BROTHERHOOD OF DOOM: Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear Weaponsman

by James S. Little
(ISBN-10: 1601453116/ISBN-13: 978-1601453112)
Publisher: BookLocker.com
Paperback 11"x 8.5"x 1.1", 440 pages, 2.2 pounds
Price: $24.95
Tags: Memoir

Synopsis:

 BROTHERHOOD of DOOM provides a look inside a national program that was shrouded in secrecy, during the cold war. The book details the dedication and patriotism of a small group of sailors that were denied much of the liberty, and freedoms their fellow citizens enjoyed, to insure the survival of America in the event of a nuclear war. Emphasized throughout the book is the extraordinary effort by nuclear weaponsmen to handle and maintain these weapons of mass destruction with safety, and to continually strive for perfection. The book is an effort to honor the many outstanding, and colorful sailors he served with for thirty years, and to educate the American public about a national program that little is known about, a program all citizens should be thankful for. The job of navy nuclear weaponsman no longer exists, and BROTHERHOOD of DOOM is an attempt to preserve this important story of the American military.

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Little reflects on his remarkable thirty year Navy career while primarily assigned to nuclear capable activities.  In 1960 at seventeen, Little enters the service and begins training as an enlisted man who soon turns wrenches on nuclear weapons of mass destruction and other bombs.  He evolves into an elite Chief Petty Officer, highly respected and in charge of all the “hands on” details of tactical nuclear safety and security within his duty station.  Little shares the painstaking advances through ten rank changes, the separation from family and friends, and a multitude of personal and professional relationships encountered.  Prior to discharge at forty-eight, Jim attains the rank of Chief Warrant Officer and is in charge of one-third of our country’s nuclear stockpile.  He advances in rank and duty while completing his Navy career, and relates his further influence on systematic nuclear protocols as a member of stockpile management and planning committees, and while on the job as Officer in Charge of a Sound Surveillance Underwater System (SOSUS) base. 
 
I liked Jim Little’s watercolor artwork on the book cover that shows an all weather bomber and wingman streaking away from the blast of a nuclear weapon dropped on target.  I found the pragmatic details of managing weapons, the snafus at sea and shore, and the never ending movement of this serviceman interesting.  Navy loyalty was most evident in this book.  I appreciate that Little’s mother never quit writing him for thirty years, and that he and his wife, Carmen, retired together after living through many less than ideal situations dictated by Navy relocation.  Little describes the hearty soul that endures Navy life – evidenced by his examples of officers bunking directly under the aircraft catapult at sea and the sailors never ending transitions.  I enjoyed the authors reflections about how proud ships and aircraft carriers became retired and scuttled, how highly sensitive locations closed, and how even his job of Navy Nuclear Weaponsman outdated with new ways to manage and trigger our nukes.   I am thankful to this dedicated sailor for never forgetting those lost at sea, and for portraying the hard work required to prepare weapons below the bow on his five cruises off the coast of Vietnam.       
 
Little tries to capture every step of his Navy journey, so this is no quick read.  The book is 440 pages long, each page 8.5 X 11 inches in size, with small print and half inch borders.  Without a doubt, it’s the longest book I’ve ever read.  If not concerned with length, I recommend Brotherhood of Doom to those who care to learn how tactical nuclear weapons were handled in the Cold War era, and for those curious about the intricate formality and duty details of Navy life.         
 


Review by Hodge Wood, MWSA Reviewer (March 2009)

Other Reviews

Jim Little tells his thirty year military story, starting with his first encounter with nuclear weapons when his teacher screamed at her seven year old students, "Duck and cover." Few today remember these Cold War drills, but those of us who do will never forget them.

After graduating from high school, seventeen year old Jim Little enlisted in the U.S. Navy and the story begins. A story of enlisted life in the Navy, and a story of dedication, sacrifice and love of country. It is also is a window into the secret world of nuclear weapons: what it took to stockpile, train, load on aircraft, and then return the weapons to their secure magazines. A story that explains how the U.S. was able to safely maintain the power to destroy the world and insure freedom.

Little's story also provides insight into events involving the Navy and, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and China.

 This is a book that any man or woman planning to enter the military, enlisted or officer, should read. Little leads the reader through his experience that made him a leader as he climbed the ranks to Chief and then Warrant Officer. As a former Army officer, I recognized some of the personalities, officers and enlisted, described. The characteristics of a good military leader also apply in the civilian world. There is much wisdom in this book.

CWO4 Jim Little's career revolved around Navy nuclear weapons. We have been to many of the same places, and assigned to the same command--DASA.

