Wife leaves 20100830

[thenomads]

So as the title states, she leaves for bootcamp August 30th. She is a college grad and went enlisted because the Navy is paying all of her student loans. If you go in as an officer the offer for student loan repayment isn't an option. She has been in D.E.P. for almost a year and since then her old recruiter left and she has been getting new information and we are just trying to get some concrete answers. We have been googling, using the Navy Nuke facebook page and searching through these forums to find answers.

Her questions are

1. How does A-school work? Are we thrown into intense academics or are we slowly introduced into the courses? We have yet to really find a solid answer.

2. Do you get time to take courses towards getting my Masters or are nukes literally swamped with work like I always hear?

3. Can you become an instructor once a nuke, and is it as simple as submitting paperwork and hoping to get selected or how does that typically work?

4. Is ELT a job you can get selected for like the MM, EM, or ET?

My Question

1. I've read so many complaints of ex-nukes or nukes currently active. Is it really that bad? What is all the fuss about?


Hope all is well and thanks in advance for the replies!

[thenomads]

Thanks for your response... I think.

[DDMurray]

1. How does A-school work? Are we thrown into intense academics or are we slowly introduced into the courses? We have yet to really find a solid answer.

As a college graduate, A-school shouldn't be that challenging unless you don't try.  The courses are at a steady pace, but there's not a lot of breaks and each topic builds on the previous one.

2. Do you get time to take courses towards getting my Masters or are nukes literally swamped with work like I always hear?

You won't have time while in the training pipeline.  Once you get to a sea-going command, your first 18 months are spent in quals.  After intial quals, there may be limited opportunities for outside education.  Your best bet will be on a follow-on shore tour.

3. Can you become an instructor once a nuke, and is it as simple as submitting paperwork and hoping to get selected or how does that typically work?

Yes.  Be in the top half of your pipeline schools, qualify as EWS (or carrier equivalent) and earn good evals and it's possible.

4. Is ELT a job you can get selected for like the MM, EM, or ET?

MMs can request ELT during NPTU and they get selected for ELT by NPTU staff.  Once qualified, you can re-enlist for it.

My Question

1. I've read so many complaints of ex-nukes or nukes currently active. Is it really that bad? What is all the fuss about?

It's challenging and requires a thick skin and a commitment to excellence.  For me it got better after I got my act together and basically kept a positive attitude and worked towards reaching my goals.  Check my posts.

[Estis]

First off, you let me down.  I thought your wife left a bushel of money for all of us gold members at Nukeworker.  Wherever you picked up typing dates like that....stop it now. 

I just went through MEPS and the date format used by the original poster is the standard format used there. I was under the impression that this format was standard throughout the navy now...Is this not the case?

[sovbob]

Absolutely not.  I assure you.

That date format is rarely used on day-to-day operations.  In fact, it hurts my brain just trying to read it. 

Much more common is the DD MMM YYYY (e.g. 30 AUG 2010) format.  I notice that long-string-of-unreadable-numbers format being used on medical documents and "official admin", but hardly anywhere else.

[thenomads]

DDMurray - Thanks for your response. Awesome answers and very helpful!

As far as the date (20100830) this is used at meps as well as my unit in the Army

[Neutron_Herder]

Absolutely not.  I assure you.

That date format is rarely used on day-to-day operations.  In fact, it hurts my brain just trying to read it. 

Much more common is the DD MMM YYYY (e.g. 30 AUG 2010) format.  I notice that long-string-of-unreadable-numbers format being used on medical documents and "official admin", but hardly anywhere else.

Yeah, I hated it when I had to fill out or read documents with that date format...  It always took me a little bit to figure out what the date on the document was!

Estis & thenomads - That date format is used very rarely, and usually only in medical or admin stuff...  Like MEPS paperwork.

Just stick with the format that sovbob said.  That will be the preferred format for most everything that you'll do.

[Gamecock]

4.  ELT is a special selection from the group of MM's.  Being a female will help her get that, considering RL has by far the heaviest amount of females (in more ways than one). 

[sovbob]

I hate this.  This is my pet peeve.  I created an account just to comment on this.  
Cops will do this all the time, but, of course, cops are not well-educated people.
The word "female," unless you're writing in a scientific or biological context, is an adjective, not a noun.

But...the dictionary says "female" can be used as either a noun or an adjective.

fe·male {fee-meyl}
–noun
1. a person bearing two X chromosomes in the cell nuclei and normally having a vagina, a uterus and ovaries, and developing at puberty a relatively rounded body and enlarged breasts, and retaining a beardless face; a girl or woman.
2. an organism of the sex or sexual phase that normally produces egg cells.
3. Botany. a pistillate plant.

–adjective
4. of, pertaining to, or being a female animal or plant.
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a female person; feminine: female suffrage; female charm.
6. composed of females: a female readership.
7. Botany.
  a. designating or pertaining to a plant or its reproductive structure that produces or contains elements requiring fertilization.
  b. (of seed plants) pistillate.
8. Machinery. being or having a recessed part into which a corresponding part fits: a female plug. Compare male (def. 5).
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/female

I'm pretty sure definition 1 fits in this case.

[HydroDave63]

I hate this.  This is my pet peeve.  I created an account just to comment on this.  

That would be known as a Complete Lack Of Life Accident (CLOLA)

[HydroDave63]

So... about thenomads's wife...

