discharge before starting prototype

[jonsb08]

having trouble maintaining weight standards due to a depression after my wife leaving me =/
was told i have about a month to get into standards or i'll be discharged.
completed a school and power school but no prototype, what are the chances of possibly getting my foot in the door at a power plant?

[Gamecock]

How many documented PRT failures do you have?  You can't just arbitrarily be thrown out without DOCUMENTED failures and page 13s.

[jonsb08]

i have 2, but they're saying i have to pass one before i go to prototype and we transfer in about a month in a half and they're saying if i don't make it before then they're gonna seperate me

[Yaeger]

Sounds like you just need to start exercising. 3-4 days a week pump out 3 miles without stopping. Then on your off-days do calisthenics. Don't worry about building muscle mass, but you have to eat healthy, exercise 6 days a week for at least 30 mins, and keep working at it. You'll notice a change in weight, steadily increase in speed/stamina, and healthy overall feel in about 3 weeks.

It might seem like you don't have that much time now, but if you can't pass PRTs prior to getting out to the fleet you're setting yourself up for failure. Believe it or not, the pipeline will give you more time off than what you'd experience on your ship. There's no excuse to be failing PRTs now if you are medically able.

Don't blame depression, blame the bad habits you've developed because of depression.

Use that negative energy to do something positive for yourself and your career.

Get started now! The longer you put it off, the more likely you'll get a non-honorable discharge, lose benefits, and end up even more depressed.

Edit: in case you decide to throw in the towel: you have no experience, you never gained a nuclear NEC, you never qualified anything. You'd be just like any other Tom Dick applying for a job at a power plant. Now is not the time to throw away the year+ you've already invested.

[sovbob]

Yaeger

[jonsb08]

i'm not giving up, but i'm just trying to make a back up plan.

[HydroDave63]

Edit: in case you decide to throw in the towel: you have no experience, you never gained a nuclear NEC, you never qualified anything. You'd be just like any other Tom Dick applying for a job at a power plant. Now is not the time to throw away the year+ you've already invested.

I'm also going to Yaeger here in just a bit. My only dissent would be that if you have completed Power school, it is a slight edge over the Wally greeter competing for the same spot.

Here's the Bad News: Power plants (I'm assuming you mean a nuclear generating station) give MMPI tests and/or other forms of psychological screening as part of the FFD process. I've seen perfectly competent nuclear workers fail those due to stress when they were taking the exam, etc.

There are too many variables and things you haven't mentioned to give you a good solid answer to the question, such as counseling, meds, conduct issues etc.

In the meantime, Yeager's advice is spot-on. I only add that in my personal experience, vitamins and supplements also help balance the mind. Vitamin D tabs, chromium picolinate and a good multivitamin help me to  stay on an even keel when shiftwork is dragging me down. Your mileage may vary.

[Samabby]

" i'm not giving up, but i'm just trying to make a back up plan. "

Come up with a better back up plan that involves you successfully completing Prototype. You can get through this, son. 

[Neutron_Herder]

having trouble maintaining weight standards due to a depression after my wife leaving me =/
was told i have about a month to get into standards or i'll be discharged.
completed a school and power school but no prototype, what are the chances of possibly getting my foot in the door at a power plant?

Let's take a little bit of a different viewpoint on this...

I was in a fairly similar situation while I was in the Navy (mine wasn't a weight issue, I just had my head buried in my a$$ after a bad breakup), and the way my LCPO put it to me was to look at it as an "opportunity".

Initially I just looked at him like he was out of his effing mind, but after he explained it a little more it made a whole bunch of sense.  If your succeed in spite of adversity, it WILL make you stronger when something happens again in your life.  Something else WILL happen during the course of your career, whether it's in or out of the Navy...  guaranteed.  Learn to deal with it now while you have a pretty good support system in place.

Life on the outside is great, but out here you're expected to deal with your personal issues on your time; not the company's.  Use the resources available to your now to learn appropriate coping mechanisms.  It will serve you very well later on.

Good luck!

[Already Gone]

I hope you won't just take this as cynical, because it isn't meant to be.  But, I've been there brother.  There are a lot of silver linings here if you are willing to look at them.  Yes, some of this is going to sound wrong, but give it some thought.

