Benefits, good times and hidden gems in the NNPP

[withroaj]

Over the years, nukeworker has been an invaluable resource for me on my adventure in the NNPP.  From school to the fleet it gives great information on what to expect in the next arena.  I have noticed since I actually registered here and started posting the general air of negativity that surrounds the Navy Nuke section.  For someone inside the industry it just comes off as straight talk about the program, but from an outsider's perspective we have to look like the most bitter professional organization on the planet.

This site works as a resource for folks in the game, but it seems it could discourage people who might have been otherwise interested in joining.  I know that all you folks out here, even if you got dragged kicking and screaming throughout your navy experience, see it as an overall positive or else you wouldn't frequent the Navy Nuke section of nukeworker.  You could probably give the NNPP some credit for the success you have found outside the Navy, even if you did six and out.

We already have a thread asking how we would fix the NNPP, which has been a great place to vent some stress from the workplace.  It can cause some problems for new kids though, since it is on the front page of Navy Nuke.  I would really like to hear some people put out some positive experiences or life lessons here.  That might help keep nukeworker.com from being the resource that turned the kid away from enlistment/commissioning.

Let's hear about a good command; cheap skiing/snowboarding; good fishing; dive bars in seedy neighborhoods, or something GOOD about the program for folks who aren't playing the game yet to see.

[withroaj]

Well, I should have known better to try and kick start something positive about the Navy without providing my own input (if this doesn't warrant being a topic, Moderators please let me know and I'll take it down).  I just don't want to have this site chase people away from the Program (like the thread "have I made a mistake?").

Good Commands:  My first and only (so far) sea going command - USS LOUISVILLE (SSN-724).  While the folks on this site who are still stationed on L-Ville will disagree with me about the boat being a good command, remember:  you're coming out of the shipyard.  They told us from the beginning that it would be brutal.  Good CO who actually cares about the crew's well being, probably the best COB ever to serve (known in Groton as "The COBfather" for his ability to make things happen when it comes down to the well being of his crew), and a solid wardroom and CPO quarters made this boat the best possible quality of life a person could have on a fast-attack.  Known as the "happy boat" on the waterfront.

I also need to mention Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, NH.  It's a small, backwoods command with all the charm associated with it.  I have to admit that I wasn't really part of the military establishment when I was on LIMDU there, so I can't really say too much about the command.  The CMC, XO and CO were all awesome people who tried to keep their junior people employed based on their talents; and they put me in a truly challenging, rewarding assignment even as a broken kid (I admit I'm partial to them since they awarded me with a NAM for my efforts there).

Great Homeports:  Pearl Harbor, HI was an awesome place to live.  It had its downside, with issues like gridlock traffic to Honolulu/Waikiki and sometimes hostile locals (western shore of Oaho is not a good place for Haoles); but it also had some great things about it.  The MWR program had $7.00 surfing trips, including lessons and board rental, just about every weekend; and parasailing, deep sea fishing, snorkeling and just about every other outdoor activity at incredible discounts.  Pearl puts on a great 4th of July fireworks show as well.  Arnold's in Waikiki was just about the greatest dive bar I've seen in a tourist town ($8.00 pitchers in a town of $9.00 pints), even though the management tried to clean the place up and make it a respectable establishment.  Great weather year round for outdoor activities and TONS of stuff to do make Pearl a great homeport if you're willing to leave the mainland.  Oh yeah, Halloween is INSANE there.

Portsmouth, NH is another gem in the Navy.  You have to be on a submarine to go there and it is a shipyard environment, so the work load is brutal.  When you have time off of work the Seacoast community is a great place to be.  Boston is an hour away (and Red Sox tickets are $10.00 for active duty and a guest! ), and there are several good ski slopes within a couple hours' drive.  Gunstock offers great military discounts and, if I remember correctly, free military days from time to time.  There is great fishing right off the shipyard piers (no license required) and in many other places on the Great Bay.  Portsmouth offers quite a few good restaurants, from fine dining to casual, and the colleges in the area keep the bar scene interesting for the single fellers.  By the way, I heard they are looking for a few "crusty nuke master chiefs looking for a good twilight tour" at the shipyard (not an official DON or DOD statement, just heresay from a tech code).

I've only been in about five and a half years and seen just a fraction of what you can see in the program, but it has been a great experience so far (Mast and all).

[withroaj]

How many more "gems" you need?!?! the forums are full of 'em,.... , good effort grasshopper, keep 'em coming,...

( I told you being an ELT would make you master of your destiny!!!)

