BROTHERHOOD of DOOM provides a look inside a national program that was shrouded in secrecy, during the cold war. The book details the dedication and patriotism of a small group of sailors that were denied much of the liberty, and freedoms their fellow citizens enjoyed, to insure the 
survival of America in the event of a nuclear war. Emphasized throughout the book is the extraordinary effort by nuclear weaponsmen to handle and maintain these weapons of mass destruction with safety, and to continually strive for perfection. The book is an effort to honor the many outstanding, and colorful sailors he served with for thirty years, and to educate the American public about a national program that little is known about, a program all citizens should be thankful for. The job of navy nuclear weaponsman no longer exists, and BROTHERHOOD of DOOM is an  
attempt to preserve this important story of the American military. The book also details a seventeen-year-old navy enlistee’s journey in the navy from the time of President Eisenhower’s administration, to that of President George H. Bush, and the many personality changes our nation and the U.S.  Navy went through during this time.

   BOOK DEDICATION: To LTJG Douglas M. Webster, VA-56, A-4, Skyhawk pilot who gave his life for his country, on December 5, 1965, while insuring readiness for nuclear war.  

To my forty-two shipmates listed within these pages who lost their lives serving their country. I was honored to have served with these heroes—may they never be forgotten.

                         
           CWO4 James S. Little, U.S. Navy-Retired
                                      (circa. 1990)

   James (Jim) Little was born during the early years of World    BROTHERHOOD of DOOM: Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear Weaponsman, details his naval career, which began with navy boot camp, an assignment aboard a hospital ship, and then schooling in Great Lakes, Illinois and, New
   Mexico. He was involved in the Cuban Missile Blockade, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, followed by five deployments during the Vietnam War.
   The book details his assignments aboard four aircraft carriers, and assignments at overseas locations, as well as two assignments in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a “Mustang” (an officer who rose up through the enlisted ranks). His assignments as a nuclear weaponsman ranged from an 
assemblyman (wrench turner), to a position as an officer responsible for over one-third of the nation’s stockpile, and as a highly placed member of stockpile management, and planning committees. Also detailed in the book is his 
assignment as the first nuclear weaponsman to serve as a limited duty officer, and chief warrant officer detailer, and assignment officer in Washington, D.C.
   The book ends with his job as a Officer in Charge of a Sound Surveillance Underwater System (SOSUS) base, during the time of Desert Storm. During his 30-year career he was awarded 29 medals and ribbons, and various letters 
of appreciation and commendation. His highest award was the Meritorious Service Medal, awarded by the President of the United States. 

    ACTIVE DUTY U.S. NAVY: June 30, 1960 - February 28, 
    1991
  
   Awards:
                Meritorious Service Medal
                Joint Service Commendation Medal
                Navy Commendation Medal (2)
                Joint Meritorious Unit Award
                Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon
                Meritorious Unit Commendation (2)
                Navy "E" Ribbon (3)
                Navy Good Conduct Medal (5)
                Navy Expeditionary Medal
                National Defense Service Medal
                Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
                Vietnam Service Medal (with star)
                Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (3)
                Navy Overseas Service Medal
                Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation
                (gallantry cross)
                Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
                Sharpshooter Pistol Medal

                Strathmore Union High School, Strathmore,
                California 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award, May
                2008

                ORGANIZATIONS

                Southern Oregon Warbirds Association (branch
                president)
                Douglas County Veterans Forum (president)
                Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2468 (Post senior 
                vice president) Life-time member
                Vietnam Veterans of America (Chapter 
                0805) Life-time member             
                Military Officers of America (past branch president)
                Life-time member
                American Legion Post 16
                Fleet Reserve Association (Branch 328)
                Douglas County Veteran's Advisory
                Committee               
                Navy Nuclear Weapons Association
                Military Writers Society of America
                Roseburg Elks
                An Association of Writers
                (Roseburg AAW)               
                Wilbur United Methodist Church
                
                
                          Author's Comments:

      "1960, I joined the navy at the young age of 17. I promised my mother that I would write to her often. I kept  this promise, and wrote to her describing the countries I visited, and what was happening in my life at the time.
      When I retired in 1991, after 30 years, 2 months, 1 day (I wasn't counting, my retirement was the longest congressionally mandated time I could remain on active duty) If I could I'd have remained longer!. At 
  my retirement ceremony my mother handed me a large ribbon tied box, and said, "I think you'll be surprised when you open this". When I opened the box, I was surprised indeed! She had kept the hundreds of letters I'd written to her during my navy career! 
      1995 was the year I began writing my book. This undertaking was only possible because my mother saved all my letters, many written over 4 decades in the past. (sadly she passed away in 2009)     
    In 1991 the year of my retirement, all nuclear weapons were removed from surface ships in the navy, and in 1997 the job of Navy Nuclear Weaponsman ceased to exist. I
  have received many favorable comments from my fellow Navy Nuclear Weaponsmen, who have said, "Finally our story will be told". 
      It is said best (no pun intended, see last name below),
   in the forward of BROTHERHOOD of DOOM:

  "Ever feel like a dinosaur? Well, due to the current world situation, we have become a Dinosaur of a sort. But there is another way of looking at the passing of the nuclear age. We have been members on a unique government project that may well be the only government 
action that we not only saw in its infant development, but also have watched it grow through its years of peaceful deterrence, and now watch it die from lack of need. Don’t  
ever sell yourself short shipmates. If it was not for each and everyone of your efforts, dedication, and years of hard work in somewhat less than desirable conditions, this great nation of ours would never be in the position to 
negotiate the arms reduction treaties that are now in front of Congress for ratification. We have always worked under the veil of secrecy, and we will never be publicly thanked for this effort, but you have one thing you can always do. That is simply look into the mirror in the 
morning and know that you, aside from everyone else, have made it one of the biggest contributions that this country and mankind will ever know."

     Lt. Comdr. Thomas H. Best, Sr., U.S. Navy-
                            Retired

 
   
   Paperback: 440 pages
   Publisher: Booklocker.com, Inc. (August 2008)    
   Language: English
   ISBN-10: 1601453116
   ISBN-13: 978-1601453112 
   Book Dimensions: 11 x 8.2 x 1.1 inches
   Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds

 Excerpt from: BROTHERHOOD of DOOM:  
   Memoirs of a  Navy Nuclear Weaponsman

"All of the Gunner’s Mate Technicians felt like an elite group of sailors in the Navy and on theship. No one could get past the marines guardingour spaces, unless he had a badge. This situation irritated the MAA’s, as they had access
to all areas of the ship in their enforcement duties, except ours. Our berthing compartment was purposely isolated from others on the ship to prevent the inadvertent disclosure of classified information. No one knew what our job was on
the ship. We were shrouded in secrecy, and were told constantly that we were the “cream of the crop”. We were entrusted with the most powerful, deadly weapons on earth, and on our shoulders rested the fate of democracy, and ourcountry. Our families, and loved ones lives depended on how diligently we performed our job. The failure of one weapon during nuclear war could determine whether we survived or perished. We had to be ready to go to war if “the button was pushed”. We didn’t dwell on the gruesome realities, but the fact was we would be the very first to know if nuclear war was declared, when we began pushing weapons out of the magazines onto the bomb elevators, and up to the loading crews. A question that was frequently asked of us during reliability briefings was; “If war were to begin in the next five minutes, and you knew that the weapon you were helping push out of the magazine, was going to be dropped on a city where millions of innocent women and children might be killed, would you hesitate, or have moral reservations?" I always said I would not hesitate and would do
my duty. I reconciled this in my mind, by deciding it was the honorable and right thing to do protecting my loved ones, and country, and my fellow shipmates. I had to do the best job I could, and not dwell on the horrible end resultsof a nuclear war. In the depths of my soul I prayed that God would not permit these weapons to be used, but I also realized the importance these weapons played in preventing war. They were a constant deterrent,
to those who desired global domination. There was always pressure to do our jobs flawlessly. Mistakes could not be tolerated".

       
        BROTHERHOOD of DOOM book review by
       Lee Boyland, "Author of THE RINGS of ALLAH,
       and BEHOLD, AN ASHEN HORSE" 

  Jim Little tells his thirty year military story, starting with  hisfirst encounter with nuclear weapons when his teacher  screamed at her seven year old students, "Duck and cover." 
 Few today remember these Cold War drills, but those of us who do will never forget them. 
After graduating from high school, seventeen year old Jim  Little enlisted in the U.S. Navy and the story begins. A story of enlisted life in the Navy, and a story of dedication, sacrifice and love of country. It is also is a window into the 
  secret world of nuclear weapons: what it took to stockpile,train, load on aircraft, and then return the weapons to their secure magazines.
A story that explains how the U.S. was
  able to safely maintain the power to destroy theworld and insure freedom. 
     Little's story also provides insight into events involving the Navy and, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, and China. 
    This is a book that any man or woman planning to enter the military, enlisted or officer, should read. Little leads the reader through his experience that made him a leader as he
  climbed the ranks to Chief and then Warrant Officer. As a former Army officer, I recognized some of the personalities, officers and enlisted, described. The characteristics of a
  good military leader also apply in the civilian world. There is much wisdom in this book. 
    CWO4 Jim Little's career revolved around Navy nuclear weapons. We have been to many of the same places, and assigned to the same command--DASA. 
    This well written book is worth reading. Little keeps the story going, and you begin to feel you are part of his family. I plan to share it with my
grandchildren when they reach their senior year in high school. 
My only disappointment with the book is the title. I would prefer BROTHERHOOD OF PEACE, for men and women like Jim Little kept the peace by making MAD (mutually
  assured destruction) possible, thereby keeping the Soviet Union and China in check.

