Navy NUPOC Instructor Position

[Tyler4565]

Hello all. I am about to finish my junior year at the University of Arkansas as an electrical engineering major with a gpa of 3.79. I am 21 years old and I am seriously considering pursuing the navy nuclear power school instructor position and had just a couple of questions that I didn't find answers to on other posts on this from. 

I have been in contact with a recruiter who assures me that if you join the navy as an instructor, you will move to Charleston, SC when you graduate after training and start your job as an instructor, but it is hard to take a recruiter's word.   
What are the actual chances that after a person makes it into the program the navy places them in a job other than what they signed up for (instructor)? I DO NOT want to end up on a ship or sub.

What will happen to someone who was in the NUPOC program and being paid while attending school that doesn't pass ODS when they graduate? 

What are the job prospects for a NUPOC nuclear instructor? I plan to earn a masters degree while working in Charleston, SC as an instructor, but how will being an instructor for the navy translate to the civilian job market? It doesn't seem like this job would make you very valuable to the civilian market.   

Lastly, what types of navy jobs would you qualify for at the end of your term if you decided to sign another contract after your teaching contract was over?

Thanks for the help

[Gamecock]

These questions are answered.....

You will be an instructor at NNPTC if that is what you interview for and are accepted.

If you fail ODS.... Well, nobody does that.

You are not guaranteed a job in the navy after your four years of teaching.  Mosy guys are shown the door at the four year point.

Search the forum for more specific answers.


Cheers,
GC

[Matt]

You will definitely only be accepted into the Nuclear Power School (NPS) Instructor program if that is all that you want to interview for in Washington D.C.

The commitment is now 5 years not the 4 years referenced in the previous post.  That was changed last summer when the new Program Authorization was released.  Ask your recruiter to show you Program Authorization 100B.  If he doesn't know what that is or where to find it please PM me the recruiters name.

This new Program Authorization also introduced the Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Instructor program.  Instead of teaching in a classroom at NPS you would lead watchteams and train students how to run a reactor at NPTU (more commonly referred to as Prototype).  You would have to attend the 6 month NPS and 6 month NPTU schools just like the fleet students and then stay in Charleston to teach at NPTU for 4 years.  There is also a NPTU site in Ballston Spa, NY but you would only have the option of staying in Charleston, S.C.

There are several opportunities available for you to transfer to after your 5 year commitment.  It's about half and half that decide to stay in or get out but the majority that request to do another job have the opportunity to stay in.  Most of them become an Engineering Duty Officer or a Human Resources Officer.

I am currently a Submarine Officer and on shore duty where I work in the Program Manager office for the NUPOC program at the Navy Recruiting Command HQ.  Feel free to send me a PM with your contact info to further answer any questions you have.  My office can also get you into contact with current NPS Instructors.

[Tyler4565]

Matt, thanks for taking the time to write a detailed response. I found authorization 100B online, which makes me feel a lot better because the information is in writing instead of word of mouth

[spekkio]

This new Program Authorization also introduced the Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Instructor program.  Instead of teaching in a classroom at NPS you would lead watchteams and train students how to run a reactor at NPTU (more commonly referred to as Prototype).  You would have to attend the 6 month NPS and 6 month NPTU schools just like the fleet students and then stay in Charleston to teach at NPTU for 4 years.  There is also a NPTU site in Ballston Spa, NY but you would only have the option of staying in Charleston, S.C.

Interesting change, and may relieve some of the JO angst of being red detailed to NPTU.

Of course, Ballston Spa has an equivalent type of position, but they are civilians.

[Gamecock]

This new Program Authorization also introduced the Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU) Instructor program.  Instead of teaching in a classroom at NPS you would lead watchteams and train students how to run a reactor at NPTU (more commonly referred to as Prototype).  You would have to attend the 6 month NPS and 6 month NPTU schools just like the fleet students and then stay in Charleston to teach at NPTU for 4 years.  There is also a NPTU site in Ballston Spa, NY but you would only have the option of staying in Charleston, S.C.

NPTU DIO Instructor is the stupidest program ever.  Why would anyone want to do this?  There is no bonus, and your civilian counterparts will make more $$$ and have a viable career path.

Your DIO instructor counterparts at NNPTC will work fewer hours, at the same rate of pay.

If you want to be a NAVY instructor, then be one..., at NNPTC.

If you want to be a nuclear operations instructor, get hired by BMPC.

Cheers,

GC

[spekkio]

I was trying to be more subtle with my 'red detail' comment to indicate that relatively few officers want to actually go be instructors at NPTU on their shore duty, but yeah, it's a pretty bad deal in lieu of being a power school instructor.

The only incentive I can possibly see is that said person can qualify EOOW and have that on their resume when they try to go for an SRO job at a civilian nuclear plant after 5 years. Whether or not that actually helps you get hired at a civilian plant is another story, but that won't stop the Navy from claiming it will. On the flip side, a candidate who qualifies for DIO instructor probably has the academic credentials to get hired at a civilian plant anyway.

[Tyler4565]

NPTU DIO Instructor is the stupidest program ever.  Why would anyone want to do this?  There is no bonus, and your civilian counterparts will make more $$$ and have a viable career path.

Your DIO instructor counterparts at NNPTC will work fewer hours, at the same rate of pay.

If you want to be a NAVY instructor, then be one..., at NNPTC.

If you want to be a nuclear operations instructor, get hired by BMPC.

Cheers,

GC

Will your civilian counterparts actually be making more money than you as an instructor? A EE can expect to make 60k right out of college, which is about what an instructor will start at. However the instructor would be making over 90k by the time their contract was up. Let me know of these figures are wrong because I figured the Navy pay myself..

[spekkio]

Bear in mind that after 5 years you are going to start as that newly minted BSEE and take a pay-cut to ~$60-80k again, that's if you can even get a job being out of the game for quite some time.

GC's comments were geared more toward people working the schedule that you would work as an NPTU instructor vice NNPS instructor. You'll average 55-60 hours a week (which is more like 3 weeks of 70-75 hour weeks followed by a 40 hour week and 4 days off) and always be tired due to the rotating shift work schedule.

[Gamecock]

Will your civilian counterparts actually be making more money than you as an instructor? A EE can expect to make 60k right out of college, which is about what an instructor will start at. However the instructor would be making over 90k by the time their contract was up. Let me know of these figures are wrong because I figured the Navy pay myself..

By civilian counterpart I mean the BMPC crew training engineer who gets shift differential pay and EOOW bonus pay, not your garden variety entry level engineer.

Cheers,

GC

[Tyler4565]

I appreciate you guys' help. I think it's safe to say that I'm not going to pursue it any further. What you all have said makes sense and I was already leery of the civilian job prospects after working as a navy instructor for 5 years.

[rlbinc]

The Navy was a great place to start a nuclear power career 40 years ago.
A lot has changed since then, the industry was in a construction boom, and is now in a decommissioning boom. The Navy "changed" its academic standards substantially, there's not as much regard as there used to be for being successful in that program.

Electrical engineers are needed in grid upgrades, renewable energy interconnections - there's a bigger future for you in the utility industry than my chosen field of nuclear power.

That said, the US Navy is a fine career for a young degreed engineer. Just don't go anywhere near nuclear. The service provides good pay, travel, benefits, youthful retirement prospects - without the 16 hour days my generation in the Nuclear Navy put in.