How to prepare for Navy NPS

[mcd_808]

aloha

first of all, i just wanted to say that this site is very helpful. i have been visiting this site for about a month now, but i finally got my lazy butt to actually post something. (). i too am in the navy nuclear program, i went to meps at the end of march. i took the asvab the first day. and i had to spend 10 hours, the next day getting my physical. anyways...i wanted to leave asap, so i was able to get a ship date at the end of june  i look forward to corresponding with some of the ppl on here.

thats all for now.
bye
   

[navykid55]

i too am a Depper in the Nuke program.  Scored a 94 on the ASVAB and 59 of 80 on Nuke test. I am shipping off May 24th.  I have learned so much by reading everyone's post and i'm glad to know that i'm not the only one that is nervous. one of thing things not addressed tho is what i will need to take to Great Lakes as in supplies or clothes.  i would greatly appreciate the info. also, i want to travel a lot, so should i go for a carrier or a sub?

[Marlin]

Navykid the proper way to phrase your question is....should I go for a target or a sub..

[Roll Tide]

i too am a Depper in the Nuke program.  Scored a 94 on the ASVAB and 59 of 80 on Nuke test. I am shipping off May 24th.  I have learned so much by reading everyone's post and i'm glad to know that i'm not the only one that is nervous. one of thing things not addressed tho is what i will need to take to Great Lakes as in supplies or clothes.  i would greatly appreciate the info. also, i want to travel a lot, so should i go for a carrier or a sub?

Congratulations on your upcoming adventure!
What you need to bring: if you need it, the Navy will issue it. Bring an address book and the minimum you need for the first night (a disposable travel kit or equivalent!)

The old saying is: "If the Navy wants you to have it, they will issue it!" Never more true than Boot Camp!

[Adidas2806]

i do know that once you get to bootcamp, you have two choices. evrrything you brought with yuo(including clothes on your back) you must either donate to charity or mail back home. you cannot even keep it with you! best not to bring anything at all.
c ya in charleston!
Sean

[Mah1985]

Hey I just thought i'd say that i talked to my recruitor today and managed to get my ship date pushed up to may 25..only 27 more days, thank god no more waiting!! see ya in charleston...(if not rtc)

Mark

[Roll Tide]

Hey I just thought i'd say that i talked to my recruitor today and managed to get my ship date pushed up to may 25..only 27 more days, thank god no more waiting!! see ya in charleston...(if not rtc)

Mark

Should I point out it means you can get out of the Navy sooner? Thanks for deciding to serve our country!

[Mah1985]

speaking of getting out earlier. what does everybody think about either doing 6 or doing 20 years? does it look any better if you are a chief compared to a petty officer? or does actual experience in the civ world look better? also it seems like the pay is really nice for civ nukes but is there any kind of retirement benefits or pension and if so how many years would you have to work before you could get them? thanks again to nukeworker.com.. it has to be the best resource out there for this kind of info

Mark

[Roll Tide]

speaking of getting out earlier. what does everybody think about either doing 6 or doing 20 years? does it look any better if you are a chief compared to a petty officer? or does actual experience in the civ world look better? also it seems like the pay is really nice for civ nukes but is there any kind of retirement benefits or pension and if so how many years would you have to work before you could get them? thanks again to nukeworker.com.. it has to be the best resource out there for this kind of info

Mark

I don't think there's a significant difference between E-5 with 5 years and an E-6 with 6 years; also E-6 with 10 years is about the same as E-7 with 10 years.

After 11 1/2 years in the Navy, I got out as an E-6. Once I had 1 year of commercial experience, I was preferred to E-7/8/9 with 20 years fresh out of the Navy. The money isn't why you go in the Navy, don't let it be the reason to stay in!

One advantage of the Navy is if you work for a government agency afterwards, you can get some credit from your Navy service.

Most commercial utilities have 401K and pension programs which are portable (you take it with you when you leave, if you meet the restrictions.) If a utility matches half of your 401K contributions, you may have to spend 5-6 years with the company before you are "fully vested." You could leave earlier than that and have all the money you put in the program.

