First phases of the NUPOC Program

[NUKECOMER101]

I am currently a junior in a Mechanical Engineering program with a 3.16 GPA. I am actively looking into the NUPOC Program, and am very excited about this opportunity. To tell you where I am in the process, I have been in contact with a recruiter for the program for the last couple of months. I had to get a medical waiver, which I finally got last week. Now I am waiting on an invite to the VIP trip.  I am looking for input regarding a few questions I have about this program. This is the first time I have logged onto this site and I have already found it useful. A few of my questions are as follows:

First, what are some of the major differences between going the Aircraft Carrier route or the nuclear submarine? Do they both go out to sea for the same amount of time? Does one have more ports than the other? And are there any advantages one over the other?

Secondly, what happens if you get accepted into the program, then don't pass the nuke school?  I don't think this will happen to me, but I am just covering my bases. Can't help but wonder what if the worse should happen, and I flunk out.  I know that this program may not be cut out for everybody. 

I would also like to know how it is decided, as to where you end up being stationed. Do you put in your first, second and third choices, and get one of them? And as you move up in rank are you more likely to get your preference of stations. How long can you expect to be at one station?

I know I have alot of questions, but i just like to know what to expect. I have no shame in asking questions to things I do not know. I am in the early stages of trying to join the Navy in their NUPOC program and I am hungry for any incite to this program that anyone has to offer. I have already found out more by visiting this site than I have the last two months. thanks for your time, any advise is welcome.

[TheObiJuan]

First, what are some of the major differences between going the Aircraft Carrier route or the nuclear submarine? Do they both go out to sea for the same amount of time? Does one have more ports than the other? And are there any advantages one over the other?

Thank you for deciding to serve, it is a truly selfless act when one has the potential that a engineering degree can offer in the civilian world.

Enlisted are allowed to choose to volunteer to be on a submarine, officers are not afforded the same opportunity.
I believe all but one officer (supply officer) are on subs, so there is a demand for qualified sub officers.
Differences.... geez, that's a list.
The missions are very different as are the deployment cycles. It varies with the ship or boat you are on too.
SSBN will be the shortest, with the SSGN having a similar deployment cycle.
SSNs will be longer and similar to Carriers.

Advantages solely are in the eye of the beholder. One may see spending less time in foreign ports and more time home with the family (SSBN) an advantage, others may see it as the opposite.
What ports you hit are also determined by where you are stationed.

Secondly, what happens if you get accepted into the program, then don't pass the nuke school?  I don't think this will happen to me, but I am just covering my bases. Can't help but wonder what if the worse should happen, and I flunk out.  I know that this program may not be cut out for everybody. 

I have asked this very same question to our officer coordinator; I was told I would be sent out to the fleet as a surface warfare officer if I  failed out but showed lots of effort and dedication. Not all are cutout for NUPOC.
Best answer would be to ask your officer recruiter to find out directly--to make some phone calls.

I would also like to know how it is decided, as to where you end up being stationed. Do you put in your first, second and third choices, and get one of them? And as you move up in rank are you more likely to get your preference of stations. How long can you expect to be at one station?

Remember, enlisted or o-ganger, "Needs of the Navy". Hence the 'volun-told' to be a submarine officer and etc.
Officer shore rotations are much shorter, 2-3 years I was told last month.

Best of luck to you and feel free to read more threads here, even as an officer, all of the information is invaluable.

[Gamecock]

I am currently a junior in a Mechanical Engineering program with a 3.16 GPA. I am actively looking into the NUPOC Program, and am very excited about this opportunity. To tell you where I am in the process, I have been in contact with a recruiter for the program for the last couple of months. I had to get a medical waiver, which I finally got last week. Now I am waiting on an invite to the VIP trip.  I am looking for input regarding a few questions I have about this program. This is the first time I have logged onto this site and I have already found it useful. A few of my questions are as follows:

First, what are some of the major differences between going the Aircraft Carrier route or the nuclear submarine? Do they both go out to sea for the same amount of time? Does one have more ports than the other? And are there any advantages one over the other?

Secondly, what happens if you get accepted into the program, then don't pass the nuke school?  I don't think this will happen to me, but I am just covering my bases. Can't help but wonder what if the worse should happen, and I flunk out.  I know that this program may not be cut out for everybody. 

I would also like to know how it is decided, as to where you end up being stationed. Do you put in your first, second and third choices, and get one of them? And as you move up in rank are you more likely to get your preference of stations. How long can you expect to be at one station?

I know I have alot of questions, but i just like to know what to expect. I have no shame in asking questions to things I do not know. I am in the early stages of trying to join the Navy in their NUPOC program and I am hungry for any incite to this program that anyone has to offer. I have already found out more by visiting this site than I have the last two months. thanks for your time, any advise is welcome.

I am a nuke officer and I have done a nuke JO tour on a SSBN and CVN.

Your first question....Major differences....
inport duty rotation....on a sub its 3 section.....meaning you have to stay on the ship for 24 hours every three days....on CVN I've had it as good as 6 section before.   ADVANTAGE:  CVN          (if you get a SSBN there will be a period of time while the boat is out to sea with the other crew.....this is very nice....)
Quality of life....I could call my wife and kids ever night while underway on Surface ship....on a sub you can get a family-gram where you wife sends you a message that gets read CO and XO as a minimum.  ADVANTAGE:  CVN
Note: If you go Surface, ever other sea tour will be on a non-nuclear ship.  I've said this before, I hated every second on my conventional ship....some guys like it because it is a change of pace from nuclear power.

