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“What’s it like on a submarine?”The life aboard a submarine varies drastically, depending on where the crewman was in his study/qualification cycle, the type of submarine, the submarine’s mission, and where in the mission the crew was, at the time. I’ll address each one, separately. But, first, some universal truths.Isolation. Submarines, and submariners, are COMPLETELY isolated from the outside world when underway. The ONLY information they have is whatever the Navy upper echelon wants them to have. This includes news reports. In general, parts of one or more news wires are sent, as part of the normal “broadcast” every submarine receives. One of the jokes Radiomen like to play on the crew, is to make fake stories and feed them to the crew. I was at sea the day the shuttle Challenger blew-up. We (the crew) were CERTAIN it was a joke, and didn’t believe it was real until the Captain made an announcement. We held a boat-wide moment of silence at that time.Submarines at sea never make routine radio transmissions (or Radar and Sonar) during a mission, with the possible exception of transmitting a burst at the submarine service satellite, unless it’s tactically necessary (such as communicating with a friendly aircraft). There’s no mail, phone calls, email, texting, Skype, etc.. Each member of the crew is authorized one 50-character message from their family and friends per week. It’s known as a family-gram, and the content is severely restricted. No bad news or controversy is allowed. Bad news is sent separately, via the American Red Cross, addressed to the Commanding Officer, who will decide whether or not to pass the message to the crewman. That includes death and birth announcements.Most civilians don’t understand this, especially those who have had family and friends serve on other ships. Those ships get regular mail, via aircraft, usually weekly. In fact, right after I got married, my wife thought I had abandoned her, because she didn’t hear from me for eight weeks. When I wrote that I hadn't received her letters, she called me a liar, because her sister was married to a Navy man, and HE got mail EVERY WEEK! He was an aircraft mechanic on a carrier. She didn’t believe me until I had her sister brother-in-law explain that submariners hide for many weeks or months and NOBODY knows where they are!Lack of motion. Most of the time, a submarine travels well below any storm motion. Imagine being in a windowless building that is three or four stories, 45 feet wide, and perhaps 450 feet long. It’s perfectly stable, tilts up or down on occasion, and sometimes rocks and rolls. You work, live, and sleep in this building for several weeks, with 120–150 other men (and a very few women, now, on less than a dozen subs). Your only privacy is in your bunk, which is essentially a coffin-shaped aluminum box, with a curtain on one side, a thin unsprung mattress, a reading light, and a ventilation outlet.Qualifications. Before being allowed to call himself a submariner, everyone is a non-qual. He has book, classroom and simulator training but knows NOTHING. It sounds like a contradiction, but it’s literally true. A submarine is the most complicated, and dangerous (to the crew) machine ever built.They say “The sea is a harsh mistress.” She is violent and unforgiving. That’s on the surface of the ocean. The deep belongs to Davey Jones, and he makes her look like a pussy-cat. The pressure of hundreds of feet of water on the pressure hull waits for any chance to break through.Because of the complexity that is required to survive AND fight in this environment, every crew member is required to learn the basics of every system, and the emergency responses in every space (room). These systems include electrical, HVAC, pneumatic, hydraulic, steam, reactor, weapons and sensor ones, as a start. For most systems, they must be able to draw line diagrams of every system from memory, and explain the function of every major component. For example, with the electrical distibution system, this includes turbine generators, motor-generators, diesel generator, emergency battery, major switchboards, lighting and distribution panels, emergency lighting systems, emergency power connectes, and more. They must be able to answer oral questions, such as “Pretend you’re an electron (using electron flow theory for simplicity). How would you go from a turbine-generator to the ship’s battery?” For the ventilation and pneumatic systems, “Pretend you’re an Nitrogen molecule. How what is your path from the surface of the ocean to a high-pressure air bank?”Every compartment has a group of “evolution” bills (“bill” is a Navy term for : an itemized list or a statement of particulars (such as a list of materials or of members of a ship's crew — Definition of BILL)). Examples include non-emergency evolutions such as ventilating, snorkeling, diving, surfacing, and emergencies, such as fire, flooding, collision, toxic gas). Each bill is a list of actions that must be taken (Shut valve MS-1), in the correct order. It’s on a laminated piece of paper which can be removed from its holder and checked-off with a grease pencil. Every bill has been seen, memorized and practiced many times. In many instantses, an announcement is made over the 1MC (shipwide PA) system, such as “Prepare To Snorkel” where somebody in each compartment will follow the checklist, and when complete, report it to the Control Room (“Torpedo Room is prepared to snorkel”). When every space has reported preparation, the announcement will be made “Commence Snorkeling.” It quite obvious that many actions by many crewmen must be synchronised. Emergency actions are also synchronised. If there’s a fire, for example, a fire hose is useless until the hose has pressurized water available.In addition to knowing all of the systems, every watch station must be understood. For example, people from the Engineering Department (the nnukes who push the boat around) must stand an indoctrination watch in Sonar, listening to the world outside. A sonarman must stand an indocrtination watch with the Reactor Control Operator, back in the Engine Room.Each item of knowledge is tested by a designated “systems expert” (the most senior sonar supervisors, for examplle). The oral interview is seldom completed in one sitting. Each system has a checklist of knowledge points which must be completed. Every deficiency is written down, as a list of “look-ups”. The non-qual must find the correct answers, which often includes asking other qualified people what the answer is. Sometimes, the examiner will require an initial from a specific crewman. Once the look-ups are completed, the examiner will sign a spot on the crewman’s “Qual Card”. Once all of the systems have been signed off (it takes about one year), the non-qual goes through a board examination (a group of the most senior enlisted and officers) and interviews with very senior people (like the Captain). Once it’s all done, there is a ceremony where the Captain pins the desired “dolphins” on the non-qual’s chest. That person is now “qualified in submarines” and is now a submariner.In addition to submarine qualifications, very crew member is required to qualify on several different watch stations. It’s not eennough to qualify for the stations associated with your job (sonartechnicians qualfy as sonr operator), but for other stations that might be needed (helmsman, for example. There is no “helm” rating, so many other people need to qualify, and stand the watch instead of the rating watch, Here is a sample list, for a Sonar Technician aboard an Ohio-class SSBN.Sonar OperatorSonar Supervisor.Helmsman/PlanesmanFirecontrol Technician Of the WatchChief Of the Watch. (E-6 and above)Contact Coordinator. (E-7 and above)Diving Officer Of the Watch. (E-7 and above)It will take more than a year (closer to two) to qualify for all of those watches. When first reporting aboard, each person is given every qual card, and a time-line for the completion of each one. Many of these qualifications require standing a watch a certain number of times per year, or you become “unqualified”. After a certain amount of time (two years, perhaps), the qualification expires. In both situations, you must re-qualify.After getting fully qualified, the dead time is usually taken up with other pursuits, such as taking college courses, reading, playing poker, etc..When a submariner is transferred to another boat, the process starts all over again, but it’s called “re qualifying” and you’re only given half the time, because it should all be review. If you go to a different class, it’s even harder. First, you have to learn the differences. Then, when you do oral interviews, the tester will throw trick questions, to see if you really studied the systems, or are trying to “wing” it. For example, if you came from an older class, that had “main” and “vital” hydraulic systems, but the new boat has “port” and “starboard” systems, the tester might ask you to list all of the things that are connected to the “vital” system. If you answer what was on the older boat, you just failed. Beyond that, everyone else on the boat will find out, and future testing is going to be much, much more difficult.Operations. Every person stands a watch. The watch cycle is (Or was. I’ve heard that the Navy has changed it, recently) one six-hour on-watch (AKA shift) and 12 hours off watch. It’s actually more than six hours, because each