<p>Bill - you’re correct, the civilian world can be similar, but that was really the icing on the cake. Long story short, there was a section of time during the shipyard that was a bit of a lull for me and I took advantage of it and actually left work at the official close of business time. I got lectured by my boss about leaving “early”, but yet my division was the only one in the inspection that had zero deficiencies and I really didnt have any reason to be at work. Very frustrating.</p>
<p>Well there is no specific person who would do well in subs. I’ve known a lot of guys with a lot of different personality traits and success is just a factor of determination and hard work. Typically the guys who do the best are workaholics who dont mind being at work all day, sometimes for no reason. Guys who get their work done efficiently so they can go home at a reasonable hour are often viewed as slackers. I dont know why, it just is. Again, a lot of things vary based on the command climate as well. Bottom line is, there are a lot of variables and there is no “right” type of personality to go subs. It just takes a lot of hard work and in the end, you may be burned out like I was and not want to do a second round. </p>
<p>I’ve talked a lot about what’s bad about subs, but there’s also a lot of really cool things I got to do. I got to tear a ship apart completely in a shipyard and put it back together again. I got to drive a billion dollar ship on the surface at sunset and have a cigar and see dolphins jumping across the bow like in the movies. I got to operate a nuclear power plant. I got to operate deeper underwater than most people will ever go. I got to do several emergency blows. Ever get to people watch on cruise ships and nobody knows you’re there? That’s pretty fun. </p>
<p>I dont think anybody should make a decision to go subs off of other people’s experiences, but really they have to find out for themselves. I’d recommend that people try it and see if they like it. If they dont, there’s plenty of other things to do in the Navy. If they decide to get out of the Navy, they’ll have a great resume and have a lot of skills that a lot of people dont have. </p>
<p>Engineering Duty Officer is basically maintenance and acquisition of ships and subs. They’re the guys in uniform at shipyards, both public and private, who basically plan out the work schedules and coordinate with various groups to get a ship in, out, and back to the fleet. They also work in the program offices in DC and control the money for new ship design, procurement, and maintenance. That’s the bulk of the work, but they also have some other sub specialties like weapons/combat systems and also salvage diving.</p>