Photo By Lt. Meagan Morrison | Santa Rita, Guam. (August 1, 2007) Midshipman Matthew Evans, from Yona, Guam, poses...... read more read more
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Santa Rita, Guam (May 13, 2021) – Like many other teenagers his age, now Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Evans assigned to Commander, Submarine Squadron 15, argued with his parents about his future.
With an enlisted submariner for a father, Evans explained to his parents that college was not for him and that his goal was to enlist in the U.S. Navy. He was immediately met with resistance from his parents who wished for their son to attend college. Due to this, Evans set his sights on the service academies.
“I saw the academies as the perfect solution,” said Evans. “It was a way for me to be like my father, but also attend college in a way that was paid for like my parents wished.”
Evans, native of Yona, Guam, took this realization as an opportunity to focus on improving his grades in an effort to get accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy. After years of hard work, he was accepted and on his way to serving in the Navy just like his father, a retired Senior Chief Fire Control Technician.
While at the academy, Evans and his fellow Midshipmen, were offered a variety of leadership positions and opportunities to be pilots, submariners, surface officers and more. Evans frequently contemplated the path that he should take. He continually weighed his options, but his instincts always brought him to the submarine force and the shiny pair of dolphins from his father’s uniform. The same dolphins that serve as an exclusive symbol of the submarine force. It was an area of the Navy that Evans knew all too well from his father’s service.
“My father told me that he didn’t think I would enjoy submarines,” said Evans. “I took that as a challenge. Over the next couple of years at the academy, my mind weighed the options of other jobs, but I ended up always coming back to my first choice of submarines.”
Evans decided to prove his father wrong and joined the ranks of the silent service as a naval officer. During his commissioning ceremony, his father was there to be his first salute. Evans persevered, followed his dreams, and was officially in the Navy.
“I was set on joining the submarine force when I went into the academy,” said Evans. ‘So, to have that moment finally be a reality was something I will always remember.”
As his time in the Navy progressed, Evans realized there were many moments in which his career matched his father’s. Similarly, Evans would marry and have a family. They continued a tradition from his childhood where they make a paper link chain for each deployment. Each link represents a day away at sea. His kids make one each deployment, like he did for his father.
“My father never showed how difficult it was to leave family behind each time,” said Evans. “Now that I am on the other end, I realize how hard it is.”
Once the time came for Evans to earn his dolphins, he was originally pinned by his commanding officer. However, upon return from his deployment, his wife pinned him with a pair of weathered gold dolphins that his father had held onto for years.
“The submarine dolphins were something of mystique when I grew up,” said Evans. “I would marvel at my dad’s uniform when he came home. He would wear khakis on shore duty, with all his chest candy and dolphins, which I knew were a big deal. I saw earning my dolphins as synonymous with becoming a man. It felt like I had really made it.”
However, that isn’t where the similarities end. In 2003, Evans’ father served at CSS-15 in Guam. Over 18 years later, Evans is now serving at the same command as the operations officer.
“It’s a huge honor to be selected to go to a squadron for my department head tour,” said Evans. “The fact that it is CSS-15 holds an extra special meaning to me since my father also worked here, and I consider Guam as my home.”
Evans’ father was present throughout his entire career. He supported, motivated and helped guide him into the leader he is today. As he continues his career in the submarine force, he hopes to advance further in rank and retire like his father.
“My father passed along wisdom to me that I will never forget,” he said. “Family comes first, listen to the chief, don’t take yourself too seriously, and if I was ever lucky enough to lead, always make sure to take care of the guys. Hopefully I live up to his words.”
CSS-15 is located at Polaris Point, Naval Base Guam, in Piti, Guam, and consists of multiple Los Angeles-class fast attack submarines. The squadron staff is responsible for providing training, material and personnel readiness support to these commands.
For more news from Commander, Submarine Squadron 15, visit our official CSS-15 website at http://www.csp.navy.mil/css15 and our official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SubmarineSquadron15/.
Are you interested in taking orders to Guam? Want to learn more about the duty station and life on our island? For more information, check out the ‘Go Guam!’ website at http://www.csp.navy.mil/go-guam/ and download the ‘1st Fifteen’ checklist.
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| Date Taken: | 05.20.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2021 20:16 |
| Story ID: | 396877 |
| Location: | SANTA RITA, GU |
| Hometown: | YONA, GU |
| Web Views: | 634 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, CSS-15 Sailor Continues Family Submarine Tradition, by PO1 Kelsey Eades, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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