Your second question.....When I was an instructor at Nuke School, we were kicking out of the navy alot of guys who failed out.  You had to fight to stay in, meaning you had to find another community to take you....not as easy as it used to be. 

Third question.....if you go subs, the type of boat dictates your homeport...ssbn are in Georgia and Washington......SSN are in Norfolk, San Diego, Groton, Pearl, Guam.

I'm running out of time to now...so feel free to PM me if you want more gouge from someone who has been there and done that.

Cheers,
GC
 

[daxdaxdax]

Hey I'm going to write here since I could find a way to start a topic of my own.

First off let me tell you this forum has helped me a lot. I am a future sailor in the DEP program for NUC rate going in as E-3. The thing is that my situation is very specific. I'll sum it up next:

#1: I am a US citizen that has lived abroad in Nicaragua for the past 15 years, currently 24 years old.
#2: I have 149 college credits from a Jesuit university in Nicaragua in the field of environmental engineering which is mostly chemistry, physics and science oriented classes. My GPA is 3.5+, roughly, and I have seen Physics, what would be calculus 1, 2 and 3, and Chemistry lots of it. My ASVAB score was 91, and I had to do the other exam for NUC because my high school diploma is foreign but I also nailed it. It was a little bit hard because I hadn't been studying in the last 6 months and my dealings with college have been hectic because of my family stability and other such issues. But even so I managed to pass all exams very well and my college grades are also in the least acceptable. This considering from a twice college drop out. I dropped out with good grades though my problems have always been family wise.
#3: I have no one in the US and I am having a hard time.
#4: My recruiter didn't appropriately tell me of the NUPOC program. Don't get me wrong I read all the pamphlets they provided me in the recruiting office and information that I could pick up here. My main goal for going in the NAVY is to study and finish my bachelors so I knew the NUPOC was there for me and I would have to fight for it from within NUC. The thing is that a few days ago on my monthly DEP meeting, I started talking to the only other NUC recruit and she told me she was going NUPOC right off the bat because she had Calc 1 and 2 and calculus based physics in her last year of engineering career.
#5: This is where I got mad. I have been in the program for the last 10 months. With 149 credits from an engineering career. My recruiter could have told me that If I validated my transcripts here I could get in the NUPOC program and go in as an Officer as this has always been my intention. I'm 2 months away from shipping out.
#6: I had figured the 96 NUC credits you get in all my schools and the 149 credits I had had to sum up into something good for me. But because of lack of money and time, but mainly money I have avoided delving myself into transcribing my credits to a college here because I don't know where I was going to be 2 years from now which is the period of my studies as a NUC.
#7: What can I do from here? Please help as my intention is 100% to achieve my bachelors and become a NAVY Officer. How is the process for getting in the NUPOC program from the inside? Should I start transcribing my college credits or look into it as of now? NUPOC is my ultimate goal and the sole reason why I'm here now.

Thanks in advanced.

Future Sailor Alvarez

[HeavyD]

First and foremost, NUPOC is a program for CURRENT college students.  Therefore you are not eligible.  PERIOD.

Your fellow DEPer, the female you mentioned, she is equally uninformed.  She CANNOT apply for the NUPOC program while in the pipeline or on Active duty.

A simple Google search will yield results detailing this simple and basic of eligibility requirements for this program.

Consider why you want to be an officer.  If the money is your single most important motivation, do all of my past shipmates and fellow Chiefs a favor and do NOT apply to be an officer.  All you will be doing is creating more headaches and issues.

Your role as an officer is to be a LEADER.  You manage people and programs, setting the example for conduct and eventually commanding a US Naval warship.  That level of responsibility, dedication and to some extent, sacrifice requires motivational factors that, at least from your post, you are lacking.

Best of luck to you.

[spekkio]

For you to go NUPOC, you must:
-Tell your enlisted recruiter thanks but you will not be enlisting.
-Enroll in a regionally accredited university.
-Have at least sophomore standing with a calc and calc based physics sequence credited by that university.
-Contact an officer recruiter and tell him that you want to apply for NUPOC.

You cannot do NUPOC after you enlist. You cannot do NUPOC if you aren't enrolled in college with the min coursework listed above.

Your enlisted recruiter's job is to make you a Sailor, not an Officer. Also, you currently aren't eligible for any commissioning programs.

[daxdaxdax]

First and foremost, NUPOC is a program for CURRENT college students.  Therefore you are not eligible.  PERIOD.

Your fellow DEPer, the female you mentioned, she is equally uninformed.  She CANNOT apply for the NUPOC program while in the pipeline or on Active duty.

A simple Google search will yield results detailing this simple and basic of eligibility requirements for this program.

Consider why you want to be an officer.  If the money is your single most important motivation, do all of my past shipmates and fellow Chiefs a favor and do NOT apply to be an officer.  All you will be doing is creating more headaches and issues.

Your role as an officer is to be a LEADER.  You manage people and programs, setting the example for conduct and eventually commanding a US Naval warship.  That level of responsibility, dedication and to some extent, sacrifice requires motivational factors that, at least from your post, you are lacking.

Best of luck to you.

