after going through nuke school...

[thesparo]

so I'm thinking of goin in as an officer. I'm going to graduate with a BS in mechanical engineering, and was wondering, if I get a degree after going through nuke school?

or is it just an "enrichment" type course...

say afterwards, after i'm all said and done w/ the navy, would I hold a BS in nuclear and mechanical? if not, will i still be able to get a job easily at a nuke plant as an engineer?

[Preciousblue1965]

This what I know for what it is worth.  There are a few colleges that will give you credit for what you do in the Navy as far as school.  Most of them will be towards a nuclear engineering technology degree.  I just started going back to school for my BS in either Nuclear or Mechanical Engineering and only one of my experience classes transfered. 

[Fermi2]

I bet all those answers are already here, even the one about "enrichment"

Mike

[thesparo]

First ... welcome to the site.

Second ... you really should talk to some of the O'gangers on the board.

To do that you'll need to do some research.  If you really have what it takes to make it in the Navy Nuke World (Officer or Enlisted) I recommend you take a little time and proof what you write.  Then make sure it is understandable.  The way you represent yourself means a lot about how you are received by others.  Including how smart they think you are or are not.

I get the impression you are certainly a Engineer Major.  Because you have spelling and grammar issues.


Is this a problem that will stop your success in life.  The simple answer is YES.  The more complicated answer is NO.

Take some time and LEARN what it is you are talking about in regards to "goin in as an officer".  Its painfully obvious to those of us that have gone through the program that you don't know the first thing about it.

Give the NAVY NUKE FORUM's some reading.

Then ask questions.

Thanks for the unkindly welcome. Not to be rude, but, in all the forums I have been a member of, none of which have criticized my grammar. I, as well as many others on the interweb, use shorthand. I will modify my grammar for this site.

I apologize if I came off unprofessional, that was not my intent. My intention of posting, was to gain knowledge, particularly if it (the nuclear education I will be receiving) will earn me a degree in nuclear engineering. Which, from the second post, it seems as though it will not.

I have been trying to read up this past week on information, but, I haven't found information for this. I read somewhere (I believe) that the Officer NUKE school is different from Enlisted NUKE school, which is the reason I posted to ask this question.

Again, I'm sorry if I came off rude, but I take offense to your "I get the impression..." statement you made.

Also, I think you meant to say, "Give the NAVY NUKE FORUMS some reading"...

Besides, this is all in good fun right

-Jeff

[thesparo]

Honeycomb, PM'd you.

Again, no hard feelings towards anyone.

[Nuclear Renaissance]

I get the impression you are certainly a Engineer Major.  Because you have spelling and grammar issues.

When you get after someone like this, you should probably make sure that you don't have a grammatical error and a sentence fragment of your own...

[LDO4CNO]

so I'm thinking of goin in as an officer. I'm going to graduate with a BS in mechanical engineering, and was wondering, if I get a degree after going through nuke school?

or is it just an "enrichment" type course...

say afterwards, after i'm all said and done w/ the navy, would I hold a BS in nuclear and mechanical? if not, will i still be able to get a job easily at a nuke plant as an engineer?

thesparo,

Honeycomb is right on target here.  There are short answers to all of your questions, but the real answers involve some research and soul searching on your part.  Let me share some thoughts.  If you enter the Navy with a BS ME as an Officer or Enlisted, successful completion of the Nuclear Power Training Pipeline will not result in any additional degrees, it prepares you to go to sea and operate and maintain the Navy's reactors.  So in your terminology you may call it an enrichment course.

With regards to post service employment, either path as Enlisted or Officer MAY help you get your foot in the door.  A lot of your opportunities will depend on your quality of service, performance, and personal drive.  Some would presume, more and larger opportunities exist for the Officers.  I think a better perspective is to tie the opportunities to performance and drive, not hash marks and collar devices. 

Today, many of the Navy's brightest performers are getting their foot in the door in the commercial Nuclear Industry for a variety of reasons that are the subject of several other threads on this board.  Ten to fifteen years ago it was not as easy to break into the industry, but many of the posters here did it.  Bottom line if you work hard, do well, and time it right you can get your foot in the door at a Commercial Plant after a few years in the Navy.
Regarding which career path to pursue, one path offers bigger opportunities and bigger challenges.  Succeed and the reward will be greater.  Fail and it will sting. The other path is more popular (90% of the military is enlisted), and also offers many opportunities.  Both paths are admirable.  Having spent 1/3 of my life enlisted, and ¼ of my life as an Officer, I would recommend entering as an Officer.

