So I am now being talked to about being a staff pick up or ELT....

[wdp74gnt]

What are the pros and cons of going staff pick up vice going to the fleet right away. I really like the idea of being an ELT and am going to try to get picked up for that. (love chemistry) But I want to know what everyone has seen as far as how life is as staff pick up or just going to the fleet. I have heard everything from the fact that staff pick ups get treated like dirt out in the fleet to that they qualify faster and get better treatment. I know that becoming staff would mean re-enlisting. I would really like everyone's thoughts or experiences on this

[Higgs]

Like he said the disadvantage is getting to the fleet late and carrying a stigma with it, justified or not. The advantage is that it is a great opportunity, you will likely advance faster and teaching nubs is rewarding. But it is a thankless job. I wasn't a spu, but as a sea returnee EOOW/ETA, I can say that the spus were my best and hardest working watch standers. I made sure the spus knew they were important to me because they often served under a crap LPO. Sea returnees, for the most part, were whiney and useless.  However, teaching noobs was one of my best times in the Navy. YMMV. Good luck.

[Higgs]

Oh and as for the stigma... When you get to the fleet, prove your worth through actions, not words. I had two spus show up to my boat, both as first classes, one came with a chip on the shoulder and better than thou attitude. His quals didnt go well and he was a terrible watchstander. The other shut his mouth, busted his ass and was a fantastic watchstander. he was LPO in no time. Again, YmMV, but your fleet treatment depends on your attitude. There will always be some anti spu douche, though, but thy are likely just jealous.

[Higgs]

Totally awesome.

[Cycoticpenguin]

Derek omg ....   (my face STILL hurts from him kicking me haha)

And no pictures, I only have videos....



edit: Might as well throw my 2cents in, since derek isnt. We had 3 spus come to our boat at once. One came as a first class, and qualified CRW in 6 months. He then qualed PPWS in less then 6 months. He became LPO in a heartbeat and was very well worth his weight on the boat. The guy we messed with came as a 2nd, became WCS pretty quick. Took him longer to qualify, but mostly because he was always neck deep in maintenance trying to get experience. He became first as I left, and he's kind of getting a bone job, but its not really his fault half the department are first classes . The third guy... derek, thoughts?

[Gamecock]

SPU would be a decent choice if you are really thinking about going for 20 or 30 if you you are GameCock   love it.

SPU is a good choice, IMHO.  You get two years of experience standing watch and training students.

As others have mentioned also, attitude is everything when you report to the boat.  Don't have a holier than thou attitude and you'll be just fine.  Some of those "nubs" that you'll push through quals at NPTU may be signing your qual card on the boat.

@Drayer.....As for the stay 30 comment..... let's just say that once you've been inside the sausage factory, it just doesn't quite taste the same anymore. 
 

[MacGyver]

Take the staff pick up,...

If you still like the Navy enough to re-up after your SPU tour, re-up for ELT,...

If you have to extend for SPU, see if you can get ELT at the end of your SPU tour and get it in writing,...

If you want the money now and you're gonna STAR, then STAR for ELT and do the SPU tour (do they still have STAR?),...

Why settle for one,...go for both,
..........

Listen to your Uncle Marssim:

Option 1
"If you still like the Navy enough to re-up after your SPU tour, re-up for ELT,..."

Option 2
"If you have to extend for SPU, see if you can get ELT at the end of your SPU tour and get it in writing,..."

Because he's given you great advice.

[Gamecock]

Listen to your Uncle Marssim:

Option 1
"If you still like the Navy enough to re-up after your SPU tour, re-up for ELT,..."

Option 2
"If you have to extend for SPU, see if you can get ELT at the end of your SPU tour and get it in writing,..."

Because he's given you great advice.

Re-enlisting is a requirement for SPU.

[bigdog46]

Go for the SPU first, then ELT, opens up several paths for assignment to the fleet.

My path was slightly different ELT, SPU when SPU tour ended ( by the way it was extended due to the needs of the navy 36 mths vs the normal 24) I spoke with the detailer he said here are your choices SSN Pearl, SSN San Diego, SSBN anywhere, and oh by the way AS 33 in Kingsbay.

I took the later and when I finally detailed to the fleet (SSN San Diego) after the AS tour I had 18 mths to EAOS, qualed M-Div/LELT thru ERS, and Subs real fast as expected and oh darn mustered out.

[andrewnavy]

Two of the best guys I ever worked with were spu's.  Just prove yourself when you get to the boat. I know that when you get to the boat you don't have to do a lot of crap jobs.  Qualify MTS at prototype and when you get to the boat, qualify EWS and then get out. Also, get your degree done while at prototype. I now work with 3 guys who finished the RPI degree but the Excelsior or Edison degree got me the same jobs.  I would venture to say that you get a lot of crap when you get to sea because if you take advantage of the opportunity, it is a great deal and people usually get pissy about others getting good deals.

Andrewnavy

[RCLCPO]

Take the SPU.

Starting as a SPU, if you decide to stay in for 20+, you can retire at 20-21 with only 2 sea tours and 3 shore tours--a significant improvement over having to do a 3rd sea tour.

And post-SPU fleet experience is entirely dependent upon your attitude when you get to the fleet.  Having rank and time in rate seniority instantly upon arrival together with zero knowledge of the ship can be an unbalancing mix for those with any hint of attitude.

When I hit the fleet after my SPU tour, I made it clear to everyone that I didn't know squat and kept my mouth shut, powered through quals (easier to do when you've seen it before) and ships quals.  If people see you busting your arse, you'll take a lot less flak.