My number one concern is studying... I think I said that. Lol kinda funny how you were so quick to judge me for a few paragraphs I wrote and not care in the least for their content... I didn't join the NAVY for any other purpose.

[spekkio]

dax, simmer down. Heavy was just trying to help, just like the enlisted recruiter that you were so critical of for doing his job properly. His job is not to refer you to an officer recruiter when you only have some college from a foreign university, thus making you ineligible for a commissioning program. His job isn't even to refer you to an officer recruiter even if you had a degree; his job is to get you to enlist in the Navy.

It is not your recruiter's fault that you did not properly research the NUPOC program before talking to him. Lucky for you, you can back out of DEP, if that's what you want to do. If you enlist you will have two choices available to you for a commission:
1) STA-21, provided you still don't have a degree yet.
2) Get your degree in your spare time (nearly impossible as a nuke) and apply for OCS from within the Navy.

Your number one concern ought to be how you will become eligible for the program you desire while making enough money to sustain yourself in the interim. You can worry about studying once you are accepted, if you get accepted.

Enrolling in college that accepts transfer credits from a foreign university is not going to be your only hurdle; you have lived outside the U.S. for the last 15 years of your life and you need to obtain a TS/SCI clearance. You also must be able to complete school and OCS prior to your 29th birthday, waiverable to 31 with prior enlisted service.

[HeavyD]

I could get in the NUPOC program and go in as an Officer as this has always been my intention.

Please help as my intention is 100% to achieve my bachelors and become a NAVY Officer.

NUPOC is my ultimate goal

Those three statements don't support this statement:

My number one concern is studying... I think I said that. Lol kinda funny how you were so quick to judge me for a few paragraphs I wrote and not care in the least for their content... I didn't join the NAVY for any other purpose.

I stand behind my statements 100%.  You are NOT eligible for NUPOC.  PERIOD.  Here is a link to a briefing provided by the Nuclear Officer Detailer group:

http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/officer/communitymanagers/Unrestricted/Documents/Improved%20recruiting%20brief%20with%20faculty%20slides%20(20NOV07).pdf

Is my post judgmental?  Absolutely not.  It is a simple reply that you are wrong, your fellow DEP individual is wrong, and that you need to understand how the world works.  The recruiter is under no obligation to tell you ANYTHING about officer commissioning programs, other than to tell you that the Navy has them.  If you ask about them, they provide what info they have.  If you want more info, you go to an Officer recruiter.

Yes, I am perturbed because after spending 20 years as an Active duty nuke, I try and stay current on the Navy's policies and programs in order to help those who have questions.  YOU post about being mad at a recruiter for not doing something that isn't their responsibility, and promptly get upset when someone posts back facts that point out you have no rational reason to be upset AND the program that has "always been you intention", you aren't even eligible for.

And read my post VERY carefully.  Being an officer is about being a LEADER, not the money.  The money and job are the only things you mentioned in your post.  NEVER did you say you want to lead or be in command of a ship/boat.

There are other JOs (Junior Officers) that do their tour and go on to other things not involving leadership.  BUT, they all understand the Navy's expectation of them.

I read your post, in the difficult and almost unreadable format of poor sentence structure, lack of punctuation and capitalizations, and run together wall of text.  The content of your post was "I want to be an officer through NUPOC, my recruiter didn't tel me about it and I am mad at them.  What do I do?".

As far as finishing your Bachelor's while on Active Duty as an enlisted, that will be a challenge for at least the first 2-3 years of your enlistment.  why you may ask?  Because you will be stuck doing the job the Navy pays you to do, which is study and pass the various stages of the pipeline and then go to sea on your ship or boat.

My last point is a question; Did you sign a contract that states you are entering the Navy as an enlisted nuke?  I ask because of the point that Spekkio made about your security clearance.

I will close with this, I wish you the best of luck.  I honestly mean that.  Find YOUR way.  Find YOUR answers, do not rely on others to tell you everything.  It's not going to happen.

[daxdaxdax]

Those three statements don't support this statement:

I stand behind my statements 100%.  You are NOT eligible for NUPOC.  PERIOD.  Here is a link to a briefing provided by the Nuclear Officer Detailer group:

http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/officer/communitymanagers/Unrestricted/Documents/Improved%20recruiting%20brief%20with%20faculty%20slides%20(20NOV07).pdf

Is my post judgmental?  Absolutely not.  It is a simple reply that you are wrong, your fellow DEP individual is wrong, and that you need to understand how the world works.  The recruiter is under no obligation to tell you ANYTHING about officer commissioning programs, other than to tell you that the Navy has them.  If you ask about them, they provide what info they have.  If you want more info, you go to an Officer recruiter.

Yes, I am perturbed because after spending 20 years as an Active duty nuke, I try and stay current on the Navy's policies and programs in order to help those who have questions.  YOU post about being mad at a recruiter for not doing something that isn't their responsibility, and promptly get upset when someone posts back facts that point out you have no rational reason to be upset AND the program that has "always been you intention", you aren't even eligible for.

And read my post VERY carefully.  Being an officer is about being a LEADER, not the money.  The money and job are the only things you mentioned in your post.  NEVER did you say you want to lead or be in command of a ship/boat.

There are other JOs (Junior Officers) that do their tour and go on to other things not involving leadership.  BUT, they all understand the Navy's expectation of them.

