Navy Nuke - Wife with questions

[Nukeswife613]

I am new to the site, mainly because I need advice from individuals that actually have experience or are experiencing this.

I am the wife of an E-4 Nuke on the USS Nimitz. He is looking to re-enlist mainly (and you all know this way better than I) because he wants to take his knowledge to the next level and qualify in areas he can't or get the chance to unless he is E-5. Right now he has been working long hours since he got on the ship to qualify in record time and he set to qualify in about a month from now.  Anyways, he wants to re-enlist and I am all for it, not for the money but because he has put so much into this field that he should get as much as he can out of it.  But my question is this, he has mentioned before there be a nuke pay or something along those lines? Is there and how much? I am just trying to get a full picture of our finances.

I am a new wife, so LES and his pay I haven't been groomed on yet. Plus I am still on one side country and he is the other, set to move shortly. I have our base pay, housing, sea pay but what other pay is there to take into consideration for a Nuke, or have I covered pretty much everything?

[Gamecock]

Special pay for nuclear trained sailors, called Propay, is $150/month.  He'll be stuck at this level until he is either an E5 with over 6 years in the navy, or an E6 with over 5 years in the navy (also there is a certain qualification that he must attain to earn the higher rate.....you'll have a few years to learn about this).

BTW...there is a section on this website specifically for navy nukes.  In the future you might consider posting there.  Also, it is a good place for your husband to do some research as he prepares to re-enlist to perhaps help him make a more informed decision.

I've included the link here   http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/board,44.0.html


Hope this helps.

[LDO4CNO]

Gamecock is correct.  You will also receive a bonus for the reenlistment.  The bonus varies based on a few variables, but on average for someone in your husbands shoes is  2.43 YOS, for 6 years, for $32,098.00.  It will most likely be around $25-35K.  You will get half up front, (Minus taxes) and annual installments for the rest.  Upon reenlisting he will be promoted to E-5 and your housing allowance and base pay will go up accordingly.  Look at the pay charts here http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables/2008MilitaryPayCharts35.pdf    for the details.

One more thing to keep in mind.  Our servicemen who reenlist in combat zones (THE GULF) are entitled to getting the entire bonus TAX FREE.   It appears this opportunity may not arise for you soon, but understand things change quickly, and be aware of this not so subtle entitlement.  Good Luck.

JB

[Gamecock]

Gamecock is correct. 

In my 18+ years in the nuclear navy......I've never heard an LDO make that statement.

[LDO4CNO]

   I had a weak moment, don't let anyone know.   

[HydroDave63]

  I had a weak moment, don't let anyone know.   

Don't ask don't tell.....

[withroaj]

Always remember the Navy will still be there in a couple years if your husband still wants to reenlist.  That will give him bargaining power for future orders (in addition to some time on board to find out how bad he really wants to stay in).

[Already Gone]

The
Command Career Counselor will be helpful in determining when is the best time to reenlist.  Mind you, he will ALWAYS be FOR the idea of reenlisting.  So, don't expect him to be objective as to whether your husband should reenlist or not.  Just ask him when is the earliest date that he will "max out"

You see, the bonus is calculated by multiplying your husband's current pay times the number of months that will be added to his active duty times a multiplier.

For example, I reenlisted when I had only completed 2 years and 5 days.  This means that I also only added 2 years and 5 days to my obligation.  However, I was already an E-5 over 3 (because of my year in DEP).  So, I didn't get a promotion for reenlisting, but my pay rate was high enough that I maxed out on the very first week that I was eligible to reenlist.  If I had waited a year or two or three, my total time on active duty would have been much longer plus I would have gone all that time without proficiency pay.

There will be a "First day of max SRB" for your husband too even as an E-4.  If he is sure that he wants to add time to his hitch, that is the day to do it.  That is the day that he will get the most money for the least additional obligated service.  BUT!!!! if he is just trying to make E-5, this is the WRONG way to do it.  Tell him to take the test, and keep taking it.  It was so easy that I passed it and was advanced with less than a year on active duty.  Likewise, I was an E-6 with only 4 years in when I was barely 22 years old.  You reenlist for the money - not for a stripe that can be earned quite easily by anyone who deserves it.  The promotion comes with a raise, he'll get pro pay and a bonus.  That is why you ship over.  If, as you say, it isn't for the money - don't do it.