[Cycoticpenguin]

Parting words of advice from a former sailor.... take everything the navy gives you. This means all schools, qualifications, watches, collateral duties, etc. Make yourself more valuable as you progress through the navy. It WILL pay off in the end, and most certainly after the navy.

[MMM]

As an added bonus, the way detailers typically like to send us for shore duty is NPTU then NNPTC. If you've done a SPU tour, you have a better chance of getting NNPTC for yout second.

[cedugger]

Take SPU and retread to ELT once it's over. As a sea-returnee instructor at NPTU, I valued our SPUs...they really knew the platform (better than I did, which wasn't saying much) and always eager to learn more.

As far as showing up to your boat/ship as SPU...you see the advice here...I'd follow it. Prove yourself through actions and hard work. Good luck!

[Quinton]

If you want to be a SPU, then be a SPU.  As you can see, Drayer is showing his complete lack of honor as he posts physical evidence of hazing on the internet.  I mean seriously, the last two SPU's that I have had on my boat qualified quicker than some sea-returnee's.  On a piece of crap surface ship, you may get treated like doo-doo, but on a sub - you are a part of the watchteam, watchbill, and ship.  On the other hand, the last two SPU ELT's we have had have gone sad or smoked pot to get out.

Best option - go with SPU, and go subs.

[Cycoticpenguin]

If you want to be a SPU, then be a SPU.  As you can see, Drayer is showing his complete lack of honor as he posts physical evidence of hazing on the internet.  I mean seriously, the last two SPU's that I have had on my boat qualified quicker than some sea-returnee's.  On a piece of crap surface ship, you may get treated like doo-doo, but on a sub - you are a part of the watchteam, watchbill, and ship.  On the other hand, the last two SPU ELT's we have had have gone sad or smoked pot to get out.

Best option - go with SPU, and go subs.

The rock. Crawl out from under it.

[MMM]

The SPUs I've dealt with were kind of hit or miss. Most were made WCS early on,and on my last ship, that was the largest WC on the ship. A few were dirtbags, or overly cocky, but that usually got taken care of.

[spekkio]

I think you can notice a trend here that how a SPU gets treated depends on his attitude and work ethic rather than the fact that he was a SPU.

Of course, the SPU's that caught a lot of crap for being lazy or conceited will blame it on SPU prejudice. To do otherwise would require self accountability, and we can't have that in today's Navy.

[Marlin]

   I can't disagree with what you have said but the environment on a sub versus a target (  sorry couldn't help myself) create a different work ethic and experience level. I would expect that anyone who is a nuke would perform as well as anyone in a sub if they were to go there. Sub sailors wear a lot more hats and do not specialize as much as the surface fleet and qualify on senior watch stations quicker out of necessity. Sub sailors also tend to do a lot more of their own maintenance. ELTs on subs are frequently a mechanic more than ELT in watch stations, maintenance, etc.. There are tons of ex LELT/EWSs from the sub fleet but not so much from the surface fleet. If we tend to be a little arrogant in an already ego heavy field so be it, some of us think we earned it. That is just the nuke side of the equation there is the traditional volunteer submarine force that all of the other non-nuke rates compete for that we take for granted.

Marlin Helms
Smoky Mountain Submarine Veterans
Base Commander ( I guess I'm a little prejudice  )

Let's review: First off, I respect submariners for the hard work that they do and the   that they put up with. I have met some very impressive nukes who wear their dolphins proudly.
However, I can't stand the sub guys that think they are so amazing and so much better than surface guys because we can't imagine being stuck in a tube for an extended period of time and we should just totally bow down to your self perceived high level of awesomeness.
 
The sub and surface fleet have highly capable nukes that can do an amazing job. The sub and surface fleet have nukes that we wish we could send back to the pipeline or anywhere else really.  We have guys on the surface that do a good job and can do some things that the sub guys can't and vice versa. Get over yourself….  You weren't selected meritoriously to be shoved on that boat, you just got orders there.
We had fun with one of our SPU’s. It wasn't personal. It was in good fun. Later, I got him a beer and we golfed together and all was well in the world. We had fun when we were stuck on that boat at sea all the damn time because it kept us normal or close to. The point was that a SPU with the right attitude will do just fine and the ones without, well…. I even encouraged it in a later post after complimenting other SPU's. Get a beer and calm down.

I suppose that I also have no honor by disrespecting the Navy's Right Spirit campaign that the sub community also does a much better job (like everything else)…..
Get over yourself…please

[DDMurray]

Some of the best guys that worked for me were SPUs.  Some of the worst guys that worked for me were SPUs. 

When I was a student at S3G, me and another EM were told we were selected to be SPU.  They issued us staff qual cards, assigned us U/I on S/D watches (the plant was in a shutdown) and scheduled us some instructor training.  About two weeks before our class grad date, they told us NR shot down all SPUs from our class except ETs due to some sea-returnee/SPU ratio thingee.  My landlord was not pleased because he had flown back to NY from FL to write us a new lease.  The fact it was December with two feet of snow on the ground might have made him grumpy.  In the end things worked out good for me.  If given the chance again, I would jump at it.  Doing a good job as a SPU can be beneficial to your professional growth and help you advance quicker.

[HydroDave63]

On a piece of crap surface ship, you may get treated like doo-doo, but on a sub - you are a part of the watchteam, watchbill, and ship.

Best option - go with SPU, and go subs.

[nukemm736]

Just make sure you train your students well because one day they might be training you. My staff adviser at prototype was a SPU and he recently arrived at my boat and now he's my UI and coming to me for checkouts. 

From what I've seen though, those who reenlist and do a SPU tour seem to be more mature and reliable when they arrive on the boat then the 19 year old kid who still thinks he's at a training command.

Good luck!