I read your post, in the difficult and almost unreadable format of poor sentence structure, lack of punctuation and capitalizations, and run together wall of text.  The content of your post was "I want to be an officer through NUPOC, my recruiter didn't tel me about it and I am mad at them.  What do I do?".

As far as finishing your Bachelor's while on Active Duty as an enlisted, that will be a challenge for at least the first 2-3 years of your enlistment.  why you may ask?  Because you will be stuck doing the job the Navy pays you to do, which is study and pass the various stages of the pipeline and then go to sea on your ship or boat.

My last point is a question; Did you sign a contract that states you are entering the Navy as an enlisted nuke?  I ask because of the point that Spekkio made about your security clearance.

I will close with this, I wish you the best of luck.  I honestly mean that.  Find YOUR way.  Find YOUR answers, do not rely on others to tell you everything.  It's not going to happen.

The facts are simple, I went to the recruiting office to get my bachelors done. I did not know where else an officer recruiting office would be, but I made myself clear to my recruiter. I saw a program I liked which is NUPOC and my recruiter lied to me telling me I could access it from within. I believed in him and since I did not have the money to keep studying by myself I guessed I would somehow access NUPOC or in the least of cases go in NUC, get all those good credits, and translate everything I have into a Bachelors. Just for the record I'm not going to do 149 credits of a career to not finish it, I'm just saying.

It's simple I'm not satisfied with the fact that my recruiter is lying about facts just to get me to enlist. I do not, also, bare the thought of the US government condoning in this type of sleazy behavior. Yes this is something that would make some people mad.

And Heavy one last thing. Why do you even make arguments based on how well I structure my sentences and use the different language rules and periods if you yourself miss so many times to use proper grammar and capital letters? Really? Are you 12?

I will guess you'll be dumb enough to ask me on your next post where you failed and since I am quoting you and you can't do a thing about that, your errors will show even though you edit your original post. Next time I suggest you stick to the mature part of whatever it is you have up your head, and try and write concisely and maybe stay within the margins of the matter at hand.

PS: I never said your post was judgmental. It just seems so obvious when I read your comments I didn't even bother to point it out.

[HydroDave63]

I will guess you'll be dumb enough to ask me

way to go, shipwreck! Not the answer you wanted? Too bad. 

[spekkio]

Where to begin?

The facts are simple, I went to the recruiting office to get my bachelors done.

Well, that's quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever read. Most reasonably intelligent people enroll in a University to complete their degrees; they go to military recruiting offices to volunteer to serve their country. Do you think that enlisted service is a vocational program for undergraduate degrees? Is your vision of a Navy Sailor that of someone who puts on a uniform to walk around college universities at taxpayer's expense?

There are college programs available as an enlisted Sailor, but they first require that you do something for our national security first and continue to do it after you finish.

I did not know where else an officer recruiting office would be

Well, if only there was this thing called the internet where you could search for one.

but I made myself clear to my recruiter. I saw a program I liked which is NUPOC and my recruiter lied to me telling me I could access it from within. I believed in him

Again, it's your recruiters job to get you to enlist in the Navy. Your recruiter may have mislead you, but that's probably because he doesn't know the answers that you seek, again because it's not his job to know. You asking the enlisted recruiter for information about NUPOC is akin to asking a dentist for information about laser eye surgery or a barber for information on how to file taxes.

The basics of what he said is true -- it is possible, albeit highly improbable as a first-tour nuke, for you to finish a degree in your spare time and on your own dime as an enlisted Sailor and apply for OCS from within the Navy.

It is also possible to be accepted into STA-21 from the pipeline, albeit highly competitive and not in your cards if you don't have a 3.3+ avg from your university, are in the top of your class at power school, and kickass SAT scores.

It is not possible for you to do NUPOC specifically, because a part of NUPOC is that you collect an E-6 salary while finishing college that you are currently enrolled in. You will already be enlisted in the Navy, and not enrolled in a university, so that doesn't apply to you. But from your enlisted recruiter's perspective, he doesn't know, isn't required to know, and doesn't care about the nuances between NUPOC and a traditional OCS commissioning application from within the Navy.

So your recruiter wasn't being a sleaze-ball liar. He was telling you information that is mostly true to the best of his ability. He just wasn't telling you that it has a low probability of occurring.

Just for the record I'm not going to do 149 credits of a career to not finish it, I'm just saying.

Oh really? You're not currently enrolled in a university, are you? By definition that is the opposite of 'finishing it.'

It's simple I'm not satisfied with the fact that my recruiter is lying about facts just to get me to enlist. I do not, also, bare the thought of the US government condoning in this type of sleazy behavior. Yes this is something that would make some people mad.

Yes, it makes simple-minded people with no sense of personal accountability mad. We have too many of those people nowadays.

Why do you even make arguments based on how well I structure my sentences and use the different language rules and periods if you yourself miss so many times to use proper grammar and capital letters? Really? Are you 12?

Because as an officer you will do a lot of writing. You have to write quarterly assessments of your monitoring programs. Your Eng may task you to write part of the Richardson letter. You have to write mission reports. You have to contribute to the semi-annual CO assessment. You have to revise instructions. You have to review/write messages when things break. You have to write exercise reports.