You're right.  If you look for the positive in the forum you will find it.  If you just take a casual look at the forum, or if you search it for specifics you can pick up a big amount of negativity.  For you, as an old salty sea dog, you can easily sort through the BS and see the real deal (so I guess dedicating a thread to positives is just more BS), but a kid just out of school considering the program might consider the negatives more than the positives.  Making the positives in a place that doesn't require the search function will put it in a more accessible place.  Or maybe I'm just trying too hard.

[PapaBear765]

Buffalo zebra to you withroaj.

I'll easily concede that despite my lust for my EAOS, I'll never regret joining the navy or the decisions I've made while serving.

Portsmouth is a great area, and the shipyard is brutal.  Didn't have to be, but that depends on your boat.

People who focus on the negatives will always do so and will never be satisfied.  I don't feel sorry for them nor do I feel compelled to convince them of their skewed perspective by pointing out the positives.  The navy, nuke or not, has ample opportunities in which to find enjoyment.  Some days are better than others, so it might just come down to a boisterously funny shoot-the-poo.

The good stuff:
1. Port calls.  Whether it be for tourist like sight seeing or to see if you can find your hotel room while hammered.
2. When a real plant casualty happens and you get to apply your training.
3. Getting to meet people from all over the USA.
4. When you're done being a navy nuke, being able to get a variety of really good jobs.
5. Getting to work with a much higher concentration of similarly intelligent people than if you're weren't a nuke and was the "smart guy" in the Damage Control Division on a frigate.
6. Having regionally accredited schools like Thomas Edison making it so easy to get a degree.

There's more, but I have to watch and return my rented movie before Blockbuster starts threatening to break my legs.

[Preciousblue1965]

Well I can honestly say that, while I despised about 90% of the days I was in(more frequently at the beloved Protohell), the good days were truly awesome. 

Some of my fonder memories:

1.  Being in Pearl Harbour for the Opening Premiere of "Pearl Harbour" and getting to see all the stars including Kate Beckinsale , and hanging out in Pearl for 10 days.
2.  Getting to go through sea trials on a carrier after Yard Period(this is the only underway where you don't launch planes, the hanger bays are wide open, and they do the full speed rudder swings and crashbacks, plus the chow lines are much shorter.
3. I have made friends that I will never forget that come from all walks of life, from all over the country. 
4.  Significantly discounted activities and other things.  For my wedding I was able to rent out the old Officer's club on the golf course for the entire night and catered for just under $500.  Anywhere else would have been over 2 Grand.
5.  Host of jobs available when you get out.  Seriously, what kind of job is available for signalmen(do they even have those anymore) when they get out?
6. Being in NavLead class for E6 and being the only one there with less than 5 years in and still saying you are getting out when your time is up.  You would have thought I was a puppy killer or something the way those guys/gals looked at me.
7.  Living in San Diego for the briefest period of times,  just long enough to enjoy it, but not long enough to truly hate it.  Rubio's fish tacos, great beaches, good downtown night life, and some really good stories. 

Those are just some of my tidbits.  For those coming into the program, yes you will read a lot of bitter stories from both myself and others on this forum.  However, the old adage "A B#*@!(*G sailor is a Happy Sailor" will never hold more true.  It is our nature.  We won't sugar coat anything, we will give you hell for everything, but in the end we will appreciate your service and may even buy you a beer if we ever see you(assuming you aren't driving and are over the legal age of 21 and are > 6 hours from duty or watchstanding and there isn't currently a CO standing order against it ).

[withroaj]

Angles and Dangles...  This never got old.  In fact, I'd say it is one of the coolest things submariners get to do.  When you get going on a long underway you have to take some steep up and down angles and large rudder turns to verify everything is stowed for sea.  You can sit on the deck in ERUL on the stbd side, slide from the turbine bedplates and crash into the drinking fountain.  Loads of fun!

WARNING:  There's a word or two of 'submarine' language on this video.  Get the kiddies out of the room before hitting play.

[NukeNTO]

-Standing surfaced OOD, smoking a nice stoagie.
-Good pay (say what you want, I know for a fact I make more than all my engineering buddies from college except for one--patent attorney)
-Shore Duty!!

[G-reg]

Some of the places I've been to, which I never would have seen if not for the Navy:

The North Pole (yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus).

The Southern Hemisphere (twice, including one trip to Australia!).

London (a great tourist spot, if you ever get the chance to go).

France.

Italy.

Spain.

Gibraltar.

Greece.

Bahrain.

Dubai.

The Panama Canal (three times through the Ditch).

Curacao (which is right next to Aruba).

Guam.

Singapore.

Hong Kong.

Korea.

Japan.

Saipan.

Australia (I know I mentioned it earlier, but it's worth mentioning twice!).

There are probably more places, this is just the list off the top of my head.

