 If you choose 24 people completely at random, what is the probability that at least two of those people will have the same birthday? Take a strip of paper, give it half a twist, and join the ends. If you cut the loop completely down the center, will you have two separate loops or two interlocking ones? Given an unlimited number of ships all at one location, each ship carries enough fuel to take it only halfway around the world. All ships are capable of mid-ocean refueling and all must travel at the same constant speed. Problem, if all ships must start from and return to the same point, what is the minimum number of ships required to make a single non-stop voyage around the world? Given a mechanical puzzle with interlocking parts. Problem, separate the parts without damaging the puzzle. If these sort of things turn you on, if you like working with your head and your hands, consider this. How would you like to be responsible for moving a 90,000 ton vessel over 125 miles on less than one ounce of fuel? Sound challenging? Good. The Navy would like to let you use your head and your hands in a fascinating new field. The phrase nuclear power means many things to many people. To the Navy, nuclear power means propulsion, a way of moving a huge ship from one place to another, efficiently, quickly, cleanly. The Navy now has over 100 vessels powered by nuclear energy. More are coming. We need your help to run them. As a nuclear propulsion officer, you'll be working with the newest, most advanced equipment available. And you'll be helping solve many of the problems that led to the current energy crisis. The nuclear Navy offers a man an unprecedented career. In addition to an excellent salary and fringe benefits, you'll be in a position of high responsibility, making your own decisions. You'll be teamed with highly professional associates. You'll have top drawer, fully qualified subordinates, men with brains and initiative. You'll find them sharp, demanding, and challenged to lead. You'll have a choice of duty, surface ship, submarine, or possibly shore duty as a nuclear engineer. If you go to sea, you'll have the finest accommodations the Navy can offer. Remember, this isn't just Navy. It's nuclear Navy. There is a difference. Very few are eligible for the Nuclear Propulsion Program. If you're looking for a career, not just a job, if you can take the initiative, if you like to think on your feet, you may qualify. No, you don't have to have any prior nuclear training. Just the aptitude. The Navy will take care of the rest. The Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Officers Program begins at Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island. You'll learn basic military and technological subjects such as seamanship, engineering, and navigation. There, you'll also get physical training. And you'll receive basic Navy orientation and officer indoctrination. And you'll be commissioned as an incident of Navy. Then, we pour it on. 24 weeks of nuclear power school in either California or Florida. It's five and a half months of pure academics. Courses are taught on the graduate level. You'll be studying atomic and nuclear physics. Ordinary and partial differential equations, quantum mechanics, chemistry, reaction kinetics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, electrical engineering, circuit analysis, solid state devices, motors, generators, reactor equipment, strength of materials, reactor core characteristics. You'll learn it all. You'll think it's impossible, but you'll do it anyway. The next step in your training is 26 weeks of the nuclear prototype in either Idaho, New York, or Connecticut. These installations are classified, so we can't show them to you in this film. The prototype is an exact full-scale shipboard nuclear power plant. Here, you'll learn the practical aspects of operating the entire plant. You'll be applying all your theoretical knowledge to a complex hardware system, and it's strictly a hands-on operation. After completing six months at the prototype, you're ready for duty. If you're interested in submarines, you can volunteer. If accepted, you'll have five more weeks at New London, Connecticut before being assigned to one of the Navy's nuclear subs. Otherwise, you'll go straight to work, either as a shore-based engineer or aboard one of the Navy's nuclear surface ships. As a sea-going nuke, sub or surface, you'll be responsible for the entire propulsion plant from the reactor to the shaft. Your duties are far from mere paperwork. You'll be taking the reactor critical, lighting off the plant, standing engineering watches, solving problems, supervising repairs, recommending modifications. You'll be using all your technical skills to the fullest, head in hands, all the way. Your future? If you're interested in graduate studies, you might be eligible for the Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California. Advancement in rank is historically rapid in the nuclear Navy. And you'll have an excellent opportunity for command. Only nuclear-trained officers can command nuclear-powered ships. In all the world, there's nothing like the nuclear Navy. The training and experience are unequaled anywhere. You'll be practicing your special interest in the fullest possible way. You'll be working on the border of the state of the art at the frontier of technology. If you like responsibility, you'll get it fast. You'll hold the responsibility and authority for the supervision of a multi-million dollar power plant within a year of starting your training. Okay, so you're obligated to serve four years. But look at what you get. It's like a solid year of grad school, plus another three years of high level on-the-job training. Think about it. The probability that at least two out of 24 people will have the same birthday is almost 50%. With 50 random people, the probability is almost 100%, a sure thing. This is one of those problems that defy intuition, like assuming you'd never qualify for the nuclear Navy. You may. Three ships, each carrying enough fuel for half-around trip, are required to make one complete trip around the world. Red, white and blue start together. One-eighth of the way around, red refuels both white and blue, leaving red just enough fuel to return home. At the one-quarter point, white gives blue half his fuel, using the remainder to get home. Blue now has enough fuel to reach the three-quarter mark, but red has had time to return home, refuel and take off in the opposite direction. He meets blue at the three-quarter mark. They share red's fuel, which is just enough to get them to the seven-eighth's point, where they are met by white, who has enough fuel to get them all home. It's a rather complicated puzzle of academic interest only, especially when you consider that the nuclear-powered vessel carries enough fuel for more than a dozen non-stop trips around the world. The little experience and practice, the mechanical puzzle is a breeze to solve. It's the same with any problem. Any good head can hack it. If you cut the twisted loop down the center, you'll have neither two separate loops, nor two interlocking ones. You'll have created a single loop with twice the circumference. Those of you familiar with topology will recognize the Mobius Strip, an unusual surface having only one side and one edge. It, like the nuclear navy, is unique.