/break

After reading these posts, I don't want you in my Navy, period, let alone as a commissioned Officer. Your whole motivation for seeking a commission is entirely selfish and based upon the college degree that you can't afford right now. I don't want someone like you on my boat contaminating the crew's minds on how you got hosed by a recruiter when the reality is that you couldn't figure out how to type a few words into a google search, are belligerent to people who want to help you, and cannot accept the simple fact that you were not eligible for a commissioning program when you visited the recruiter.

NUPOC/OCS requires that you are enrolled in a university or already have a degree.
NROTC requires that you are enrolled in a university.
USNA requires appointment through a fairly stringent application process.

See a trend? Commissioning programs are available for people who have demonstrated to the military that they are college material.

[daxdaxdax]

Where to begin...

Quote from: daxdaxdax on Today at 04:23 PM
The facts are simple, I went to the recruiting office to get my bachelors done.

Well, that's quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever read. Most reasonably intelligent people enroll in a University to complete their degrees; they go to military recruiting offices to volunteer to serve their country. Do you think that enlisted service is a vocational program for undergraduate degrees? Is your vision of a Navy Sailor that of someone who puts on a uniform to walk around college universities at taxpayer's expense

Spekkio... my dear belligerent judgmental friend... I have nothing. I do not have a car. I do not have a rich girlfriend or wife. I live alone in what I could afford. I do not have a house. I do not have a home to go to where family or friends are. I do not have a single relative in the US to go to. I do not have any savings of my own or any type of financial aid from any of my parents/uncles/relatives in general. No financial aid from the government. Whatever college I did get, I got thanks in part to my dad, and thanks in part to my ingenuity of creating a business out of nothing at all in Nicaragua. All this is because the countries I was raised in were not my own... and my father or mother didn't have the delicacy of legalize me in those countries. Therefor I am now a foreign in my own country.

Spekkio... I don't give up. I persevere... I will not quit what I started. I came here to finish that; my career. And that's what I'm going to do. Albeit I had to get everything else done first. I'll try and see the dumb in my decision. I guess you have some greater right or power, of some sort, to judge others in their decisions of joining the NAVY. Anyway since I couldn't pay for college I went for the next big thing; the promise of NUPOC from within. And I also figured the 96 credits of the NUC school and my 149 credits of chemical engineer could possibly sum up to something solid I could use to validate some career like a bachelors in science. Maybe some day I share your brain power and I'll be capable of understanding that dumb decision I made because it eludes me at this moment. I doubt it though, your brain power seems on a level very much insurmountable.

I came here, june 2012, and the first few days I settled down with someone I had already arranged with, where I would crash in a deadbeat room for 300 bucks a month. Two weeks had passed and I still couldn't get a job. So I did what I could and I started picking up trash in residential neighborhoods. I would go on the days that they clean out the houses so I could pick their stuff up and clean it to go sell in a Hatian flea market 5 miles away. When I wasn't doing that I was picking up aluminum cans from the streets aswel as scrap metal to sell, and when I wasn't doing that I was selling mangos and water in the street lights and crossroads during mid day and the hours of the afternoon. All of this walking and if I could afford it, in bus. Using the internet, when I needed it, from the library 3 miles away. By this time I had already walked 14 miles to get to the recruiting office and did what I already told you. I preferred to save those 4 bucks than going on bus which I could have.

I managed to buy a bicycle for 7 dollars and a very good laptop for 120, with what I made out of selling other peoples trash. Then I started frequenting burger king where I could use free wi-fi, and drink for free. I had already applied to every single store around the shopping malls and plazas around my apartment/room including this same BK, but a month and a half had gone by and I still hadn't been contacted. I was then minding my own business on the pc when I notice one of the managers comes out and starts fixing the coke machines outside and trying to see their level of ice. When some hooligan scrams through the door and in a crazy rage gets pissed at this lady spits at her and takes out a knife. I stood up as soon as he had spit and I had already fastened a chair by the back by the time he was taking out the knife. I had the chair in mid air and was advancing towards him, he readily gave away some insults and left without further ado. I then landed the job as a BK crew member. This lady manager happened to be the store manager. I entered as a part time employee. I was getting 40 hours straight each week after the first. One month hadn't gone by when the district manager offered me to become an assistant manager myself.

I then got kicked out of the room/apartment I was in because he started raising the amount I had to pay and I didn't even have a bathroom. So I moved 10 miles away from my job in the verge of becoming manager with hardly any money, lets not even say the lease. Fortunately I did meet someone kind enough to take me in and give me a hand in this time. So now started the 4 month period in which I would drive on my bike 10 miles to go to work 1:05 hours, and 10 to come back, every day. And I got stuck with the night shift. So that meant I was going at night and was coming back in the very early morning.

I will not delve any further in this matter. But I will tell you I have managed myself very well now and quit BK to start a job in which I'm making more monthly than what I'm going to be making as an E-3.

"daxdaxdax: I did not know where else an officer recruiting office would be"
Well, if only there was this thing called the internet where you could search for one.

Heavy pointed out something stupid that I should of gone to an officer recruiting office. Turns out my Navy recruiting office works recruiting both. And my NUC chief considered me for the NUPOC if it weren't for the fact that my college is foreign. It's easy how you give things like the internet for granted... I figure you would have walked the 6 miles to get to the library and back and used the 2 hours of free internet they give you for the sole purpose of making sure what you want... turns out I did. And dealt with everything else too.