You may look, but not touch! 

[xobxdoc]

How do I get my wife to enlist?

[RDTroja]

To those of you that hate the date format -- sorry, but it would be a good idea to get used to seeing it since it will be more common as time goes on. Why? Computers like it.

When I started writing databases in the early 80s (before there were good database engines and you had to write most of it yourself) I discovered that format was easier to sort on, since most dates were treated as numbers or text when being ordered. The only way to consistently keep the dates in proper order even if the application saw it as text or a number was the YYYYMMDD format. Apparently I was not the only one to recognize it. Today's engines are much more sophisticated, but the time format still gets used in many cases to accommodate non-date formats.

Like it or hate it, it probably will not go away, and will likely become more prevalent.

[sovbob]

To those of you that hate the date format -- sorry, but it would be a good idea to get used to seeing it since it will be more common as time goes on. Why? Computers like it...

Last time I checked, the computer worked for the user.  Not the other way around.

[RDTroja]

Last time I checked, the computer worked for the user.  Not the other way around.

Those of us who write software appreciate your optimism. 

[spekkio]

To those of you that hate the date format -- sorry, but it would be a good idea to get used to seeing it since it will be more common as time goes on. Why? Computers like it.

When I started writing databases in the early 80s (before there were good database engines and you had to write most of it yourself) I discovered that format was easier to sort on, since most dates were treated as numbers or text when being ordered. The only way to consistently keep the dates in proper order even if the application saw it as text or a number was the YYYYMMDD format. Apparently I was not the only one to recognize it. Today's engines are much more sophisticated, but the time format still gets used in many cases to accommodate non-date formats.

Like it or hate it, it probably will not go away, and will likely become more prevalent.

Yea, not really. Aside from the military which hates/can't afford modern technology, the rest of the business world tends to use programs that can sort dates written in standard American format, along with various other combinations. Welcome to the 21st century.

[RDTroja]

Yea, not really. Aside from the military which hates/can't afford modern technology, the rest of the business world tends to use programs that can sort dates written in standard American format, along with various other combinations. Welcome to the 21st century.

Time will tell. The 21^st century is already 10% done and the format is not showing any signs of disappearing, and without anything but anecdotal evidence to go on I would say it is more prevalent, not less.

You're a bit late for the welcome, but thanks... I got here about ten years ago and made quite a bit of money from other people's lack of foresight that it was on its way. Where have you been?

[co60slr]

Aside from the military which hates/can't afford modern technology...

Have you toured the control room of a Virginia Class submarine lately?

[Rennhack]

Time will tell. The 21^st century is already 10% done and the format is not showing any signs of disappearing, and without anything but anecdotal evidence to go on I would say it is more prevalent, not less.

You're a bit late for the welcome, but thanks... I got here about ten years ago and made quite a bit of money from other people's lack of foresight that it was on its way. Where have you been?

Roger... The topic is "Re: Wife leaves 20100830".  Thanks for not feeding the Trolls.

[JustinHEMI05]

Sorry, I couldn't be bothered to read the whole thread, but I was wondering, is that a star-date?

[Rennhack]

Sorry, I couldn't be bothered to read the whole thread, but I was wondering, is that a star-date?

I knew what you meant, but I had to go read what the web had to say about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardate

[spekkio]

Have you toured the control room of a Virginia Class submarine lately?

I have. I enjoyed their pre-2000's era low-res photonics mast. Just because it makes the 668's look like the antiquated pieces of machinery from the 1970's that they are doesn't mean the technology used is actually new.

[DDMurray]

I have. I enjoyed their pre-2000's era low-res photonics mast. Just because it makes the 668's look like the antiquated pieces of machinery from the 1970's that they are doesn't mean the technology used is actually new.

Just because technology is new, doesn't mean it is better. 

[Gamecock]

I have. I enjoyed their pre-2000's era low-res photonics mast. Just because it makes the 668's look like the antiquated pieces of machinery from the 1970's that they are doesn't mean the technology used is actually new.

And...in case you missed it.....

all services are having to make unprecedented budget cuts.....

New whiz-bang systems we simply can't afford in today's budget...

(unless you want to pay more then 50% of your income in taxes like they do in Europe).

[Gamecock]

Just because technology is new, doesn't mean it is better. 

Ain't that the truth!!!

[HydroDave63]

Just because technology is new, doesn't mean it is better. 

Ain't that the truth!!!

Just depends on who is doing the shopping. In 2014 one party might ask for passive solar and a breakfast nook with a good view of the sponsons and chaise lounges, or a Vice-President Nugent might want to get a couple extra Battleshort switches , just because it sounds so damn cool!

[spekkio]

Just because technology is new, doesn't mean it is better.  

I agree. Case and point: the photonics mast has lower resolution/zoom than the old school periscope. Probably would be a different story if they used modern hi-res optics, but the "new" technology in the VA is actually going on over 15 years old.

New whiz-bang systems we simply can't afford in today's budget...

It's not the new technology that's sucking the budget...When the Navy spends more than a house to replace analog equipment born from the 1970s and $8k to replace laptops that would have sold for $499 at Best Buy 6 years ago, you know there's something wrong. In fact, using outdated equipment makes things more expensive since the technology is no longer mass-produced on any kind of scale.