There are two different uses for this word. One comes from aviation the other comes from those some what strange engineers, the nukes.

First let us cover the aviation side of things. These zoomies are mostly used when talking about Air Force pilots. Any time there is an AFB close by the pilots will spend some time using the closest NAS for landing practice. Sometimes they will even use the base for mock attacks. Of course this then causes the Navy to obliterate all Air Force aircraft thus ending the threat from above. (This is all simulated)

Navy pilots are mostly left out of the zoomie category. They are mostly just called fly guys, or aviation pukes, or all sorts of terms that cannot be mentioned here.

Now for the nukes. These guys are just a little strange. They will use terms that really do not fit into what they are talking about. Not sure if it has to do with working by the reactor or not. Or it just may be they are just too darn smart they have little time to invent unique phrases. But enough picking on the nukes.

To a nuke a zoomie is radiation. The nuke weapons guys use the same term for radiation as well. They will tell people to stay out of certain areas because of all the zoomies around. In reality they want to keep none engineering types out of other spaces as much as possible. We never had to do that on my ship. If we didn’t want somebody in the engine room we just sent Moose to deal with them.

Nukes will talk about radiation as if it were something not to worry about. I guess that is why they picked something that does not sound all that horrible. They might also ask each other how many zoomies they got during their watch or on a cruise. This amount is tracked by their personal dosimeter.