A St. Leonard native is serving aboard one of the Navy’s ballistic-missile submarines, part of a small fraction of sailors who volunteer to serve underwater as the Navy marks 250 years of service this year.
Lt. j.g. Teddy Danielson, a 2018 graduate of Calvert High School, serves as an assistant weapons officer aboard USS Henry M. Jackson, homeported at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Silverdale, Washington. Danielson earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University in 2022 before joining the Navy, following a family tradition of military service. “Serving in the military was the family business,” Danielson said. “My father and grandfather both served, so it was the natural thing to do. They were both pilots. I’m the first to go submarines. I wanted to learn nuclear power and get hands-on experience working on nuclear reactors.”
Henry M. Jackson, commissioned in 1984 and named for the late Washington Sen. Henry M. Jackson, is an Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine built by General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, and is the only submarine in its class named for a person rather than a state. The submarine is one of eight Ohio-class boomers stationed at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, which the Navy describes as providing the most survivable leg of the nation’s nuclear deterrent triad. Submarines in the class, including Henry M. Jackson, operate with two rotating crews, known as Blue and Gold, allowing the vessel to remain on extended deterrent patrols for much of the year while each crew cycles through training, maintenance and leave periods.
Submariners like Danielson make up a relatively small share of the Navy’s overall force, since service aboard submarines is entirely voluntary and requires extensive additional training beyond standard officer instruction. The Navy operates three broad types of submarines: fast-attack submarines built to hunt enemy vessels and support special operations; ballistic-missile submarines like Henry M. Jackson, designed for stealth and the covert delivery of submarine-launched ballistic missiles; and guided-missile submarines capable of carrying large numbers of Tomahawk cruise missiles alongside torpedoes.
Danielson pointed to qualifying as a nuclear engineering officer as the proudest accomplishment of his career so far, a credential the Navy considers the capstone of training for junior submarine officers. “It was a two-month course, all self-study, on how to operate the plant,” Danielson said. “It’s the pinnacle of the Navy’s training for nuclear officers. We have to have a full year of training before we can even go to the submarine. It takes a long time to get there, and it’s the last big thing a junior submarine officer has to qualify in.”
Danielson credited early experiences with the Boy Scouts for shaping an approach to leadership carried into the submarine force. “I was a Boy Scout growing up, and one of the biggest things I learned is that when you’re in a position of leadership, your job is to serve the people you lead,” Danielson said. “It’s your job to help them achieve their goals and make their quality of life better.”
Danielson’s Navy career adds to a running list of Calvert County residents who have gone on to serve in high-profile Navy roles in recent years. A Huntingtown native and Naval Academy graduate, Lt. Cmdr. Dewayne Hooper, took part in this year’s Super Bowl LX national anthem flyover as part of a Navy strike fighter squadron, a milestone the Navy highlighted as part of its own 250th-anniversary programming.
The Navy has emphasized that its ability to recruit sailors like Danielson from communities across the country, including small Chesapeake Bay towns like St. Leonard, remains central to sustaining its role protecting global commerce and undersea infrastructure. Danielson credited family and friends with making a Navy career possible. “I want to thank my mom and my dad, Cheryl and Jeff, for inspiring me and supporting me along the way,” Danielson said. “I also want to thank all my family and friends who also served in the military. They’ve asked about me and inquired and encouraged me along the way.”
