First, I am married to my wonderful wife, who is pregnant now. We did not plan this, but now my recruiter has told me to stay hush about it to the navy. He thinks that if he does paper work on me it will have to be resubmitted to the head of the NUC enlistment in my area. Apparently me having a child could take away my chance at being a nuke. This worries me, for right now, I have a pregnant wife, who doesn't know where we'll be and/or if the navy will help pay for medical stuff once I'm in or not. You can see our worries. So does anyone know how true this is, or what my choices may be, just any thought at all may help me right now.
This is miserably bad advice, and if it's representative of the sorts of things your recruiter is telling you, you should 1)distrust every single thing he tells you and 2)consider switching recruiters, and possibly reporting him. For one, having a pregnant wife has absolutely no bearing on whether or not you'll be selected for the nuclear field. For another, if you fail to claim your child, you'll be paying the tens of thousands of dollars of hospital bills out of pocket (good luck), whereas if you just tell the truth all expenses will be covered and you'll be afforded separate housing for you and your family (instead of sharing barracks with other dudes). And lastly, it's fraud, which is grounds for termination of your contract, and possibly criminal charges. And it's fraud that only works to your detriment, so it doesn't even make sense.
Second, I hear that the nuke work is simply scrubbing stuff like oil buckets. Is it? I feel that the schooling is a waste of time if that's all. I work at McD's and I'm not against getting a much higher pay for about the same thing to me. It's just I wanted to get a job in the navy that will allow me a good civilian job after my six years (if i don't reenlist). I had a 4.0 GPA in high school, and overwhelmed myself my first year and dropped my GPA to a 3.2.. I know our economy is rough, so I didn't want to be in debt and not find a job. I have a full 32 credit hours worth of college behind me now, and from what I understand the "pipeline" schooling is about 70 credit hours of college right? So if you were in my shoes, with a child on the way, a wife to take care of too, possibly only 32 credits away from a bachelors after my pipeline schooling, wouldn't you do this? No debt (since the GI bill supplies me with 84,000 right?), a decent pay, since I'd start as a nuke, insurance is practically free... or so I heard (is that true too? what type of coverage would I get and for my family?)
Every job in the Navy requires hours upon hours of cleaning. Aside from standing watch (where, as a nuke, you'll also be cleaning), cleaning is the overwhelming majority of what encompasses your time. I'd say the breakdown is probably something along the lines of (33%)watch, (33%)cleaning, (20%)maintenance, and (13%)miscellaneous, which includes time to sleep.
As for the credits, it's not quite black and white. Your pipeline education will be accepted by SOME colleges for anywhere from 30 to 90 credits, but generally this will only apply towards a nuclear technology degree. So if you were planning on doing 6 and out and then polishing off your journalism degree in one year, forget it. If you do anything besides a handful of degree paths, you're basically starting from scratch.
Not sure where you got the 84,000 figure from. The way the GI bill works is this: you put in $100 every month for 12 months, totaling $1200. If you serve (I THINK) at least three years of your contract, you'll be eligible for 100% of your benefits; any less and you're getting a percentage. Now, the key is to get out with an HONORABLE discharge, which you can pretty much only get if you serve your entire contract or are separated for medical reasons. If you get ANY OTHER DISCHARGE, and this includes ANY kind of general discharge, you get absolutely NO GI benefits. If you are eligible for GI benefits, it'll cover 100% of the tuition for the most expensive public university in your home state for 36 months. If you choose to go to a more expensive private university or an out of state school, there are other options to help (IE scholarships and the Yellow Ribbon program). If you're a full time student, you also get E-5 with dependent housing allowance, which will range anywhere from ~$1000K/mo to ~$2500/mo, depending on where you go to school. The key is you have to be a full time student year round, which means you'll be hitting summer school, as well.
Insurance in the Navy is legit, especially if you're a family man. Health and dental are on the house; life insurance is $400K for $28/mo.
Third, which career choice MM, ET, or EM would be the best for pursuing a nuclear plant job later, and what type of degree should I acquire if I want a job in a nuclear plant?
If you're planning on going for a nuke operating job as a civilian, ET is probably the best route to go. MMs generally get more offers for non nuke plants and maintenance gigs, and they also have a lot of qualifications open to them in the Navy (welding, ELT, a much easier time getting quality assurance quals). EMs have Load Dispatcher, which is a pretty sweet gig once you get out. There really isn't a "wrong" choice. But keep in mind: you don't pick your rate. You ask for one, and it's pretty common not to get what you ask for. My advice is not to be too concerned if you don't get the exact rate you wanted; chances are you'll grow attached to whatever they end up giving you.
Last, I love to lead. I really do. I was drum captain for 4 years in high school, I taught, drilled, and played in band the whole time, whether marching, music or even discipline. I would be a manager after only 6 months of work at McD's but they know I'm leaving soon, so the promotion won't happen. So OCS interests me. I'm too old and married to go to the Naval Academy, and I have to many credit hours to do the scholarship for NROTC. I am aware of STA-21 (I think that's the right abrev.), and I would be happy to take it if possible. I don't really care if I am an officer in the nuclear field or if they would want me to be a lawyer, I'm pretty content with everything and I really don't mind doing any type of work. Would they have to pick me for some type of officer training? Is it possible that I could do it myself by just signing up once in? I just don't know.
If you have a chance to go in as an officer, DO IT. Seriously. The pay is way better (it's not even a competition). The qualifications are leaps and bounds more useful on the civilian side. You'll have a 4 year degree, which will increase your marketability a thousandfold. And you'll get all of the "khaki only" perks right out of the gate. From a utilitarian perspective, it's better in every imaginable way. If you go in blue (which you should only do because you've already tried officer and failed), try your ass off to get picked up for an officer program, especially STA-21. That's a great program. Your best chance is to get picked up in the pipeline, so don't wait.
Don't get caught up in any sort of "I'm a working man" bullshit. You'll have plenty of chances to get down and dirty with the blue shirts, and especially in the nuclear field (uniquely, in fact) you'll be in very close working relationships with the people below you. Do not think it's a cop out to shoot for officer; it is the smart thing to do on every level.
I just finished my six and out career as a nuke MM, to give you some perspective on my knowledge. Whatever you end up doing, give it 100% no matter what. There is so much you can use in the Navy later that you might not even realize at the time, especially in the way of quals.
Oh, and finish your degree while you're in. It's probably one of the most important parts of your resume.
Good luck.
