Rate your NFAS/NPS/NPTU Student Experience!

[withroaj]

This might be a fun and exciting way to discuss our pipeline experiences.  From salty sea dogs to folks fresh out of boot camp, you folks can (and should for purely non-scientific statistical purposes) rate your time as a student in Goose Creek, SC (and Ballston Spa, NY for the folks that went up north).  You can change your vote, just in case your mind changes as you progress through the pipeline.

[JustinHEMI05]

I was the biggest diggit ever while in the pipeline. I voted bleeds blue and gold. After that.... I voted I quit in the other thread. 

Justin

PS And by biggest diggit ever I mean; I flew a Navy flag, had Navy bumper stickers, had TWO versions of Anchors Aweigh play on my computer... one for booting up, one for shutting down, had a USN mouse pad, a USN background, spent more time preparing my military creases and shining my boots than I did just about anything else, wore my uniform around voluntarily, practiced all of those silly things we learned in bootcamp like general orders of a sentry, Sailors creed, folding techniques (still use some!), watch my bootcamp graduation video weekly, etc. 

[mlslstephens]

I was the biggest diggit ever while in the pipeline. I voted bleeds blue and gold. After that.... I voted I quit in the other thread. 

Justin

PS And by biggest diggit ever I mean; I flew a Navy flag, had Navy bumper stickers, had TWO versions of Anchors Aweigh play on my computer... one for booting up, one for shutting down, had a USN mouse pad, a USN background, spent more time preparing my military creases and shining my boots than I did just about anything else, wore my uniform around voluntarily, practiced all of those silly things we learned in bootcamp like general orders of a sentry, Sailors creed, folding techniques (still use some!), watch my bootcamp graduation video weekly, etc. 

Wow, you were a diggit.  Too bad that one bad PMC made you trade in your shovel for a "paper clip".

BTW, I still fold my t-shirts thin thick thick thin too.  I taught my wife and kids to fold them that way as well.

[JustinHEMI05]

Wow, you were a diggit.  Too bad that one bad PMC made you trade in your shovel for a "paper clip".

BTW, I still fold my t-shirts thin thick thick thin too.  I taught my wife and kids to fold them that way as well.

Oh it was more than that one my friend. 

Anyway, ya they actually teach you some good things in boot, I still do my T shirts that way too. 

[dagiffy]

I was actually pretty miserable the whole way through. Before NNPS I had only algebra 1, never even heard of imaginary numbers, never had any chemistry or physics ever. As we were force fed the information, almost all of it was the first I had ever heard of any of it. I was basically behind the wave all the way through, but I made it. Looking back, it's because of that program that I can focus, I know how to study, and I know how to budget my time.

[Preciousblue1965]

The actual class room stuff wasn't bad at all.  The hours were long, but I found the school itself pretty easy.  I rarely did more than 10 hours a week for study time, and that was only because my section advisor told me to or else he would put me on 10s.  I actually enjoyed learning the nuclear power stuff.  It wasn't until prototype that the seed of discontent was planted.  It then went into hibernation until I actually got qualified my first watch on the ship and got some salt behind my ears.  By the time I went back to Prototype for my "shore"  duty, my discontent had blossomed into a full blown "Free the Nukes" Orchard.

[Fermi2]

Loved it. Had a great time in Orlando, never studied more than about 5 hours a week. Watched a lot of great movies and the USFL Team the Orlando Renegades played there at the time. Dated 3 of their cheerleaders. Made some great friends. Overall a great experience.

[AFT21]

School wasn't too hard, made it a point to pay attention in class and never had to study too much.  Most of my extra hours were spent in group study helping my friends.

Made it a point to get off base at least once a week.
Played a lot of pick up roller hockey and football.
Met some girls from College of Charleston, had a bunch of fun there.
Road trip every three day weekend.
Bought a motorcycle, one of my buddies taught me to ride it.
Got to NY, another friend taught me to snowboard.

Looking back, the training was the most fun I had in the Navy, I didn't know at the time how good I had it.  I still wouldn't classify myself a diggit though.

