Out to sea — Pocatello's Porter oversees commission of new submarine, USS Illinois

Cmdr. Jesse Porter is the big brother of D5's Mark Porter (pictured below). Jesse was recently the subject of the following article from the Idaho State Journal in Pocatello.

Mark is a Transportation Operations Team Lead in the Pocatello area, and in addition to winter duties is responsible for bridge maintenance programs.

Here's the ISJ story, from reporter Josh Friesen:

Cmdr. Jesse Porter, a Pocatello native, has had three separate interactions with first lady Michelle Obama — all of which surrounded the USS Illinois.

The USS Illinois is a Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine. Porter, the sub’s commanding officer at the time, joined Obama, the sub’s sponsor, Saturday during the ship’s commissioning ceremony in Groton, Connecticut. The pair first met during the vessel’s keel-laying ceremony June 2, 2014, and again when the first lady christened the submarine Oct. 15, 2015.

“As (the ship’s) sponsor, I was just not expecting her to be as engaging as she was,” Porter said. “So that was phenomenal.”

Two days after the commissioning ceremony, Porter gave command of the sub to Cmdr. Neil Steinhagen in a change-of-command ceremony.

While it will be Steinhagen who takes control of the USS Illinois as it makes its home port in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, it was Porter that oversaw its construction and took it through builders trials after its completion last July

While Porter assumed command of the USS Illinois in August 2013 during its build, he enlisted in the Navy nearly 20 years before that.

Porter graduated from Highland High School in 1985. A month after graduating, he was in boot camp. He spent time as an enlisted nuclear operator on surface ships before being selected for the Nuclear Enlisted Training Program, which sent him to the University of Idaho. Porter graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. After U of I, he served on three different submarines — the USS Michigan, the USS Connecticut and the USS Missouri — all while continuing his schooling to advance farther up the ladder. His training, schooling and experience led to a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies, which he earned in 2012. It was shortly after that he was asked to command his own ship.

It was quite the honor for a naval officer with a passion for subs.

“Once I went into submarines, I just fell in love with what they do and the important role that submarines play,” Porter said.

While the commissioning ceremony was Saturday, the celebratory festivities started Wednesday. The USS Illinois Commissioning Committee raised funds to put together several events in recognition of the ship’s transition from a precommissioning unit to a United States Ship. Friends and family of Porter’s from places such as Pocatello, Kansas, Arizona and Kentucky arrived in Groton to share in the activities.

“It was just a wonderful experience for everybody involved, including the number of crew members that I had there,” Porter said. “I had a lot of family. … I was really floored by my entourage.”

The USS Illinois is 377 feet long and displaces 7,800 long tons. It has a beam (width) of 34 feet, can go faster than 25 knots and can dive deeper than 800 feet. During peacetime, the vessel’s primary mission is covert intelligence collection, surveillance and reconnaissance. If called upon for war, the USS Illinois can perform clandestine operations and missile strikes, among other missions. Porter was able to explore the sub’s capabilities when he took it on its builders trials.

“The ship did wonderfully,” he said. “We had a few problems that we were able to fix underway, and we got everything done in a very short order. The ship was built very, very nicely.”

Porter’s next assignment will keep him in Groton, where he will be a deputy commander at Submarine Squadron 12. He will help and mentor commanding officers and executive officers in their roles operating submarines.

Porter will also keep an eye on the development of the continued construction of the USS Idaho, another Virginia-class submarine that was christened in August 2015. He looks forward to being a part of that ship’s commissioning committee, which typically originates in the state the vessel is named after.

“The earlier the commissioning committee for a ship starts, the better and easier they will have in raising the funds to support that ship,” Porter said. “As an Idaho resident and being from Idaho, I’d be interested in participating in that because I think that’s a pretty important thing for Navy and civilian engagement.”


Published 11-11-16