Finally Joining

[Frogman164]

I decided to enlist and looking forward to the nuclear field (sorry for my lack of terms) and being 19 I have a lot to learn. I was going to the recruiters today until I found this forum and I held off and going next week so I really know what I'm getting into. I have tons of questions but they are typical newbie questions (I admin for other high traffic forums so as a mod I can understand the sighs and groans of common questions) and I'm reading and searching to get an idea.

I'm very intelligent but more importantly my attitude is great towards many things so the schooling I've heard is "tough" which I am sure it is. Many have said "study, show 110% effort, ask questions and you will pass" which I do anyways. I know for a fact I want to do the navy nuclear field[submarines] - well that was poor answer because I'm not looking at the big picture here, I have to consider what/when I want to go commercial.

I'm just wet behind the ears so I have no idea what different jobs I can do (I'm still poking around a bit). I'm probably smart enough to skip the USN and go to MIT but I'd rather serve my country, build my character, and take advantage of getting a degree at the end of my Naval service.

I'm still reading through the Collection of Useful posts trying to make of what ratings and all that-so far I learned it doesn't matter since I'll be doing the dirty work for 6-8 years. Well then I should ask: Whats the easiest way to clean grease off my face and teeth?  I don't know how exactly recruiters are but I'm trying to get learn enough to call his bluff.

Thanks I spared you from answering stupid questions but I just wanted a welcome and good luck in my start of my career and life.

[co60slr]

I decided to enlist and looking forward to the nuclear field (sorry for my lack of terms) and being 19 I have a lot to learn. I was going to the recruiters today until I found this forum and I held off and going next week so I really know what I'm getting into. I have tons of questions but they are typical newbie questions (I admin for other high traffic forums so as a mod I can understand the sighs and groans of common questions) and I'm reading and searching to get an idea.

I'm very intelligent but more importantly my attitude is great towards many things so the schooling I've heard is "tough" which I am sure it is. Many have said "study, show 110% effort, ask questions and you will pass" which I do anyways. I know for a fact I want to do the navy nuclear field[submarines] - well that was poor answer because I'm not looking at the big picture here, I have to consider what/when I want to go commercial.

I'm just wet behind the ears so I have no idea what different jobs I can do (I'm still poking around a bit). I'm probably smart enough to skip the USN and go to MIT but I'd rather serve my country, build my character, and take advantage of getting a degree at the end of my Naval service.

I'm still reading through the Collection of Useful posts trying to make of what ratings and all that-so far I learned it doesn't matter since I'll be doing the dirty work for 6-8 years. Well then I should ask: Whats the easiest way to clean grease off my face and teeth?  I don't know how exactly recruiters are but I'm trying to get learn enough to call his bluff.

Thanks I spared you from answering stupid questions but I just wanted a welcome and good luck in my start of my career and life.

Well then...welcome, and Good Luck!

Meanwhile, don't be afraid of your Recruiter.  It's like car shopping...go look around and ask questions all you want, but don't sign the contract until YOU are ready.

[zyrxy]

I would sign the contract even if you are not ready, since waiting time can be almost a year to go off to basic training.  And if you decide its not for you then you dont have to show up and can just leave with no penalties.

[Frogman164]

Update: Talked to this really sleazy recruiter; I'm glad I know what I want to do and sign up for or else he'd have me talked into something else. And he thought the nuclear program was overmanned & it was the top schooling. I signed the papers anyhow so I'm waiting for MEPs.

Thanks for the advice I asked him a lot of questions, the common ones I asked were on the forum so I wanted to see if was trying to b.s. me or even discourage me from the nuke program.

[zyrxy]

I think it is getting overmanned, they recently dropped the enlistment bonus to like 10k-15k or something and just from my recruiting station we have 4 nukes.  Also people like me are getting into it (got like 75 on asvab or something), when I was at MEPS I had to write a paper on why I want to join the nuke program and it wasnt pretty since I had no idea what it was so I just wrote some bs and said "The nuke program looks really challenging and it will provide me with lots of opportunities in the future."  I got that much from the fact that they were giving me 21k and making me write about why I want to join.

[crusemm]

they recently dropped the enlistment bonus to like 10k-15k

This has more to do with the economy than manning.  It's a supply and demand issue.  The number of nuclear billets that need to be manned has had a very small amount of growth over the last few years, and that growth is projected to remain constant for a long time to come.  What has changed is the supply of people trying to get into those billets, which has gone up markedly in the last two years.  As the national economy has gone into a nose dive, the fields that were formerly seen to be very promising to bright young high school graduates and college drop outs are not seen to be as attractive anymore.  Fields like construction, banking/loans, real estate, certain other financial industry jobs, and certain trades.  Now all of those bright young boys and girls are seeing the Navy as a viable option due to the assurance of a steady pay check, benefits, potential for advancement and some bonuses.  So if your the Navy, and suddenly you have 20-30 more people knocking on your door every month, you don't need the big bonuses to entice them into your offices.  The same explanation goes for SRB's.  I would not be surprised if SRB's and enlistment bonuses went down to only a couple grand each in the near future, very similar to the early 80's.