With $10,000 a year (average in 2004 dollars) of your contributions for 30 years and company matching funds, you might have $500,000 before figuring in the fact that it's in a mutual fund and should be growing! That means you could retire with $1 million, and draw interest only from your account at 54 (18 + 6 + 30)! I guess you could cut these figures in half for 20 years commercial.

I doubt you will have a Navy program which provides as much benefit in 30 years, and the 15 year retirement is really sad: It works out to about 1/3 of BASE pay from your final pay month.

On the other hand, if you are doing a vital service for your country, that's worth more than a 401K!

[Roll Tide]

Some additional reading on the subject:

http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php?topic=400/0

[dav8]

To the ones wondering what to bring, when I went through 5 years ago you kept the clothes you wore there in a bag that stayed in your barracks.  I would bring a good set of razors, the ones they supply you with are single blade disposables.  And I wouldn't worry about doing 20 years until you have done 2 years.  And I don't believe you can get Seaman to admiral in a contract.  For a good idea on what to expect of your time in the Navy, check out:
www.funtimenavy.com

[l2aider1]

Hey Maher I also ship out the 25th of may also, I might just see you in a-school, or nuc school.

[Mah1985]

where are you from?

[l2aider1]

I'm from Ft. Meade, Maryland.  We've got 15 more days left, and I'm pretty excited about it.  I think boot camp will be fun.  Feel free to pm me so we don't spam on this thread.  Thanks again to everyone at nukeworker.com for all the tips and advice. 

[moodusjack]

Be prepared for the Command Career Councilor hard sell campaign to tach on just two more years for retention bonus (i.e., total of eight vis-a-vis six years).

If you get selected for ELT training, I'd recommend that you do the six and become an HP.  Compare the bonus money with the salary ranges posted here and at those other sites.  The extra two years experience will probably not add a lot to your resume from the Commerical (or DOE) world perspective, either.  You'll be considered a "junior senior".

I reuped in the mid 70's.   Not much jobs during the Nixon wage freeze days.  Then, May 79.  Soon many HP jobs cropped up.  Radiation was front page and Anchor Man news.  Chuckie P and Bobbie L were advertising in Navy Times for HPs.  It was chump change now, but it was exponetial with respect to my monthly draw from the military. 

Think "ching ching", and you'll do alright.

[azkidd]

For all it is worth, My brother will be Retiring from the Navy in 2007, after 20 years, at the age of 41, as of now is a Senior Chief, has shore duty in San Diego ( except for his last 6 months), and still will be young enough to join the civilian world as an Electrical Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, HP, Control Room Supervisor, Shift Manager, any Engineering field, any degreed field, or.....accept a job at what he does now....FTCPAC.  He is a Technical expert for the Pacific Fleet, on Nuclear boats.  Just think...an Income from the Navy...for life, benefits, as well as Income, 401K AND another RETIREMENT FROM CIVI LIFE IF HE CHOOSES TO DO SO.  And as far as Carrier versus Sub....for the money a Carrier is where it is at.  Room, size, and the fact that in order to be a target, they have to go through many Vessels to get to an Aircraft Carrier (Including Subs).
For all it is worth, I wish I had taken the opportunity to enlist in the Nuclear Navy, and go as far as my Brother has, rather than start out as a Deconner, and work my way up to an HP.  I was Ignorant not to.  On top of that, travelling the world.  I hope that you FULLY investigate your career, rather than listen to this website and all who have never gone the 20 year distance.  Know your goals before you jump.
I am currently urging my son to prepare himself for College, or the Nuclear Navy.  My two cents worth.

[Adidas2806]

l2aider1- in case you didnt get my message, i live in odenton, right down the street from you. kind of an odd thign to run into someone so close. do you go to the recruiting station opn mountain road? we might have the same recruiter even!

[Adidas2806]

Alrighty, one major line of discussion on one of the other threads was about the security clearance to getinto nps, and that financial matters are the main reason your clearance gets put on hold before you can go to nuke school.
    Make a long story short, my taxes havent been filed for 2003 yet. my mother claimed me on her taxes, therefore  taking away my 900 dollar refund and making me owe like 200 bucks. didnt have the money at the time, so i was planning on filing an extension. mother told me she would take care of it, and she said she did the next afternoon. well i just found out last week she lied and never got around to it.
   the question: i brought this to my recruiters attention, as i plan on driving down to the irs building in annapolis next week to iron all this crap out, but he told me it wouldnt affect my navy clearance because i already had it. apparently he talked to someone lastweek and they mentioned that i was already approved.....
     is this correct? or is this just some recruiter talking to get me in faster-as i do not wish to be on hold between rtc and nps. any comments or advice greatly appreciated!

