Winter Carnival Photo Selected for USS Idaho

Tue May 12th, 2026

Winter Carnival Photo Selected for USS Idaho

BY MAX SILVERSON The Star-News

A photo of the McCall Winter Carnival hangs in a bunk room shared by six sailors on the U.S. Navy’s newest nuclear submarine, the USS Idaho, as the vessel starts its 30-plus year service life.

The photo of the 2025 Winter Carnival was taken by Cascade resident Gary Munson while driving one of two colorfully painted Jeeps for the local Shriners chapter based in Cascade.

“I am honored that my photo will be hanging on the wall of a six-person bunk space for the entirely of its life,” said Munson, who attended the commissioning ceremony for the USS Idaho on April 25 at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.

Munson, 57, retired in October from a career as a short-haul helicopter medical and fire captain at the Payette National Forest. He will become the aviation manager for the Idaho Department of Lands later this month.

The USS Idaho Commissioning Committee launched a statewide photo contest last summer.

“When I was in Cedar City with my helicopter this last summer, my mom sent me a link to the contest and I entered about nine photos, eight of which I took out of a helicopter,” Munson said.

“Honestly I thought one of those would get picked but they wanted a photo that focused on Idaho culture, specifically McCall,” he said, noting that he took the shot that was chosen by “blindly holding his phone above his head” during the parade.

Munson’s other photo submissions included aerial views of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, Hells Canyon and the Donnelly S-bridge.

A photo of Lake Fork Creek covered in snow was printed and wrapped on the ice cream machine in the vessel’s mess hall and a panoramic photo showing the No Business Fire Lookout on No Business Mountain was also selected.

Thoughtful nods to Idaho and its residents have been added throughout the submarine, organized by the USS IDAHO SSN 799 Commissioning Foundation and Committee.

There were other submitted photos from the public and professional photographers chosen from among the roughly 2,300 photos submitted for the contest, which Munson noted while touring the submarine.

Mess tables were decorated with the colors of Boise State University, University of Idaho and Idaho State and about a dozen different maps of Idaho were placed throughout the ship showing stats like elevation, precipitation levels and an officer’s table showing Idaho counties in inlaid wood, Munson said.

Starting in 2021, the commissioning committee organized several trips for the USS Idaho crew to McCall and throughout the state, visiting Winter Carnival, the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge, Burgdorf Hot Springs, the No Business Lookout and other quintessential Idaho sites.

During the VIP tour of the ship, which did not include the engine room and aft weapons area for security reasons, Munson noticed that the maximum crew of 145 will have very little personal space.

“If you are claustrophobic, that is not the job for you,” Munson said. “This has to be the most mentally challenging job in the Navy and perhaps the whole armed forces, so hence its importance to create an atmosphere where the submariners feel comfortable and have a connection to the mainland.”

The submarine has already earned two nicknames as “The Gem of the Fleet,” in a nod to the Gem State and “The Silent Spud.”