Female Navy Reserve SeaBee wanting to go sub ET

[demonsangel1990]

I am currently a CM3 in the Navy Reserves. It has just been a year since I joined. I did not have my citizenship when i first joined (i do now) but my ASVAB was high enough to go nuke, or at least take the NAPT. I don't see any reason why I wont do well. I've been here for ten years and just now waiting to get my security clearance. I'm 21 now.
I know its a pain to do all the paperwork to go from reserve to active. I am currently getting all that together. MY COMMAND IS AWESOME. EVEN MY COMMAND CO, BASE CO ETC WILL SIGN THE DISCHARGE WAIVER. Its just a matter of if i wanna do it. I know that school will be a lot of studying and stress, I am expecting nothing less of service members that will be running nuclear powered, multi million dollar equipment.

My questions are:
When do I get to choose the nuke rate (Im hoping for ET)?
What are the surroundings like on a sub (bunk bed rotations, locker sized space, what kind of stuff can I bring on sea duty etc.)
Does anyone know what its like to serve with a female on a sub? Are they allowing female enlisted on subs yet?
Is the sub 72 days out and 72 days in?
What do you do as an ET on a sub? (stare at panels all 6 hrs?)
What can i expect to do on shore duty?
How easy is advancement?
After school, do you enter the fleet as an E5?
What does getting a SSW pin entail?
If i flunk school will i have a chance to pick a rate, can i put that in my contract?
reenlistment bonus? hazardous pay etc?
I will be married soon, what can my family expect to put up with?
How does the elite program work?
Other than being a part of the few, the proud, the nerdy and elite group of geeks, why did you PERSONALLY decide to go nuke?

Ok so it sounds like subs might be out for me at least until the Navy changes their policy on enlisted females. Can anyone let me know where I might serve if not on a sub (carrier im guessing).
Whats it like on a carrier?
What is sea duty/shore duty rotation like?
How long will i be at sea and on shore about? How might the first and second reenlisted differ?
I obviously can't get pregnant in school, but what happens if I decide to have children while on shore duty? Can i still do my job or will it be too much liability?
Where can i expect to be stationed for shore duty (SC NY)?
What are the chances of getting base housing for me and my family?

I know that anything you provide is just from personal experience and might not be what happens in every case. Navy careers are like quantum physics, its just the most likely outcome of choosing a rate.

[GLW]

.....Other than being a part of the few, the proud, the nerdy and elite group of geeks, why do you PERSONALLY think someone should go nuke?

Because you want to be an engineering spaces operator on a submarine,...

For which you have to be a nuke,...

Any other USN option has better alternatives,...

[HeavyD]

Also, as an enlisted female sailor, you will NOT have the option of going subs.  At least not yet.  The Navy is currently experimenting with female JOs (Junior Officers) on several SSBN class submarines.  The Navy has not published a timeline yet on potential female enlisted sailors on submarines.

Some questions for you

1.  Are you a citizen now?  If not, Nuke isn't going to happen.  Period.
2.  Have you asked ANYONE in your Reserves command any questions about Active duty?  Believe it or not, they will probably know some things.
3.  The absolute most important question is, why do YOU want to be a Nuke?  Nothing that WE offer up is as important as YOU answering this question.

Best of luck.

[GLW]

Also, as an enlisted female sailor, you will NOT have the option of going subs.  At least not yet.  The Navy is currently experimenting with female JOs (Junior Officers) on several SSBN class submarines.  The Navy has not published a timeline yet on potential female enlisted sailors on submarines.

Good reference point,...

Some questions for you

1.  Are you a citizen now?  If not, Nuke isn't going to happen.  Period.

She answered that question with her opening post, Seadad 101 - Never let a NUB get an ATD over on you,... 

2.  Have you asked ANYONE in your Reserves command any questions about Active duty?  Believe it or not, they will probably know some things.

Keeping in mind that her Reserves Command may have their own reasons for keeping her right where she's at. My first persuasion is she gives her Reserve Command the opportunity to release her from her current commitment and assist her in her efforts to improve herself as opposed to being superseded from without, but then, couper les cheveux en quatre.

3.  The absolute most important question is, why do YOU want to be a Nuke?  Nothing that WE offer up is as important as YOU answering this question.

Unless, of course, her reasons are ungrounded fantasies, without asking she'll never know,...

[GLW]

Best of luck.

Always, and we thank her for her service,....