If you want to enter as an Officer, you need to seek out and find a Navy OFFICER recruiter.  Don't let the recruiter at the local office convince you to enlist and apply to be an Officer later.  It is almost always easier to come in as an O-ganger rather than pick up a commission once in.  The local recruiters' performance is determined by how well he does at convincing YOU to enlist, not by referring you to the Officer recruiter.  Enlisting is a noble thing to do; if you do it you will win my respect.  Do it for the right reasons though, don't do it because you encountered a good salesman.
Sign up SHIPMATE! Get enriched! 

JB

[deltarho]

Thanks for the unkindly welcome. Not to be rude, but, in all the forums I have been a member of, none of which have criticized my grammar. I, as well as many others on the interweb, use shorthand. I will modify my grammar for this site.

I apologize if I came off unprofessional, that was not my intent. My intention of posting, was to gain knowledge, particularly if it (the nuclear education I will be receiving) will earn me a degree in nuclear engineering. Which, from the second post, it seems as though it will not.

I have been trying to read up this past week on information, but, I haven't found information for this. I read somewhere (I believe) that the Officer NUKE school is different from Enlisted NUKE school, which is the reason I posted to ask this question.

Again, I'm sorry if I came off rude, but I take offense to your "I get the impression..." statement you made.

Also, I think you meant to say, "Give the NAVY NUKE FORUMS some reading"...

Besides, this is all in good fun right

-Jeff

I must say, as a former ETCS(SW) NUC that I have informed one member of this board who is not enlisted, but in the Navy (albeit by PM), about his postings and the spelling or grammar and the impression it makes on the baby nukes and how he and others of his rank will be perceived.  Hint...Hint... 

First off, you may have a degree--good for you.  Just know that most of those that will be working "for" you if you have the gumption to join the Navy were probably sitting either to your left or right at your college orientation.  Wink...Wink..

Most of them partied too much and the funds ran dry, so they joined the Nuclear Navy.  This way, they could be stimulated by intelligent peers and challenged to finish something that requires discipline--the discipline they failed to exhibit when the ride was free.  Now, they do it for the right reasons, the right way.  Nudge...Nudge...

So, we enlisted scum have little tolerance for those who prattle.  We want to follow orders from someone we can respect.  Those few non-ring knocking officers understand that the blueshirts and those blueshirts with too many chromosomes to know when to quit that become "chiefly" will bail their fannies out of the bilge.  Otherwise, you will quickly learn the definition of "malicious compliance" or see people play games while you are in the box.  The only implement needed is a wet sponge and a certain turbine generator with a bulls-eye painted on its LO dump valve.

Now, there are many baby nukes that read these pages.  They need to know that you are not truly a knucklehead, that you only write like one.  Say no more...

I believe as of this posting I have 46 karma points...I expect Dow-like trends.

deltarho

[hamsamich]

don't worry thesparo, I feel like you do about forums, grammer aint that big a deal as long as you get most of the message across.  some people could do a little chilling out on this forum sometimes.

[Gamecock]

don't worry thesparo, I feel like you do about forums, grammer aint that big a deal as long as you get most of the message across.  some people could do a little chilling out on this forum sometimes.

Threadjack alert......

Perception is reality.  That is how life is in the real world.  Get used to that fact now, and you'll be better off in the future.

The saying, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression," is very true.

Threadjack complete....

[RDTroja]

Speaking (for now) only as a contributor and not a moderator, I can tell you that how you write, speak and present yourself, in person or on line, has a HUGE effect on how you are perceived by others. Sometimes by others that may matter to you at some point. It is easy to become very informal online but it carries over to your 'real' life as well, whether you want it to or not. Spelling errors are not critical, but they show a lack of caring which carries over to the reader. That same lack of attention to detail (getting to hate that phrase, but it is appropriate) shows in everything you do and is painfully obvious to people that do pay attention. Any future employer in the commercial world will most certainly notice, since attention to detail is beaten into people in nuclear plants every day. Those details will probably make you stand out from the crowd if you are in competition for a job... either for better or worse. Don't let yourself get lazy... and if you don't know how to spell or compose a proper sentence, learn.

