Navy Nuke LT Getting Out

[womprat99]

Hello.  I'm a nuclear-trained Navy LT (~6.5 years) who dropped his letter and is getting out in December.  I do have some questions about civilian nuke plants and am looking for some general guidance.  I've looked around this site for a while, reading up on all the advice you have to offer.

Some background about me:  I was commissioned in 2003, went through the pipeline in Charleston, and served on the USS Philadelphia for three years.  I qualified EOOW and ENG there, and went to Navy Personnel Command in Millington, TN, which is where I am now.  I have a BS in Physics (University of Utah) and will complete a MS in Operations Management (University of Arkansas) in July.

The biggest question I have is where I would fit in with civilian power.  I've read up here, but I won't trouble you now with any questions about the jobs until I understand where in the civilian hierarchy I should be looking.

I am definitely interested in either the operations or HP fields, but am open to anything at this point.

Thanks for any help you can give.  I really appreciate it.

-Mike

[JustinHEMI05]

Instant SRO.

Justin

[Smooth Operator]

Instant SRO.

Jason

[Khak-Hater]

Just to present some other choices, DOE, as well as some DOE contractors [particularly at the Nuclear Weapons facilities (e.g., Y-12 in Oak Ridge)], loves to hire ex-Navy Nuke zeros.  Pay is comparable to [or better than] commercial power, not to mention that stress and working hours are less demanding.  Also, if you don't mind living in northern VA or southern MD, the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board [DNFSB], the group that provides independent oversight of the DOE, has a strong preference for ex-Navy Nuke zeros.

Good luck [you frigging khak],

mgm

[Fermi2]

A Janitor.

Mike

[JustinHEMI05]

 

[mikewoodorion]

I am a recruiter that supports the nuke and conventional power industry. I would say you are qualfied for the SRO training pipeline and possible for a maintenance role, depending on your experience on the boat. Good luck in your search.

Mike

[Fermi2]

And I'm a real life qualified Shift Manager on both BWR and PWRs. A janitor.

[JustinHEMI05]

 

[Gamecock]

I'm no expert on this of course....but that has never stopped me from opening my mouth before....but this is what I have seen here......

1.  We have a former sub ELT that  is an NLO at Limerick--Jason K
2.  We have a former T-EOOW qualified enlisted guy at NPTU that was hired as an instant SRO--JustinHEMI
3.  We have a nuke JO who just recently got hired in Engineering--NukeNTO

Those are just the guys who frequently post here.

So, while I would agree that you that are qualified to be a janitor, I would surmise based only on my observations from this site that you are likely qualified to do other things in the nuclear industry as well.

Cheers,
GC

[JustinHEMI05]

Hey, I agree with you that is why I said instant SRO! But you can't help but to laugh at Mike sometimes hence my grinny faces! 

[HydroDave63]

A Janitor.

Mike

It's nothing personal..... it's just that, well, BZ has forgot more than us humanoids will ever learn, and we won't be as good as he once was!!   

[Smooth Operator]

What quite possibly BZ was implying was that no litany of Navy qualifications, regardless of prestige, qualifies you to be anything in Commericial nuclear power other than a candidate.

You don't know until your final cert and then what the final cert really means is that you are qualified to learn your job.

[JustinHEMI05]

Well said Jason. I think that is what Mike was saying in his one word answer too. 

[Fermi2]

Exactly,

The same as my beating my 5 feet 1 wife in one on one basketball in no way qualifies me to play in the NBA.
So I say, a Janitor.

Mike

[Creeker]

While I agree that the LT has the qualifications to be a janitor, his question was:

The biggest question I have is where I would fit in with civilian power.

And the answer should be that someone with a degree and successful completion of the naval nuclear pipeline, along with experience as an operator in the fleet should make him a very eligible candidate for an instant SRO class.

No company should look to hire him as a Janitor...  his experience and education certainly make him a more promising instant SRO candidate, with a higher chance of completing the program, than an engineer fresh out of school. 

Bill

[M1Ark]

No company should look to hire him as a Janitor...  his experience and education certainly make him a more promising instant SRO candidate, with a higher chance of completing the program, than an engineer fresh out of school.  

Bill

Let me turn on my Broadzilla decoder ring.  I myself have worked for a better part of a decade with Broadzilla and have obtained 3 SRO's from three different utilities from 3 different NRC regions and I think what he is saying is that your navy experience does not mean a hill of beans in the commercial world.  I have sat through an license class with Broadzilla as well as JO's (ROTC, Navy & Merchant Marine Academy), prototype NPE's, fresh out of college folks, 20 year nuke command master chiefs, navy mustangs, Thomas Edison mail order degree folks, 6 year and out MM/EM/ET, JustinHemi, women, men , etc.  Success or failure is unpredictable and usually quite surprising.  Qualifying as an instant SRO vs. passing the course vs. being capable of being an SRO let alone a good one is not pre-destined as some noobs might think based on degree/experience/rank in the navy.  There have been Navy Senior officers, PhD's, ME's and a litany of engineers that have worked for Broadzilla.  You must earn your keep in Broadzilla's world.

[SWO]

your navy experience does not mean a hill of beans in the commercial world.

Busch league statement  

So let me get this straight ... experience in naval nuclear power in no way helps you qualify to work in civilian nuclear power as opposed to say, someone with a mail-order degree and no experience?

Yeah, and my grandma is the friggin' Queen of England. You've got to be kidding me, guy! While the LT's qualifications in the Navy aren't some sort of entitlement that automatically qualify him for anything in the commercial world, you've got to be at least a little bit off-center if you honestly think that success with the nuclear Navy isn't a strong indicator of the ability to replicate that success in the commercial world.

