses!' to the rest of the executive.
On a submarine there are two groups of people you never want annoy - cooks and pay writers. In a Submariners Association, it is the guy that runs the BBQ. Jerry volunteered for the job of Social Director and we took one look at the pile of raw steaks sitting beside the grill and voted him in unanimously.
Peter Wilkins, born and raised in Coventry (England) during WW2, came through several German bombing raids unscathed. He joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman and transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1949, serving on HMCS NOOTKA during the Korean War. Arm twisted into the submarine service, he served as Torpedo Instructor on HM Submarines TABARD, ALCIDE, STALKER and ADAMANT before returning to General Service. When the RCN 'went green' at unification, Peter retired with 25 years of service and is a former president of the SAOC (Central).