"daxdaxdax: but I made myself clear to my recruiter. I saw a program I liked which is NUPOC and my recruiter lied to me telling me I could access it from within. I believed in him"
Again, it's your recruiters job to get you to enlist in the Navy. Your recruiter may have mislead you, but that's probably because he doesn't know the answers that you seek, again because it's not his job to know. You asking the enlisted recruiter for information about NUPOC is akin to asking a dentist for information about laser eye surgery or a barber for information on how to file taxes.

The basics of what he said is true -- it is possible, albeit highly improbable as a first-tour nuke, for you to finish a degree in your spare time and on your own dime as an enlisted Sailor and apply for OCS from within the Navy.

It is also possible to be accepted into STA-21 from the pipeline, albeit highly competitive and not in your cards if you don't have a 3.3+ avg from your university, are in the top of your class at power school, and kickass SAT scores.

It is not possible for you to do NUPOC specifically, because a part of NUPOC is that you collect an E-6 salary while finishing college that you are currently enrolled in. You will already be enlisted in the Navy, and not enrolled in a university, so that doesn't apply to you. But from your enlisted recruiter's perspective, he doesn't know, isn't required to know, and doesn't care about the nuances between NUPOC and a traditional OCS commissioning application from within the Navy.

So your recruiter wasn't being a sleaze-ball liar. He was telling you information that is mostly true to the best of his ability. He just wasn't telling you that it has a low probability of occurring.

I talked to my NAVY officer recruiter and the Chief in the recruiting office and turns out I can accede the equivalent program for Nuclear Propulsion Officer from within the NUC school specially if I have so many credits and I manage to translate just the Calculus and Physics. Which I have. My GPA is 3.5+ And the classes I'm on are the ones I don't care for like history and such. I have all my chemistry, physics, and calculus classes 3.7+ GPA. I don't care any names as long as I can complete my purpose. So again he didn't lie. And yes he has a compromise with me to inform me properly. So he cannot deceive me, which up until this point he hasn't. I did have doubt with some of your answers and had to deal with it directly with the bosses. They have clarified all my doubts.

"daxdaxdax: Just for the record I'm not going to do 149 credits of a career to not finish it, I'm just saying."
Oh really? You're not currently enrolled in a university, are you? By definition that is the opposite of 'finishing it.'

Patience is a virtue. I will finish it. I might become sleepless... I might sweat... I may cry... but... I will finish it! It was never in my interests to quit college. But I had no choice. You see some of us aren't lucky enough to have a supporting family. In any case I will persevere as I have said before. I have vision... it seems you lack of it if you think not being enrolled in college now is an impediment.

"daxdaxdax: It's simple I'm not satisfied with the fact that my recruiter is lying about facts just to get me to enlist. I do not, also, bare the thought of the US government condoning in this type of sleazy behavior. Yes this is something that would make some people mad."
Yes, it makes simple-minded people with no sense of personal accountability mad. We have too many of those people nowadays.

Wow... teach me oh wise master for I am just a grass hopper in the vast field that is life. He did not lie or mislead me, you guys are making no sense in what you are writing and I was dumb enough to be misguided by this first hand, instead of making logic first and getting all my facts straight. So yeah I'm becoming an Officer from within.

"daxdaxdax: Why do you even make arguments based on how well I structure my sentences and use the different language rules and periods if you yourself miss so many times to use proper grammar and capital letters? Really? Are you 12?"
Because as an officer you will do a lot of writing. You have to write quarterly assessments of your monitoring programs. Your Eng may task you to write part of the Richardson letter. You have to write mission reports. You have to contribute to the semi-annual CO assessment. You have to revise instructions. You have to review/write messages when things break. You have to write exercise reports.

No, he used this as an argument because he has no argument whatsoever to criticize me so. It is also inconsistent to use this as an argument and have errors yourself. You are trying to prove a point. You can't prove a point if you fail in the same basis of the argument you are making. I will do more than fine as an officer with my current english. And if I feel flaky I will strive to make it better.

"After reading these posts, I don't want you in my Navy, period, let alone as a commissioned Officer. Your whole motivation for seeking a commission is entirely selfish and based upon the college degree that you can't afford right now. I don't want someone like you on my boat contaminating the crew's minds on how you got hosed by a recruiter when the reality is that you couldn't figure out how to type a few words into a google search, are belligerent to people who want to help you, and cannot accept the simple fact that you were not eligible for a commissioning program when you visited the recruiter.

NUPOC/OCS requires that you are enrolled in a university or already have a degree.
NROTC requires that you are enrolled in a university.
USNA requires appointment through a fairly stringent application process.

See a trend? Commissioning programs are available for people who have demonstrated to the military that they are college material."

Your comments are completely extremist and biased. You show such level of immaturity writing that I wonder how you managed to get in the Navy... Again who are you to judge me for my intentions in joining? Sorry I keep forgetting. I was not tricked I was just mislead by your comments in how I was going to become an officer.

If you want to help me don't write judgmental comments use constructive ones.

I'm just trying to point out my determination in finishing my career. I will achieve anything that I set my mind on... based on this I can easily predict that unfortunately for you, it seems as you will have me as a commissioned officer. I don't care to what program I was commissioned to. I know how to deal with my life well enough as to know how and when to deal with my issues and projects. And I know how and when I will become an officer and by what means I will achieve this also. I want to know that the NAVY is backing me up here because that's the reason I joined, and I'm happy to know that they are.

