Mare Island, in addition to being a shipyard, also had various training facilities located there. One of them was the school of those going to PBR's (Patrol Boat River for the youngsters). Mare Island also hosted the West Coast Nuclear Training School. I had the pleasure of going to that school in 1967. Monday through Friday, in the morning, the PBR guys would jog by the barracks, and in unison chant a cadence of which part went like this:
"...If I had a high IQ, I could be a nukie pooh..."
They were so predictable, you did not need an alarm clock.
I never met a non-nuke on Bainbridge who hated nukes. Did they tease us, sure, but just about everyone onboard knew we had the heaviest workload of any division on the ship other then the cooks.
Even within engineering, RO's took more hazing then MM's or the EM's (who everyone jokingly agreed had nothing to do, said with envy). I barely remember the existence of the ELT once I did basic quals on that workstation.
My last two years were on a conventional destroyer. As the LPO, I was frequently referred to as the f****g nuke as I demanded of them what was normal in nuke engineering. Later I got a complement for one of my guys when he said to me, "You know, no one likes a know-it-all, especially when they do". He was referring to my professional attitude, not my knowledge of the vast array of equipment the division maintained.
Just keep in mind, that sailors will tease others to break up the monotony of ship board life. Signalmen were referred to as 'skivvy' wavers, yet they were the first guys you went to to find out what was happening in theatre as they would 'talk' with their cohorts during unreps. Then there was the "pecker checker", otherwise known as the Corpsman. Another guy you needed when a liberty tryst went wrong. There were other names for other ratings.
However, there was one rating you never, ever made fun of, and those were the cooks. It is not difficult to understand why these guys were not made fun of.
Enjoy your enlistment, everyone you meet has an important role in the operation of the ship, and the bottom line is, no matter what is said in jest, each depends upon the other to do their job and keep you alive. Each is respected for their contribution to mission.
No one rate hates another, but everyone dislikes a jackass.
