Father of the Nuclear Navy: Admiral Hyman G. Rickover

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover is known as the "Father of the Nuclear Navy," and we visit him frequently at Arlington National Cemetery as an enduring example of character-based leadership.?His influence on the Navy and its warships made him one of the Navy's most important leaders in history.

Rickover served in flag rank for nearly 30 years, from 1953 to 1982, despite being actively discriminated against because of his Jewish faith.?He was the first Jewish navy officer to reach the rank of admiral.

Rickover directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of the U.S. Naval Reactors office. In addition, he oversaw the development of the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the world's first commercial pressurized water reactor used for generating electricity.?

His energy, frequently unorthodox methods, and ability to elicit almost fanatical devotion from his team of specialists were key factors in the development and early delivery of the?Nautilus—the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine—whose keel was laid in June 1952 and which was launched on January 21, 1954.?On August 3, 1958, Nautilus became the first submarine to complete a submerged transit of the North Pole.?Many more records would follow.

His years of service exceeded that of each of the Navy's five-star fleet admirals—Leahy, King, Nimitz, and Halsey—all of whom served on active duty for life after their appointments. Rickover's total of 63 years of active duty service make him the longest-serving naval officer, as well as the longest-serving member of the U.S armed forces in history.

Rickover was, himself, an odd choice to change the Navy. He never saw combat, and did not wear the standard uniform at all if he could help it.?While he’s often perceived not to be a consummate politician, in practice he was exactly that—his network in Congress was unprecedented, and allowed him to remain on active duty decades past his peers.

In his book, Against the Tide: Rickover’s Leadership Principles and the Rise of the Nuclear Navy, Oliver shares the leadership methods Rickover to effect a dramatic shift in our Navy.

1. Change the people to change the culture.

“It’s terribly hard to change a culture,” Oliver says. “Once a culture is established, it’s really hard to change that culture, whoever you are.”

This evokes business guru Jim Collins’ opinion that you can’t change a culture. You can only hire people who embody the values you want your culture to reflect. ?

In Rickover’s case, however, it was imperative that Naval culture which was entrenched in diesel power, experience a major shift. Nuclear submarines did not need muscle-bound warriors they needed engineers. As a result, Rickover personally selected every sailor tasked on a nuclear sub, and chose among the young and uninitiated, those who he knew were not already indoctrinated in the diesel engine culture.

"I did not recruit extraordinary people. I recruited people who had extraordinary potential—and then I trained them.

2. Get expert advice, then stick firm with your decisions.

In his book, Oliver explains that a major task was to figure out how to protect sailors from radiation sickness in the new “nuclear navy”. An engineer and scientist in his own right, Rickover sought out world experts as part of his due diligence — he spoke with Enrico Fermi in Chicago and the successors of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris. He asked them and other radiation experts what a safe dosage would be. And then he divided that amount by 100.

Rickover insisted that the level of exposure for a common sailor on a nuclear submarine would be no greater than that on a farm. In addition to his concern for the sailors’ health, Rickover knew that if the shift to nuclear was to take hold, the public had to be behind it, and by ensuring the long-term safety of sailors he could help sway public opinion his way.

Other Navy leaders believed Rickover was being overly cautious. Soviet subs, with less heavy shielding, could travel faster. Politicians did not see a reason to support Rickover over established radiation experts.

But Rickover remained steadfast and the lower standard of radiation levels ultimately proved to be a strategic benefit. Soviets sailors, who were exposed to significantly more radiation, required significantly more shore leave and experienced more turnover. As such, their commanders were not nearly as experienced as U.S. submarine commanders and consequently made technical errors the U.S. would only learn of after the Cold War had ended.

3. The importance of empowered talent.

Rickover assembled a staff that could build the Navy he envisioned, even though that staff did not always fit the Navy mold. He was the first Navy admiral to bring women on to a submarine in the 1950s not because he was a Civil Rights leader but because, as Oliver writes, “we needed brains to make the submarine force successful … and women possessed half of the available resource.”

Rickover went so far as to invent his own selection process, one that bucked Naval practice and policy but was more suited to his needs. Children of the influential were not selected as a matter of course, nor were people with political connections. The Bureau of Personnel did not control the process and Rickover interviewed every new recruit.

Once selected, Rickover allowed his sailors the leeway to try new things and the power to change established practice if a new process was better. He encouraged his staff to do what worked, regardless of preconceived ideas.

Visiting Admiral Hyman G. Rickover at Arlington National Cemetery serves as a timely leadership lesson in changing organizational culture to meet a mission, along with the value of perseverance, equity, innovation and integrity in leading large, complex organizations.?