Ye Olde Rad Blog II

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Rickover's Influence

Mistakes in the nuclear Navy were not tolerated (.. which is probably why incompetence bothers me so much). Excuses were a luxury none of us could afford.

Under the heading labeled "Controversy," the Wikipedia entry for Rickover says the following:

Hyperactive, political, blunt, confrontational, insulting, flamboyant, and an unexcelled workaholic who was always demanding of others – without regard for rank or position – as well as himself, Admiral Rickover was a thundering force of nature and lightning rod for controversy.

Moreover, he had "little tolerance for mediocrity, none for stupidity." "If a man is dumb," said a Chicago friend, "Rickover thinks he ought to be dead."

This is the guy who started and ran the Navy's nuclear propulsion program. Like I said, excuses were a luxury none of us could afford. We did our jobs and did them well. (Or we were replaced.) But as I said, the training program spared no expense.

Many books have been written about Rickover. His retirement party was attended by all living U.S. Presidents. (He served under 13 different POTUS's.)

Everything Else Easy By Comparison

Since being discharged (honorably, of course), I found everything that has followed to be comparatively easy. No matter what challenges life may bring, I feel confident facing them, knowing I've faced more difficult circumstances in the past (thanks to Rickover and his demanding program).

On my Discharge papers (DD-214), the nuclear program in which I served is described as » arduous (the Navy's own description). I didn't know what the word meant. Had to look it up. Here's what I found »

1. difficult and tiring: requiring hard work or continuous physical effort
2. steep or demanding: very difficult to traverse, endure, or overcome

The program is great for people who enjoy challenging themselves. Yet I've never recommended it .. to anyone. There are much easier ways to make a living.

For Masochists Only 

Now that I'm done, I'm happy I went thru it, and that I was able to survive. But I'd never do it again, not knowing what I know now. Much as I dig technology, and a good challenge, the Navy's nuclear program is for masochists only. Certainly not designed for fun.

But it has made me who I am. Maybe now you can understand why I enjoy the Bourne series so much. A guy is surprised by the things he knows and what he's able to do. And it's all due to some clandestine goverment program. You think I might be able to relate? (Can't wait for the Bourne Ultimatum to be released later this week.)

You *do* however, work with top-notch people in the nuclear program. (Won't find many dimwits running reactors.)

Elitists

One last point » Some nuclear-trained people (that I worked with) could be considered elitists. In other words, they didn't associate with (looked down on) anyone 'cept other "nukes".

The Dog and I (especially the Dog) were the first to make friends with those outside our department (Engineering), and were actually ostracized by some senior clique-ish types for this. The Dog however, was never the type to care much about what others thought.

The Dog 

Of all the people I met in the military (over the course of my 6-year enlistment), there's only one I still stay in touch with » the Dog. He lives in NYC. (Cuz he feels most comfortable in urban environments.)

BTW » In a few days the Dog will be leaving for Prague .. where he'll be married (for the first time) .. to a girl from the Czech Republic, who he met in NYC. (She's much younger than the Dog .. ~20 years younger.)

If anybody deserves to be happy in a relationship, it's the Dog. He's such a great guy (with some issues, which he readily admits). From what I hear, she is better at making relationships work than the Dog. They've been together ~3 years.

I received an invitation to the wedding, but can't afford to go. The Dog understands. Heard Prague was beautiful .. not destroyed by WWII the way many other European cities were.

Dr. Wolf 

Of all the instructors I had at NPS, my favorite was Dr. Wolf. He was from Brooklyn, or the Bronx (.. one of those New York boroughs that begins with a 'B').

He taugh Math. (Believe his doctorate was from NYU.) Not very tall. Full salt-n-pepper beard, well trimmed. Oozed cool. Very charismatic. Not very military. Spoke with a distinct NY accent. Obviously knew his stuff. Very comfortable with the subject material. Enjoyed teaching. Made learning fun.

Near the end of some class (each 50 or 55 minutes long) .. he'd check his watch and say, "Put your books away. You don't have to know this." .. and continued teaching .. sometimes straight thru the break. Nobody left.

He'd usually share some wild, cutting-edge Physics .. that made our heads spin with theory. Serious "Whoa!" factor.

I liked Dr. Wolf cuz, where I grew up (and went to school) intelligence was never considered very cool. The coolest kids were usually not the brightest. I even had some kids wanting to kick my butt for reasons related to academics. So intelligence there could be considered a negative (something to hide).

Final Points

On a nuclear sub which carries ballistic missiles (the presence of which I can "neither confirm nor deny") the sailors who operate and maintain the reactor plant have nothing to do with the missiles.

Two different jobs. Handled by two different departments. In other words, nukes aren't experts on missiles.

In all the documentaries I've watched on nuclear submarines, I've never yet seen one where they take you back into the engineering spaces.

They simply show you the door, and say (voiceover), "Back there are the engineering spaces, where the reactor lives. For security reasons, we weren't allowed to film back there."