[withroaj]

You reenlist for the money - not for a stripe that can be earned quite easily by anyone who deserves it.

Aww come on, you reenlist for God and Country, right?

Also, they got rid of that DEP loophole.  Too many people getting bonuses to extend in the Navy for a couple of months.

[Already Gone]

Don't BS the lady.  You do it for the money - or they wouldn't give you money to do it.

[withroaj]

Don't BS the lady.  You do it for the money - or they wouldn't give you money to do it.

Oh, I agree.  I would just rather see people stay in the Navy who WANT to stay in the Navy, becuase when all is said and done and the bonus is spent up (yeah, you could invest it, but do E4's reenlisting for E5 invest it? ), you put six more years onto your contract.  Folks nowadays tend to take that lightly and wind up with Navy time they don't necessarily want (and when the debt accrued turns E5 take home pay into less than or equal to E4 pay, doing it for the money kind of backfires).

They give you money to do it, but if you hold out they can also offer you orders to greener pastures to do it.  Reenlisting at the beginning of a sea tour will add time in the Navy ON THE SHIP (Deployments, REployments, etc.).  Waiting until the end can bring you a fatter bonus (it's doubled since I joined five years ago), orders incentives (shore duty instead of extended sea duty), and a slightly better knowledge of the organization you wish to extend into (we ALL wanted to reenlist with two years in, many don't after four).

And with what you fellers out in commercial nuke land say, it sounds like you get out for the money, not stay in.  Buck o' Five.

[Already Gone]

It's true.  The Navy is not the place to get rich.  You don't get in or stay in for the money.

But the first reenlistment is almost NEVER about wanting to stay in, or about future planning.  It is done to make the immediate future bearable.

A married E-4 or E-5 can really use the extra moolah to make ends meet.  It might also be the difference between buying a house or not - which is an investment, the biggest on any of us will make in our lives.

A reenlistment at this stage is not in the ballpark of making the Navy a career.  It is about mortgaging a couple of years to get a good foundation.  You can ship over early, get out while still young, and actually make a living in the meantime.  At this point, it isn't even worth thinking about a career in the Navy, a service school (which isn't that big a deal anyway) or even the next duty station.  Not everyone who reenlists for orders gets them anyway.  Even if you do, they can send you right back to the tub after only a year if they want to.  There are plenty of guys who can tell you that they shipped over for orders to shore duty and were on a long deployment at sea not long after.

If the guy gets eight years in and decides that it is going to be a career, he reenlists for schools, assignments (and the bonus) in order to help him shape that career.  By then, doing it for the money is a bad move because he could get that much in raises by getting out and be better off by the end of the second or third year (probably sooner)  than if he had stayed in.

If he has 2 or 3 years in, he does it to get the SRB, the Pro-pay and the promotion.  ALL THREE.  Because they all help his bank account.  Because they make the difference between staying married and having kids or not.

But if he only has 2 or three years in, doing it to make E-5 so he can get his PPWS quals doesn't make any sense.  He isn't ready for that yet anyway.  As I said, if the money isn't the reason, this is not the time.  There may never be a time; I'm not advocating for reenlistment.  But if they can afford to live without the extra $$$, they should hold out a few years and have the option still open.  If the money is the priority, do it soonest  for the most cash so that the impact will be less.

I don't mean this to come out as mercenary as it seems.  I think that the choice to enlist is both patriotic and self-serving.  There is nothing wrong - in fact it is only right - for the young people who serve in the military to be able to provide financial stability for their families.  There should be strong financial rewards and incentives to keep good sailors in the Navy.  If it comes down to a choice between your family's future and your country's security - - well shame on anybody who made it so there would be such a choice in the first place!!  But I'm not going to start the political argument here as to why a service member who operates sensitive technical equipment at the risk of his own life to protect the country is paid less after ten years than a third-grade teacher with two years on the job.  I'm not going to stir up the obvious that the teachers union represents more votes than the entire military.  I'm not even going to mention the relative Grand Canyon that exists between the work hours and conditions of the two respective parties.  I'm just saying that a sailor who is still early in his career ought to think more about his family's financial security than about the needs of the Navy.  Because the Navy will be sure to get what it needs regardless.

No matter when or if you decide to reenlist - do it for yourself and your loved ones.  If it is for the money, the training, the lifestyle, the medical benefits, the security, or even the pride you get from doing the job, this is one time to put you and yours at the center of everything.  If it is best for you - do it.  If it isn't - thank you for your service and good luck to you in civilian life.