watch-change requires a turnover period, where the off-going watch brings the on-coming watch up-to-speed about what has been happening. For enlisted, this takes about 15 minutes, longer for the more complicated or supervisory watches.For example, the Sonar Supervisor (A supervisory watch, obviously), before even setting foot in sonar, must talk with the Quartermaster to find out where the boat is and where the latest intel assessment says other countries’ submarines are at (or where Naval Intelligence THINKS they are). He talks with the Fire Controlman Of the Watch to find out where all of the conatcs (other ships and submarines) are at, and how they’re moving, relative to own ship. He’ll chat with the OOD (the man running the boat at the time) about the various contacts, what he plans on doing in the future, any special orders and up-coming evolutions, planned future movements, Captains Night Orders (which include reading them, himself) and anything else he might want you to know. THEN, you go to Sonar, talk with the off-going Supervisor, listen to all of the contacts (on the spare console), find out what special Sonar evoltions are planned (planned maintenance, for example), and read the Sonar Supervisor’s log. Then, wait until the watch change in Sonar has been completed. Once that is done, the Supervisor goes back out to Control, tells the COW that Sonar has been relieved, talks again with the OOD, reporting all contacts, and asks the OOD “Request permission to relieve the watch.” The OOOD says “Very well, relieve the watch.” The supervisor acknowledges the order, goes back into sonar, and tellthe the Sonar Supervisor “I relieve you.” The off-going Supervisor goes out to the Control Room and report “Sonar Supervisor has been relieved by (name).” The OOD responds with “Very well.” and Sonar watch change is completed. Every supervisory level goes through the same routine, waiting for junior personnel to be relieved before taking the watch. This goes all the way up to the OOD, who is the LAST person to be relieved. Once he releives the watch, the off-going OOD reports to the Captain. THAT is supposed to be done by the top of the hour. If there are any delays, the soon-to-be-releived OOD calls the Captain to inform him of the delay, and what he’s doing to fix the problem.Other evolutions.The off-going watch, after eating, cleans assigned spaces (submarines don’t do “sweepers”), does assigned equipment maintenance, goes to departmental and divisional training, does the qual-thing, and waits for drills. There are two drill periods each day that is free of training, during the morning and afternoon watch. Every peron has an assigned duty for each emergency. For example, for a fire, the Sonar Supervisor may be assigned the job of #1 fire hose nozzle-man, who goes to the designated gathering place with an OBA or SP breathing device, prepared to haul the #1 fire hose around, fighting the fire. The hose has already been played-out by the #1 plug-man as part of HIS prep. Other off-going watch evoltions include all-hands field day (“field day” is slang for everybody cleans.), school of the boat (lectures for non-quals), dink study (qualifications have weekly deadlines. If you’re behind schedule, you’re a “dink” — AKA delinquent — and spend two hours after watch, studying. You sign in with the COW, study and/or get signatures, tell the COW your activities and progress, and sign out.), do “extra duty” (punishment assigned by the COB (Cheof Of the Boat — AKA Command Master Chief)), voluntary religious services, usually on Sunday afternoon, watch a movie (either in the evening or dring midwatch, and in the afternoon on Sundays), and give your watch-relief a head-break (“head” is Navy slang for the toilet).Once all of that is accomplished, you can try to get some sleep. Keep in mind that drills, training and field day is required, and this will eat into your sleep time. So, getting eight hours, total, of sleep in a 24-hour period is impossible.I mentioned situational differences.Type of submarine.SSBN. They have a strict regular deployment schedule, and have two crews. While one crew is at sea, the opposite crew is in port, having some R&R or personal leave time, daily training (including simulator time) and formal school time (the training facility is on the same base, next door to the crew administration building). When the boat first returns from patrol, BOTH crews do refit together. Then, the on-crew takes the boat out on sea trials (to ensure everything was fixed properly), fixes whatever failed, and then leave on patrol.When they go on patrol, once in deep enough water, they submerge, and stay that way until they surface after the patrol. The boat is assigned huge blocks of