With that said, your average run-of-the-mill ballistic missile submarine carries more firepower than all the bombs dropped in all the wars since the beginning of time .. immemorial. (This is where a submarine sailor usually stands and salutes.)

Comparison with Non-Military Schools 

If I had to select one word to describe the Navy's nuclear program .. here it is » grueling. Now, is it (as the Wikipedia entry states) "one of the most difficult academic programs in the world"? Maybe so. Maybe so. But then, I have little to compare with.

For example, I never been to MIT, Hardvard Law, Wharton or Yale (like my brother). Are these schools difficult academically, or just difficult to get into?

The Dog went to Columbia (an Ivy League school) after getting out of the Navy .. said he held his own (in their Civil Engineeering program).

Regarding difficulty, I've always heard the Univ of Chicago was a meat grinder, academically speaking. I'd like to try that .. to see for myself how it compares.

If I were writing the Wikipedia intro for the Navy's nuclear power school, think I'd change the word difficult to demanding. No doubt about that.

The word difficult can mean different things to different people, especially where it concerns an academic program.

My best point of comparison (with non-military schools) came during a college semester in which I took Calculus (4-units), Statistics (3-units) & a 7-unit Chemistry class (the hard one, required for both medical & engineering students + lab).

Flexing Nuclear-powered Academic Muscles

I got the highest grade in all 3 classes. (Note » This semester was between jobs, when I wasn't working. Saved hardest classes for between-job periods.) And the professor who taught Statistics taught *two* classes that semester; he told me I got the highest grade in *both* classes.

In the Chemistry class, there was nobody even close to me. Only one other 'A' in the whole class. The mean was down around 55. Class taught by a lady-Ph.D. from India. Kids complained to the adminstrators. (It's a mandatory class for many degree paths.)

She gave the hardest test I'd ever taken. I mean, regarding the amount of brain power necesssary. Each question required serious calculations, often with mutiple parts. Afterwards I drove home and went to bed (at noon). Never done that before.

They claim the human brain uses 20% of your body's daily calorie-burn (energy). In 3 hours, I burned 2 days worth.

My average for that class was 94.5. Like I said, the class mean was around 55. Okay, enough of this shameless academic chest-pounding. And I should note that, in the Navy, Chemistry was my thing (I ran reactor water radio-chemistry daily) .. so I had an advatage over the other kids (as did the Dog at Columbia).

My Ph.D. prof for that class seemed interested in the reactor water radio-chemistry analyses I ran. I was interested in the dot on her forehead, and the interesting dresses (long, flowing, colorful) she wore during religious holidays.

Moreover, I hadn't taken any Math in years, and opted to bypass the Pre-Calculus class (despite everybody warning me not to. Now-a-days, the Pre-Calc class is mandatory.)

Speaking of Calculus, that class was my closest call. A tiny Asian girl sat in the back of the class. Her GPA was always slightly higher than mine .. the *whole* semester.

Every week or two, the prof would pass around a sheet that contained everyone's student ID number with our grades (both current & cumulative) listed alongside. Took me a while to figure out who it was that was ahead of me.

I would wait outside the door during break after an exam and ask her, "So, how'd you do?" She'd just giggle and walk on by. Never heard her say a single word the entire semester. For all I know, she spoke no English.

At the end of the year, the prof posted outside our room the grades for the final exam and our cummultive GPA. I know I didn't ace the final, but saw I scored a perfect 200 points. And I was the only one who scored 200. So I must led the curve, and I saw my cummulative GPA was the highest. I passed the little Aisan girl right at the end. Sweet!

Making the Decision to Go 

You will wish you were dead .. no, just kidding. =) 

Of course, the biggest point of comparison is that .. with the Navy school, you get a paycheck, too .. which is nice. Whereas you have to pay for your (non-military) college education. This can be a deciding factor for those not named Rockerfeller or Getty.

Always had an independent streak .. and wanted to do things myself. If I went to college, woulda had to grovel for tuition money. (Never been a good groveler.) Navy solved my problem. "Adios, folks. Keep your cash. See ya in 6 years. Ciao."

Many (Most?) of my college classes were taken while working 12-hours days. I used the GI Bill (the old one, the good one) to pay tuition. Took 10 years to finish my degree (most of it while working full-time + OT).

Didn't pursue the degree to earn more cash, as the company I worked for was already paying me senior-level engineer wages. No higher pay-grades existed. Rather, it was simply sibling rivalry .. since my brother had graduated from Yale (down the road from where we grew up), then earned his medical degree (from Tufts). 

"Are you the doctor's brother?" people would ask? "No," I'd answer. "The doctor is my brother." =) You know how our culture is enchanted with doctors.

Always been jealous of kids whose parents pay for their college education, who don't have to work while taking classes. Must be nice.

More

Something I'll never forget » hearing the announcement .. "Attention in the engineering spaces: the reactor is critical." (Reactor criticality is a function of neutron population. You control reactor power by controlling its neutron population.)

For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query » navy nuclear power school