Q: Who holds the record as the longest serving active duty military officer in the history of US Armed Forces?
A: Admiral Hyman G Rickover, "father of the nuclear fleet", with 64 continuous years in the US Navy
I personally admire the man whose singular vision literally forced
creation of the US Nuclear Navy culminating with the launching of the
first nuclear submarine SSN 571 "Nautilus". For a first-generation
Jewish immigrant he made an astonishing career. He a was a tough son of
a bitch, people were scared shitless of him, but he had a vision for
using nuclear propulsion and employed everything in the arsenal to see
that vision implemented. His brash style and absolute contempt for
bureaucracy pretty much guaranteed him loads and loads of loyal enemies
within US Department of Defence, ultimately resulting in him being
forced into retirement by President Reagan in 1982. In 1984, two years
prior to his death, a Los Angeles-class attack sub (SSN-709) was named
after him, one of only 9 vessels in the US Navy to be named after a
living person. Rickover died in 1986.
It was interesting, and shocking to me, to find out that closer to the
end of his career Rickover said that given the choice, he'd "sink them
all".
From Wiki:
Given Rickover's single-minded focus on naval nuclear propulsion,
design and operations, it came as a surprise to many when near the end
of his career he testified before the U.S. Congress that, were it up to
him, he "would sink them all." A seemingly outrageous enigma of a
statement -- and perhaps one attributable to an old man beyond his time
-- in context Rickover's personal integrity and honesty were such that
he was lamenting the need for such war machines in the modern world,
and specifically acknowledged as well that the employment of nuclear
energy ran counter to the course of nature over time.
Personal quotes from
WikiQuote
:
"At any moment during a twenty-four-hour day, only one-third of the
people in the world are asleep. The other two-thirds are awake and
creating problems."
"Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience."
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
