Naval Reactors - Management and Personnel Principles

Management and Personnel Principles

Many books (including those referenced below) and articles have been written about core NR management principles such as attention to detail and adherence to rigidly-defined standards and specifications, as well as the organization's unique (for government) personnel practices. NR staff and alumni (including Admiral Rickover himself) have often been called by Congress, the President and other government agencies to provide expert opinion and management support to other important government programs, most notably the large scale reviews following the destruction of the Space Shuttles Columbia and Challenger. NR alumni have also founded or led numerous corporate and industrial organizations, for example MPR Associates, Inc., founded by three of Admiral Rickover's leading technical managers in NR's early days.

NR originally recruited the majority of its personnel from three sources: the Navy Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) community, other government technology programs and the submarine force. At that time, these selectees from other agencies and programs comprised the "cream" of the available crop. These personnel had been highly successful in their respective fields, whether in naval engineering and construction, in atomic energy laboratories or in submarines. NR attempted to "skim the cream" from those already competitive sources. In addition, it is believed that insight can be gained from evaluating the NR education, training and qualification programs.

However the disadvantages imposed by U.S. submarine commanding officers being engineering specialists as opposed to tacticians (for example such as with the Royal Navy) have received less attention. The extreme focus on nuclear propulsion plant operation and maintenance was well known during Rickover's era as a potential hindrance to balancing operational priorities. One way by which this was addressed after Rickover retired was that only the very strongest, former at-sea submarine commanders have held Rickover's now unique eight-year position as NAVSEA-08, the longest chartered tenure in the U.S. military. From Rickover's first replacement, Kinnaird R. McKee, to today's head of Naval Reactors, John M. Richardson, all have held command of nuclear submarines, their squadrons and ocean fleets; not one has been a long-term Engineering Duty Officer such as Rickover.