Possible to transfer from SWO Nuke to NR Engineer while getting SWO certified?

[williamse]

      My SO is currently in the process of being SWO certified before Nuke school/ending up on a carrier. He has been struggling with anxiety and has not been handling the transition to being on a ship very well. He has done well in his job and BDOC, and no one is aware of his internal struggle, but he's expressed interest in transferring to the Nuclear Reactors Engineer program. Is this possible? I am aware the NR program is extremely competitive, but I feel confident he would have had a great shot at getting it back when he initially interviewed for SWO. Does he have any options as far as getting into this program now? He was commissioned fall of last year.

I appreciate any and all comments as I'm struggling to find the answers online. Thank you!

[klj3827]

It is unlikely.  If NR wanted him, they would've taken the opportunity to interview him for that position following his original interviews. I have many friends who initially interviewed for subs or surface nuke, and got asked back to interview for NR, because they did so well in their initial interviews.

He could go to NR for his first shore tour if he knocks his PNEO exam and interviews out of the park.

[spekkio]

      My SO is currently in the process of being SWO certified before Nuke school/ending up on a carrier. He has been struggling with anxiety and has not been handling the transition to being on a ship very well. He has done well in his job and BDOC, and no one is aware of his internal struggle, but he's expressed interest in transferring to the Nuclear Reactors Engineer program. Is this possible? I am aware the NR program is extremely competitive, but I feel confident he would have had a great shot at getting it back when he initially interviewed for SWO. Does he have any options as far as getting into this program now? He was commissioned fall of last year.

I appreciate any and all comments as I'm struggling to find the answers online. Thank you!

No, it's not possible. There are many avenues for your buddy to lat xfer, but the NRE program isn't one of the receiving billets that will be available to him.

[ComradeRed1308]

I am going to second the posters above.  You cannot lat transfer to be an NR engineer.  There are shore duty billets for surface and submarine nukes at NR headquarters, but you would have to get placed there and it would only be temporary.  If your SO doesn't like being on a ship and wants to be an engineer, his best path forward would be to serve his time out, get out of the Navy, and transfer to a civilian engineering job.  I would not recommend going to NR for a shore tour unless you hate yourself or desperately want to live in DC for whatever reason.  There are so many better and less stressful shore duties.  If your worried about his Naval career, no one in the future will care about what he did for his JO shore tour.  If his anxiety is truly that bad that he can't handle being on a ship, then he should talk to the Chaplain or medical about transferring to something else.