Hello everyone, I just found this forum today and it looks like there is a lot of helpful advice going around so I figured I would make an account to post my situation.
Tomorrow night I am taking my last exam before graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy. I am 23 years old and about a week away from visiting MEPS and soon enlisting in the Navy. My goal is to eventually become an officer in Nuclear Propulsion. Because of my degree I have no real academic background in mathematics, but I want to eventually earn another bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering. Long-term (10+ years) I want to transition back to the civilian sector and probably work in the energy industry.
What I want to know is what it takes to transition from enlisted to officer after A school and any other necessary training. If I want to work in nuclear propulsion do I need to qualify for STA-21, or is there a path I am missing? What sort of timeline am I looking at to earn a 2nd bachelor's degree - and should I do that through STA-21 or on my own while enlisted? Any advice I can get will be greatly appreciated.
1) MMM is correct, you aren't eligible for STA-21 with a degree. You also can't get into a commissioning program out of A-school and you currently are not eligible to become a nuke officer without a year's worth of calculus and calculus based physics. On top of that, if you enlist then the enlisted nuclear community manager has to release you if you wish to commission in a non-nuke officer designator, which generally only happens within 1 year of when you are due to separate - that's a minimum of 5 years from now.
2) The best way for you to get a nuclear engineering degree is to forget the Navy and go back to school. While you are enlisted, you will not be afforded the time to complete the required labwork and study time necessary to maintain a good GPA in an engineering degree.
3) The best way for you to become a nuke officer is to go back to school and take a year's worth of calculus and calculus based physics, then apply to NUPOC.
4) There are other commissioning programs available to you if you wish to serve as an officer in the Navy, which you would be qualified for provided that you have a clean record and a good GPA (3.3+). The shortest commitments being surface warfare and supply, each 4 years. Go see an officer recruiter and take the ASTB. Any form of 36 months of active service will allow you to get the benefits of the post 9/11 GI bill, which you can use to get a nuclear engineering degree after you separate.
Random aside: If you really wanted to do nuclear engineering, why did you waste your time and money getting a degree in philosophy?