[Roll Tide]

Unless the Navy has made some major changes since 9/11, you don't have a clearance yet. Make sure when you get to MEPS that everything is documented, so if there are any problems it isn't because you hid something.

If they don't want to document this (at MEPS), don't sign anything until they do. NOTHING! When you explain you aren't going to do that, they will document it just to make you sign and move on down the assembly line. Trust me, you don't want stuff like this to haunt you down the road. Stick to your guns while you hold all the chips.

[Trinian23]

Risking continuing a dead thread, I am going to reiterate what I said in a different thread, STUDY.

Congratulations on all of you joining the nuclear pipeline, it is an extremely tough but rewarding school, and you will be forever changed because of it. In between A school and Power school I was on T-track due to only having an interim security clearance. These are granted on the CO level (I believe) In order to go into NPS, you actually had to have the clearance. But don't fret, it is not a bad thing to be on T-track, it is a chance to take a break from school and enjoy things for a little bit, you can explore the area, go to the beach and go find those College of Charleston girls! After NPS, there is prototype. One thing I have not noticed in earlier posts is that nobody has mentioned the oppurtunities for students to be a Staff Pick Up (SPU). This is very good oppurtunity, especially for those of you who are looking to get into an officer program and who may have not made it the first time around. As a SPU, you are an instructor at the Prototype, and you are the low man on the totem pole, but you also very quickly become the technical expert in a lot of areas of plant operations since you end up doing everything. Being a SPU myself until a year ago, I have some advice for those of you going into prototype. First off DO NOT data dump everything you learned in NPS and more importantly "A" school, and while I am at it, try to not just memorize everything in those previous schools. If you have a good working understanding of the rate specific information, you will be able to understand the integrated plant a lot easier...therefore get better grades. Second off, use every oppurtunity you have to learn where valves, switchboards, etc... are. There is always a half hour "end of shift" cleanup, while cleaning, figure out what it is you are cleaning. Physically touch (if you can safely do it) every component that you are studying to get it into your head. DO NOT be intimidated by the instructors at prototype, they are there to help you even though they may be a little gruff at times (hey we're in the Navy). And if you want to be a SPU, it's simple, show some initiative, spend QUALITY time studying, don't be cocky, and review, review, review. If you don't, you will forget stuff that you didn't realize you forgot. And I will dispell this myth also, where I was (s8G), the speed of qualification of a student had absolutely no bearing on whether or not he/she was picked up as a SPU, it was knowledge, test scores, leadership ability, and personality. The most important part of the whole pipeline though, maximize liberty! This is extremely important! I am not saying go get s$&t kickin drunk all of the time (although it may happen every once in a while, oh the stories I could tell) I am saying go out and have a good time, go to the beach, go hiking, waterskiing, whatever floats your boat.
    Fair winds and Following seas.

[Roll Tide]

There is a reason I didn't suggest Staff Puke Up. I think it is a waste of time for a Sailor who wants operating experience in a shipboard envoronment.

I can see where the experience could be useful for someone with the ultimate goal of getting a commission. If your goal is to get some time in the Navy, then get out & go commercial I would suggest going straight to sea. If your goal is enlisted advancement, I would suggest go to sea and then prototype or NPS as instructor.

Just my opinion, but it's based on the success (and failure) of hundreds of Sailors and ex-Sailors I have worked alongside over the past 20 years.

[ISOCS]

 The best way to prepare for nuke school is via math, physics, and chemistry. Always pay attention in class, do homework, ask questions, and most importantly write everything down. The attrition rate is 50%. If you don't make it, you only have to do 4 yrs. and at least you'll have a rate.