[Gamecock]

If he has 2 or 3 years in, he does it to get the SRB, the Pro-pay and the promotion.  ALL THREE.  Because they all help his bank account.  Because they make the difference between staying married and having kids or not.

Not sure what you mean by this......
All nukes, E4 and above, rate pro-pay. 
He won't get supervisory pro-pay as an E5 until he goes over 6 years and is qualified PPWS.


No dispute on the SRB and the advancement to E5.  Its funny how times change.....back in my enlisted days you would not make E5 off the exam without maximum PNA points because of all the guys the re-enlisted.

[Already Gone]

My enlisted days were long before yours.  Nukes never got pro pay unless we reenlisted for at least the minimum two years.  We got supervisory pro pay after being E-6 over 5 or E-5 over 6 as long as we held the highest qual (for me it was LELT NEC 3366).

It was one of the incentives for reenlistment that you could get pro pay.  Guys who didn't reup didn't get it.

Somebody get us up to date on this please.

Making E-5 in my time was essentially a function of who your A school steam plant instructor was and your initiative in finishing the courses.  In my day, you went to 600 psi steam plant in Great Lakes after finishing self-paced PEB school and self-paced MM A school.  PEB and A school took about two weeks and 4 days respectively.  Steam plant was another few days - maybe a week.  The Steam plant instructors each gave out a set of xeroxed evals to all their students.  Mine gave everyone 3.8 out of 4.0 after knowing us for only a week.  Every MM in my NPS class who had the same chief at Steam Plant was advanced to MM2 if he passed the test.  Other instructors only gave 3.4 to 3.6.
We also had a CCC at NPS who told us on our first day how to beat the time in rate and time in service rules.  (TIS did not apply to nukes) I was advanced to MM3 in Oct. after finishing A school (waiting for A school took twice as long as the school itself) which made my advancement date June 1.  For promotion purposes, my time in rate as an MM3 actually started while I was still in High School.  Next, I took the MM3&2 correspondence course and the PO3&2 course.  Passing those was pretty easy since the exam was open book.  (you got a scratch off sheet, answered the questions in the BEQ and turned in the sheet).  This made me eligible for the MM2 exam in December or January.  I was wearing the second chevron on June 6, exactly 362 days after I went to RTC.  By the time I finished prototype, I was already getting the E-5 pay.
I graduated NPTU and started ELT school, went over 2, went over 3 for pay purposes, and was eligible to reenlist in June.  The requirements to reenlist were 1. grad NPTU, 2. have completed two years of active duty.  So, when I met those two criteria, I was already E-5 over 3.  At that point, I qualified for the maximum SRB ($20,000.00) so I took it.
I'm glad I took advantage of that opportunity, but I would never have reenlisted once I had been on a boat.    A lot of guys thought that I made MM2 by STAR reenlistment.  They resented the fact that I was an unqualified MM2 getting pro pay - until a SPU showed up who actually HAD gotten E-5 when he reenlisted and THEN E-6 before he ever stepped on a ship.  By then, the heat was off me and he was the new target.  Eventually, everybody just got along, but the Star-babies were never respected.  Nukes treated them the way non-nukes treated nukes.

[jowlman]

One little correction Troy. Back in our time, they were hurting for surface nukes so bad that they did start to pay us pro pay. I remember sometime in 1984 starting to get it. We did have to be qualified LELT to actually get senior in rate though.

[DDMurray]

I am new to the site, mainly because I need advice from individuals that actually have experience or are experiencing this.

I am the wife of an E-4 Nuke on the USS Nimitz. He is looking to re-enlist mainly (and you all know this way better than I) because he wants to take his knowledge to the next level and qualify in areas he can't or get the chance to unless he is E-5. Right now he has been working long hours since he got on the ship to qualify in record time and he set to qualify in about a month from now.  Anyways, he wants to re-enlist and I am all for it, not for the money but because he has put so much into this field that he should get as much as he can out of it.  But my question is this, he has mentioned before there be a nuke pay or something along those lines? Is there and how much? I am just trying to get a full picture of our finances.

I am a new wife, so LES and his pay I haven't been groomed on yet. Plus I am still on one side country and he is the other, set to move shortly. I have our base pay, housing, sea pay but what other pay is there to take into consideration for a Nuke, or have I covered pretty much everything?

