Qualifications
You need a license to drive a car, and a special permit to drive a bus. Now imagine the license you need to drive a “car” twice the length of a football field armed with ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads. A lifetime of experience, and a wall plastered with awards?
That’s more or less what you need. You don’t need to be a straight-A student. A few B’s sprinkled in there are okay. But that’s about the only thing that’s easy about becoming a submarine commander. You need to have a strong background in engineering, mathematics, and physics. If you still count on your fingers when you think no one’s looking, give up now and try for the submarine kitchen.
Then enlist in the U.S. Navy, through a program such as the Navy ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps). Serve active duty for four years as a seaman, and work your way up. When you volunteer for submarine service, you’ll undergo a rigorous physical and medical exam that puts your high school nurse’s medical exam to shame. Absolutely no crazies or claustrophobics allowed. To work on a nuclear sub, you’ll need to attend Nuclear Power School like this one. Graduate at the top of your “nuke school” class, get assigned to a submarine, and then get training in every single operational system and equipment on board. If it’s on the sub, you have to know how to use it – except, maybe, if it’s your bunkmate’s electric toothbrush.