Click Link for Lee Boyland's WebSite: 
http://www.leeboylandbooks.com/author.html

 
NEWS-REVIEW NEWSPAPER, Roseburg, Oregon Book Review  February 28, 2008. By Senior Editor
 Bill Duncan

'BROTHERHOOD' a well-written, relevant  memoir
   ‘Brotherhood of Doom:
              Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear’ Weaponsman
  By Jim Little
 Booklocker.com Publishers

A revealing book about the nuclear issues shrouded in secrecy during the Cold War, ““Brotherhood of Doom: Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear Weaponsman,” by Roseburg’s Jim Little, made me reflect on an incident in my own past.

In early October of 1962, as a newsman in California, I was returning to Los Angeles from an assignment in San Diego. Near Oceanside on Interstate 5, I encountered a northbound Marine Corps military convoy that stretched for miles. I recognized the trucks filled with Marines in full combat gear. When a reporter sees such a large military movement, his news nose twitches.

I stopped in Santa Ana, Calif., and telephoned the Marine Corps air station at El Toro where the convoy was headed. The Marine public information officer gave me alibi copy that the large contingent of Marines was simply going on maneuvers. Other contacts were met with the same response. Instinct told me there was more to the story than what the military was saying.

That night proved me right. President John F. Kennedy announced that U.S. reconnaissance photographs taken by an American U-2 spy plane revealed missile bases being built in Cuba. It was the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Marines were combat-ready for an invasion of Cuba.

Life has many twists and turns, and what was happening in 1962 affected 19-year-old Jim Little, a nuclear weaponsman with the U. S. Navy. Soon he would be aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence off the coast of Cuba, and would be prepared to arm Navy aircraft as part of the deterrent ordered by the president. In his speech, Kennedy had said any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be considered an attack on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.

It was the closest this nation came to armed conflict with the Soviets in the Cold War. Two weeks later, the Russians removed the missiles from Cuba. That harrowing experience was just one of several Chief Warrant Officer James Little would have in his 30-year naval career. Now retired, Little is the president of the Southern Oregon War Birds and vice president of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, as well as a founding member of the Douglas County Veteran's Forum.

“Brotherhood of Doom” is a personal account of his naval career, which put him in harm's way not only in the Cuban Missile Crisis, but also on five deployments during the Vietnam War, including the Gulf of Tonkin incident. He also took part in Desert Storm.

Of the controversial Gulf of Tonkin incident, Little said that despite all the claims that it was a hoax to involve American troops more extensively in the Vietnam War, he personally witnessed aircraft returning to the USS Ticonderoga with bullet holes. “From my limited viewpoint," he said, “it happened and our ships were under attack.” He said the crew aboard the carrier was at general quarters (combat readiness) for two to three weeks during that time.

While it is a personal memoir, Little tells of the dedication and patriotism of enlisted personnel in the Navy. He himself is what is called a “mustang,” an officer who rose from the ranks of the enlisted men. Throughout the book he does not minimize the safety hazards and extraordinary courage of those who handle and maintain weapons of mass destruction.

The book’s cover is an original watercolor painting by Little of two A-6 Intruder carrier-based medium attack bombers streaking away from a blast of a nuclear weapon on a target, complete with the familiar mushroom cloud billowing above the target.

Little's birthday is Dec. 8, and it was on that date in 1991 that the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

“This was the nicest birthday present I could imagine,” Little said. He is still perplexed that there is so little fanfare over the end of the Cold War, which had been such a large part of life and caused so much dread in America.

“The book is my effort to honor the many outstanding sailors I served with during my career and to tell the reading public about a national program of which so little is known, a program for which all citizens should be thankful,” he said.

Little's last duty station was the Coos Head Naval Facility in Coos Bay. He retired Feb. 28, 1991, and he and his wife, Carmen, settled in Roseburg.

The job of nuclear weaponsman ceased to exist in 1997, several years after President George H. Bush ordered all tactical nuclear weapons removed from naval ships.

On March 13, a Japanese film crew will visit Little here in Roseburg for preliminary interviews about a documentary based on his book on the Cold War. Little said he understands the filming will begin in May.

How was he able to put together 30 years of memories so accurately in his 440-page memoir? Little gives credit to his mother.