Your husband is entitled to base pay, sea pay, SDAP (aka "pro" pay, Special Duty Assignment Pay), and BAH (if he isn't living in barracks).  SDAP is dependent on your husband's NEC (Navy Enlisted Classification).  As a surface nuke his NEC is 3383(ET), 3384(EM), 3385(MM), or 3386(ELT).  As surface nuclear operator your husband's SDAP is $150.00.  In a few years he will eligible for higher SDAP.  Your husband's NEC is important because it determines his multiple if he re-enlists.  His CCC should figure this out for him, but you and he should already have calculated it to make sure it is correct.  To determine your SRB multiply your base pay on the day you re-enlist times your multiple times the number of months your are adding to your current obligation.  Divide this by twelve for your total pre-tax SRB entitlement.  If you re-enlist prior to your extension going into effect the extension (24 months) can be included in your SRB.  All nukes are required to serve four years plus an automatic 24 month extension for completing nuclear power training.  About twice a year a message comes out with the multiples for each NEC. A link to SRB info is below.  In summary, multiples for surface nukes 3383-10, 3384-4.5, 3385-8, 3386-5.5.
Example:  Your husband is an E-4 (I'll assume he's an EM) over two and reenlists for six years.  His base pay is $1848.9 times his multiple of 4.5 times the number of months 48 divided by 12.  His total SRB entitlement is $33280.20.  His first check will be roughly $12979.00 (half the total amount minus 28% taxes).  You'll get an annual installment each year of about $2600.00 (the remaining amount paid annually over five years).  There are many factors that determine when best to re-enlist and for how long.  Link:
http://www.npc.navy.mil/CareerInfo/EnlistedCareerProgression/Incentives/

You can get spouse access to your husband's pay account through myPay.  It allows you to look at his LES, but not change anything.  This is important if he is deploying so you can tell if his pay gets messed up.  I recommend you check out navy one source, which is linked below:

For Web access, go to www.navyonesource.com, user ID: Navy; Password: Sailor.

To contact Navy One Source by phone:
· Toll free CONUS number is 1-800-540-4123
· OCONUS universal free number is 1-800-540-412-33
· OCONUS collect call number is 1-484-530-5914
· Special needs line for TTY/TDD is 1-800-346-9188
· Spanish and other foreign language line is 1-888-732-9020

When you get to his duty station, the local fleet and family support center (FFSC) has frequent classes for new spouses.  These are worthwhile.  If for no other reason, you'll start your local support network and meet others in similar situations.

My last recommendation is to sit down with a financial counselor (you and your husband) to decide how to handle your SRB, if you opt for it.  Many a young nuke has wasted his SRB, yours truly included.  Do not get SRB without a plan.  I hope this helps.   Please feel free to ask me any other questions.  Good Luck!

Derek Murray

[LDO4CNO]

[quote ]
BUT, we've also beat the horse to death about money in the military and the civilian industry.  NO Comparison. 
[/quote]

A couple of things we need to keep in mind when advising our first termers:

1) Time value of money.  For the ones that are in a position to invest the dollars, it  can get them a good start on life when they get out.  They will presumably be more qualified when they get out as well.

2)  This is the biggest one.  For a junior sailor just starting out, many are living a hand to mouth existence.  They want a TV, a Bedroom suite, or relable transportation for their spouse.  (I have the T-shirt)  It is easy for us to sit back on six figure incomes and tell them how beans and rice, rice and beans is the answer (Sorry Dave, you know I am a fan).  Bottom line, it is a personal decision, we should make them well informed, and be thankful for the ones we retain.  The military needs em.

JB

[ohhthecrap]

Everyone pretty much reenlists for the money. Out of experience I would wait if at all possible, even though it seems like your minds are already somewhat made up. Advancing means more responsibility which usually means longer hours, more stress, and less time with his new wife. The big bonus and the increase in pay makes it really tough to turn down. If he is sub or surface he should really go out to sea a few times, do a full deployment then make a full decision. Not knowing what it is like being away from your wife and family for months at a time makes it hard to want to stay in for life. Thinking you have some kind of control on what happens in your future because you reenlisted is a joke. You are at the mercy of the navy for life. Despite all the pessimist attitudes I am putting out, it could be beneficial for his career and our future. This is one of the few ways in which someone in their early 20s can buy a house have nice cars and retire by the age of 38.. It can be sweet just wait and make a decision, if at all possible.