ocean, that move as time goes by, where the Captain can take to boat. Nobody off the boat, and very few ON it, know exactly where the boat will be at any point in time. There can be no leaks, because nobody who could leak, knows. Upon entering the first patrol area, the ship is rigged for Patrol Quiet, which includes doing things like removing fuses or opening main circuit breakers for equipment that might transmit (Radio, Sonar, Radar, Navigation), and putting a ship safety tag on each one, with the words something like “CO Permission required to transmit.” This way nobody can accidentally transmit and give away their position to some nefarious country. Then, they set Material Condition 2, which is “wartime steaming.” Wartime, because if any ne’er-do-well country decide to launch a nuclear strike against the U.S. they will first try to destroy all of the SSBNs, to limit retaliation, which means that every SSBN is a targetSSGN. They also have two crews (Why? I haven’t the foggiest idea) and the rotation is essentially the same as for an SSBN. What they do, varies by mission. They carry scores of cruise missiles, and can do underwater Special Ops.SSN. Multiple mission attack. Most carry cruise missiles in vertical launch tubes, and can shoot torpedoes and missiles from their torpedo tubes. All of them can do limited Special Ops. Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) are another two missions.Deployment times vary, from single afternoons (perhaps helping surface ships train their sonarmen), to weekends, to weeks (such as wargames), to months. Deployments periods may, or may not, have port-calls.Port calls are either “working” ports, where every day is a work day, or liberty” ports, where only essential work is done by the 2/3 of the crew not on duty.Submarine mission. As I said earlier, the types of missions determine the deployment schedule.Mission point. Every mission has a given duration. Deployments do, too. During every long mission or deployment, there’s a halfway point. There’s always some sort of celebration commerating the day. The cooks will make special food, including a cake. Skits and contests will occur. Drills and training is cancelled for the day. The only thing missing, for some, is that submariners don’t get the occasional beer aircraft carriers may get.A time goes on, healthy young adults adults start gathering a lot of stored energy. The energy needs to be bled off. As a result, the crew likes to play tricks amd pranks on each other.On favorite is for a small group to steal the XOs stateroom door. XOs are generally good-natured guys who have a shitty job. Xos are basically the boat’s “bad cop” to the COs “good cop”. They run all of the administration on the boat, and plan.carry out ship-wide disaster drills. Most XOs have a great sense of humor.When the door dissappears, besides hunting for its hiding place, the XO will often take the crew to Battle Stations, to have the crew search for it. The XO usually knows who the culprits are, and may take special measures to convine them to return the door.On my first boat, somebody did this, and the XO responded by taking the culprits off the watch-bill, and assigned them “door duty”. One person was assigned to each watch section. When on watchm he would stand at parade rest in the door jam. When somebody came to visit the XO (official business, usually an officer), he would make knocking motions at the door watch, who would say “Knock! Knock!” The XO would say “Enter!” The watch would then maje a door opening sound (a door with hinges that need oiling) “RRR-EEEE” and stand aside to let the visitor pass. Then he would make a door closing sound, floowed by a “thump” for when the door was shut all the way. This lasted however long it took to get the culprits to return the door. Of course, it always happened while the XO was in some other part of the boat, looking for his door.Another one was to steal the XO’s mattress, and replace it will a whole bunch of towels.Once, they kidnapped the XO’s favorite mug, and held it for ransom. They called themselves “The desperadoes” and made demands, such as the abolishment of all field-days and drills, or they would execute it in the trash compacter. Each demand included a Polaroid picture of the mug, tied-up with twine and a gag in its drawn-on mouth. The background of the picture was always an easily identified part of the ship. At the time, cameras were forbidden on submarines, for security reasons. Somebody had smuggled in a camera. The XO played along, by searching the location of the last photo, acting like he was too stupid to know that it would be long-gone by the time he got there. They didn’t give the back until the commercial flight home for off-crew, where they gave it to a flight attendant, who served his drink in it.These things may seem silly (and they ARE), but it’s all designed to bleed-off the excess stress that builds up during a long, isolated deployment with 120 young men (average age in the low-to-mid twenties).I hope this VERY LOOONG answer was entertaining. It had some pictures in it, but it took me too long to write it, so the Quora-bot punished me by deleting all of them.

