Continuing Sea Stories

On arrival at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, I reported to the Nuclear Power School for six months of classroom studies. I soon learned that the school would involve classes in Mathematics, physics(nuclear and
classical), reactor design and piping systems, reactor theory and operation
and a few others. Because I had had some college I was placed in a hybrid class that was between the standard enlisted class and the officer's class. The class work was tough and designed to be real challenging. By the time we finished we could draw from memory an entire pressurised water reactor system including all valves and piping.

At the completion of the six months we received orders to the nuclear power training unit of our choice. I had requested the site in up state New York. This was another six month course divided roughly into two three month parts. The first part was another classroom section and then three months of actual work on an operating reactor plant. During this period of qualifying time to become a reactor plant operator you had to learn every thing needed to stand a watch on a reactor plant. Since I was an
Electricians Mate I had to learn how to operate the main electrical panel,
the various multitude of alarm panels, the steam generators and the main turbine and the generator turbines. I had to be able to stand actual watches
under normal operations and the myriad of emergency situations the
instructors would throw at us. At the end of training we went through what we called "Hell Week", where every possible casualty was thrown at you
until try as you might you eventually could not prevent a reactor scram.
Following that you had to pass an oral exam administered by selected instructors that covered everything you should have learned. The exam had no time limit and no questions could be left unanswered. If need be the exam was suspended for a short period while you checked you notes for the answer of any question you didn't know. My exam lasted nine(9) hours but at the end I was designated as a qualified Nuclear Electrical Plant Operator.
When my new orders arrived I was surprised to find that I was to stay at the unit as an instructor.

During my time at the Nuclear Power Training Unit several very important
things happened. First was the Cuban Missile Crisis for which we were all put on 24 hour alert for possible submarine duty, next the USS Thresher was lost with all hands some of whom were in my class and some I had helped train, and finally my son Keith was born.

Not long after my son was born I received orders to take part in the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program and was sent to college at Miami University in Ohio. There I in Applied Mathematics with total emphasis on
Systems Analysis. After graduation I was ordered to Officers Candidate School in Rhode Island.