The US Navy Has Drifted Badly Off Course

[roguenuke]

If you really wanted to get a foothold on the ladder of success in the Nuclear Navy under the old regime, you had to see a certain person who would leave you standing around in his office for several of the longest minutes of your life, and then he would suddenly look up and tell you "to make him angry".
I bet you know who I am talking about.

Way too young for that. And yes I'm pretty sure I do.

We had one of the biggest classes ever put through Power School(thanks to a lot of waivers). This was not a good idea, just to be clear. They had to implement a tutoring program with those needing to be tutored nicknamed <Class Master Chief's name (not putting on here)>'s Kids. They made up about 1/4 to 1/3 of the class, and most of them failed out by the end. The Navy also worked pretty hard to not let anyone go for non-academic reasons too. However, DADT was in place at the time, so some people who couldn't handle the pressure decided they would sign the paperwork and be gone. After about the 4th or 5th one, Master Chief above got everyone together in ***Rickover*** Circle and said if one more person came into his office (because he had to interview each one) and claimed he or she was gay, they would be calling their mother right there in his office to let her know too. It seemed to work, although I'm not really sure how because if you are going to that length to get out of the Navy, I don't see why you wouldn't explain the situation to your mother beforehand. I did like that Master Chief though. He was pretty cool. As for those "Kids", there is a reason for certain academic standards for that program and that class proved why they are necessary, regardless of the recruiting goals we have.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

Way too young for that. And yes I'm pretty sure I do.

We had one of the biggest classes ever put through Power School(thanks to a lot of waivers). This was not a good idea, just to be clear. They had to implement a tutoring program with those needing to be tutored nicknamed <Class Master Chief's name (not putting on here)>'s Kids. They made up about 1/4 to 1/3 of the class, and most of them failed out by the end. The Navy also worked pretty hard to not let anyone go for non-academic reasons too. However, DADT was in place at the time, so some people who couldn't handle the pressure decided they would sign the paperwork and be gone. After about the 4th or 5th one, Master Chief above got everyone together in ***Rickover*** Circle and said if one more person came into his office (because he had to interview each one) and claimed he or she was gay, they would be calling their mother right there in his office to let her know too. It seemed to work, although I'm not really sure how because if you are going to that length to get out of the Navy, I don't see why you wouldn't explain the situation to your mother beforehand. I did like that Master Chief though. He was pretty cool. As for those "Kids", there is a reason for certain academic standards for that program and that class proved why they are necessary, regardless of the recruiting goals we have.

Well you snuck in the name anyway.
Yes, Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the Nuclear Navy.
According to every Navy person I've ever known, he was an odd bird but one of the most brilliant minds in the military.
In 1957 he gave a talk that still stands today as eerily prescient.

Remarks by Admiral Hyman Rickover
"Energy Resources and Our Future"

PS: My father was a nuclear physicist. He was responsible for most of the work in developing pulsed power and nuclear hardening of military and mission critical civilian electronic/comm infrastructure.

 

[roguenuke]

Well you snuck in the name anyway.
Yes, Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the Nuclear Navy.
According to every Navy person I've ever known, he was an odd bird but one of the most brilliant minds in the military.
In 1957 he gave a talk that still stands today as eerily prescient.

Remarks by Admiral Hyman Rickover
"Energy Resources and Our Future"

PS: My father was a nuclear physicist. He was responsible for most of the work in developing pulsed power and nuclear hardening of military and mission critical civilian electronic/comm infrastructure.

There's a reason it was inside asterisks. I barely caught your second post before I posted. I figured it would be an interesting way to get that in there.

The Father of our Nuclear Navy (and a huge advocate for nuclear power in general) was obviously vital to our program. We actually had at least one or two lessons in school regarding famous Navy Nukes and nuke history. The only ones I remember actually learning about were Admiral Rickover (although his name came up far more often than the history lessons) and President Carter. And yes, even in those lessons in school mentions of his oddness came up.

Did you ever see "Hey Shipwreck"? It was a sort of knockoff of Red vs Blue, but Navy submariner oriented.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

There's a reason it was inside asterisks. I barely caught your second post before I posted. I figured it would be an interesting way to get that in there.

The Father of our Nuclear Navy (and a huge advocate for nuclear power in general) was obviously vital to our program. We actually had at least one or two lessons in school regarding famous Navy Nukes. The only ones I remember actually learning about were Admiral Rickover (although his name came up far more often than the history lessons) and President Carter. And yes, even in those lessons in school mentions of his oddness came up.

Did you ever see "Hey Shipwreck"? It was a sort of knockoff of Red vs Blue, but Navy submariner oriented.

Most people aren't aware of the fact that Carter was one of his star pupils, and Carter has specifically mentioned that 1957 talk Rickover gave as a significant factor in his own views on energy. Carter is a kind of renaissance man, as it turns out.
That whole "Simple Country Boy Peanut Famah From Plains Joja" thing...I have to chuckle a little bit.

My father told me about Rickover's ploy of telling a student "to do something to make him mad".

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

There's a reason it was inside asterisks. I barely caught your second post before I posted. I figured it would be an interesting way to get that in there.

The Father of our Nuclear Navy (and a huge advocate for nuclear power in general) was obviously vital to our program. We actually had at least one or two lessons in school regarding famous Navy Nukes and nuke history. The only ones I remember actually learning about were Admiral Rickover (although his name came up far more often than the history lessons) and President Carter. And yes, even in those lessons in school mentions of his oddness came up.

Did you ever see "Hey Shipwreck"? It was a sort of knockoff of Red vs Blue, but Navy submariner oriented.

Nope, can't say I've even heard of it. Should I ask my wife? She's the Navy veteran, not me.