My current situation is I'm in the DEP program and contracted as an IT(information technology). I scored a 76 on ASVAB but my line scores did not qualify me for the nuke test. I'm wondering if I should retake the ASVAB, risking my current score, to try to qualify for nuke. I'm also considering submarine electronics, so i was wondering what submarine conditions are like because I am a little bit afraid of it I mean how can you guys possible maintain sanity without seeing the light of day for that long?
Got this a while back (don't remember where)
How to Simulate Submarine Life at Home!
1. Surround yourself with a few people you don't like.
2. Close all windows and doors tightly and close all curtains.
3. Seal any openings to the outside world with a suitable vault door.
4. Unplug all radios and televisions to cut yourself off completly
from news, football games, Saturday Night Live, The Muppet Show etc...
5. Hourly monitor all home appliances operating. If not in use, make a
note in a log book.
6. If using bathroom, do not flush toilet for first two days to simulate
smell of blowing sanitaries and venting inboard. Then flush daily.
7. Wear only blue coveralls, or proper Navy uniform. No hats or T-Shirts.
8. Cut your hair once a week, ensuring you make it look like you did it
yourself.
9. Work in 18 hour intervals to ensure you body really gets confused.
10. Listen to the same cassette over and over until you can't stand it
anymore, then put one in that you can't even listen to without nausea
setting in.
11. Set alarm to go off just as you fall asleep, with alarm set at loud,
or buy a special alarm with various settings i.e. Battle Stations,
Fire, Flooding in the Basement.
12. Prepare food with a blindfold on to simulate what real submarine cooks
do. Then take the blindfold off and try to get your dog to eat it.
Then break out a can of tuna or peanut butter.
13. Cut your bed in half, and enclose all but one side using the dimensions
of a small casket as your reference. When not in bed, make up blankets
properly even though no one will see or care. For added touch of
realism, have 3 people taking turns sleeping in bed, one of whom is in
2 section appliance watch.
14. Periodically, for want of excitement, open main power breaker and run
around yelling "Reactor Scram" until you are sweating profusely, then
restore power.
15. Buy yourself a snorkel and mask, and again, periodically, just for want
of anything better to do, put it on and pretend you're in a smoke
filled room with no way out. For added variety, hook up garden hose
and pressurize.
16. To enable yourself to handle anything, constantly study wiring diagrams
and operating instructions for various home appliances (stove, refrig,
can opener). For no reason at all, at specific intervals (monthly,
weekly, etc...) tear one apart, just in case it was going to break.
17. Paint everything around you gray (Navy FSN gray, no substitutes) or
off white.
18. To be sure you are living in a clean and happy environment, every
Saturday set alarm on loud for a short but hated drill sound, then
get up and manned with only a bucket, a sponge, and a greeny, clean one
area over and over again; even if it was already spotless. Then make
out a discrepancy list.
19. Once a day, after normal programming hours, plug in the TV and watch
one movie being careful that it is (A) at least 5 years old;(B) made
long enough prior to showing to be sure you've seen it once before; or
(C) so bad that you have to install a seatbelt in your chair to keep
you there until it's over.
20. Since no doctor will be available, stockpile bandaids, aspirin, and
Actifed since these are proven "cure-alls". Practice if necessary on
your dog (surgery, dentistry, etc...).
21. When commencing this test simulation, lock your family, friends, and
anything else that means anything to you outside. Test will run for
at least 2 months with no specific end in sight and completion delayed
at least twice for no less than 2 weeks.
What you have just read is a little bit of humor on the life of a real
submariner. Some (a lot) of the things actually happen and by relating
these to common things at home I hope you have gained some insight into
the life of a submariner at sea.
