John Foster / FairbanksRisen.Com

ASW. Anti-Submarine Warfare. The U.S. Navy's number one priority during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Fairbanks Risen is a story about the U.S. Navy's Super Secret world of Ocean Surveillance, Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft Squadrons, Submarines, Surface ships and the men and women that dedicated their lives to tracking enemy submarines. Their daily lives, routines, trials and tribulations, recreation and the human side of this awesome endeavor that took place 24 hours a day, 365 days a year are depicted throughout this story.

John Foster Biography

[John Foster / FairbanksRisen.Com] The author, pictured above standing in front of a Lockheed P-3 Orion ASW patrol plane. John Foster served in the U.S. Navy from 1973 until 1989. During this time he flew as an Anti-Submarine Warfare Operator (AW) with Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Two (HS-2), embarked aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise CVN-65, taking part in “Operation Frequent Wind”, the evacuation of the American Embassy in Saigon, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VX-1), where he performed design of and in-flight testing of new Anti-Submarine Warfare Systems for the SH-3H, SH-2F/G and SH-60B ASW/LAMPS Helicopters and Patrol Squadron Twenty-Two (VP-22) as an Acoustic Systems Operator.

In 1984, Mr. Foster left flying as an AW and began working as an Ocean Systems Technician Analyst in the SOSUS community. He served at two different SOSUS facilities before leaving active duty in 1989. For a short while after leaving active duty he served in the Naval Reserve with Mobile In-shore Warfare Unit 105 (MIUWU- 105). In the winter of 2000 the author returned to active duty with the U.S. Navy as a Sonar Technician (Surface) and completed twenty years of active Naval service at an Integrated Under Sea Surveillance (IUSS) facility where he completed his qualifications as an IUSS Specialist and Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist. John Foster retired from active service in the summer of 2004 and is working on the sequel to this story. He resides with his wife and three of his children in Oak harbor, WA.

Navy Career Produces Sub Thriller
By John Mitchell
Staff Writer, Ventura County Star

[John Foster / FairbanksRisen.Com] July 12, 2006

Ten years ago, when Gary Johnson was working as a traveling safety manager for a chemical transportation company, a story idea based on his experiences in the Navy kept buzzing around in his head. Unlike the legions of people who carry terrific ideas for the great American novel to their graves, Johnson was disciplined enough to gather pen and paper and begin to write.

“My outline was in my head, not on paper,” said Johnson, 51, who from 1973 to 1989 was an anti-submarine warfare operator who tracked moving ships and aircraft around the world. “When I ran into mental blocks, I'd just go back and rethink it, make some changes and inserts, and continue writing,” he said.

Four and a half years later, his “Fairbanks Risen,” a Cold War thriller set in the 1980s, was completed. Five years after that, it was published in hardback and is on sale in local bookstores and online.

Johnson's imagination conjured up assassinations and espionage and the lengths to which some men will go to change the balance of world power.

It involves the emperor of Japan's grandson, Soviet moles, KGB methods to create "stories" for their agents to blend in with U.S. society, and the loss of a submarine (Fairbanks) in 1980, which the Navy never publicly discloses.

The submarine resurfaces in 1988 and, in nefarious hands, begins to prowl the Pa- Pacific Ocean amid American and Soviet naval exercises. If that's not enough to hold readers, throw in the sinking of U.S. aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and some Soviet ships as the two superpowers move toward a nuclear showdown.

Johnson, who lives in Camarillo with his active-duty Navy wife, Erica, and their three teen-age daughters, so enjoys being a published author that he's already 50,000 words into a sequel. "I'm carrying over some of the main characters, but my second book deals with today's world," he said. "I've got more of a terrorist setup than a military one."

Because his job in the Navy was classified "secret," Johnson submitted his "Fairbanks Risen" manuscript to the Department of the Navy for a security review. The Navy letter stating that the manuscript was cleared for publication is printed at the front of the book.

After completing 16 years in the Navy in 1989, Johnson worked in the civilian sector for 11 years. Then, in 2000, he decided to rejoin the Navy. "One morning I woke up and decided I wanted to finish my 20 years and get a monthly retirement check," he said. "Also, I missed the camaraderie."

During his second tour of tracking ocean traffic, he found that the Navy had changed.

"For one thing, the equipment had changed, and there was also the deglamorization of alcohol and more of an emphasis on fitness and ambassadorship in foreign ports," he said. "The Navy's new motto is Honor, courage and commitment.'"

In 2004, Johnson, who received a master's degree in science and systems management from USC in 1986, completed his 20 years of military service. Currently, he is an environmental health and safety manager for a manufacturer of specialty fasteners in Valencia.

However, Navy blue still runs in his veins. "I wouldn't have retired in 2004 if I had been promoted," he said. "But they had a cap on promotions. I miss the Navy's sense of purpose and the people."

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John Foster

Oak Harbor, Washington

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