As the USS Indiana returned to Groton Wednesday after a six month deployment, Nevada Currier was eagerly waiting to kiss her boyfriend of three years. Little did she know, he had a surprise planned for her on the pier.
"I thought I would get a kiss and I got so much more," Currier said.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Frable stepped off the USS Indiana and almost immediately got down on one knee to ask Currier to marry him.
"I was really nervous," Frable said, through laughter and tears. "We are shaking."
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Currier said she was shocked and excited. She was overcome with emotions when Frable proposed, but she did not hesitate to say yes. She recounted how early on in their relationship Frable would drive from the shipyard to see her while she was still in college.
"Every weekend, he would drive five and a half hours to come see me for a day and a half," Currier said.
Frable, a nuclear-trained electronics technician on the crew of the Virginia-class fast attack submarine, had the proposal planned before his deployment began. He had the engagement ring with him for the entire six months.
"It was locked away for the majority of the time and then I would look at it whenever I was feeling lonely," Frable said.
The young couple said they can't wait to spend the rest of their lives together.
The USS Indiana had a crew of more than 130 personnel and steamed nearly 40,000 nautical miles during its deployment. The submarine was deployed to the U.S. European Command area of responsibility, according to a press release from the Submarine Readiness Squadron public affairs office.
"I think we started off the deployment as an exceptional crew and we grew into a family," said Commander Scott Bresnahan, the commanding officer of USS Indiana. "I couldn't be more proud."