How many people do you know who can produce a list like that?  And the only reason that I can produce the list above is because of my career as a Navy Nuke.

[KJC88]

Thank you all for posting this, great reading. I'll definitely come back in 2 years and post some of my "good" times here hopefully if this post is still around or if I have to dig it out from the grave. 

[withroaj]

Those sweet certificates from Tiffany Publishing Company like the Domain of the Golden Dragon and Order of the Ditch (alright, fine -- those are the only two I have), and the 1MC announcements when you pass the associated milestone to get one.  I have no idea why, but it's hilarious and priceless at the same time.

[JustinHEMI05]

The Inner Room in Port Canveral rocks.

Along with that, there is a little french restaurant at the top of the hill in Brest France... best food ever... period. There is also an old man in a hole in the wall in Greece who has my boat zippo, best crowd ever... period.


Justin

[PapaBear765]

The Inner Room in Port Canveral rocks.

Justin

I concur.

[withroaj]

Schools.

In addition to the prestigeous Naval Nuclear Propulsion Schools, taking a job as a Navy Nuke opens up some great educational opportunities while you're in.  Navy schools come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are in-depth technical classes that greatly upgrade your knowledge on specific aspects of your nuke job.  Others offer great working hours and a nice break from the fast pace of shipboard life.  I figured some of the folks out here can describe a few and let the new kids know what they could experience.  I'll start.

RadCon Tech. Qualification School (RCTQS) - I'm in this one right now.  Located in charming Portsmouth, VA  , RCTQS is a great radcon school.  When I got orders there, I thought it would be like other fleet schools (short days, to say the least), and I've been pleasantly surprised since I arrived.  It has been the most challenging school I've seen thus far in the Navy; and it gets down to the nitty-gritty details of the RadCon world.  I'd recommend it to anyone interested in building a RadCon resume.  And on the "lighter" side...

R-114 School/EPA Universal Refrigerant tech school - This was a dream school to get sent to from the boat.  Miss an underway, work short days (not short enough to warrant a deeper look - just better than boat hours), and you come out on the other side with an EPA certification that lasts the rest of your life (you still need to keep up with the changing requirements if you actually want to do refrigerant handling work).  Who wants to be a refrigerant tech?  Who knows, it's a good way to pad a resume and keep some post-Navy options open.

I've been to a couple more, but I'd like some other folks to advertise their school experiences.  By the way, I'm sorry if this came across as a recruiting ad.  It wasn't my intent; I just wanted to keep the good Navy discussion going.

[Fermi2]

NPTU Idaho Falls renting a Military Assault Raft for 2 dollars and taking it over Lower Mesa Falls. Priceless.

By the way regfrigeration is a great profession to get into. Fridge Techs are in High Demand.

Mike

[AskewDivergent]

Steel beach picnics. It seemed I was always on watch for them. Even though I had to beg, bribe and threaten for a relief, that 10 minutes of soaking up rays and warm salt water would make a 3 week ORSE workup feel less grueling.

[walkinonstatestreet]

Bumping this,
I'm a nuke prospect and with all of the negativity around this forum, this is exactly what I needed to make a decision.

[DDMurray]

Bumping this,
I'm a nuke prospect and with all of the negativity around this forum, this is exactly what I needed to make a decision.

When you find a career/job without "negativity", post it here.  What percent of nukes do you think post on this website?  If it's over 10-15% I'd be surprised.  The rest are too busy or not interested. 

Most nukes I know go to work and bitch about home, then go home and bitch about work.  According to my first COB that just means we're happy.

[walkinonstatestreet]

I'm clearly aware that being a nuke is hard work. However, being an optimist, It was nice to see good things posted about a strenuous job. When prospects, like myself, come to this forumn in search of answers and encouragement hidden between the lines of abbreviated straight-talk, it's nice to know that there is more to the work than just work. With much of my family in the military, some of these gems really hit home.

That's why I bumped it.

[number41]

12 1/2 years in as an MMC (SS/SW) and got out, but there were still some AWESOME things about being a navy nuke submariner:

1.)  The people.  A lot of them sucked, but the ones that didn't will always be my friends.  I haven't seen some of them in years, but I know that when I DO see them, it's like no time has passed at all; we're immediately best friends again.  That's rare in the civilian world.
2.)  The places you see:  Hawaii, Japan, Guam(bodia), Thailand, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, England, Spain, and quite a few more.
3.)  Receiving one of the most valuable, hands on, technically based educations possible.  If you think that you're going to go to ITT tech and get the same job that you do as an Ex-Navy Nuke, then I've got a bridge for sale.
4.)  Endless opportunities available if you are willing to work for them:  Navy Schools, College Programs, Cross-deck opportunities, etc.
5.)  The Navy Nuke program offered me a way to become a responsible adult with a good education, excellent work ethic, and a technical background that will allow me to succeed for the rest of my life.  Without the opportunities presented by this program, me and a lot of the people I know from the program would not be making $100k+ per year to operate a multi-billion dollar machine.  We'd still be working some deadbeat job in a podunk hole in the road because we were unfocused, undisciplined college dropouts. 

