The Navy Nuke checkout process

Image of Qualification Card

We all remember the checkout process as we went through the nuclear pipeline. The idea was as you picked up more plant knowledge you would acquire enough signatures on your qualification card to allow you qualify your watch station.

A qualified watch stander would ask you bunch of questions about the subject you were trying to get the signed off. A question or two might be relevant while the others could be classified as useless.

After enough questions you would be asked something which you did not know the answer to.  This resulted in a look-up meaning you would find out the answer and get back to the person who gave you a look-up. After providing your response and a few more iterations with look-ups to additional items (if you didn’t get tossed out) you left with the “John Hancock” on your qualification card and headed for the next checkout.

The entire point of training is to prepare you to do your job which is being a qualified watch-stander prepared to keep the plant in a safe condition during normal operation and in the event of any possible casualties.  Keeping this goal in mind might there be a better a way to prepare someone to do that?  

The checkout proves you can look-up answers to questions you did not remember at the time of your checkout but why not just give the information I needed for a watch-stander to do his/her job.

Any nuke will tell you there is not any lack of things you need to keep mind in order to qualify and stand the watch on your own.

Photo courtesy of flickr.com