Naval Correspondence Manual: Fill & Download for Free

In the Marine Corps, we always used black ink for official signatures and paperwork. In fact, the Naval Correspondence manual states:21. Color of Ink. Only use black or blue-black ink to sign correspondence. Photocopiers pick up these colors well. (*)Note that some of the other fantastic answers contradict this; but Military Tradition is a hard ship to steer.*Reference: http://www.marforres.marines.mil/Portals/116/Docs/G-1/AAU/AAUDocuments/CORRESPONDENCE%20MANUAL.pdf

Absolutely. In my 21 years of service (including three years working directly on 2 and 3-star staffs), it was always acceptable to refer to the boss as “Admiral”, even in person. Face it, Navy flag officers are very busy, and in the time it would take for me to say “good morning Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Pick-a-Name,” the Admiral would be on her second staff meeting and third cup of coffee and have already forgotten about me. Not to mention the odd stares I would get from her staff.Even in formal letters and official Navy messages full ranks usually aren't used, because the addressee is often referred to by position (From: Commander Navy Installations Command, To: Commander Naval Sea Systems Command), and so on. I've seen plenty of letters signed by flag officers where you never see a single rank mentioned. Even in emails, I've seen my boss (a Captain) refer to his boss (a one-star) as “Admiral” on a regular basis, and a two-star addressing her boss (a three-star) the same way.However, when referring to multiple flag officers in correspondence, it is always appropriate to use the full ranks (or abbreviations) for those officers:Rear Admiral (Lower Half) - RDMLRear Admiral (Upper Half) - RADMVice Admiral - VADMAdmiral - ADMAnd in the event of war and when authorized by Congress: Fleet Admiral - FADMThe only time I would expect to see an Admiral's full rank used is on business letters, formal letters to or from outside the Navy, and commendatory (or punitive) correspondence such as awards.You can always refer to the handy SECNAV Manual 5216.5 (the Navy Correspondence Manual) if you want to get technical:http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/SECNAV%20M%205216.5.pdf (using the USMC link because it is the easiest to get to - as part of the Department of the Navy they use the same manual).

I am just trying to share my knowledge and I may not be answering your question precisely.As a Naval Architect, quite often I used to come across some Ship Design software like, DelftShip, FORAN, NAPA, MaxSurf ...Etc. Different companies and Universities use different software. Some times we may have to write our own Code to do some Numerical stuff that is unique to our problem and not available as part of the software packages.I feel that software is just a tool in the design process. If you are good at ship design, you will be able to use any ship design software with the help of corresponding manuals and tutorials. Of course getting trained in using a software from experts is much quicker and better way. But even for getting trained you need basic knowledge of ship design. Its more important to know what Math & Logic is implemented inside a Software in order to use it effectively.So (If your UG is not related to Naval Arch) I suggest you to learn some basic ship design and then venture into using available Free versions of some software. Learn what criteria and Numerical methods are implemented in that software. This experience will help you in MS if you have to use any Design Software that is available at the university you will be joining.