Now, as a moderator, I will let the thread get back on topic. 

[thesparo]

Thanks to all with the valuable tips, I will use them wisely   

Don't get me wrong, I am always extremely professional and respectful to those that deserve it. Seeing as how this forum is a much more serious issue than those I've frequented before, I will "change gears", per say, when posting here. Also, believe you me, I will be the last person to look down upon an enlistee just because I would be an officer... That is NOT my style, I treat people with respect if they earn it, and do not treat anybody as if I am "above" them.

Regards

edited for correct terminology

[mlslstephens]

Thanks to all with the valuable tips, I will use them wisely   

Don't get me wrong, I am always extremely professional and respectful to those that deserve it. Seeing as how this forum is a much more serious issue than those I've frequented before, I will "change gears", per say, when posting here. Also, believe you me, I will be the last person to look down upon an enlistee just because I would be a mustang... That is NOT my style, I treat people with respect if they earn it, and do not treat anybody as if I am "above" them.

Regards

thesparo,
I've got to hand it to you, you are confident.  You speak as though you've accomplished.  Honeycomb hinted as to this.  It seems as though you are a nice person wanting to pursue a career in the Navy, or at least serve in the Navy; to this, I salute you.  However, you mentioned something in your last post that "caught my eye".  I might be a tad bit confused here but have you joined the Navy yet?  I am assuming that you haven't because of your first post yesterday speaking of going in the Navy as an Officer. 

Also, believe you me, I will be the last person to look down upon an enlistee just because I would be a mustang... That is NOT my style, I treat people with respect if they earn it,

This is the part that gets to me somewhat.  How do you make the leap of being a Mustang?  I am a Mustang, and yes, "I did it the hard way, I earned it".  I'm not so sure you can say that just yet.  But I might be wrong here and just not know your situation.  If I am, I'm sorry.  If I'm not, then don't call yourself a Mustang until you've "earned it".  Either way, I wish you nothing but the best as you begin your Navy journey.  You've found a wonderful website here as most here want to help you out with anything you could possibly imagine.
Good luck!

[Fermi2]

thesparo, uh dude you're not a Mustang so far as I can tell.

Mike

[thesparo]

thesparo,
I've got to hand it to you, you are confident.  You speak as though you've accomplished.  Honeycomb hinted as to this.  It seems as though you are a nice person wanting to pursue a career in the Navy, or at least serve in the Navy; to this, I salute you.  However, you mentioned something in your last post that "caught my eye".  I might be a tad bit confused here but have you joined the Navy yet?  I am assuming that you haven't because of your first post yesterday speaking of going in the Navy as an Officer.    This is the part that gets to me somewhat.  How do you make the leap of being a Mustang?  I am a Mustang, and yes, "I did it the hard way, I earned it".  I'm not so sure you can say that just yet.  But I might be wrong here and just not know your situation.  If I am, I'm sorry.  If I'm not, then don't call yourself a Mustang until you've "earned it".  Either way, I wish you nothing but the best as you begin your Navy journey.  You've found a wonderful website here as most here want to help you out with anything you could possibly imagine.
Good luck!

I apologize for the confusion, I did not mean it like that at all!
I also may have used the term incorrectly, but no I have not yet begun the process quite yet. From what I was told (can't remember the source) a mustang is an officer that went in as an officer, ie not going enlisted first, then officer... but I feel as though this is incorrect now..
Again sorry, I did not mean to imply that.

I'll just be quiet now and do some research 

***EDIT: Just found out I had the Mustang thing completely backwards! No hard feelings I hope, I will be much more careful in my terminology next time!

[JustinHEMI05]

thesparo,

Welcome to the site. Just be careful with the terminology until you get to know it. But I think you realize that by now.

