Fidgeting Recruiter?

[Maria]

Salutations!

Alright, so I've been trying to do my research, but some info is being a little hard to find.

First, I'm more than qualified for the Nuke program. Passed my physical, 95 on my asvab, AS in Business Admin and almost a second in Math/Science. I shouldn't have any problems getting Nuke... but my recruiter is dancing back and forth a bit and its starting to concern me. She wants me to come in and sign up for /something/ and assures me that all paperwork to get me into Nuke school will get passed later, and I'll get my enlistment bonus paperwork fixed up later... But according to many other sources, if its not on paper then I'm not getting it.

IE: If I sign up for a medical field and wait for Nuke papers to transfer.... Then I'm stuck in medical and it was all just an evil ploy to get me there muahahaha.... I will never get into Nuke school and I will never get an enlistment bonus.

Now that's mostly from the non-military people, and I know a lot of new laws and such have passed... but I don't want to rely on bad advice and miss out on a good opportunity. Whereas my recruiter says that if I don't sign up NOW for something then I won't be able to enlist for another 6 months because reasons, and I'm totally going to have a fine time getting into Nuke even if I sign the wrong papers and transfer...

Any of this sound fishy to anyone else, or is this actually normal protocol?

Second, I keep getting told that I need to figure out what area in the Nuke field I want to sign up for before I enlist... But I can't even find a detailed list of what fields exist and what the basic job descriptions are... Any assistance would be helpful.

[Kowalski-EM]

I happened to enlist under a different rate, with the promise of being re-rated to nuke afterwards.  It did work out like promised, with a caveat.  But now that I'm aware of how the military works, I realize that was one of the stupidest, most risky decisions I ever made.

What's so simple about the matter is there's truly nothing preventing a recruiter from telling you -whatever- it is you need to hear to sign an enlistment.  After you've enlisted, any dispute you have will get resolved by the Navy in terms of rank - and you don't outrank your recruiter.

The caveat of how my enlisting worked out, is that I enlisted for the SECF rate.  When I did so, I was told that whole contract would be shredded and replaced with the nuclear rate contract.  Which was *mostly* true.  They decided to keep the Submarine Volunteer slip from that first contract.  I did not discover this until halfway through bootcamp.

* * * * *

As far as rates go - there are three.  Mechanics, Electricians, and Electronic Technicians.  You can research those on your own - but your decision will be limited to indicating order of preference.  After that point, the Navy takes the pieces of paper and proceeds to assign people however they want.  Really, it's not a decision that's in your hands or something to worry about.

I have heard hints that the rate assignment is influenced by ASVAB scores, so having a high score in the mechanical/spatial section may help you get into the Mechanic (default) rate.  If you want one of the other two rates, make sure you get your highest scores in the electrical knowledge section?  (For the probability you influence this, it's probably not worth the effort of retaking an ASVAB.)

[HeavyD]

For determing the rate you get, you can actually get MM guaranteed (or, at least you could in the past).

The biggest part of what determines your rate is today's phrase of the day:

"Needs of the Navy"


Don't sign up for something you are not comfortable doing for the next 4-6 years. 

Best of luck and thank you for volunteering to serve!

[spekkio]

Salutations!

Alright, so I've been trying to do my research, but some info is being a little hard to find.

First, I'm more than qualified for the Nuke program. Passed my physical, 95 on my asvab, AS in Business Admin and almost a second in Math/Science. I shouldn't have any problems getting Nuke... but my recruiter is dancing back and forth a bit and its starting to concern me. She wants me to come in and sign up for /something/ and assures me that all paperwork to get me into Nuke school will get passed later, and I'll get my enlistment bonus paperwork fixed up later... But according to many other sources, if its not on paper then I'm not getting it.

IE: If I sign up for a medical field and wait for Nuke papers to transfer.... Then I'm stuck in medical and it was all just an evil ploy to get me there muahahaha.... I will never get into Nuke school and I will never get an enlistment bonus.

Now that's mostly from the non-military people, and I know a lot of new laws and such have passed... but I don't want to rely on bad advice and miss out on a good opportunity. Whereas my recruiter says that if I don't sign up NOW for something then I won't be able to enlist for another 6 months because reasons, and I'm totally going to have a fine time getting into Nuke even if I sign the wrong papers and transfer...

Any of this sound fishy to anyone else, or is this actually normal protocol?

Second, I keep getting told that I need to figure out what area in the Nuke field I want to sign up for before I enlist... But I can't even find a detailed list of what fields exist and what the basic job descriptions are... Any assistance would be helpful.

If you sign a contract for another rate, you are committed to that rate unless the recruiter fulfills her end of the bargain and changes your rate to nuke.

If you wait to sign a nuke contract, you will be a nuke.

Whether it's malicious intent or just happenstance that your nuke contract never comes before you leave for boot camp, you are placing a lot of 'good faith' into a stranger -- actually, several strangers -- by signing a contract for a job that you don't actually want. Bear in mind also that one of these strangers is already creating doubt in your mind about her ability to fulfill her promises.

Your recruiter is trying to pad her numbers this month by getting you to sign a contract now. There's something 'in it' for her, but there is absolutely no benefit to you signing a contract for another rate. In fact, it's contrary to your best interests.

Personally, I think your non-military friends are giving you good advice.

[Maria]

Hello! I finally got all my papers pushed through and I'm accepted to the Nuke program! I sign over next week, and my new ship date is April 1st 2015!... I find the ship date quite amusing.

Any last words of wisdom before I sign?

[Utavon]

Remember this moment when you're grinding through A school and Power school and pulling 12 hour days at prototype that you actually willingly signed up for this sh*t.

Yep, that about sums it up from me. Too many silly classmates over the 2 years of training I've had didn't have their hearts, minds, and souls in it, and they paid for it. So many mastings, so many new A-gangers...

You'll need someone else's opinion on the fleet as I am not quite there yet. Awaiting orders post prototype.

ET3