USS Idaho crew members celebrate new license plate, Idaho cuisine before starting mission

Wed Apr 30th, 2025

5b Gazette - Apr. 30, 2025

By Raiza Giorgi

Being able to take the new USS Idaho nuclear submarine to sea for the first time as the commissioning officer will be a career highlight for Cmdr. Chad Guillerault.

"This commission will be a culmination of my career, and a very special event," Guillerault said.

Guillerault joined the U.S. Navy in 2002, and his service on the USS Idaho will be the fourth submarine he will have served.

Guillerault and several members of the crew have been in Idaho as Gov. Brad Little recently launched a new Idaho license plate which supports the USS Idaho.

The submarine will use an innovative technology of "Magnetohydrodynamic drive," a state-of-the-art new technology which allows the craft to move completely silently. This Virginia-class nuclear-powered sub is designed to operate in both deep and shallow waters, according to the Navy.

"This is an important submarine which keeps us as apex predators. Once we submerge, nothing can stop us on our missions," Giullerault said.

While in the state, Guillerault and crew members were treated to a special dinner hosted by Bill Potter, vice chair of the South-Central Idaho regional committee and a member of the Ketchum American Legion Post 115. Sun Valley Culinary Institute then hosted a breakfast the next morning and members took pictures with the crew in front of a model of the submarine.

"I have never had elk before and it was incredible,” Guillerault said. “I am now really looking forward to our first meal after we go to sea, which will be elk, Idaho potatoes and lentil soup, finished by huckleberry pie."

Last May, SVCI hosted two culinary crewmen, CSS2 Manuel Amador and CSSSA Cody Smart, to learn Idaho-inspired cuisine to incorporate into their menu. SVCI chef Melissa Mauselle showed the binders of recipes she created for the submarine.

"They were super eager to learn, and I learned how important food is to the morale of the crew. It was also humbling to see as a chef how much output the culinary crew has to make in such a small kitchen," Mauselle said. "I originally had a whole plan, but after learning details about the kitchen and what they had access to I changed the menu." The submarine was christened in March of 2024 with a special champagne-type bottle that was filled with water from several Idaho lakes. The next phase is sea trials, which will demonstrate the operations and will then be turned over to the U.S. Navy in a private ceremony. From there, the submarine will go wherever needed, according to the USS Idaho Commissioning Committee.

For more information on the USS Idaho visit ussidahocommittee.org.