USNA, is it worth It?

[GurGi623]

I am about to become an MM3 soon and i am debating whether to put a package in to go to the Academy.  What I am wondering is as a career goes when i get out of the Navy would it be better(considerably or not) to leave the navy as an officer In the Nuclear field.  How about being from the Academy i mean i here good things bad things but it seems i will be giving up income for 4 years, but would it be worth it in the long run, it just seems like a lot to go through, and with out for just to get a degree, I understand its prestigious but really does it make that much of a difference?

[taterhead]

Well, I assume someone here is more knowledgable on the officer side than I am, but I will offer that if you are dependent-free and basically free of debt, and young, then the Academy might be a good deal.  Of course, you basically get to play boot camp all over again and all that jazz.

I would look more closely into STA-21.  If selected, you get paid at E5 (or your current rank) for 36 months while you complete your degree at the university of your choice.  You will go to school tuition free, but must pay for books. 

My inclination is to take STA-21 over USNA.  Prestige is fun while you're in, but I figure once you are out, the difference is nil.  In fact, I am sure that there are schools looked upon more highly than the USNA in engineering fields.

As far as I can tell, the degree is the defining line, not whether you were an officer or enlisted.  If you take advantage of all of the opportunities open to you, there is as much benefit in staying enlisted as there is being a nuclear officer.  Being a nuke officer is NO walk in the park.

[scruffy]

First off taterhead is correct Academy is not the end all be all I was accepted to KU school of Eng. and the LCDR in charge of the ROTC unit was thrilled to get a E-5 enlisted in her unit. That also makes you a mustang which will get more respect from the enlisted than the O gang. Oh yeah I didn't get to take my ROTC scholarship because I had qualified as an MO the week prior and the CO of NPTU Idaho informed me that I was a Nuke now and would not release me from my contract to attend. Needs of the Navy and all that. I dont know what it is like now but when I was in you had to interview with Rickover to get in as an officer I don't know what you do now.

[taterhead]

Its Bowman these days, I think.

[ETNuclearSailor]

There are still technical interviews with NR (now Admiral Donald). And STA 21 gets current paygrade; (unfortunately for this ET3) no bump to E5 .

[CharlieRock]

As my office mate tells me everyday, the Naval Academy is a great place to be FROM.  The Naval Academy is a pain in the ass while you're there (as I understand it), but if you really want to be a career officer it undeniably has advantages.  There is certainly an unspoken fraternity among USNA grads and they help each other out.  Just look at the line officers with 3 and 4 stars over the last 10 years - nearly 70% are USNA guys.  That's 30% for NROTC et al.  Look at our own 08.  Bowman was the first Director not from USNA (Duke NROTC).  Donald is again a USNA man.  Just pointing out that USNA has some career advantages.

[scruffy]

As my office mate tells me everyday, the Naval Academy is a great place to be FROM.  The Naval Academy is a pain in the ass while you're there (as I understand it), but if you really want to be a career officer it undeniably has advantages.  There is certainly an unspoken fraternity among USNA grads and they help each other out.  Just look at the line officers with 3 and 4 stars over the last 10 years - nearly 70% are USNA guys.  That's 30% for NROTC et al.  Look at our own 08.  Bowman was the first Director not from USNA (Duke NROTC).  Donald is again a USNA man.  Just pointing out that USNA has some career advantages.

Ditto Ive seen that also and for you ECP guys OCS and ECP mustangs rarely made it above O-5 that came from a O-5 at the Nuc repair facility Subase Pearl who was a mustang

[Already Gone]

You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  If you can get an appointment to the USNA, you take it.  Do you understand?

Forget about the "officer" and "nuke" part of it for awhile.  Look at it from a total career point of view.  Sure, there are lots of ways to become an officer, and some of them will pay you Petty Officer pay while you're doing it.  Guess what.  The terms Petty Officer and Petty Cash have more in common than the word "petty".  Who freakin' cares that you'll be making MM3 pay as opposed to the E-3 pay that midshipmen get?  Don't let a few hundred bucks steer you off the golden course.
If you really believe that it is the degree that matters and not the school, you're crazy.  There is more to an education than the curriculum.
Sure, the job of lead scientist on a ground-breaking project will definitely go to the kid from MIT.  But, the Project Manager will be from Annapolis.
An ex Navy Officer has tons of prospects in the civilian world.  A graduate of the USNA can write his own ticket.  Let me repeat that:  He can write his own ticket!!!!  Look at the names of the men and women who have Annapolis or West Point diplomas on their walls and you will see literally thousands of titles like the following in their civilian lives:
CEO
Aeronautical Engineer
Corporate Founder
Chairman of the Board
Congressman
Senator
Motivational Speaker
Television Personality
President of the United States of America

Need I go on?  If you have what it takes to get in....GET IN!!!


The only people who tell you that an Academy Degree is not so great are (do you see it coming?) people who couldn't get in.

Good luck to you, and thank you for your service to the United States.