Getting Stationed

[rams210405]

I just finished OCS and am about to start nuclear power school as a submariner.  I was curious as to how much input you get in choosing where you get stationed.  I ask because my girlfriend is going to try to get into medical school and I'd like to put her in a position where she has the best options to choose from.

I've seen people post about the "needs of the navy" several times, but I would just like an answer that tells me how much, if any, of my choice is it where I get stationed.  Also, does your performance at nuclear power school and prototype have any impact on how much say you get in where you're stationed?

Thanks for any help with this question.

[spekkio]

This is going to sound cynical, but medical school requires 80-100 hour weeks studying and attending class. Your job is going to require 80-100 hour weeks standing duty, when you're not at sea.

After med school, she does residency where she'll have to move to whatever she gets.

She should just go to a medical school she wants and live near there because you two won't be seeing a whole lot of each other anyway. She'd most likely have to take a new licensing exam to relocate to you, too, if she doesn't attend medical school in the state you are stationed in. Medical schools take an overwhelmingly large majority (95%+) of American students from in-state residents; her chances of getting accepted into an out-of-state school are miniscule.

But to answer your question: You put in a wish-list and the detailer assigns you to a sub based on your scores (there's this thing called 'quality spread' so getting higher grades doesn't guarantee that you get what you want), your wish list, and the needs of the Navy. But mostly the needs of the Navy.

[HalfHazzard]

I've seen people post about the "needs of the navy" several times, but I would just like an answer that tells me how much, if any, of my choice is it where I get stationed.  Also, does your performance at nuclear power school and prototype have any impact on how much say you get in where you're stationed?

When I selected at prototype, you had a choice of submarine class and home port.  You could make something like 10 choices IIRC.

My choices were:
1) San Diego - SSN
2) Bangor - SSGN
3) Bangor - SSN
4) Groton - SSN
etc. etc.

I got my fourth choice.  Oh, and I also ended up in Hawaii for the last two years of my sea tour because we changed homeport.  If you pick "least popular" ports, you have a better shot at getting your choices fulfilled.  But in a class of 40, consider that everyone has their own desires, one will want Guam, some will still want Kings Bay, etc. and there really are no "unpopular" choices.  Then again, there was a class a few after mine that all ended up in Kings Bay (supposedly).

Also consider this, as I understand (from my own research in not-going into medicine after the Navy) that medical residents are "matched" with residency programs in their last year of medical school.  What's the likelihood your girlfriend will get "matched" with a residency close to the Navy port you're at?  You'll probably be approaching shore tour by that time anyway.  And after your 30-whatever month sea tour, what shore duty choices are going to be available for you?  DESRON?  NORAD?  Naples?  Japan?  Idaho NROTC tour?

Sorry, no easy answers, just tough questions that you need to consider before you sell yourself into "This is what is going to happen and this is how it's going to work."  If you arrive at that conclusion, you'll most likely be sorely disappointed.  I didn't want Pearl, I ended up there anyway, and had a blast.  Good luck, make informed choices, and have fun.

[spekkio]

Missed the OCS part and was vague cuz I didn't know how enlisted detailing works.

In off-crew of prototype you fill out your preferences. You have to put everything. The detailer gets a 'green' detail if he puts you 1-3 and a 'yellow' if 4-10.

From what the detailing office has told us after PNEO (and I'm skeptical that it was 100% true), they go by class rank and what you list. So if you're #1 you'll end up at your #1 choice, if billets are available there. My class graduated with no billets detailed to San Diego because none were available, for example. If you're #2 and #1 filled up all the billets at that port, you get your #2 choice; otherwise, you get #1. On and on it goes down the list. But if there is more than 1 billet available on a ship, they will try to even out the talent, hence 'quality spread.' What can also screw you there is that if a boat loses a JO with a very high tech rating and you do well, you could be sent to replace him even if you're #1 in the class and it's your 4-10th choice. Also, since there is only 'green' and 'yellow' as far as the detailer is concerned, he only cares about putting you in one of those categories.

Realistically, there's very little you can do to game the system or increase your chances of one port over another, unless you list the ports by the # of submarines present at that port. There is a space to write any additional circumstances but they only care about spouses, not gfs.

Just study hard and do the best you can do and the Navy will take you where it wants to take you.

As for shore duty billets, the majority of them tend to be subschool instructor billets at the sub bases or prototype instructor, with a few staff jobs thrown in.