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Mayor Hillrey Adams shared details of his recent trip to Newport News, Virginia, where he witnessed the historic christening of the USS Arkansas submarine alongside Mountain Home Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) cadets.
The ceremony, held on December 7, marked the 83rd anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack and featured three members of the Little Rock Nine as the submarine’s sponsors. The civil rights pioneers — Elizabeth Eckford, Carlotta Walls LaNier, and Gloria Ray Karlmark — participated in the christening, with LaNier breaking the ceremonial champagne bottle across the submarine’s bow.
“When we walked in that day, the students and ROTC cadets were already there and ready for the event,” Adams told the City Council on Thursday. “The sheer size of it blew me away — 350 feet from the tail to the nose of the submarine.”
The experience began early for the Mountain Home group. “The first morning when we were there, I got to find out what it would be like to get on a bus at 6:30 in the morning and go to McDonald’s for all the students,” Adams recalled. “It had been a while for me.”
The mayor praised the students’ performance in the submarine training facility and recalled the students tour of the USS New Jersey.
“We had some students in our group that could really drive a submarine. They did a great job in that thing right there,” Adams said, noting that cameras weren’t allowed inside the facility or on the actual USS New Jersey.
Much of the equipment on Naval vessels or at training facilities falls underneath some form of classification ranging from confidential to top secret. Outside of SCIFs, or secret compartmentalized information spaces that can be found on surface ships, submarines, military bases around the world, and sites like the Pentagon, the White House, NSA facilities and the CIA’s Langley headquarters, submarines hold some of the most classified spaces and equipment in the United States military and intelligence institutions.
Many outside portions of the USS Arkansas, which was on display in dry dock for its christening, were also covered due to the classified nature of things such as the submarines propellers. Being allowed to tour a modern, active duty submarine and participate in modern training exercises at a submarine training facility is an extremely rare honor that most sailors, or civilians, do not get to experience during their time in service.
During the tour, Adams jokingly admitted to some nervousness walking along the submarine’s edge.
“We had to walk along the edge at the top of that submarine. And I could just see me falling in and all those students sitting there getting a real thrill out of that the entire time,” he said. “They were just bouncing around there like there was nothing to it, but I was holding on to everything I could possibly touch.”
The Mountain Home NJROTC color guard presented the colors at the ceremony, with the mayor expressing particular pride in their performance.
“If you want to be proud of the Mountain Home school system, it’ll make you proud of Mountain Home, Arkansas, on the job they did out there,” Adams said. “When you walked that 350 feet and got to the nose of that submarine, there was Arkansas’ flag there, and there were those cadets right there, standing there holding those flags at attention.”
The evening before the christening, Adams and the group attended a special reception with the Little Rock Nine.
“It was a great, great event to get to go to,” Adams said, “and I was very excited to be a part of that night with these kids.”
The USS Arkansas (SSN 800), a Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine, represents the latest in naval technology. Jennifer Boykin, President of Newport News Shipbuilding, praised the Little Rock Nine’s presence, noting how they “embody courage, determination, and resilience.”
The NJROTC cadets later shared their experiences with the City Council, with one cadet describing the trip as “some of the coolest things that I’ve ever been able to do as a kid,” noting that even some Navy personnel haven’t had similar opportunities.
The Newport News shipyard provided commemorative USS Arkansas blankets to all attendees, which proved especially useful during the chilly outdoor ceremony.
“You notice that one wrapped up in a blanket,” Adams told the council, pointing to photos of the event. “That blanket’s dropped back there on that wall behind y’all. We went in that day, they gave every single one of us that blanket.”
Following the christening, the Mountain Home group attended a special Christmas celebration in Newport News.
“Commander Hale had told me early, ‘We’re going to go take the kids and go eat tonight,'” Adams recounted. Instead, they enjoyed pizza and witnessed the city’s tree lighting ceremony and drone show.
“This was the first time in two days I actually got to see these kids just relax… I hope they enjoyed that evening,” Adams said.
During the council meeting, Adams shared a video of the christening’s culminating moment. The footage showed LaNier approaching the submarine’s bow to perform the traditional ceremony, concluding with the words: “May God bless this submarine and all those who sail in her.”
The bottle of champagne shattered across the bow as onlookers, including the Mountain Home delegation, watched the historic moment.
“I thought we were all gonna get a bottle,” Adams joked after showing the video, referring to the champagne used in the ceremony.
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