He is just a bitter nuke who got out of being a nuke by going STA-21, and now he has to talk like he is a bad ass. He is somewhat right though, but so are you. Officers don't spend the 12 hours after watch just "putzing around". They qualify (i.e. not sleep) because they are dirty NUBs (sorry that was the qualified bitter ex nuke in me). But they do get to learn how to fight a sub and do other "cool" things like sexual tracking party and reconstruct. If I wasn't selected for pilot and was still going officer I would not go back to a sub. Not because I hated it, because I loved it, it is because I wouldn't want to be EOOW. That is because I know what I did to them when I was standing RO. And as every good sub JO knows, even if he was prior enlisted, you are still not in charge as EOOW so you keep your mouth shut.