 Timothy R. McVeigh entered the Navy at the age of 18 around 1980 and earned four Good Conduct Medals and the Navy Commendation Medal.His performance review circa the end of 1997 described him as "an outstanding role model" and the "embodiment of Navy core values".In September 1997, while based in Honolulu and serving on the nuclear submarine USS Chicago (SSN-721), he sent email messages from his America Online (AOL) account that used the screen name "boysrch" and the signature "Tim" when communicating with a civilian working as a volunteer on a Navy-sponsored charity.