I did not write this because you might care what I write or even the circumstances by which I ended up here. I write this because you are so fast to judge me that you show the least of maturity and account for not in the least a valuable opinion or in that matter criticism. Your comments should be discarded as what they are; the most hate based, immature, useless opinions and biased thoughts I have ever seen. All your arguments seem so foolish and all this judgement from your part is so ridiculous that I just had to give you a little proof of how wrong you can be on judging someone so easily. I also wrote this because you did not give me any useful advice.

P.S.: My first language is Spanish. English is my second and yet I don't bother to use the spellchecker.

P.P.S.: Not everything is black and white Speck.

P.P.P.S.: When I have my Officer graduation pictures I'll post them here.

[GLW]

Where to begin...

Since you're likely stuck at either the library, BK or some other free wifi spot let me be brief (sic),...

that's a good story you have there, a strong, by the bootstraps American success story, straight out of Harper's Weekly,....

lots of us have them to varying degrees, after all, it's America,...

spekkio argues in circles,...granted,...

still, the perception is that you're dangling a lot of lines hoping to latch on to the very last best success path at the very last second,...

and spekkio is dancing around the right principle,...

if you want to be a Navy officer then work through an officer recruiter and stop wasting the enlisted recruiters time,...

if you want to enlist into the Navy, improve your living standard and look to earning a commission at a later date (which will include your coveted degree) then do that but (and this is a biiiiiig but!!!!);

focus on being an enlisted success first and redirect your career towards a commission later, 'cause I can guarantee this much has not changed in the US Navy in the 20+ years since I EAOS'd;

if you are not a top drawer enlisted man, you will not be selected to be a US Naval officer, mustangs run into institutional bias even when they are amongst the best and brightest,...

so, you wanted constructive discussion?!?!?! here's my 10 cents,...

if you have determined to be an enlisted man then go be one and be the best one you can be,...

if you have determined that enlisted is a stepping stone to a degree and a commission then good luck, but (IMNSHO) that Navy Nuke choice was not the best one you could have made, there are a few success stories in that crowd and a couple of those stories are users on these boards, but timing is everything in the Navy Nuclear Power Pipeline,...

you should only be a nuke if you like the idea of being a nuke, there are gigabytes of discussion about that already on these boards,...

if you can get into the Navy as something other than a nuke and then work towards your degree and commission goal do it, unless, what you really want to be is a nuke,...

the 90+ credits BS is just that,....BS, you can get the 90+ in a few select institutions of learning but it's all coming back to that first filter,...it's for folks who want to be nukes,...

spekkio is right about not wanting you in his Navy from this perspective:  
    if you are not at best happy, and at worst content, with what you are doing on a day to day basis as an enlisted nuke, then the odds of you becoming an unwanted distraction to your LPO's and Div O's is markedly higher than those aforementioned nukes, and nobody likes the extra paperwork involved, or the loss of liberty time, the latter of which can become very precious to those serving in the USN,....

Good luck and keep hitting it,...

GlW former MM1/SS - ELT

[daxdaxdax]

GLW,

I like the Nuke program. I am a science oriented, (chemistry, physics, nuclear physics and quantum mechanics), student/person. I am very excited about Nuke school and I can pretty much see myself working as one. But yes you said it best this is an intermediate stepping stone. That in no way implies that I will do a lousy job as a Nuke... I don't know where that came from. I excel in whatever I do, in the least I try. And again I am very happy about this opportunity.

I'll say it again. I got a wrong impression from what some of these guys were saying and I used it to build arguments of me being mad with my recruiter. I made sure to get to the bottom of all my doubts and straightened my mind out. I knew that I couldn't go NUPOC because my college is foreign. But my main thing is to complete my bachelors. Be it NUPOC or whatever other program. So I had to make sure that inside the NAVY, through some way or another, I could validate my credits and bring everything that I have come together to culminate this plan; becoming a graduate student.

Thanks! Your post was in the least, constructive. Still a little judgmental, but yes much better than others I've seen here.

I am very happy with NUKE, I am a physics oriented person. Just to give a funny fact, that may or may not help me show my point, my email from 5 years back has "qm" in it, acronym for "Quantum Mechanics" or "Quantum measurement". I've read probably 20+ books on this topic or nuclear physics or in some sense science, including: Quantum mechanics demystified, Heisenberg's discussions and others. I am currently reading a book I bought online the "The restless atom", which I found interesting and my dad recommended. I do all this out of shear interest and own curiosity. Some of these books I've read even more than 3 times, including Einsteins relativity, to be honest because it was hard to grasp, at least for me.

I don't think you, him or anyone has to worry for my performance in the NAVY because of lack of interest or compromise.

Thanks

[GLW]

GLW,

I like the Nuke program. I am a science oriented, (chemistry, physics, nuclear physics and quantum mechanics), student/person. I am very excited about Nuke school and I can pretty much see myself working as one.....

all good, understand this,...

an enlisted Navy nuke is an operator,...

not a professor, nor a researcher, nor a steward of applied physics,...

not even like Rostov, his uniform never got dirty in the engineering spaces,...

[daxdaxdax]

GLW,

To walk you must first crawl. Life is a series of stepping stones in learning, you must be taught to teach, you must first follow to learn how to be a leader. You are not talking to a kid here. I know what I must do and I will do it in my full capacity.

