Naval Reactors Examination
A little bit of a weekend diversion from the political realities of the past few days. I recall seeing something similar to this back in the day, and my fellow nukes here can attest this is sometimes not far from the real thing.
Naval Reactors Aptitude Test
Instructions: Read each question carefully. Answer all questions. Time limit 4 hours. Begin immediately. Work in numerical order. Equipment remaining from question #1 may prove useful in questions #3 and #6.
1. Medicine. You have been provided with a razor blade, a piece of gauze, and a bottle of scotch. Remove your appendix. Do not suture until your work has been inspected. You have 15 minutes.
2. History. Describe the history of the papacy from its origins to the present day. Concentrate especially but not exclusively on its social, political, economic, religious, and philosophical impact on Europe, Asia, America, and Africa. Be brief, concise, and specific.
3. Public Speaking. Two thousand drug-crazed aborigines are storming the classroom. Calm them. You may use any ancient language except Latin and Greek.
4. Biology. Create life. Estimate the difference in subsequent human culture if this form of life had been created 500 million years earlier. Pay special attention to its probable effect on the English Parliamentary System.
5. Music. Write a piano concerto. Orchestrate and perform it with flute and drum. You will find a piano under your seat.
6. Engineering. The disassembled parts of a high power rifle have been placed in a box on your desk. You will also find an instruction manual printed in Swahili. In 10 minutes a hungry Bengal tiger will be admitted to the room. Take whatever action you feel is appropriate. Be prepared to justify your decision.
7. Sociology. What sociological problems might accompany the end of the world? Construct and experiment to test your theory.
8. Management Science. Define management. Define science. How do they relate? Create a generalized algorithm to optimize all managerial decisions. Assuming a Cray X-MP supercomputer supporting 50 terminals, each terminal to activate your algorithm, design the communications interface and all necessary control problems.
9. Psychology. Based on your knowledge of their works, evaluate the emotional stability, degree of adjustment, and repressed frustration of each: Alexander of Aphrodisias, Ramses II, Gregory of Nicea, and Hammurabi. Support your evaluation with quotations from each man’s work. It is not necessary to translate.
10. Economics. Develop a realistic plan for refinancing the national debt. Trace the possible effects of your plan on these areas: Cubism, The Donatist Controversy, and the wave theory of light.
11. Epistemology. Take a position for or against truth. Prove the validity of your position.
12. Classical Physics. Explain the nature of matter. Include in your answer an evaluation of the impact of the development of mathematics on science.
13. Modern Physics. Produce element 119. Determine its half-life.
14. Energy Resources. Construct a working fusion reactor.
15. Philosophy. Sketch the development of human thought. Estimate its significance. Compare this with the development of any other kind of thought.
16. General Knowledge. Describe in detail, briefly.
17. Extra Credit. Define the universe. Give three examples.
And in other news, the females on submarines experiment has taken a not-so-happy turn. Seems that three of the female Supply Officers are currently off the boat pending NCIS investigation into allegations of fraud on their travel claims. Yay, integrity! Only 37.5 percent of O-3 females doing stupid shit! More on the story at Navy Times:
Color me surprised. If you want it bad, you’ll get it bad.
For the engineering question you forgot to include making your own gunpowder or would that have been a chemistry question?
This made me chuckle. The tone is not that far off.
This instructions explicitly states to answer all the questions. In the entire list of instructions there is only one true question as evidenced by the proper use of a “?”.
In item 8, it asks how management and science relate. My answer is that science comes after management. Did I pass?
Aviators & aircrew have similar exams. These are usually proceeded by heavy drinking, however.
I’ve thought about writing a blog post on those female bubbleheads. Morons, on first glance. However, do you suppose this might be a case of the Navy trying to bypass the directive for female bubbleheads by finding ways to get rid of them?
Regardless, nice morning read. 🙂
@4- No Arby. Just like the rest of your division, you fail. But you get the special reward of being called into your division office to be yelled at by your chief for being a smartass, while some clown assigned to NR stands in the corner and looks at you in disgust.
At least, that’s what happened when I did something similar. That, and I was assigned the division’s observed PM evolution.
That was great to read, Sparky! Thanks!
As a former NR assistant I resemble that exam! One of my favorite NR motivational posters show a glass of water half full. The optimist says its half full, the pessimist says its half empty. NR says “what if the glass breaks?”.
Whoops, I was referring to ORSE.
Wow… um, I see one major flaw in your test. You are assuming that the test taker can read. That’s your first problem.
I can only imagine the first interview of a female sub nuke candidate with “The Admiral”.
Most definitely a cool read this day.
…ahhh, the memories……
The glass is full: half full of water, and the other half with air.
@8: The optimist sees half full, the pesimist sees half empty, the engineer sees DF2.
NR sees you as not standing attentive watch because you didn’t keep the glass within temperature/pressure bands as specified per the RPM and Engineer’s Night Orders, with suitable blood letting in a public setting to take place forthwith.
Or just sees the glass as a surge volume with sufficient design factor to handle design-basis accident for whatever shit we can think of to throw at it.
Is it a bad thing I can still do reactor startups on BOTH S5W and S6G plants from memory over a decade after I got out?