I thought that I'd read something in the Early Bird a few days ago about The Powers That Be considering bringing back a few nuke cruisers and possibly adding some destroyers, to 'save' on fuel costs. I wonder what that cost-benefit analysis is like. Probably just wild speculation on the author's part, though.
The SuppO in my unit is married to a guy who's currently going through nuke school after getting his SWO pin. She once mentioned--and he ellaborated--that he had to seriously fight his CO to actually get his orders to the schoolhouse. Is that a common enough trend that it could be a contributing factor, or is this specifically in regards to the sub people? If so, I'm sure they could find more than enough women who would give their future left nuts (from the radiation, get it? HA!) for the chance.