The North Alabama Submarine Veterans (NASV) held their monthly meeting this past Saturday at the Alabama Veterans Museum & Archives.

There, Dwight Blazier was presented his membership certificate to the prestigious Holland Club for more than fifty years as a “Qualified Submarines” as well as a member of U.S. Submarines Veterans in good standing.

Blazier first qualified in submarines in 1972 on the USS George Washington (SSBN-598) while serving in the U.S. Navy. “The George Washington was the first submarine they built to carry the polaris missile,” Blazier said.

“You report to your boat and then you have to go through a rigorous qualification program. You learn all the systems on the boat from the steering, to the diving, to the torpedo tubes, the engine room, the propellers, the missiles – the whole nine yards. Being able to sink the boat as well as surface it, these are qualifications, tasks and requirements you have to learn,” NASV secretary David Coleman said. “Being submarine qualified is an honor and a distinction.”

The Holland Club is named after John Phillip Holland. He engineered the first United States Navy submarine, Turtle, that was used during the Revolutionary War.