[HeavyD]

Yeah, reading her initial post again I identified my lack of attention to detail 

True to the response on her Reserve command though.

To answer a few other inquiries:

Shore duty will almost always be as an instructor.  Nuke detailers are very reluctant to release Nukes to do other things.  If you do get to go do something else, it is almost always related to working on nuclear powered vessels, either subs or surface ships.

No idea what the elite program is, never heard of it.

You will probably still be an E-4 when you hit the fleet.  At your 2 year active duty time, you can STAR reenlist for a bonus and auto advance to E-5.

Bonus cap for a first term sailor is either $45,000 or $60,000.  I can't recall since I retired in December and have been dumping loads of info and not keeping track of other things.  I should probably start keeping track to try and still be semi-useful

Your work consists of quals, watch, training, GMT, watch, maintenance, quals, training, quals, training, watch, etc. (and no, I'm not senile, those repeats are there on purpose).

Your family can expect to exist for long (at least 6-7 months as a minimum) periods of time without you.

Again, best of luck in your journey and thank you for volunteering to serve.

P.S. How old where you when you initially came to the US?  The reason I ask is that depending on your age now, you may need to look at an age waiver.  Just a thought

[DontGoToNPTU]

How old are you? You said you've been in for 10 years so you're probably at least 28. I highly doubt that you are going to be able to go into the sub fleet as a nuke ET because by the time they allow enlisted women on subs you're going to be too old for nuke duty.

[HydroDave63]

50 quatloos against getting any reply.

[GLW]

How old are you? You said you've been in for 10 years so you're probably at least 28. I highly doubt that you are going to be able to go into the sub fleet as a nuke ET because by the time they allow enlisted women on subs you're going to be too old for nuke duty.

I suspect the OP suggested she had been here (USA) for ten years,...

[DontGoToNPTU]

Oops yea I saw where it said she had joined just over a year ago. I'll go ahead and answer some of her questions to the best of my ability.

My questions are:
When do I get to choose the nuke rate (Im hoping for ET)?

This is typically done during the first few days at boot camp but since you've already been I'd imagine it would be sometime around when your paperwork for going active is complete.

What are the surroundings like on a sub (bunk bed rotations, locker sized space, what kind of stuff can I bring on sea duty etc.)

You would most likely be on a trident so it's not too cramped. You get a bed pan and a locker ~ 1ft x 1ft x 2ft. You get your own rack and you can bring pretty much anything within reason and as long as you can fit it into your assigned storage spaces. You have to get special permissions for electronic equipment (well you're supposed to at least I never did but security has gotten much tighter).

Does anyone know what its like to serve with a female on a sub? Are they allowing female enlisted on subs yet?

Enlisted females are not yet allowed on subs. I have heard mixed things about the officer females currently serving. I know there was a scandal where some females lied on their travel claims and got in some trouble. I have heard of another sub officer female who is extremely flirty with the male crew. For the most part I've heard that they are some of the easiest JO's to work with.

Is the sub 72 days out and 72 days in?

Not sure where you're getting those numbers but not even Tridents have that set of a schedule. Fast boats have completely random schedules and Tridents could be two months out five months in or vice versa (although it's rare to be out longer than 3.5 months on a Trident).

What do you do as an ET on a sub? (stare at panels all 6 hrs?)

There staring at panels and then there's the time when you're off going and you do what ET's call "maintenance" which is basically a glorified set of logs in most cases. ET's don't really do maintenance they flip switches and write down numbers.

How easy is advancement?

To make chief as an ET you have to 1) have a pulse and 2) qualify as EWS... that's about it.

What does getting a SSW pin entail?

Learn how the ship works and how to do damage control, pass an oral board and some boats do a practical evolution to apply your damage control skills.

If i flunk school will i have a chance to pick a rate, can i put that in my contract?

You can't put that into your contract. If you fail out on academics you "might" get a chance to rerate but pretty much every job in the Navy is at or above manning. If you fail out on a lack of effort or psyche thing you are probably going to get discharged and have to pay back any bonuses.

reenlistment bonus? hazardous pay etc?

Renlistment bonus cap for Zone A is actually up to 90k for ET's I believe. You'll initially get hazardous duty pay which is 150 a month. At some point you'll qualify for senior supervisory pro pay which is 375.

How does the elite program work?

Huh? What "elite" program?

Other than being a part of the few, the proud, the nerdy and elite group of geeks, why did you PERSONALLY decide to go nuke?

I went nuke because I freaking love(d) Homer Simpson.