“My mother surprised me by presenting me with a ribbon-tied box, which I discovered contained every letter I had written her while in the Navy. If it where not for her, these memoirs would never have been possible.”

Bill Duncan is editor of The Senior Times. He also writes a weekly column on the Opinion Page of The News-Review each Thursday


Review by: Military Writers Society or America (MWSA)

Little reflects on his remarkable thirty year Navy career while primarily assigned to nuclear capable activities.  In 1960 at seventeen, Little enters the service and begins training as an enlisted man who soon turns wrenches on nuclear weapons of mass destruction and other bombs.  He evolves into an elite Chief Petty Officer, highly respected and in charge of all the “hands on” details of tactical nuclear safety and security within his duty station.  Little shares the painstaking advances through ten rank changes, the separation from family and friends, and a multitude of personal and professional relationships encountered.  Prior to discharge at forty-eight, Jim attains the rank of Chief Warrant Officer and is in charge of one-third of our country’s nuclear stockpile.  He advances in rank and duty while completing his Navy career, and relates his further influence on systematic nuclear protocols as a member of stockpile management and planning committees, and while on the job as Officer in Charge of a Sound Surveillance Underwater System (SOSUS) base. 
 
I liked Jim Little’s watercolor artwork on the book cover that shows an all weather bomber and wingman streaking away from the blast of a nuclear weapon dropped on target.  I found the pragmatic details of managing weapons, the snafus at sea and shore, and the never ending movement of this serviceman interesting.  Navy loyalty was most evident in this book.  I appreciate that Little’s mother never quit writing him for thirty years, and that he and his wife, Carmen, retired together after living through many less than ideal situations dictated by Navy relocation.  Little describes the hearty soul that endures Navy life – evidenced by his examples of officers bunking directly under the aircraft catapult at sea and the sailors never ending transitions.  I enjoyed the authors reflections about how proud ships and aircraft carriers became retired and scuttled, how highly sensitive locations closed, and how even his job of Navy Nuclear Weaponsman outdated with new ways to manage and trigger our nukes.   I am thankful to this dedicated sailor for never forgetting those lost at sea, and for portraying the hard work required to prepare weapons below the bow on his five cruises off the coast of Vietnam.       
 
Little tries to capture every step of his Navy journey, so this is no quick read.  The book is 440 pages long, each page 8.5 X 11 inches in size, with small print and half inch borders.  Without a doubt, it’s the longest book I’ve ever read.  If not concerned with length, I recommend Brotherhood of Doom to those who care to learn how tactical nuclear weapons were handled in the Cold War era, and for those curious about the intricate formality and duty details of Navy life.         

 Review by Hodge Wood, MWSA Reviewer (March 2009)

The Navy Nuclear Weapons Association  (NNWA)
is a nationwide organization of military and civilian participants in the US Navy Department nuclear weapons program during the years 1946 to present. Many of our members meet
annually in September or October at various locations across the US to reminisce with long-lost friends, provide support with veterans affairs and medical information, visit historical sites, enjoy quality entertainment in
hospitable environs, and salute our departed. 
Click for LINK TO NNWA: http://www.navynucweps.com/


U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Site
Click for LINK TO AIR FORCE NUCLEAR WEAPONS TECHNICIAN
SITE: http://www.usafnukes.com/


 To Order: 
           
    BROTHERHOOD of DOOM: 
  Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear Weaponsman
  Click on one of the websites below:
  
BookLocker

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble



Jim, Carmen, & Lucky
2008


 
On November 9, 2008 NHK (Japan Broadcasting Company) released a program called "NHK Special: Secrets of USS Oriskany". It was 49 minutes long. It was a historical documentary about the Cold War and the U.S. nuclear umbrella over Japan in the 1950's to the 1970's, especially the role of the U.S. Navy, and aircraft carriers such as USS Oriskany. It told how the Japanese Self Defense Force cooperated with the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet in the Asian-Pacific region.

In early 2008 I was contacted by the senior producer of NHK, after my book had been read by a reporter in the U.S.
He asked if I would consider being part of the documentary. After meeting with him, I agreed I would help with the production as long as no classified information was revealed.

I also traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where filming took place at the National Atomic Museum, and on Kirtland Air Force base. The Japanese film crew was welcomed at the museum by CWO4 Charlie Schmidt, U.S. Navy Retired, and the museum staff. Charlie Schmidt is highly regarded as a nuclear technician expert. The filming was enjoyable, and as was all contacts with the NHK crew; they were an agreeable, polite, fun group to work with.

The filming I was involved with ended up on the cutting room floor, but I was listed on the end credits as a consultant. All in all it was an interesting, and enjoyable adventure.   


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