This well written book is worth reading. Little keeps the story going, and you begin to feel you are part of his family.  I plan to share it with my grandchildren when they reach their senior year in high school.

My only disappointment with the book is the title. I would prefer BROTHERHOOD OF PEACE, for men and women like Jim Little kept the peace by making MAD (mutually assured destruction) possible, thereby keeping the Soviet Union and China in check. 

Lee Boyland, "Author of THE RINGS of ALLAH, and BEHOLD, AN ASHEN HORSE" 

A revealing book about the nuclear issues shrouded in secrecy during the Cold War, ““Brotherhood of Doom: Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear Weaponsman,” by Roseburg’s Jim Little, made me reflect on an incident in my own past. In early October of 1962, as a newsman in California, I was returning to Los Angeles from an assignment in San Diego. Near Oceanside on Interstate 5, I encountered a northbound Marine Corps military convoy that stretched for miles. I recognized the trucks filled with Marines in full combat gear. When a reporter sees such a large military movement, his news nose twitches.
I stopped in Santa Ana, Calif., and telephoned the Marine Corps air station at El Toro where the convoy was headed. The Marine public information officer gave me alibi copy that the large contingent of Marines was simply going on maneuvers. Other contacts were met with the same response. Instinct told me there was more to the story than what the military was saying.

That night proved me right. President John F. Kennedy announced that U.S. reconnaissance photographs taken by an American U-2 spy plane revealed missile bases being built in Cuba. It was the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Marines were combat-ready for an invasion of Cuba. Life has many twists and turns, and what was happening in 1962 affected 19-year-old Jim Little, a nuclear weaponsman with the U. S. Navy. Soon he would be aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence off the coast of Cuba, and would be prepared to arm Navy aircraft as part of the deterrent ordered by the president. In his speech, Kennedy had said any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be considered an attack on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.

It was the closest this nation came to armed conflict with the Soviets in the Cold War. Two weeks later, the Russians removed the missiles from Cuba. That harrowing experience was just one of several Chief Warrant O fficer James Little would have in his 30-year naval career. Now retired, Little is the president of the Southern Oregon War Birds and vice president of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, as well as a founding member of the Douglas County Veteran's Forum.

“Brotherhood of Doom” is a personal account of his naval career, which put him in harm's way not only in the Cuban Missile Crisis, but also on five deployments during the Vietnam War, including the Gulf of Tonkin incident. He also took part in Desert Storm.

Of the controversial Gulf of Tonkin incident, Little said that despite all the claims that it was a hoax to involve American troops more extensively in the Vietnam War, he personally witnessed aircraft returning to the USS Ticonderoga with bullet holes. “From my limited viewpoint," he said, “it happened and our ships were under attack.” He said the crew aboard the carrier was at general quarters (combat readiness) for two to three weeks during that time.

While it is a personal memoir, Little tells of the dedication and patriotism of enlisted personnel in the Navy. He himself is what is called a “mustang,” an officer who rose from the ranks of the enlisted men. Throughout the book he does not minimize the safety hazards and extraordinary courage of those who handle and maintain weapons of mass destruction.

The book’s cover is an original watercolor painting by Little of two A-6 Intruder carrier-based medium attack bombers streaking away from a blast of a nuclear weapon on a target, complete with the familiar mushroom cloud billowing above the target.

Little's birthday is Dec. 8, and it was on that date in 1991 that the Soviet Union ceased to exist. “This was the nicest birthday present I could imagine,” Little said. He is still perplexed that there is so little fanfare over the end of the Cold War, which had been such a large part of life and caused so much dread in America.

“The book is my effort to honor the many outstanding sailors I se rved with during my career and to tell the reading public about a national program of which so little is known, a program for which all citizens should be thankful,” he said.

Little's last duty station was the Coos Head Naval Facility in Coos Bay. He retired Feb. 28, 1991, and he and his wife, Carmen, settled in Roseburg.
The job of nuclear weaponsman ceased to exist in 1997, several years after President George H. Bush ordered all tactical nuclear weapons removed from naval ships.

On March 13, a Japanese film crew will visit Little here in Roseburg for preliminary interviews about a documentary based on his book on the Cold War. Little said he understands the filming will begin in May.

How was he able to put together 30 years of memories so accurately in his 424-page memoir? Little gives credit to his mother. “My mother surprised me by presenting me with a ribbon-tied box, which I discovered contained every letter I had written her while in the Navy. If it where not for her, these memoirs would never have been possible.”
Bill Duncan is editor of The Senior Times. He also writes a weekly column on the Opinion Page of The News-Review each Thursday. (Roseburg, Oregon) 

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