What's life like as a nuke?

[Watr]

Hello, I'm a senior in high school looking at becoming a...well...It's probably pretty obvious at this point. Good ASVAB score, kinda coasted through high school so far, approached by a sketchy recruiter, thinking about it.
Anyway, my older brother is going through the same program, but just finished graduating. He tells me that the school part of this is extremely difficult, and I expected as much. However, as far as the actual job goes, I'm in the dark. I mean, I've got the recruiter who wants the signing bonus telling me that it's a cush job in my own office, until something breaks. But, he managed to leave out a few of the details when it came to the education, so I'm guessing he convienently left out a couple with this too. So, to sum this all up,
What's life as a nuke like compared to another job?
(I saw a thread on this subject allready, but it's from 2005, and I'm guessing a thing or two may have changed since then. Thanks in advance!)

[spekkio]

The 2005 thread is probably still accurate.

[Hilariousity]

Hello, I'm a senior in high school looking at becoming a...well...It's probably pretty obvious at this point. Good ASVAB score, kinda coasted through high school so far, approached by a sketchy recruiter, thinking about it.
Anyway, my older brother is going through the same program, but just finished graduating. He tells me that the school part of this is extremely difficult, and I expected as much. However, as far as the actual job goes, I'm in the dark. I mean, I've got the recruiter who wants the signing bonus telling me that it's a cush job in my own office, until something breaks. But, he managed to leave out a few of the details when it came to the education, so I'm guessing he convienently left out a couple with this too. So, to sum this all up,
What's life as a nuke like compared to another job?
(I saw a thread on this subject allready, but it's from 2005, and I'm guessing a thing or two may have changed since then. Thanks in advance!)

Well I think a chief I met in A-School said it best. If you think A-School is hard, wait until you get to Power School. If you think Power School is hard, just wait until you get to Prototype. if you think Prototype is hard, just wait until you get to the fleet. Don't try to fool yourself, this is really one of the hardest programs the Navy has to offer. That's not to say this program hasn't taught me and given me a lot, but every time I ponder whether to re-enlist the answer is generally no way. Oh yeah, and as far as I can tell only one thing significant has changed since 2005. The Navy recently made the decision to drastically reduce the number of nuke E-5 billets meaning no one makes E-5 on the test without STAR re-enlisting(at least as a Surface Machinist's Mate). That means that you to can spend the rest of your time in the Navy as an E-4 unless you re-enlist. If you re-enlist you'll be in the Navy for a minimum of about 8 years. Now that may not seem that big of a deal, but the difference between the pay of an E-4 and an E-5 is actually quite vast, because an E-5 in the fleet gets BAH and BAS and an E-4 generally doesn't(unless you're married of course). Receiving BAH means that you can go home at night instead of living on the ship with nothing but a bed and a locker and having to go to the local Starbucks to get internet access. Now that rule doesn't apply if you go subs, because everyone on a sub that isn't receiving BAH gets their own BEQ which is essentially a dorm room. That pretty much summarizes what's changed since 2005.

[MMM]

Everyone gets BAS, and it's the same for everyone. However, if you're assigned to a ship that has a galley available, most of it is taken back. That happens regardless of your rank, marital status, or anything else. If your ship happens to be in the shipyard with the galley unavailable then you might keep it, but you'll have to pay for meals on the ship, at least that's been my experience.

[HeavyD]

Your job will be to qualify on various watchstations. 

While standing watch, your job will be to operate the equipment on that watchstation that keeps the plant running, providing propulsion and electrical power to the entire ship, so the ship can fulfill it's mission.

Your job will be to attend continuing training, 2 hours per man per week (at least it was when I retired in 2011).

Your job will be to maintain some semblance of physical fitness so that you can successfully pass your twice-a-year PRT.

Your job will be to maintain your physical appearance to the Navy's grooming standards, i.e. shave, haircut in regs, uniforms clean and unwrinkled, etc.

Your job as a Nuke is not so different than that of any other sailor, because that's what you are; a sailor.

Everyone in the Navy works to fulfill the mission; whether that's drug interdiction around South America, power projection in the Pacific, or providing air support for ground troops in some part of the Middle East.

Sailors do all of this while confined to a ship or sub, miles away from your traditional family.  The challenge that every Nuke faces, whether they will admit to it or not, is whether they are going to do what they are told and not b1tch and complain about it or whether they are going to be the "squeaky wheel".  The vast majority of the squeaky wheels I encountered weren't squeaky to get things fixed; they made the noise because they were borderline sloths who wanted to get all the reward without the requisite work.

Life as a Nuke will be first on, last off.  This means you are the first people on the ship, because it takes some finite amount of time to get the plant started up so the CO can get underway at the prescribed time or early.  It also means that when you get back pierside, the rest of the crew is commencing liberty call while you are shutting down the plant.

Being a Nuke, to me, meant doing all of this, for around $8.00 a day more (your Nuke pay per month) than your non-Nuke peers because someone has to do it.  I enjoyed being a Nuke; I despised some of my shipmates because comparatively speaking, we did about 5 times more in any given day than they did.  But, I accepted it because of the skill set the Navy was teaching me.  That skill set can be an excellent stepping off point for you when you transition back to the civilian world.

Hopefully all of this winding text has helped provide a little better understanding of what life is like as a Nuke.  your success and failure will be in your hands.  Put in the effort, reap the rewards.  Expect NOTHING to be handed to you, especially because you are a Nuke.

Best of luck and thank you to both you and your brother for volunteering to serve!

[rlbinc]

I've got the recruiter who wants the signing bonus telling me that it's a cush job in my own office, until something breaks.

Yep.
It's cush job.
Do it.