Anyway, as a former EOOW trainer (officer trainer) I have seen many different types of officer students come through the pipeline. Some super smart but unable to handle the "stress" of a maneuvering watch, some super "dumb" but could stand one hell of a watch. Some with MIT degrees but washed out, some with a little community college and no name state school 4.0 the course. Some from the Academy that were some of the coolest people I ever had the pleasure to serve with and some that had a the longest, thickest stick they could find where the sun don't shine. Point is, there are many many unique backgrounds in the program and in my experience, those that do the best are those that are humble, respectful and genuinely interested in hearing what their instructors have to say. Those that do the worst and probably have unsatisfying, bitter careers were those that had the big chips on their shoulders and thought they could push their butter bar around by doing silly things like ordering me to give them a check out (biggest mistake of their lives until that point, I tell you) or not listening to my guidance in maneuvering. Anyway, point is that although you are special to your Mom, you aren't special to anyone in the program until you prove yourself. I think you know this by now and the choice of what type of officer you may be someday is up to you. As rough as the advice can be here sometimes, its only because people genuinely want to see you succeed and sometimes abrupt course corrections are in order.

Good luck and thanks for your interest!


Justin

[mlslstephens]

I'll just be quiet now and do some research 

***EDIT: Just found out I had the Mustang thing completely backwards!

LOL 

No problem.  I think you will do just fine with your attitude.  FYI

In the Navy, a Mustang is an Officer who has promoted up from the ranks of Navy enlisted personnel through an in-service procurement program, with no interruption of his/her active duty status. It is also understood that the Mustang Officer was a career Sailor, and normally wears one or more Good Conduct Medals.

Thus, the Navy Mustang is either a Navy Limited Duty Officers (LDO), a Chief Warrant Officers (CWO), or commissioned through the Direct Fleet Accession, Seaman to Admiral (S2A) program, or through the Enlisted Commissioning Program.  taken from http://navymustangs.com/whatis.phtml

[mlslstephens]

thesparo,

Welcome to the site. Just be careful with the terminology until you get to know it. But I think you realize that by now.

Anyway, as a former EOOW trainer (officer trainer) I have seen many different types of officer students come through the pipeline. Some super smart but unable to handle the "stress" of a maneuvering watch, some super "dumb" but could stand one hell of a watch. Some with MIT degrees but washed out, some with a little community college and no name state school 4.0 the course. Some from the Academy that were some of the coolest people I ever had the pleasure to serve with and some that had a the longest, thickest stick they could find where the sun don't shine. Point is, there are many many unique backgrounds in the program and in my experience, those that do the best are those that are humble, respectful and genuinely interested in hearing what their instructors have to say. Those that do the worst and probably have unsatisfying, bitter careers were those that had the big chips on their shoulders and thought they could push their butter bar around by doing silly things like ordering me to give them a check out (biggest mistake of their lives until that point, I tell you) or not listening to my guidance in maneuvering. Anyway, point is that although you are special to your Mom, you aren't special to anyone in the program until you prove yourself. I think you know this by now and the choice of what type of officer you may be someday is up to you. As rough as the advice can be here sometimes, its only because people genuinely want to see you succeed and sometimes abrupt course corrections are in order.

Good luck and thanks for your interest!


Justin

Justin is right on!  K to ya.

Not to belabor the point Justin made, but more to second his thoughts.  In my last job, I had the pleasure of counseling young O-gangers who had problems making it through the pipeline.  85% of the Ensigns I counseled who were struggling had GPAs in the 3.4 - 3.6 range.  Prototype is a far cry from "Canoe U".  My job also gave me the privilege to see the Navy's finest people conduct training in some many different environments.  To see the genuine concern of the staff and the enormous amount of extra hours poured into each shift week.  However, some of my favorite moments were watching the officers with attitudes get completely humbled in the box.  Justin, great post and I know I've said it before, but thanks for doing what you did at the toughest shore duty assignment in the Navy.  As a Senior Watch Officer in the fleet several years ago, I benefited from your hard work.  Thanks.

[JustinHEMI05]

Justin is right on!  K to ya.

Not to belabor the point Justin made, but more to second his thoughts.  In my last job, I had the pleasure of counseling young O-gangers who had problems making it through the pipeline.  85% of the Ensigns I counseled who were struggling had GPAs in the 3.4 - 3.6 range.  Prototype is a far cry from "Canoe U".  My job also gave me the privilege to see the Navy's finest people conduct training in some many different environments.  To see the genuine concern of the staff and the enormous amount of extra hours poured into each shift week.  However, some of my favorite moments were watching the officers with attitudes get completely humbled in the box.  Justin, great post and I know I've said it before, but thanks for doing what you did at the toughest shore duty assignment in the Navy.  As a Senior Watch Officer in the fleet several years ago, I benefited from your hard work.  Thanks.

You're welcome.

Justin