Nuclear Electricians Mate Analysis

I work in the United States Navy as a Nuclear Electricians Mate. Having served in the military for six years now, I’ve had the chance to see just how heavily we rely on information technology. I believe that nearly every industry has been changed drastically because of advancements in technology and cellular capabilities; however, I’ve personally only seen a few ways the Navy has been affected. The way we send day to day correspondence, how we train new sailors, and how we troubleshoot broken equipment are a few examples of some things that have become easier due to these advances. Only 35 to 40 years ago, email didn’t really exist the way it does today, and phone infrastructure wasn’t as good on our ships as it is today. Just getting a message or simply conversing with someone needed to be either in person or it wasn’t as quick. Now, because of the advances in computers and email, multiple people can be instantaneously informed of something, and information is disseminated much faster. Some days I’ll
come into work and have 30 or more emails in my inbox ranging a variety of topics. I wouldn’t be able to be informed on so many things at once if not for the advances in information technology.
The training process for the Navy’s nuclear program is the most intense, fast paced course of study I’ve personally gone through.
It was approximately a two year course of study that covered multiple aspects of nuclear power and nuclear theory. Before the modern conventions of presentation software, all of the material was hand written up on a chalk board and all of the notes needed to be created by the student. This led to high attrition, due to the fact that students were taking ineffective notes. The way the Navy corrected this issue and lowered attrition was thanks to the advances in information technology. All of the notes are now given to the students except for some sections that need to be filled in. The material is now shown via a slideshow using presentation software and all the student needs to do is fill in the missing sections of their notes. This resulted in students having more guided study and more sailors making it out to the fleet, including
myself.
The way we do maintenance and troubleshoot broken equipment has also been vastly improved due to the conventions of information technology. If something is broken, and we are unable to locate the problem ourselves, we can simply contact the requisite expert community or manufacturer via phone or email. Step by step instructions are sent back and now instead of wasting hundreds of man hours on a problem, a solution is easily obtained and the Navy can maintain vital equipment running, and maintain battle readiness. In the future, the Navy is implementing software able to be installed on cell phones and PDA’s to help assist sailors in maintenance practices. It will show step by step video instructions on how to complete a maintenance item. This will allow sailors to save time when performing preventative maintenance and keep us safe by showing us what not to do during a specific job.
These were only a few examples that showed how information technology and the mobile revolution have made my job easier. As technology continues to advance, and phones and computers become faster and smaller, the military is bound to implement them in many new ways and applications.