1. Mannnnny marriages are ended during naval service.  Yours seems to be ending at a difficult time, but it is actually better to have it happen now than for you to come home from a deployment to find that all you have worked for is gone.  You're still young, probably don't have a lot of property to split, perhaps no children.  You have much less to lose at this point - except the relationship itself - and lots of time to get your life back on track than a guy whose marriage breaks up later in life.

2. You have just been relieved of a huge obligation, leaving you with just the one huge obligation.  You have a career, which is enough of a burden for one young guy who hasn't made it yet.

3. Getting fit and strong will not only help blow away the depression, it will increase your self-esteem and confidence.  Not to mention that it will be pretty good revenge against her for leaving you.  That's the cynical part, but really, letting yourself deteriorate into a depressed, overweight guy who got booted out of the navy will only justify her leaving you in her mind AND in yours.  Buddy, you OWE it to YOURSELF to feel from this point on that she didn't dump a loser; she walked away from a winner with a great future.  Which guy do you want to be?

Now, get to the gym.  Get fit.  Get strong. Get QUALIFIED.  Get your life back, sailor!  Yes, it was her decision.  But as far as you are concerned from this moment on, it was a BAD decision.  Now, go make it happen.

Best of luck to you, and thank you for your service.

[jshinevar]

Just out of curiosity on the weight thing, I've been in 10 years, I'm a Second Class Electrician, Qualified EWS/EDPO.  I've been held at my rank because of my weight.  The affect it's had on my evaluations has been substantial.  However, when I get out, is it going to be held against me at a civilian power plant?  Other than my weight all of my evaluations are incredible and anyone asked about me has nothing but amazing things to say.  If I was discharged because of my weight would that hinder me in getting a civilian power plant job?  Has anyone else dealt with this?

[UncaBuffalo]

I'm also going to Yaeger here in just a bit. My only dissent would be that if you have completed Power school, it is a slight edge over the Wally greeter competing for the same spot.

Here's the Bad News: Power plants (I'm assuming you mean a nuclear generating station) give MMPI tests and/or other forms of psychological screening as part of the FFD process. I've seen perfectly competent nuclear workers fail those due to stress when they were taking the exam, etc.

There are too many variables and things you haven't mentioned to give you a good solid answer to the question, such as counseling, meds, conduct issues etc.

In the meantime, Yeager's advice is spot-on. I only add that in my personal experience, vitamins and supplements also help balance the mind. Vitamin D tabs, chromium picolinate and a good multivitamin help me to  stay on an even keel when shiftwork is dragging me down. Your mileage may vary.

I also have had good luck with Omega-3's (Fish Oil).

[HydroDave63]

I also have had good luck with Omega-3's (Fish Oil).

Glad you mentioned that! Although the capsules are readily available, some of the higher dose capsules are HUGE!

For my Omega-3s, I either cook with or garnish my food with walnut oil. 1800mg/tbsp , tastes better and no fishy belching

[HydroDave63]

i'm not giving up, but i'm just trying to make a back up plan.

How did this end up? Any good news?

[owsi84621]

Best thing you can do is stay i, get qualified, get free expirence sp. sorry. Any way use the heat here in charleston to your advantage.Cut calories and move those feet and arms before long the weight will be off and gone. Besides where else can you work out and get paid to do it? Not out here in the civilian market.

[Styrofoam]

How did this end up? Any good news?

We'll probably never know what happened. His profile says the last time he was active was June 10th.
 

[Styrofoam]

Nice one 'foam,...

good initiative and good way to use the resources at hand,...

you're off-dink, we're gonna reset your qual schedule,....now stay hot,....

[Smart People]

Just out of curiosity on the weight thing, I've been in 10 years, I'm a Second Class Electrician, Qualified EWS/EDPO.  I've been held at my rank because of my weight.  The affect it's had on my evaluations has been substantial.  However, when I get out, is it going to be held against me at a civilian power plant?  Other than my weight all of my evaluations are incredible and anyone asked about me has nothing but amazing things to say.  If I was discharged because of my weight would that hinder me in getting a civilian power plant job?  Has anyone else dealt with this?

None issue, as long as you can still perform your job.

In the old days what you described was an RE-3T, we only look at the word "Honorable".

Those other numbers are just Navy mumbo-jumbo.   

Being the recipient of a RE-4 Honorable discharge due to weight issues, I can confidently say it is possible to succeed in the civilian nuclear field.
Of course I had to start from the bottom. But I was there already, So that was ok.