Sure.
I retired in 2007 having been a submarine sailor and specialized in electronic navigation. In 1995 I helped develop the first computer programs the navy used to position the ship. It used an electronic chart (map) of the ocean, GPS for the latitude and longitude of the ship and then center the ship is the middle as the ship moved, it would move the map to always keep the ship in the middle. Later development s added other things like Automatic Identification System, radar and multiple position sensors and improved accuracies. Unfortunately they really never improved training. In about 2006 they started installing theses systems, personnel with the knowledge to teach were scarce because of the way the navy works. A sailor only spends about 3-5 years on a ship and then moves to another job. That left sailors to teach this system without a good knowledge base to teach from.... I was contacted by the Navy to implement a schoolhouse approach to basic operators course's and advanced instructions aboard ships. I also install, repair and train each crew before certification on the system. Each ship goes thru a process to become fully certified to use electronic charting over the course of a year before they are allowed to be paperless. It's a big deal to get rid of something they have done for hundreds of years.... use a paper chart.
The mindset is different, equipment they've never used and the sailors that navigate are not really computer literate. They don't trust it because they weren't trained that way and if you don't understand, not easy to buy into a computer doing your job... on top of that they think they will be replaced by it someday.
After the install, I teach them how to fix it and operate the system. Walk thru certification with them, ride each ship several times helping them gain confidence and even train the people who certify the ships and equipment. I give seminars in navy ports on the system, how everything works and then provide hands on training on each ship. I'm considered the leading expert in this field by the navy and have ridden every ship in the fleet.
I still do new system installs and do upgrades to the systems pretty continuous, each engineer that is hired spends some time with me doing these. I give advise on new features, how the program really works and help design bug fixes. We're always trying to improve the system by me trying to break it..... I get paid to break it, they get paid to fix it and I teach sailors how to use it and fix it when broken. I teach 14 different versions of the system on 27 different configurations of ships.
Hired a couple guys to help me, they are in the process of learning how it works, they each teach one version. Hopefully I can slow down soon before life passes me by. But like before, the navy did a lot for me, I've got some years to give back before I'm to old to keep going, I'm 52 in July.
I like to fix saws in my spare time and come here to talk about saws. I've been fixing saws now about 40+ years and always on my mind... maybe it's the woods and outdoors that I love.. even sharpening a saw is relaxing to me, the sound of the file over the steel.
Randy
