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There is a small library on board (which I ran), and most guys bring laptops, mp3 players, game systems, books, and so forth. There are movies played on crews mess, and some boats even set up LANs for sharing movies and stuff. There is also, as you may guess, a certain amount of...adult material.

That being said, boredom is a real problem. Some guys get into fighting, or heavy exercise, or self-mutilation. I knew one guy who made pictures in his arm by hitting it with a stapler, sticking the staples into his skin.

It's sort of a stock joke amongst submariners that the most accurate movie is Down Periscope. One of the reasons it's a stock joke is that it's kind of true. Crimson Tide put a lot of drama into what is, frankly, not a very dramatic or glamorous job. At least, anymore; in WWII, supposedly, things were a bit different, but that's beyond my experience.

Only once, and only for a few days. They're very into exercise; they love it. Contrary to what some people believe, they're (usually) very intelligent. They're quite approachable, as long as they're not working; most people I've met in the Navy are pretty friendly, as long as you talk to them respectfully.

Most of them are vulgar, or only really funny to sailors. But I'll try one.

Tell the marines to secure a building, and they'll storm it and kill everyone inside.

Tell the army to secure a building, and they'll surround it and get ready to shoot.

Tell the navy to secure a building, and they'll post a watch with a log at every door.

Tell the air force to secure a building, and they'll lock the front door and go home.

I wasn't on a boomer (ballistic missile sub), I was on a fast attack. And I'm not a fire control guy (the guys who launch stuff). But I can tell you this; it takes a lot more than one button to launch anything, even cans of trash.