[Fermi2]

Busch league statement  

So let me get this straight ... experience in naval nuclear power in no way helps you qualify to work in civilian nuclear power as opposed to say, someone with a mail-order degree and no experience?

Yeah, and my grandma is the friggin' Queen of England. You've got to be kidding me, guy! While the LT's qualifications in the Navy aren't some sort of entitlement that automatically qualify him for anything in the commercial world, you've got to be at least a little bit off-center if you honestly think that success with the nuclear Navy isn't a strong indicator of the ability to replicate that success in the commercial world.

He's right. You're bush league. A T Baller. Our training and standards are so far above what you've been exposed to you have less than a 50% chance of making it in the Major leagues.

I worked with M1Ark for over 10 years, he's one of the best the nuclear world has to offer.

You are qualified to be a janitor, that's about it.

Mike

[JustinHEMI05]

Busch league statement 

So let me get this straight ... experience in naval nuclear power in no way helps you qualify to work in civilian nuclear power as opposed to say, someone with a mail-order degree and no experience?

Yeah, and my grandma is the friggin' Queen of England. You've got to be kidding me, guy! While the LT's qualifications in the Navy aren't some sort of entitlement that automatically qualify him for anything in the commercial world, you've got to be at least a little bit off-center if you honestly think that success with the nuclear Navy isn't a strong indicator of the ability to replicate that success in the commercial world.

Statistically, Navy experience/success does no equate to commercial success. Your soapbox rant, while admirable due to its enthusiasm, has no basis in fact. m1ark's statement has statistics to back it.

*edited to add the quoted statement from SWO since Mike and I posted at the same time.

[number41]

He's right. You're bush league. A T Baller. Our training and standards are so far above what you've been exposed to you have less than a 50% chance of making it in the Major leagues.

I worked with M1Ark for over 10 years, he's one of the best the nuclear world has to offer.

You are qualified to be a janitor, that's about it.

Mike

I still call B.S. on this one.  I don't have my license yet, but I will soon.  Maybe being a qualified EOOW, EWS, etc doesn't "qualify" you for SRO or any other job in a civilian plant, but it gets you as close as you're going to get.  Never mind the fact that Mike, regardless of all his experience and training, doesn't know what the !@#k he's talking about.  Sure, every plant is different, but the civilian training programs that I have seen haven't been that much harder than college or the Navy nuke pipeline.  So, LT you can believe that you're qualified to be a janitor, or you can believe the guys that are actually recently out of the Nav and in an initial license program to become an SRO.......it isn't THAT hard.  If you want the straight dope, PM me.

[Fermi2]

The fact is you don't have a license yet and the FACT is Naval Officers fail out at about a 50% rate. Ask the NRC, ask INPO.

He's qualified to be a janitor and YES our training programs are 578767898 harder than anything in the Navy.

Furthermore, Naval officers tend to have a hard time on shift and make more errors than other SROs.

Mike

[number41]

The fact is you don't have a license yet and the FACT is Naval Officers fail out at about a 50% rate. Ask the NRC, ask INPO.

I am not/was not an officer, and regardless of what statistics you can throw out there, I contend that the 50% that fail out do so because they are lazy/unwilling to put in the required time, not because the Navy pipeline failed to prepare them for civilian power.  In our most recent SRO class which was comprised solely of previous licenses and upgrades from our plant, we have had one academic drop (and possibly another) who were both licensed at another plant for over 10 years.  However, the class with 15 DSRO's and NO previous licenses and NO previous commercial experience (12 are ex navy EOOW/EWS, 3 are NLO upgrades) just finished systems & GFES with an average of over 93%. 

YES our training programs are 578767898 harder than anything in the Navy

No it's not.  It's quite a bit DIFFERENT, but not that much harder.

Furthermore, Naval officers tend to have a hard time on shift and make more errors than other SROs.

That's a weak generalization.  Again, I defer to the fact that the ones who "have a hard time....and make more errors" probably sucked in the Navy also.
Regardless of how impossible you seem to think it is for ex-Navy guys to roll into a DSRO program and be successful, it is happening quite a bit these days.  What I don't understand is why you continue to make it your mission to discourage any new guys from trying the DSRO route.  I suppose you don't ever want to be able to retire or go on vacation because your plant is hopelessly strapped for licenses?  Regardless, I say that most GOOD, capable Navy operators with more than 6 years experience are good candidates for license class and probably are OVER qualified to be a non-licensed operator.

[Gamecock]

The fact is you don't have a license yet and the FACT is Naval Officers fail out at about a 50% rate. Ask the NRC, ask INPO.

He's qualified to be a janitor and YES our training programs are 578767898 harder than anything in the Navy.

Furthermore, Naval officers tend to have a hard time on shift and make more errors than other SROs.

Mike

That's not disrespect. It's the truth. Never once did I knock his service, his qualifications are just what I stated. He needs to hear it straight up, statistics show 77% of the Naval Officers who try commercial power as an Operator fail out of the training program because it's too fast paced.

Mike

So what is it..

50% or 77%

Someone might want to re-check their statistics...they are losing credibility.

[number41]

That's not disrespect. It's the truth. Never once did I knock his service, his qualifications are just what I stated. He needs to hear it straight up, statistics show 77% of the Naval Officers who try commercial power as an Operator fail out of the training program because it's too fast paced.

Mike


So what is it..

50% or 77%

HA!  Maybe the percentage that drops out went from 77% to 50% in the last six months.  Sounds like Ex Navy LT's are getting 54% better at making it thru this impossibly difficult licensing program every year!