MM1/SS

[Evl_Twn]

Probably some of the best times i had in the navy, sure goose creek sucked, but the college of charelston was so damn close. I never spent more than about 10 hours a week for "after hours" study and went through with no major issues of hickups, at prototype i qualified week 17 and had 6 weeks of being the food B&%^% which was great, concidering i was home 4 hours after i left.

[DLGN25]

A long time ago, but at NPS, a shipmate of mine faked a drug overdose.  He was taken to hospital where the antidote was given, almost killed him, after awhile in the Oak Knoll Psychiatric Unit he was discharged from the service.

At NPTU West Milton, I saw the head of a guy in class go limp.  He didn't die, he just checked out, turned off if you will, so out of the service to a VA Psychiatric unit he went.  Another guy, in the middle of winter, ran naked, screaming out the main gate, tossing his badge at the guard.  He too went off to a psychiatric unit.

A couple other guys just refused to study.  Both got orders to Gitmo.

For me, it was not that bad, although I spent way to much time drinking beer in the Rathskeller with the Skidmore girls.

[Fermi2]

I remember one guy I went to Prototype with who "overdosed" on some sort of pills as he said he was "suicidal". He almost had his "suicidal" tendencies bought off until he the Nut Doc asked him why he selected a the amount of pills he took vice just chugging the bottle. Said member said
"Well I figured anymore might be fatal"
He ended up out in the fleet doing something non nuclear so his plan didn't work out quite the way he wanted.

In my nuke school class 8502 Section MMF we had a guy who was doing quite well, around the 3.2 to 3.4 range and every now and then he'd get a 3.9 or 4.0 on a test. Then with about maybe 5 or 6 weeks left the Section Adviser, a LT CDR, and a chief (We had an EM1 as an Adviser, a really great guy EM1 (SS) Pete Frangione) came into the classroom a couple hours after an exam and literally escorted the guy out. Now the guy seemed ok after the exam, we went out to that common area where everyone smoked during the second half of NPS in Orlando and he was coking and joking with me and a couple other guys just like always.
Turns out he turned in a nearly 4.0 exam except at the end of every answer he added but none of this is applicable if the Sub gets hit by a torpedo or depth charge and sinks.
NO ONE saw that one coming!

Outside of that there wasn't too much excitement, my three roommates in PNPS (Used to be the school you went to just prior to NPS) all ended up getting busted for drugs during Nuke School. One of the guys in my NPS Class ended up getting into HUGE trouble after I got out of the Navy for selling stuff to the Ruskies (Look up MM1 Kurt Lessenthein). Honestly I never saw that one coming. Kurt was quiet and a real nice guy, we knew each other in A School, I believe his downfall started with a woman. By the way my three Nuke School Room mates made it through and were all Avid D and D 'ers luckily I was there to ensure at least one MM in the Quad kept the strippers and bartenders employed.

Now the first guy I described was just an idiot. The last two guys were standup guys, willing to help their fellow sailor, and for some reason something inside them snapped.

Outside of that, sleeping with a Lady Ensign or LtJG every now and then was just plain fun!

Mikey

[metoo]

Wow!  It reads like you guys had a nice stint at the country club!  I humbly bow before my more cerebral brethren.   I am in awe of your intelect, but Damn jealous of your spare time while in the pipeline.  I was told I passed the NFQT by one point.  I believe that showed up in NPS, as I was on S-30 or 35.  I always put in more than that, and needed to.  I did end up with a 3.015.  Hey, every digit counts when you worked that hard for it!

I attended NPS in Orlando (8302).  I remember fondly the chow hall, Preschool and real school, and the Quad.  Occasionally, I'd hike it to the gate to meet the domino's guy.  Oh yeah, there was a Navy Exchange and I heard there was a lake.............

I do recall some guys (probably ET's)  talking about the Orange Blossom Trail, but I never got there.