If you need more of a reason than #5 to join the Navy Nuclear Program, then being a Navy Nuke probably isn't for you.

[NukeLDO]

Those sweet certificates from Tiffany Publishing Company like the Domain of the Golden Dragon and Order of the Ditch (alright, fine -- those are the only two I have), and the 1MC announcements when you pass the associated milestone to get one.  I have no idea why, but it's hilarious and priceless at the same time.

So I wonder how the Blue Nose ceremony will look now in the "new" Navy?  I'm betting it won't be underwear on inside out and backwards crawling through the slime on the mess decks to get the cherry from King Neptune's belly button!

[JustinHEMI05]

12 1/2 years in as an MMC (SS/SW) and got out, but there were still some AWESOME things about being a navy nuke submariner:

1.)  The people.  A lot of them sucked, but the ones that didn't will always be my friends.  I haven't seen some of them in years, but I know that when I DO see them, it's like no time has passed at all; we're immediately best friends again.  That's rare in the civilian world.
2.)  The places you see:  Hawaii, Japan, Guam(bodia), Thailand, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, England, Spain, and quite a few more.
3.)  Receiving one of the most valuable, hands on, technically based educations possible.  If you think that you're going to go to ITT tech and get the same job that you do as an Ex-Navy Nuke, then I've got a bridge for sale.
4.)  Endless opportunities available if you are willing to work for them:  Navy Schools, College Programs, Cross-deck opportunities, etc.
5.)  The Navy Nuke program offered me a way to become a responsible adult with a good education, excellent work ethic, and a technical background that will allow me to succeed for the rest of my life.  Without the opportunities presented by this program, me and a lot of the people I know from the program would not be making $100k+ per year to operate a multi-billion dollar machine.  We'd still be working some deadbeat job in a podunk hole in the road because we were unfocused, undisciplined college dropouts.  

If you need more of a reason than #5 to join the Navy Nuclear Program, then being a Navy Nuke probably isn't for you.

Well said, I agree with all of the above, except my number 2 is different, and I was a 9 year MM1/SS MM/ELT. But I am too lazy to write out my own post so I am saying I agree with yours.  

[LuckyStrike]

Bumping this,
I'm a nuke prospect and with all of the negativity around this forum, this is exactly what I needed to make a decision.

The negativity will get you ready if you decide to go full-nuke.

I'm an ex six year MM(SW) nuke... Truxtun. One of my best scams was getting Surface Warfare qualified. As long as I had my qual book I could hang out on the mess decks to 'study' or topside to 'check out the radar'. It was a license to steal.

When I look back I tend to forget the bad times and remember the good. There really is a sense of comradery when you're all standing in the cesspool.

good times:

1. Port calls and the weeks that led up to them. The salty old timers (who were 22 years old) would chum the waters with stories until you stormed the beach.

2. Getting out and getting a good job where I actually work with ex-nukes.

3. The navy lit my travel bug. I went to more places out of the navy than I did while I was in.

[JustinHEMI05]

I'm clearly aware that being a nuke is hard work. However, being an optimist, It was nice to see good things posted about a strenuous job. When prospects, like myself, come to this forumn in search of answers and encouragement hidden between the lines of abbreviated straight-talk, it's nice to know that there is more to the work than just work. With much of my family in the military, some of these gems really hit home.

That's why I bumped it.

I am not sure why people are smiting you, but I am trying to keep up with . Maybe they like to pretend this forum isn't negative leaning towards the Navy? I don't know, but good luck to you! The NNPP is the way to go!

[Gamecock]

I am not sure why people are smiting you, but I am trying to keep up with . Maybe they like to pretend this forum isn't negative leaning towards the Navy? I don't know, but good luck to you! The NNPP is the way to go!

I agree....


to the kid

[Elrond116]

Most nukes I know go to work and bitch about home, then go home and bitch about work.  According to my first COB that just means we're happy.

My first COB used to say that, too; "A bitching nuke is a happy nuke!"  To any prospective nukes still reading this far down: there'll be bitching a'plenty whether you've got a good command or a bad command (I've seen both now), but at the end of the day, the job really is what you make of it; don't ever let someone else's bitching steal your happiness .