MWSA Interview with Dave Anderson

Date of interview: 28 August 2019

I enlisted into the Navy's Nuclear Power Program in August of 1987 and completed the nuclear power program pipeline before receiving orders to USS PARCHE SSN 683, a special projects platform in June of 1989. I spent 4 years on board obtaining the rank of EM1(SS), qualifying Silver Dolphins on Sept 04, 1990. This duty station provided the foundation and building blocks for a 23 year successful career.

After a tour as an instructor in Orlando Fl, I was accepted into the Enlisted Commissioning Program and received my commission in December of 1997. Another stint in the nuclear power pipeline led to my Junior Officer tour on USS WYOMING SSBN 742 (B), the platform for my first book KEEP SILENT SERVICE, where I completed my Gold Dolphin qualifications on December 07, 2000. A Department Head tour on USS GREENEVILLE SSN 772 as Navigator and Operations Officer culminated my sea time in the Navy and brought me experience with the SEAL ASDS platform and its operations. GREENEVILLE is the main platform for book 2, LETHAL INTENTIONS.

I retired in 2010 as a LCDR, leaving with a FM MBA from Naval Postgraduate School and the vast experience used to write Sub Surface Volumes 1 and 2. The gadgets are fictional, the action is mainly driven from real life experience on a US Navy Submarine.

MWSA: How did you find out about MWSA?

Dave Anderson: A reader of my books recommended I check out the link he provided to possibly gain exposure for my books.

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MWSA: What was the inspiration for Keep Silent Service?

Dave Anderson: KSS is based on a growing personal belief that the Presidential call to launch nuclear weapons would be questioned. The movie Crimson Tide delves into that thought process also. The main character is an embedded psychologist hired to join the Navy and work her way through the nuclear power pipeline because any active member knows test results would be skewed if the crew thought they were being monitored by a "rider."

MWSA: Why did you use a female main character?

Dave Anderson: I was an enlisted instructor in Orlando Fl when females were allowed back into the nuclear power program. I battled the misconception then that women couldn't perform the same job and believe completely that the inclusion into the submarine fleet is the right answer. Jillian Steel is a strong character. I used that last name to foreshadow her strength and resolve to carry out the mission she accepted.

MWSA: Where did you get the ideas for the new fictional equipment used in your books?

Dave Anderson: I spent the last 2 years of my active duty time as the N81 Budget Officer at COMSUBPAC and worked with funding new programs. Those real programs involved many things that were cutting edge developmental tools. I used that background to devise my own fictional "gadgets" to enhance the books I've written.

MWSA: Lethal Intentions, Sub Surface Vol 2, utilizes SEAL Teams and a submersible platform. What's the background on that concept?

Dave Anderson: My Department Head tour on USS GREENEVILLE involved operations with the now cancelled Advanced SEAL Delivery System. We trained for real world operations with the team and the ASDS unit and had hoped to receive a real mission while on deployment. Operational considerations did not allow that to happen and ASDS went back to Pearl Harbor. That platform experiences a battery explosion that breached the hull and effectively cancelled the program. The book is an extension to that program and the potential missions it would have received.

MWSA: What's on the horizon for Volume 3?

Dave Anderson: I will begin the initial stages of writing book 3 in the fall of 2019. Life considerations have lead to me holding off the writing process. As of this interview, volume 3 will involve South American drug interdiction operations using SEAL Teams, submarine operations, and combined surface and air assets to weave a tale that will keep the pages turning.