I doubt myself capable of becoming an officer if I can't even accomplish a task or series of tasks that lay in my way in between what I am and what I want to be. I'm 24... I've lived my share.

[GLW]

....You are not talking to a kid here....

Okay,...

...I know what I must do and I will do it in my full capacity....

then why the puck are you here wasting everybody's time?!?!?!?

we're done here,...

good luck,...

[spekkio]

Spekkio... my dear belligerent judgmental friend...

I became judgemental because you turned belligerent toward Heavy, lambasted a servicemember for 'lying' to you, and didn't want to listen to anything unless it was what you wanted to hear.

So let's start with something that you still can't seem to wrap your head around: You cannot do NUPOC 'from within.' There is no equivelant that you can enter with some college credits as an enlisted Sailor. You cannot apply for a commissioning program via OCS without a college degree once you are active duty enlisted. Your only chance is STA-21, and it's not a guarantee. Not by a long shot. You will be among a lot of bright students who will also apply for STA-21, and they don't take many Sailors out of the nuke pipeline. You need to be more than good -- you need to be lucky and good. You need to be prepared for the likely fact that you will serve 6 years in the Navy as an enlisted Sailor and will have to get your degree using the GI bill after discharge. I don't care what your recruiter 'said' or what you 'heard', or what fluffy perseverance story you want to give, those are the cold, hard facts.

I also find it difficult to believe that college financial aid offices in the US would turn you away as you claim. You might have to go to a public school, but there is plenty of aid/scholarships to assist you with affording college, especially someone with your college grades, your economic situation, and who is latino.

I also wrote this because you did not give me any useful advice.

I told you in my original response what you need to do to qualify for NUPOC. I don't know you from Adam, so do whatever you want. Enlist, attempt to apply for a program unavailable to you, tell all your buddies that the recruiter lied to you, tell your CO in your STA-21 interview that you want to be an Officer because you joined the Navy to get your degree and nothing will stop you. I hope that all works out for you.

And one more thing: grow some thicker skin and learn to listen to people who are helping you. If by some chance you do commission, all eyes will be on everything you do. People will judge you all the friggin time because your khaki belt and gold nametape is going to stand out among the crew. And when your Chief tries to explain bluntly why you're being an idiot -- which will happen just because there will be something where you won't know any better and it's the only way he will know how to explain it -- giving him the response you gave to Heavy and me instead of listening will not work out well for you. He's trying to save your ass.

[HeavyD]

We (Nukes) offer harsh criticism and demand our peers demonstrate the ability to think and discover information on their own.  The reasoning is very simple; as a Nuke, you will be required to make decisions regarding how to respond to situations within the plant with precious few moments to contemplate them.  You have to be able to respond, and respond correctly, to a sudden crisis or casualty in order to prevent further damage to the plant and to prevent or mitigate the danger to the lives of those around you, including yourself.  This expectation is applicable to both the Navy and the civilian sector.

The responses you have encountered on this forum are not judgmental.  We take the information you present and draw logical conclusions based on what you have stated.  If what you stated in your posts was different from what you meant, then the onus is on you to better communicate that.
 
Clear and concise communication skills are vital to success in the Nuclear industry, both Navy and civilian.  Using the wrong or not 100% correct terminology or misunderstanding what is said can lead to catastrophic results, placing the plant, people and the public at great risk.
 
What we do has a high degree of inherent danger to it.  That danger is controlled and mitigated, to a degree, by the vigilance of the operators.

As a commissioned officer in the United States Navy, again, your role is that of a leader.  You are directly responsible for the actions of the men and women under your charge.  You are responsible for what they do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Agree or disagree that this should be the level of involvement in your sailors' lives all you want; it is the Navy's expectation.

For those of us who have served, some of us longer than others, to have the actual experience we bring to these forums summarily dismissed is borderline insulting and results in some very intense and real feelings of anger.  WE have been there, WE have done the job; YOU have not.  And yes, that is not normal capitalization; it is done to place emphasis on the important words in the statement.

If you are accusing your recruiter of lying to you, that is a serious accusation.  Intentionally telling you information that is not true is NOT the same thing has not voluntarily telling you information.  If you still feel that you were lied to then report this conduct to the recruiting supervisor.  As a Nuke, your integrity is your most valuable commodity.  If the recruiter did lie to you, you have an obligation to inform his superiors.  However, you need to be 100% sure he/she did indeed lie instead of didn't give you the information you think they should have.

As for the real reason for your post, two individuals, one of them a 20 year retired Navy nuke and the other a current Active Duty commissioned Nuclear officer, have both told you that you are NOT eligible for the program you specifically mention as being your ultimate goal.  Yet you, from your posts, completely ignore these statements.  The perception is that you have decided this is the program for you, regardless that others have told you that you aren't eligible, and are now simply looking for someone to tell you how you can get it.

Perception is reality, especially on an Internet forum.

Do some self-evaluation.  Look at yourself and decide why you want to be a commissioned Officer.  I stand by my original statement that if the money is why you want to be an officer, you are going to struggle and in doing so cause others to struggle.  To be honest, I joined the Navy because I couldn't afford college at the time but also I had a need to serve my country.  I would say 50/50 on those two reasons.
 
Again, an honest best of luck to you.