Hey Shipwreck, on some days it WILL suck to be you

Submarine moored 

In any job there are good days and awful days. From my experience as a nuke on many occasions the bad days were highlighted with moments which sucked at the time but were quite humorous upon recollection later.  Throughout my sea-tour miserable days came in various flavors. When you were non-qualified the problems resulted from being unable to stand watch. Later once your qualification had been completed the long days were caused from engineering department issues. Then on other occasions your forward brethren wound up being the cause of your headaches. 

One of the favorite horror stories as a nuke occurred on a day after duty which included the Mid-watch SRO. After I had been cut loose by my chief I made by made my way up the hatch. At the time, the submarine happened to be moored outboard of another boat so you had to go across the other brow before going ashore. I had bought a bike to get to and from the boat from my barracks room. In accordance to base regulations in order to ride on base all personnel needed to wear helmet.  So I decided to get a head start by putting on my bike helmet before I traversed the brow. The only problem included the fact I still needed to salute the ensign as I went over. As I threw up my hand salute up the COB of the other boat runs across the brow and begins screaming about me for saluting with a bike helmet on. (For the record I had my command cap under the helmet)  He “recommended” I go back across “his brow” and return and salute like a “friggin’ squared away sailor”. The topside sentry who witnessed this scene play out had the sorriest look in his eye as I strolled made my way a second time.  All of the guys on his boat knew what a prick this guy was and felt sorry someone from another boat had to experience his wrath. Once I saluted the flag I went ashore, put on my bike helmet and rode back to the barracks.

Once I returned to my barracks room I went to the calendar the I kept on my desk which I used to mark off the last few days in the Navy after which no more idiots could scream at me for anything.  Thus another fine Navy day became history and, more importantly, I was now one day closer to EAOS.

What will you life as a nuke be like?

To become a nuke or not , that is the question at hand...

The basis for this posting was a summary of a question posted on forum which was stated as follows: “If you've gone through the nuclear pipeline, please tell me what being a nuke was like for you and what I should expect. What's the work like? How readily do the job skills taught relate to private sector work, both in and out of the nuclear industry? Essentially, I'm looking for the things I can't learn from the recruiters or the Internet?”

My take is after reading what is available on the Internet is most of the information is 90% correct while, in the recruiters, case 90% of what they say is crap.

Here my tidbits on what you can look forward to 1) Count on long hours during your journey through the pipeline but the effort will be worth the trouble down the road. Think long-term. 2) There will be lousy and stressful times after which you may want to go to your command doc and get a psych discharge out. The feeling will pass 3) If a military career is not your choice then get out with your first rate training and use your GI bill to prepare for your future as a civilian.  4) if you wash out before you get to a boat as a nuke your life is not over, many “nuke wastes” forged successful futures, but remember you have joined the navy so if the nuke program does not work you will still need to finish the time you signed up for 5) after your service you will become part of very select club, and after you last duty day this is not a bad thing. 6) The life as nuke and navy life are not one that the same. 7) The nuclear industry was making a comeback before Japanese tsunami, and might prosper down the road; a prepared person may be one who is nuclear trained.

In conclusion, before making your decision about becoming a nuke make certain you understand fully what you are signing up since once you sign there is no going back.

You dammed nukes are strange

image of odd looking sailor

I do not need to tell anyone reading this posting that used to be nukes attending nuke school and completing at least one tour of duty at sea can change a person forever.

Many guys before they become nukes are bright, part of the reason they were able to do well enough on their ASVAB to qualify to go nuke but happened to be bit unfocused and unmotivated which resulted life results, in a lot of ways, below their true ability.  Later in life many seemed to get things going in the right direction and amounted to productive lives either after doing a tour and returning to the civilian sector. Perhaps the required mandatory”tac” hours during nuclear power school provided some benefit. O.K., I would not go that far but I will l say the structure has aided in creating many successful ex-nukes.

More specifically, I have picked up subtle habits from my time as a nuke I still do to this day. For example, I still fold my skivvies; I mean underwear, in the same fashion I learned in boot camp. Why you ask? Honestly, I never had the motivation to come up with a better way of doing it.  

Another skill I acquired which is a bit more useful than folding underwear is the ability to be able to look through large documents like reactor plant manuals and find the one paragraph or sentence of valuable information within a very short amount of time.  

Another habit a number of my shipmates picked up was smoking cigarettes and chewing dip. In the long term the detrimental health effects cannot be questioned but after the first few weeks of a long deployment at sea who wouldn’t need a little bit of nicotine to help get them through. Now if they could quit.

Are there any strange habits you picked up from your time as a nuke?

Why is it so quiet topside?

Image of Alaska Shoreline

I recall an instance before my first Westpac while I cranked, as almost every did before he qualified any watch stations and made some use of himself. A few days after throwing off the mooring lines off in Pearl Harbor we pulled into Ketchikan, Alaska to pick up supplies if I remember correctly.

Once we moored a few of the guys went up topside to take a glance at our surroundings and for some unexplained reason no one said a word once they climbed up the hatch and walked around.

Normally when we pulled into port after being underway everyone is hooting and hollering in excitement to get a bit of fresh air which most people take for granted. I finally went up topside in my tee shirt in the 50 degree weather and see for myself.

After gathering my thoughts for a minute I tool notes of the fact I have never seen anything so awe inspiringly beautiful in my entire life - the water was clear enough so the reflection of the boat looked as clear as a mirror. Additionally, tall pine trees covered the whole valley even down to the water’s edge which were complemented by snow capped mountains in the background.

