So for the last 3 weeks I've been at design school for Virgina Class subs. The school is ran by and held at Knolls Atomic Power Lab. If you don't know much about the origins of nuclear propulsion you would be amazed at how it began with people like Adm. Rickover and General Electric. I still think it's stunning that a full-scale reactor was fit into a metal can and sent under the polar ice cap before we even began large-scale commercial nuclear plants. I've honestly become more intrigued with the scientific background of this more than I've been concerned with the military in general.
Needless to say though, I'm glad this school is over. It's kinda like watching the Discovery Channel for 3 weeks straight; and none of those weeks are Shark Week. We're taught about the design aspect of our ship from engineers, although our end-job is operators. As an electrical operator, I have learned nothing new about what I'll be doing. I've learned some cool shit about noise reduction, reactor testing, and a bunch of other classified information, but very little of it will make me a good operator.
We've also been working on our ship's badge too. Being that we're named the Mississippi, there isn't much we can work with. We can't put the state flag on for obvious reason, and other than a gator there isn't much else. It'll probably be a sub with the state outline and a gator behind it. My idea of a Ford F-150 sitting on cinder blocks in front of a double-wide, and a chick with 3 teeth holding a 12-pack of Keystone Light got shot down.
