So, this is Matt. I know it's normally Amy on here, but since I don't have Facebook on the ship, I thought this would be a good way to get some of my thoughts out there. :)

The picture there doesn't have much to do with my day-to-day... other than powering the ship through the water. Media, rightfully so, doesn't take too many pictures of what we in Reactor Department do. National secrets and all. But, this is the result of what we do. And that's all that people are able to see and able to judge. Which brings me to my topic...

Things I never thought I'd say:

   1) Hi, I'm Matt Phillips, I'm the Chemistry-Radiological Assistant!

It was a very unexpected turn of events for me to fill this position for the last month and likely for the next two months until my relief comes. I didn't study that portion of the nuke world particularly much since I was slated to be the Main Propulsion Assistant and think about pipes, pumps and valves. People don't see that though. People see results, just like the picture I put up. As you look at the picture, you're not able to see all the work, both mechanically and personally, that goes in to pushing 95,000 tons through the water. Most people see the wake and wonder why it's not perfectly straight. That's one of the things that's always irked me about the nuke community. Everybody's looking at how straight your wake is, so to speak. 

The wake of my division is pretty ugly. I guess that's why I unexpectedly became the CRA. What the wake doesn't tell you is where your rudder is. 

Our rudder is over and is under firm grasp, headed for open ocean.