Making Eye Contact: Making eye contact while talking will let d another person knows dat u r interested in conversation.Handshake: A powerful tool to reflect ur confidence. Proper handshake + smile + eye contact (resembles perfect greet or affirmation).Talk less-Listen more: D more u listen to d more knowledge u get, D lesser u speak d more sensible nd noticeable ur words r.Art of emotional interaction: U remember when u see a baby smiling at u, an automatic smile appears on ur face too or when u see ur loved one crying u also started crying. This is a psychological connection with emotions. These tricks help in changing the mood of another person. If someone is shouting at u and u still keep quiet den other person realize his bad emotions and unintentionally copy ur peaceful emotion and soon be quiet.Anger*Anger = AngerAnger*Peace = Peace(If u learn this skill ur relationship will be far better from then)Talk to anyone: It requires confidence to talk to anyone whether it’s CEO, Movie Star or a strange girl. For those who feel anxious while talking to someone den u r giving them so much importance dat u r lowering your self worth this causes anxiousness inside you by making urself inferior in front of dem. Everyone is equal it’s ol abt how u treat them. U r hero in your own way ;-).(Tip: To talk to anyone, start talking on a topic favored to other person’s interest this will make another person to take active participation in a conversation)Self Discipline: A key to success in any field comes from self-discipline. Plan ur day by making a checklist of tasks (I suggest colornote app or write a note on a paper) and by organizing ur tasks on a priority basis. Try to create ur next day checklist before bedtime. Self-discipline will realize u d power of consistency. As I say:Motivation is temporary Self-discipline is permanent.Earning Money: Learn different ways of earning money “Saving money will secure ur future but investing money will grow ur future”.Networking: “Talk to anyone” (as mentioned above) skill will help u in growing ur network. Don’t feel shy to take help from others and don’t hesitate to help someone who needs u. Increase ur contact list u never know when someone from ur network will help u out in what way.Hygiene and Nutrition:Common hygiene things like washing hands properly before and after every meal, cleaning toilets, use of good sanitary stuff etc should b known to everyone.Basic Nutrition knowledge as everybody knows eating junk food is unhealthy, refined sugar, fried kind of stuffs are unhealthy. I m not saying stop eating this but knowing ur limits is important.As dey said:Swimming: It's a life-saving sport. It helps in fat loss, enhance muscles flexibility, maintain blood sugar level, it's best cardio and has other major benefits too.Self-control: Controlling ur emotions (happy, sad, excitement, fear, anger, irritation) is one of the biggest or I say, the only biggest gift u can give to urself. If u practice this, no one can disturb ur peace of mind. (Do this by learning simple meditation).Simplicity and Kindness: The more u become humble and grounded the happier u will b.Do one thing at a time: As Japanese Monk's (Zen) says:Patience: Most of d people won't b able to achieve their goals because of being impatience. Try out ur best, give it a damn time. I m not saying u will definitely get 100% success but u will definitely get 100% satisfaction. At last, everything ends at satisfaction.As dey say:Focus on action, keep patience and the fruit will follow ( सब्र का फल मीठा होता है ।)Most Important:-“Keeping urself calm in every situation”.Learn to live a balanced life: Neither To Happy Nor To Sad.Image Source (google)Stay Happy :-)

