NR Engineer Opinions

[TDog]

Hi,

First off, I did 6 years in the Nuclear Navy as an Electrician's Mate right out of high school. After I got out, I started college as soon as I could to get an Electrical Engineering degree.  At the time, I had no intentions on ever coming back to the Navy, but I found out about the NR Engineer job and it's something I am very interested in doing especially since it builds off my 6 years of experience. I am very competitive right now with a 3.95 GPA as a Junior.  If I get picked up for this, I planned on doing at least 14 years to have a 20 year career total. However, after getting my paperwork started and talking to my recruiter today, he said NR Engineer might be a dead end after 5 years for me. I was under the impression that you do NR Engineer for a minimum of 5 years, but you can continue doing that until you decide to get out but it seems that's not the case from what I was told. My recruiter said after 5 years, I'd have to go on to do something else as an officer outside the nuclear navy like HR and from there, my chances of making O-4 aren't going to be that great since I'll be competing with other O-3's that have already been doing that for 10 years. I know I have a better chance of making O-4 and finishing with 20 years if I become a Nuclear SWO, but my fiancé doesn't want me to go on Sea Duty again so I don't really want to go down that path. He did mention that there is a chance I can get picked up as an EDO, but the chances are very low since they only accept about 2 EDOs per year and they are usually department heads.

Can anyone give me insight or advice on NR Engineers and what happens after their 5 years?

Thanks, very much appreciated.

[Gamecock]

Hi,

First off, I did 6 years in the Nuclear Navy as an Electrician's Mate right out of high school. After I got out, I started college as soon as I could to get an Electrical Engineering degree.  At the time, I had no intentions on ever coming back to the Navy, but I found out about the NR Engineer job and it's something I am very interested in doing especially since it builds off my 6 years of experience. I am very competitive right now with a 3.95 GPA as a Junior.  If I get picked up for this, I planned on doing at least 14 years to have a 20 year career total. However, after getting my paperwork started and talking to my recruiter today, he said NR Engineer might be a dead end after 5 years for me. I was under the impression that you do NR Engineer for a minimum of 5 years, but you can continue doing that until you decide to get out but it seems that's not the case from what I was told. My recruiter said after 5 years, I'd have to go on to do something else as an officer outside the nuclear navy like HR and from there, my chances of making O-4 aren't going to be that great since I'll be competing with other O-3's that have already been doing that for 10 years. I know I have a better chance of making O-4 and finishing with 20 years if I become a Nuclear SWO, but my fiancé doesn't want me to go on Sea Duty again so I don't really want to go down that path. He did mention that there is a chance I can get picked up as an EDO, but the chances are very low since they only accept about 2 EDOs per year and they are usually department heads.

Can anyone give me insight or advice on NR Engineers and what happens after their 5 years?

Thanks, very much appreciated.

What you heard is partially correct....

An NR Engineer does in fact serve for 5 years as an active duty naval officer (albeit in a shirt and tie and not a uniform).  Most people who stay at NR after the 5 year point do convert over to civilian....there are numerous reasons for this....first, you can quit... second, you will make more money eventually... third civilians work a different schedule that military members are not authorized to work (this is a SWEET deal).

Your first five years are essentially a job interview.  Most people who want to stay do get to stay, though occasionally someone who wants to stay isn't offered the oppurtunity.

Now, there are 26 NR EDO slots available.  You can get one of these slots when you are close to completing your initial  five years.  These spots are highly competitive to get.  In order to get one, someone holding one of those slots has to die or retire.  NR EDO is a special subset of the EDO community.  As an NR EDO, you still do the same job you did before, though it is highly encouraged to go do a field tour at one of the shipyards. You compete for promotions with the real EDO community.  This is a problem....  the promotion board is filled with regular EDOs who don't understand what an NR EDO does (and most of the regular EDOs have an unfavorable opinion of  NR).  So, you are handicapped for promotion (though you will most likely make O-4).

You'd likely work in the K shop, which is the electrical shop.  There are a lot of very smart people in K....though they aren't as smart as the guys in the fluid systems shops


If you have any more specific questions, send me a PM.

Beware....once you've been inside the sausage factory, it never quite tastes the same again.

Cheers,

GC

[TDog]

Thanks for the reply. I'd like to ask my follow up here in case someone else is looking for similar answers down the road.

Let's say I do get the NR Engineer job and do it for 5 years, then stay as a civilian working for NR. Would you happen to know how retirement works from there? Would they count the 11 years I did in the military total and is it still 20 years total or is it something else?

Thanks again, very much appreciated.

[Gamecock]

Thanks for the reply. I'd like to ask my follow up here in case someone else is looking for similar answers down the road.

Let's say I do get the NR Engineer job and do it for 5 years, then stay as a civilian working for NR. Would you happen to know how retirement works from there? Would they count the 11 years I did in the military total and is it still 20 years total or is it something else?

Thanks again, very much appreciated.

You can "buy" your military time into civilian time.  I'm not sure how that works, but I do know that most people do it.

[NukeLDO]

Military conversion into civilian retirement is not a 20 year deal.  You will not be able to retire as a civilian after only 20 years.

[klj3827]

Starting at 10 years of federal service you are entitled to a "retirement."  That is you will get a certain percentage of your pay starting at age 65.  You can max out what percentage you get with 30 years of federal service.  So while you can "retire" at 20 years, you won't get the benefits until later in life, and it won't be maxed out. 

I don't have the specific numbers, but a Google search should be able to fill in the blanks.