[Already Gone]

Not sure what you mean by this......
All nukes, E4 and above, rate pro-pay. 
He won't get supervisory pro-pay as an E5 until he goes over 6 years and is qualified PPWS.


No dispute on the SRB and the advancement to E5.  Its funny how times change.....back in my enlisted days you would not make E5 off the exam without maximum PNA points because of all the guys the re-enlisted.

Yes, times have apparently changed a lot.  There were a lot of MM2's in my NPS graduation picture.  We were competing against all the MM3's in the Navy - not just the nukes.  Since the conventionals didn't have STAR advancement to E-5 available to them, there were a lot of open billets, and we were good test takers after all.  Now, nukes compete against nukes.  It's a wonder that anyone gets advanced as quickly as they do without shipping over.  I guess that Early Promotable thing is what saves them.

[Fermi2]

In 1985 I made E-5 as an MM on the first exam I took. I enlisted in July 1984. Took the E-5 Exam in September 85 and was an E-5 about 2 months later so it could be done.

Mike

[93-383]

Yes, times have apparently changed a lot.  There were a lot of MM2's in my NPS graduation picture.  We were competing against all the MM3's in the Navy - not just the nukes.  Since the conventionals didn't have STAR advancement to E-5 available to them, there were a lot of open billets, and we were good test takers after all.  Now, nukes compete against nukes.  It's a wonder that anyone gets advanced as quickly as they do without shipping over.  I guess that Early Promotable thing is what saves them.

not too many years ago it was very hard to make E5 off the test. since all of the billets got filled by STAR. This year advancment in all three rates was very high in some cases as much as 90% of the test. This means that either the navy decided to increase the number of allowable E5s or no one is STAR re-enlisting.

[withroaj]

I can only speak for one SSN, but it seems that people aren't STAR reenlisting.  You get one or two kids who want a new truck or motorcycle, but the few folks I saw reenlist during my time on board L-Ville did it at the end of their tour for orders, usually as first classes.  Probably the best way to do it, if I say so myself.

[KJC88]

Is this saying that STAR isn't something good to reenlist by?

[Already Gone]

No, not at all.  We're just spitballing about the effect that STAR has on the advancement of nukes.  In my day, it didn't make much difference - except to those people who actually did it.  Since then, it has affected the advancement capability of all the other guys by filling all the slots with STAR E-5's and leaving few for anyone else.  Now, it seems that it has eased off.

My original point was that the Navy "claims" to promote only the most qualified sailors, but face it, a nuke can get all the way to E-5 without ever having to compete for a promotion.  At some point the navy has to stop giving away chevrons and actually make someone earn them.  Just as the conventionals resent seeing 18 year-old petty officers, the nukes resent being lower on the totem pole than one of their classmates who might be a little less able than they are but has an extra stripe because he re-enlisted.

It comes with the territory.  If you need money, you re-enlist early.  If you intend to make the Navy a career, you reenlist after you are sure that is what you want to do.  You take the promotion, whether you earned it or not, because it comes with the package and only a fool would turn it down.

Here's another bit of insider knowledge.  The difference between a nuke E-4 and a nuke E-5 is the payscale - PERIOD.  A qualified E-4 outranks an unqualified E-5 on the boat.  Not officially  - but in every way which matters.  The stripes on the sleeve don't even start to matter until you are an E-6.  Even then, you are subject to the expectation that your sleeve is invisible until you are qualified.

My best advice to a young sailor who wants to take every advantage of nuclear training is this.  Study, work hard, show your smarts, get qualified at one thing before you stat thinking about the next.  The advancement and reenlistment stuff really comes second to all that.

[KJC88]

Oh okay thank you. I agree, I think that right now going in as an E3 I deserve and yeah it's a given going in as a NUKE. But I have studied hard and trying to know in advanced what will be required at RTC for me.

As for advancing to E-4 after school, and you did great then you deserve. As far as reenlisting for the money I think that's just a big joke.

I am going in as NUKE because I will like it and enjoy the classes. That's the first thing my recruiter told me, "You'll get good money and advance quicker than other rates". I told him, "I don't care about the money, it's important of course but it comes second to me. I want to do something I will enjoy and then look forward to getting paid what I deserve for something I will like."