[buzz]

Whats up man,

As opposed to most of these other guys I'm still in.  First off don't screw up in boot.  Alot of nukes lose nuke status by failing PRT 2.  Even though your smart you still have to do the physical stuff.  At the end of boot your given your rate.  Of course they ask you what you want to be but don't expect to get it.  When you get to A School don't screw around.  I thought it was a breeze and you scored better on the ASVAB then I did.  Still study.  You want to be top dog in your class.  It's not just an ego thing.  Don't worry about boning up before you go.  All you need to know they teach you.  Just study the hell out of it.  Also don't fall into a bad cycle.  Go have fun on your off time but don't get stupid.  Half my class in power school were kicked out due to failing scores.  These guys were smart too, they just liked to drink and have fun not a good idea when you need to study harder then you ever have.  After power school you've got it licked.  Just remeber every thing you do is cared with you until you leave the millitary.  If you want any special schools or programs, you better have a good record to prove why you deserve it. 

Good Luck
MM1 (SW/AW)

[Fermi2]

I was in Class 8502  in section MM "F". What section were you in?

A word of advice, I'm a commercial nuke. I left the Navy in 1990 as an MM1 SS ELT.

I've moved up about as fast as you can in this industry and have been a Shift Manager at Fermi2 (A BWR the best type of reactor in the world). I'm soon to be an Operations Manager at another utility, I've had a Reactor Operators License since 1994 and a Senior Reactor Operators License since 1998. A few words of advice if you want to become a Commercial Nuke

1: Most nukes are getting 20 year life extensions which wil take many to the late 2040s.

2: STUDY and if you want to be a commercial nuke you'd best learn cross rate stuff, it's a lot tougher in the commercial world. The level of knowledge is more in depth and in breadth. What you learned in the Navy will be extremely basic.

3: Most Commercial Nukes are ex Staff instructors with over 75% being ex Staff Pick Ups.

4: Being an ELT will not get you any preference in getting a job in either HP or Chemistry in the commercial world.

5: If you want a job in Commercial Operations the rate to go is MM. I have 4 reactor Operators and 2 Senior Reactor Operators on my shift. I also have 8 non licensed operators (Operate power plant equipment but not the reactor itself). My ROs are all ex MMs. My SROs are an EM and a Conventional ET (with an Engineering degree). Out of 9 Shift Managers at my plant 7 are Ex MMs, 1 is an Ex EM the other was a civilian with a degree. MMs tend to move up extremely quickly in this industry because they have a very good broad view in Power plant operations. Of my Non Licensed Operators 4 are ex MMs, and 4 were civilians we hired in because they'd worked at the plant in other capacities and had one key ingredient we couldn't get from Navy guys, They knew how commercial plants did business. My shift is unique in that regard in that most shifts are entirely ex Navy. There are only 2 ex ETs in our Operations Department, none are supervisors.

6: Have fun, the Navy nuclear program is outstanding, and a great time. Although I said it's very basic compared to commercial programs it is the building block on which we built our training programs.

7: In 1990 I hired in here at 40 K a year. Bu 1994 I was making about 60K (All without overtime) Now I make roughly 140 K without OT.

8: NPS will be the most rewarding experience of your life but I'll warn you right now. Your 99 ASVAB and your GPA don't mean jack shit in the Navy Program. You can Ace Nuke School and drop in Prototype, you'll find a lot of guys who do well in NPS have a tougher time in Prototype because it's a totally different learning experience. That's not true in all cases. I finished 2nd in 8502 and finished Prototype in 14 weeks. The guy who finished 3rd needed an extension and took almost 32 weeks. The guy who finished 4th ended up being dropped. We all went to A1W in 1985.


Mike Brubaker

[RCLCPO]

True.

While NPS is the "book learning" school, prototype is the "hands-on" school.  High scores at one school do not always mean high scores at the other.  In fact, the "anchorman" at my NPS class (8507), graduating with something like a 2.51 gpa, was #1 in his class at prototype because, while not a written test-taker, he kicked aft while on watch.  I saw others with 3.8-3.9 gpa's from NPS never understand that it's lefty-Loosey, righty-tighty.  We've all known nerds that were great guys, but didn't have a lick of common sense.

Work ethic also is a factor.  As a supervisor out in the fleet, I'd much rather have someone who had a 2.8-3.3 gpa and wasn't adverse to a little effort, than someone with a 3.8 gpa who never had to work for it.