EOOW on the USS Jack

This blog article is another sea story about my life on the USS Jack SSN 605 a fast attack nuclear-powered submarine.  Initial training required for all officers qualified to operate a naval nuclear power plant is long and challenging.  After six months at nuclear power school in Vallejo, CA, I was transferred to Idaho Falls, ID to qualify on the A1W operational nuclear “prototype”.  Finally qualified as a Nuclear Watch Officer at the prototype, it was off to sub school in New London, CT for six weeks.  After more than a year of training I was assigned to the USS Jack as a “nuke”.

Even though we had just finished over one year of nuclear power training we were not yet ready to stand watch on our new ship until we completed the ship’s qualification.  The requirement to qualify on a new ship applied to both sailors and officers, all the way up to the Executive Officer.  As a brand new “nuke” it took anywhere from 6 to 10 week to qualify as an Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW).  A more senior officer with other shipboard experience would be able to qualify for 1 to 4 weeks. 

During the qualification process, you could not stand watch by yourself.  Since you were not able to do your job but were taking up space on the ship, your shipmates provided extra pressure for you to get qualified so you could be added to the watch bill.  You were referred to as a “non-qual” and always encouraged to get hot and get qualified.

The day I walked onboard the USS Jack the Executive Officer provided me with two Qualification Cards (or qual cards), one for EOOW qualifications and the second for submarines.  This blog article concentrates on qualifying as an EOOW on the USS Jack.  The qual card listed the watch stations that I needed to master, the procedures I needed to perform, and the emergency procedures that I needed to be proficient in, along with all the standing orders I was to become familiar with.  In short, it was a checklist of items needed for qualification as EOOW.  I immediately began studying and started getting my card signed off.

Since I was assigned as the M division officer, I reported directly to the Engineering Officer, Lt. Commander Steven Loucks.  On a naval submarine, the engineering office is responsible for all of the ships engineering equipment and has 4-5 division officers reporting directly to him.  He was also the one that determined when you were ready for your oral boards, the last step in qualifying as an EOOW.  Since I reported directly to him and he wanted all his division officers qualified ASAP I got “special attention”. 

Don’t confuse this “special attention” with special treatment, if anything he made sure all his division officers were well qualified.  For example, my first day underway I was training for 16 hours and turned in at midnight for some rest.  At 0200 (referred to as zero two hundred) or 2:00 AM, the Engineer (who was the EOOW of the midnight shift) got me up to perform one of the required operating procedures.  After signing my qual card, he suggested I get some rack time because he assigned me to the 0600 watch under instruction. 

Once I completed the majority of my assignments and had them signed off, (i.e. describe the ships electrical power bus, how the steam turbine operate, etc.) it was time to concentrate on the operational and emergency procedures. 

As the EOOW, you are responsible for all the Watch Standers in the engineering spaces.  For example when starting up the plant after an extended shutdown, the EOOW would need to follow the ships operating procedures to make sure the system started properly.  This required you to direct each Watch Stander to start an operation and report back when completed.  Now as EOOW you were in charge, but you weren’t necessarily the most knowledgeable. I was a Junior Officer with limited experience, and at this point only trained enough to operate the plant safely. Luckily, I could count on an excellent team of Watch Standers that had gone through a similar program and were very proficient in what they did. 

It was the EOOW’s job to know what evolutions were in progress and that all plant operations were performed per the ships operating procedures.  During this time under instruction, your every move was being reviewed by the qualified EOOW on watch, along with the crewmembers actually performing the operations.  They would provide you with suggestions on what you did wrong or how you could improve. This is the information I paid close attention to.

Emergency Procedures were a big part of the training, (reactor SCRAM, or fire in the engine room lower level for example) and they often involved the entire ship.  A group of Watch Standers were observers for the emergency procedures.  They knew what emergency procedure would be done, but the actual watch standards did not know until the procedure started.  (One point we never referred to them as practice or even a drill, all emergency operations were conducted as if the safety of the ship was in the balance.)

All of a sudden, you got the word from a watch stander “fire in the engine room lower level outboard of the port condensate pumps”.  You immediately went into action, as EOOW the first step was to notify the Officer of the Deck (OOD), the Watch Stander directing the operation of the entire submarine.  The OOD would then notify the ship’s Captain.  Everyone on the ship went to their Damage Control Stations. 

Back in the engine room as the EOOW you then performed the immediate actions in the emergency procedures, you had to know these by heart.  After that, you would review the emergency procedures to ensure all initial actions were completed, perform the follow-on actions, start assessing the condition of the fire, and the effect it may have on the operating power plant.  After all, we had a submarine to operate and that requires both electrical power and power to the main turbines to keep the ship operating.  Once the fire was put out and the engineering spaces and the entire ship was back to its normal operation the observers reviewed what they saw and developed their comments. 

After finishing our watch, we would gather and the observers would analyze our performance and let us know what we did wrong.  This was a very humbling process because all the Watch Standers know the procedures and you hate to be the one to make the mistake. 

If you made a big enough mistake the Engineer might assign you to be the instructor for the engineering department training on the emergency procedure you were now proficient in.  It was an excellent way to determine you would never make the same mistake again. 

After completing all the items on your qualification card you went before the review board.  Here a group of qualified Watch Officers, the Engineer, and the Commanding Officer would ask a question and grade your response.  My oral board was after the evening meal and lasted approximately 90 minutes.  The questions ranged from equipment and system knowledge, normal operations, emergency procedures, the ship’s standing orders, and what you would do if something happened.  Many of the questions were based on experiences of the board members. 

After sweating through the oral boards, the board’s deliberations, and their critique of my performance, the Engineer told me I was qualified as EOOW.  He then told me since I was now qualified I was to relieve the EOOW on duty and assume the watch. 

After finishing my walk down of the engineering spaces and shift change with the EOOW I was relieving I sat in the seat as the only officer in the maneuvering space.  I started feeling really accomplished until one of the enlisted Watch Standers said “Mr. Hardee now that you are qualified don’t think you know it all.”  I then realized how much I didn’t know about being a Nuclear Watch Officer. 

I thanked the watch standards in the maneuvering space for their help and assistance in helping me get qualified.  I also stated that they knew my strengths and weaknesses and we had to work together as shipmates to do our job as best we could. 

The next day while performing my watch I discovered that I went full circle.  One of my non-qualified machine mates asked me to check him out on our main turbine.  I asked him how our turbine operated, how it was different than a typical submarine turbine, and asked a round of questions.  I don’t think I was ever as happy as when I signed his qual card as a qualified EOOW.

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