And as far as the STAR program that comes 2 yrs after you're into it right, including school and it adds on 2 active years to your contract correct? Does that mean the 2 reserve are still there so it's a total of 10 or do the 2 yrs reserve become the 2 added active years to your contract?

Also if you decide to decline doing STAR when do you have a 2nd opportunity to reenlist if you do enjoy your job? Can you do this at any time?

[93-383]

Oh okay thank you. I agree, I think that right now going in as an E3 I deserve and yeah it's a given going in as a NUKE. But I have studied hard and trying to know in advanced what will be required at RTC for me.

As for advancing to E-4 after school, and you did great then you deserve. As far as reenlisting for the money I think that's just a big joke.

I am going in as NUKE because I will like it and enjoy the classes. That's the first thing my recruiter told me, "You'll get good money and advance quicker than other rates". I told him, "I don't care about the money, it's important of course but it comes second to me. I want to do something I will enjoy and then look forward to getting paid what I deserve for something I will like."

And as far as the STAR program that comes 2 yrs after you're into it right, including school and it adds on 2 active years to your contract correct? Does that mean the 2 reserve are still there so it's a total of 10 or do the 2 yrs reserve become the 2 added active years to your contract?

Also if you decide to decline doing STAR when do you have a 2nd opportunity to reenlist if you do enjoy your job? Can you do this at any time?

star re-up is a six year reenlistment that negates the two year extension that you signed in A-school. Most people will do it around their two year point that way they maximize the bouns money. In short STAR adds six years from the date you do it

[KJC88]

oh Okay I see. Thank you for clarifying.

[G-reg]

Also if you decide to decline doing STAR when do you have a 2nd opportunity to reenlist if you do enjoy your job? Can you do this at any time?

Yes, you can reenlist at any time.  As you've obviously heard already, you lose a ton of STAR money if you reenlist before your two-year point; but beyond that, YOU get to decide when.  Some people wait to see if they can make E-5 off the exam, because that means a higher STAR bonus (since the STAR bonus is based on your Base Pay at the time of reenlistment).  Some people wait until they've seen some actual sea time - sort of like "try before you buy".  Some people wait until closer to their EAOS, and use it as a bargaining chip for negotiating their follow-on duty station orders.

But the bottom line is that "when" is up to you.

[93-383]

I'm reading through all the replies on this thread and I have a question;

In the 22 years since I left the Navy and with all the "quality of life" improvements that could have been realized with cutting the 600 ship Navy down to 300 or so, and all the associated cost savings, and all the huge budgets for defense spending, etc., etc.,,....

Does the Nay STILL not offer objective, constructive and realistic financial counseling services to their young people?!?!?!!?!?!

I've been out a long time, but Gamecock, LDO4CNO, and some of the others here gotta know if this invaluable service is available to these youngsters within the Navy support structure,....

How hard can it be to employ somebody who knows as much about re-enlistment, advancement, pro pays, and all the other pay schedules presented over a four, six, eight or more year career as can combobulated to help these young adults make choices they can be as content with as the needs of the Navy can allow?!?!?!?

Guys like myself and 'court can ramble on forever with the wisdom of years, but there should be somebody with contemporary and consructive data in front of them whom these first termers can turn to, something better than hyperlinks to pay tables....

We can't be their best hope, or so I would hope,....

Most, if not all commands have a command financial specialist however the quality of their information depends on how well they are trained. I think there is actually a school to train people for this position, but schedules and availability of said training may mean that the command is using people without proper training or simply not having the collateral duty. Another option available is fleet and family services; I have personally not used either source. But I wish that someone would have tried to talk some sense into me (at 20 I don't know if I would have listened) before I spent my SRB on "toys" now I just consider it my $42,000 lesson in life.

[withroaj]

How hard can it be to employ somebody who knows as much about re-enlistment, advancement, pro pays, and all the other pay schedules presented over a four, six, eight or more year career as can combobulated to help these young adults make choices they can be as content with as the needs of the Navy can allow?!?!?!?

Guys like myself and 'court can ramble on forever with the wisdom of years, but there should be somebody with contemporary and consructive data in front of them whom these first termers can turn to, something better than hyperlinks to pay tables....

We can't be their best hope, or so I would hope,....

