ELLENSBURG - Gary Brown, of the Submarine Veterans of Central Washington, will be inducted into the U.S. Submarine Veterans' Holland Club during the veterans group's annual picnic on Aug. 10.

The Holland Club is an exclusive club within the U. S. Submarine Veterans, Inc. (USSVI). Holland Club members are those who have been qualified in submarines more than 50 years.

Holland Club members have been called pioneers who set the standards of excellence for the sailors in today's submarine fleet. Their tradition of bravery in the face of danger, their hard work, training and self discipline, the sacrifices they were willing to make are carried on by today's submariners.

When these men qualified, diesel-electric-powered submarines were state of the art. They could dive to avoid detection, but only for a few hours before their batteries and the air the men breathed needed replenishing.

Most witnessed and many even contributed to the remarkable changes in technology that have led to the U.S.' modern nuclear-powered submarines, which can stay down for months in comparative comfort.

Brown enlisted in the Navy a couple days before his 18th birthday. Early in his naval service, he was selected for Electronics Technician school, and while there he was recruited into the elite Submarine Service.

At Submarine School, Brown was assigned to the then-new USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear powered Submarine, which also marked the first use of nuclear power for anything other than a destructive bomb. Nautilus was the first submarine to transit from one ocean to another via the North Pole.