2025 - Why NR Military Doesn't Wear Uniforms

This 2025 NR-HA White Paper explains why NR military personnel don't wear uniforms.

Admiral Rickover’s policy was that Naval Reactors personnel do not wear uniforms and do not adhere to military traditions associated with military rank seniority. This was a foundational component of the organization’s culture. Far more than a quirk, it was a carefully calibrated managerial strategy. It served to:

• Promote technical truth over hierarchy

• Emphasize continuity over rotation

• Encourage individual responsibility

• Separate Naval Reactors from traditional military bureaucracy

By creating an environment where uniforms were set aside in favor of performance and accountability, Rickover built an organization whose standards have endured for generations.

Rickover articulated his reasoning directly in his 1982 congressional testimony before the Joint Economic Committee:

“My people don’t wear uniforms. We are not interested in who salutes whom—we are interested in getting things done right.” — Admiral H.G. Rickover, 1982

In Rickover and the Nuclear Navy: The Discipline of Technology, Francis Duncan writes:

“The NR office was run in a civilian style. Uniforms were not worn. People did not stand when an admiral entered the room—even Rickover.”

This remark cuts to the heart of his philosophy: effectiveness over ceremony. Rickover’s aversion to formalism wasn’t just stylistic—it was foundational to how Naval Reactors achieved its renowned track record of reliability and accountability.