As stated above, shipboard financial training is available on a voluntary basis.  It also comes up during GMT every year (for an hour or two).  NNPTC and NPTU both have financial training as part of student indoc.  The CCC's I have known have all been honest, helpful and to a degree provide an objective opinion on the decision to reenlist.  I've even seen CCC's recommend to kids to wait a year to re-up.

I know this probably sounds like I am just trying to parrot the party line, but I think the decision to reenlist goes beyond being a financial decision.  I honestly believe the bonus should just be, well, a bonus that comes along with reenlistment, not the driving force behind the decision.  The choice to reenlist should be more about either keeping a job you want to keep doing for another couple years, or about getting a set of orders you want.  To STAR on the ship for the "money and respect" (yeah, someone said that) can lead to disaster.  The last kid I saw STAR on the boat just quit less than two weeks ago, with just over one year on board.  In June last year he was going to be the MCPON and in July this year he was going to the Chaplain.

When a SPU reenlists, he does it into a comfortable environment.  He may not yet know the in's and out's of the proto-pal system, but he is familiar with the site and knows many of the people around him.  He also won't go three section duty there or go to sea.  Then he shows up to a boat with some experience at his job (and, sadly, the ego that goes with it) and just as much (or less) sea time remaining on the contract as if he had never re-enlisted.

When a guy reenlists at the end of his first sea tour, he is "senior" in his field and ready for a change of pace.  He can also pull a sea/shore rotation waiver and wind up doing less time on the boat; often leaving the boat before he would have checked out on terminal leave.

When a guy reenlists at his two year point on his first boat, the time extended on his contract WILL be spent on that boat (at least until his 60 months is up) unless he can get a sea time waiver for P-type.  When he extends for six years at the beginning of a five year sea time obligation that will also leave him without enough time remaining on his contract to complete a shore tour without extending or reenlisting again, or he will get sent to some crap general shore billet for refusing to extend for a full shore tour.

While this response goes too long, I think the financial arguement for reenlistment is probably the least important consideration to make.  It causes people to jump into a job they don't like or can't handle just for some money, potentially causing them to wind up out of the Navy with a truck payment AND a bonus to pay back.

[Gamecock]

all good stuff, the salient point I was driving at is;

the thread was started by a young Navy wife looking for help, can she attend these "financial services" with her husband or is it a members only thing,...

husbands and wives are teams, fiducial teams, even the enlisted ones, I was maybe hoping the Navy had come to appreciate and accomodate that societal bedrock as much as plausible within their own needs,...

The wife can attend financial counseling at the Fleet and Family Service Center.

Answering your previous question....On my CVN, each division had a Command financial Specialist.  We also had a departmental CFS.  But these collateral duties were sought after by PO1s looking to get an eval bullet to help make CPO....so not always the best qualified guy got the job.

[KJC88]

Yes, you can reenlist at any time.  As you've obviously heard already, you lose a ton of STAR money if you reenlist before your two-year point; but beyond that, YOU get to decide when.  Some people wait to see if they can make E-5 off the exam, because that means a higher STAR bonus (since the STAR bonus is based on your Base Pay at the time of reenlistment).  Some people wait until they've seen some actual sea time - sort of like "try before you buy".  Some people wait until closer to their EAOS, and use it as a bargaining chip for negotiating their follow-on duty station orders.

But the bottom line is that "when" is up to you.

Ah I see thank you. That's good then I get to choose and have the option, not going to be forced to decide only once and then give it up and then not have the opportunity to ever do it again. Wonderful, thank you.

[LuckyKid]

You can't star re-enlist UNTIL your two year point. Otherwise you'd be doing it while you were still in school...why re-enlist when you're not even really doing your job yet?

[DDMurray]

You can't star re-enlist UNTIL your two year point. Otherwise you'd be doing it while you were still in school...why re-enlist when you're not even really doing your job yet?

You can re-enlist prior to the two year point. From the MILPERSMAN article (1160-100) on STAR reenlistement: "3. Eligibility Requirements for Nuclear Personnel. Nuclear personnel must have at least 21 months, but not more than 6 years, of continuous active Naval Service on their date of reenlistment."

Re-enlisting prior to the two-year point will likely reduce the amount of SRB, but will also limit the total obligated service.  I do concur with the logic of waiting until you know more about what you're getting into.  You can easily do some calculations and figure out if the risk is worth it to you.

-Derek