One fond memory was of one of my teachers.  My HTFF teacher was MMCS Dennis.  This guy was one of the nicest guys a rock would ever luck into meeting.  He didn't talk down to you if you were trying, and just didn't get it.  He had ways of explaing things that just made it all make sense.  He had every problem memorized - EVERY ONE!  When someone would say "I had difficulty with homework problem # 17", without the aid of notes, he'd start in "that was where we had a sea water inlet temperature of 43 degrees, and we were trying to determine the change in Tave caused by swatting a mosquito in ERLL"......... and away he would go, explaining the entire problem from memory.  That was my best class with something like a 3.6 avg.  For a math teacher, we had a miserable excuse of a teacher who just happened to be about three days out of college himself.  I saw that look in his eyes when we first met, and I saw my nuclear career (all 3 months of it) flash before my eyes.  It was the same look as my childhood best friend (who was getting his PhD at MIT at the time) always had in his eyes.  He knew orders of magnitude more than anyone else, but couldn't explain how to pour piss out of a boot with the directions written on the heel!  I was glad a 2.5 got  me past math!

Some years later, I saw the HTFF instructor again as a squadron  officer up in Trident North area.  He'd traded in his stared-anchor for a pair of LT bars, and was still a good guy, and the best Damn teacher I've ever come across.

Sorry, no good girlie or booze stories - didn't have the intellect to have the time.  Still, NPS was a great memory though.

BTW, Our section leader who had a really good average in NPS failed out when we got to Ptype.  Nuke school was too easy for him, and he didn't know how to work when he had to.

One more memory.  After qualifying MO at Ptype, I called my girlfriend and asked her to marry me.  Yeah, I know - how romantic.  It's been a while now, so some of you young bucks can feel free to use that slick move AFTER you graduate.  In June, we'll celebrate 25 years!

All things considered, it was pretty cool stuff.

[Nuke2EAF]

Pete Frangione was a fantastic EDEA on my first boat, the 704 in '95.  His chiefs were well protected, he let them do their job.  I was fortunate to have been in his department.

Orlando was a great experience.  Met my wife right in front of the UCF entrance the first Friday night of my A school.  I was looking for a "rush" party, got more than I deserved!  Academically, the curriculum wasn't an issue.  Most that I saw struggling were struggling due to lifestyle choices more than anything else.  I wasn't chasing "it" during the 18 months there, had a good thing going.  There was a small group of us that were pretty tight through it all, we all wanted to stick together heading to prototype and all picked Connecticut.  For an hour or so, we thought we had it, then I get called to the SA's office...some problem with grade distribution or another and now I'm heading to Idaho.  I walk back in the classroom, share the news and all.  Five minutes later, the other couple of guys walk out, come back in, they are heading to Idaho now too!  We all end up on the same crew 5, though split between A1W and S5G.  It was providence, I don't think anywhere else would have been as great as Idaho.  We all got "scraped" up and stayed until we closed our respective plants down for training.  The two years in Idaho were by far the most rewarding years I spent in the Navy.

... left the Section Adviser, a LT CDR, and a chief (We had an EM1 as an Adviser, a really great guy EM1 (SS) Pete Frangione) came into the classroom a couple hours ...

[jsilvavalentin]

Well my pipeline experience wasn't that bad, only that I spent waay to long in it. School was not that hard. As long as I understood what was going on, I could remember everything for the test, so I barely put any study hours, My one year in T-Track was, well, too long. I was bored out of my mind doing pointless stuff. The only cool thing was when I worked in the VITA office doing taxes for 4 months. After being in Charleston for an endless year and 9 months I left for New York for prototype. Went to MARF, was one of the first to qualify, and after graduation, guess what, I was on hold again, this time for STA 21 and because of my wife being pregnant. At least I got to stay in section instead of going back tp being a paperwork b**ch. Had a blast for those 6 extra months up there. Learned a whole lot more than when I was a student, especially maintenance related things, things that up to today have helped me a lot when doing stuff on the boat, thanks to a bunch of good guys that were in my section (some that are around this board). I wanted to stay over there, but then I got orders to the Bush so I left. I like my job and I think that the way all this stuff works is cool. But I'm waay far from being a diggit. Doing this in the Navy is what limits how cool this stuff is right now. But I hope that in the future I get to join you guys out there @ civlant and become a "grown up" like you. 

[JustinHEMI05]

It was good having you too! 

Justin

[withroaj]

Sure I'm digging up an old thread, but we have new posters here with new experience and views on the pipeline.  Just bumping it up.