USS Indiana Sailor proposes on the pier after deployment
11 August 2022
GROTON, Conn. - Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Frable was away from his beloved for more than six months while deployed aboard USS Indiana (SSN 789). When he returned to her Wednesday, he asked her for a lifetime together.
Frable, a nuclear-trained electronics technician on the crew of the Virginia-class fast attack submarine, surprised Nevada Currier with a marriage proposal on the pier during the ship’s homecoming to Naval Submarine Base New London.
“Moments like this take an already wonderful day and make it even more memorable,” said Rhonda Hatchett, the USS Indiana command ombudsman and wife of Frable’s shipmate, Petty Officer 2nd Class Cameron Hatchett. “The homecoming of a U.S. Navy submarine is always a special occasion to celebrate, but they don’t always come with wedding proposals. This is truly a day for the happy couple – and all of us – to cherish.”
Currier was overwhelmed by emotion and nodded her head “yes” when Frable dropped down to one knee and held out the ring. Sailors and family members erupted in cheers and applause with the answer.
“That was truly an unforgettable surprise,” said Capt. Thomas P. O’Donnell, commander of Submarine Squadron 12, under which Indiana operates. “It’s hard to make a homecoming even more heartwarming, but an engagement ring on the pier after a six-month deployment? That’s a rare and wonderful sight.”
Frable said he bought the engagement ring before USS Indiana deployed more than six months ago and had it with him aboard the submarine. He said he looked at it whenever he felt lonely during the long deployment.
“I was so nervous,” said Frable, a native of Coaldale, Pennsylvania. “I was trying to prepare for six months and I was still shaking worse than (her).”
Frable and Currier have been together for about three years. Frable said he spent much of the early part of his tour assigned to the Groton, Connecticut,-based USS Indiana driving nearly five hours each way to visit Currier, who was attending college at the time in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
Currier said she was “really excited” about her future together with Frable.
“I thought I was going to get a kiss and I got so much more,” she said of meeting her Sailor on the pier.
USS Indiana is the third U.S. Navy ship launched under the name of the Hoosier State after battleships that served in the Spanish-American War and World War II, respectively. The submarine Indiana is more than 377 feet long and can displace nearly 7,900 tons.
Fast-attack submarines are multi-mission platforms enabling five of the six Navy maritime strategy core capabilities – sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and deterrence. They are designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare. Fast-attack submarines project power ashore with special operations forces and Tomahawk cruise missiles in the prevention or response to regional crises.