Good Non-Commissioned Officer’s (NCO) are the one who know how to gain the respect of both their superiors and their subordinates while getting work done at the same time. Having been an NCO for two years in my enlistment, here is what I’ve learned that helped me as a leader.You may have “made it”, but it is not going to get any easier.Depending on the branch you joined and I will use the Marine Corps as an example, everyone is told from the day they graduated Recruit Training, that they have no right to act like they are experts/hot-shots/geniuses of any kind until they earned their Blood Stripes. Eventually when requirements are made for Time in Grade, Time in Service, possibly a deployment, or demonstrating proficiency in work, the individual is promoted to Corporal, the first NCO rank. They may receive more pay, can wield some sort of authority, and be treated somewhat well, but with more rank comes more responsibility. They may be told to hold additional billets in addition to being the NCO in charge of their section, along with training new Marines that have come into the section. This does not include the standard work responsibilities that you have.I had to learn to delegate tasks to my Marines to alleviate the stress on myself. But before that, I had to learn what my Marines could or could not due, which is a challenging task to do. But as soon as I had that down, life became a little easier.Learn to sacrifice a lot of time whether you like it or not.Whether it’s giving your junior Marine a tour of the base and barracks, to having to counsel them on their screw-ups, to having to stay back on Friday long after the junior Marines have left, your time is no longer yours. More of your time is spent devoted to taking care of your subordinates, updating your Staff NCO’s, and ensuring that the work is done.There are days when I was called into work on the weekends to prepare for a detachment that was deploying. Not fun, but that comes with the responsibility of the rank.Constantly strive to be awesome.If you think that you can let go of standards upon becoming an NCO, you are sorely mistaken. You will be expected to lead by example whether it’s wearing a uniform, leading exercises, to carrying out daily responsibilities. One mistake in front of anybody can lead to loss of credibility.I remember one early morning as a Junior Marine, the entire S-Shop section was told that we were going for a three mile run. Running being my modus operandi, I was easily leading from the front with one Gunny tailing behind, telling me where to go. At the end of the run, the same Gunny pulled all the NCO’s aside to chastise them on why they did not make the effort to lead from the front, when a junior Marine was doing it instead.As a Corporal and eventually a Sergeant, I took that lesson to heart and did everything I could to maintain my physical fitness, work proficiency, and general life knowledge that both my bosses and juniors would respect.Be a jerk, but be your subordinates jerk.I personally made a vow to never become the NCO’s that I detested when I was a Lance Corporal. I would like to think that I kept that promise in some way. Don’t act like a God just because you are an NCO, but be a good leader. If a subordinate makes an honest mistake, show them the correct way. If they blatantly said screw you to your face by their actions, throw them under the bus. When possible, shield them from the daily BS of military life.I once was in charge of an entire security section during an Airshow. At the end of that particular airshow, a Sergeant from a different security section wanted mine to start picking up trash like his. I told him tactfully to leave my section alone and that I was in charge of that specific section, not him. My section never picked up trash that night.You don’t always have to follow the rules.Whether it’s living by the Marine Corps Non-Commissioned Officer’s Creed, to having a Field Day checklist, to wearing uniforms, you don’t have to follow them in verbatim, but add a small perspective of yourself to it. For example, at work, everyone under my charge usually called me by my rank, but after work they were welcomed to simply call me by name. If someone’s room looked nice and organized, I just passed it instead of swiping the top ledge for dust. I never wore my barracks cover ramrod straight, but slightly tiled to the side in honor of Marines serving in World War II.That way, my Marines knew that I was approachable to which I strived to do, and that trust went both ways.Remember to take care of yourself.At the end of the day, you are merely a number to the military, there is always someone ready to take your place when you transfer to a different unit, or make your way back to the civilian world. If you ever work your tail end off, do not become another martyr, but know when to give yourself time to recuperate. Whether it’s taking leave or taking a walk in solitude or having a slightly longer meal, give yourself a break when you can, and you will not feel overworked.Don’t think that because you leave, everything will collapse. Remember, there is always someone ready to replace you, and they will do great things when you’re gone. If you were a good influence, your legacy will remain, and you will be proud of an impact you had on the daily life of those around you.