U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho) today announced that the U.S. Navy will give the rare honor of naming a room aboard the USS Idaho (SSN 799) after former Idaho Governor and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.
Senator Risch spoke with USS Idaho Commander C.J. Guillerault in December to make the request and acknowledge Kempthorne’s significant contributions to this project as well as a lifetime of support to the U.S. military.
It is highly uncommon for U.S. Navy Submarines to name spaces after people. The Engine Room, driven by a nuclear reactor pioneered at the Idaho National Laboratory, is the heart of the USS Idaho—further signifying Kempthorne’s integral role in the project.
“Dirk’s contributions to our great state and our nation are significant. His leadership and dedication to the USS Idaho Commissioning Committee is a true testament to Dirk’s resounding love for the Gem State,” said Risch. “It was my great honor to request the USS Idaho’s Engine Room be named for my dear friend and Idaho’s former governor, Dirk Kempthorne.”
Kempthorne has long advocated for America’s military members having served on the Senate Armed Services Committee as a U.S. Senator for Idaho. His support for our armed services continued during his time as Idaho’s Governor and Commander in Chief of the Idaho National Guard. From the very beginning, Kempthorne showed great enthusiasm for the USS Idaho, leading Operation Military Blessings, and the USS Idaho Commissioning Committee, which successfully provided every crew member and their families with scholarships to continue their education for the life of the ship.
The USS Idaho (SSN 799) is a leading-edge Virginia Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine and the fifth vessel to be named for the Gem State. Idaho is the birthplace of the nuclear Navy, with the first prototype submarine reactor built in 1951 at what is now the Idaho National Laboratory. In the more than six decades since, Idaho has continued to support every major submarine class and today hosts two of the Navy’s premier installations: the Idaho Naval Reactors Facility and the Acoustic Research Detachment.