As everyone took in the scenery no one said a word, there was no need to. If someone had I am sure it would not have adequate described our thoughts on what we were observing.

This came as a surprise to you as most military guys are not what you would characterize as "tree huggers" but maybe one shouldn't need to be, we are human after all with some appreciation of nature. Later the boat pulled in British Columbia noted the provinces license plate which stated "Beautiful British Columbia". The beautiful backdrop we viewed in Alaska characterized the type of scene which spawned the slogan, granted we had left Alaska and went to Canada but this was close enough to get the idea.

Any moments in your time as a nuke which impressed you in a way you might not feel comfortable sharing with your buddies on the mid-watch for fear of ridicule?  Let's hear your story and you do not need to leave your name...

What do you want the chemistry to be?

Image on Chemical mixing paddle

                I was standing Reactor Operator and the watch section ELT came into maneuvering with the latest steam generator results. The EOOW asked, "What does the chemistry look like" to which the ELT replied, "What do you want the numbers to be?"

                Looking in back in retrospect my thought is, "Why did it need to anything at all?" If the government can design a nuclear reactor and primary coolant system to live through the 30 year life of a submarine why couldn’t a steam generator be designed which didn't need to be baby-sat while steaming?

                I am sure, in theory, the possibility exists, in the same way you could believe your experience in A school and Power School would be reflection of what your life was going to be like once you arrived on your boat as a nub.

                The sad fact is water which goes into a steam generator which eventually becomes steam which propels the boat and provides electricity contains crap which over time can damage the S/G which would prevent a boat from going underway. As a sailor we would not want that would we?

                In case you cared, water is the essential medium for steam generation and conditioning it properly can increase the efficiency of boiler and as well as extend its life. The treatment of boiler water also insures safe and reliable operation: without proper treatment, severe problems can develop, some so severe the Steam generator itself may need to be replaced.

                Aboard ship, fresh water is obtained by distilling seawater in evaporators. The portion of the distillate which is set aside for use in the boilers is known as make-up feed-water. The water used within the boiler is called boiler water. Make-up feed-water should be pure distilled water in an ideal situation but as stated earlier it will contain some amount of foreign materials which includes Magnesium and Calcium.

               Those of us who really dig this stuff remember the three types of water treatment in a boiler system: 1. Blowdown, which maintains the TDS (total dissolved solids) in the system (one of my favorite duties as a Reactor Technician) 2. External Treatment, which removes hard salts, minerals and oxygen before the water enters the boiler and 3 Internal Treatment, which maintains proper water chemistry by adding chemical additives to the boiler water. (Thanks to ELT's)

                This knowledge is all wonderful after EAOS if you planned to work with generators/boilers as a civilian. I was surprised to learn long after I left the Nuclear Navy there are civilian boiler technicians who were involved many of same principles ELT worked.

               Which leads me to the question: Any ex-ELT who has worked with steam generator/boiler after they got out? "What did they need their chemistry to be?" 

Image courtesy of 

http://www.americanchemical.net/updatestainlesssteelmixingpaddle-36.aspx

The meaning of Power in Nuclear Power

Image of danger sign outside high power facility

Can you sketch the EPCP? Come on you remember; I’ll help you, draw a Turbine generator on port, now another turbine generator on starboard, a tie bus, and Motor Generator. Where do I draw the battery well?

Alright, I’ll stop the correct drawing of the EPCP is not really crucial. Here is what is important: the experience and knowledge you gain in power plants during your nuclear career can be useful in ways which might not be as obvious.

Let me put the idea this way, in the past ex nukes explored opportunities in Nuclear Power once they left the nuclear navy. Over the years after Chernobyl and Three Miles Island accidents and again recently in light of the Japanese Tsunami the nuclear segment have downplayed the possible careers in this field.   

What about the power portion? The power portion will be alive and well due to the simple fact in order to maintain a modern society the power must stay on and trained technicians and engineers will be needed to order to make this a reality. That is where you the ex- nuke comes in.

Therefore, there are bound to be opportunities for those who enter the civilian world knowing how a high voltage power system works.  Now there’s an efficient use of the time spent standing watch.

Women selected for submarine training – Should they get a boat with their own crew?

 Officer submarine candidate
training on a periscope

The excerpt from Al L. below was sent to ExNavyNuke.com to post and garner thoughts from the viewers of this blog. 

Eight women selected for submarine training. ONLY of the officer class.

I am trying to get input from as many persons possible on this topic, an Idea of mine.

What is the feasibility of a nuclear sub crew, a sub say of the Virginia class, crewed solely by women, from the commander down to the lowest ranking "seaman"?

Obviously, any concerns about bunking, separate showers, toilets, etc., would no longer exist with an all-female crew.

And the women could do the job, this is do-able? Strength is not an issue, skill is the issue and women are more than competent enough.

The only strength issue might be re-loading the torpedo tubes, and for some time has been done by hoist and mechanical apparatus. Perhaps damage control in time of emergency might require strength?

Any other issues anyone can think of?

Al L.

ExNavyNuke.com thoughts: In my view I think it might work. During my time in boot camp at Orlando Training Center before it was closed down the “K” (all female) companies who went though basic training crushed all of the “C” (all male) and I (Integrated) companies they competed with in regards to inspections, academics, etc. I am sure this efficiency could be duplicated aboard a submarine. 

Care to comment with your thoughts? If you want to learn more check out this video. 

Photo courtesy of http://www.stripes.com