failed out of nuke school

[BlueHorizon05]

hey everyone,
well, i just found out that i'm being disenrolled from power school for academic reasons.  i graduated a school as an et3 and just failed out of my second month of power school. really didn't want to fail out, but can't do anything about it now.  but anyway, i've been really worried about what's going to happen.  Will i keep my crow?  will i still be an ET? thank you so much, i appreciate it,
david

[Already Gone]

Don't panic.  Unless you are on the pad (waiting for mast) there is no reason to think you are going to lose your bird.  You are still an ET3, and as long as you put forth a good effort, if your attitude didn't totally suck, if you can keep it together until your papers come in, they may bee good ones.  In the old days (when the atoms were made of wood) lots of students were disenrolled for academic deficiency.  The ONLY ones of that bunch who got screwed were the guys who had it coming.
But let's never, ever, ever lose sight of the fact that you have already gotten months of specialized training at government expoense.  That training will keep you sitting in the catbird seat from now on.
Disenrolled nukes have been assigned to everything from sub tenders, to subs, to carriers, to shore maintenance facilities to the USS Constitution, to Antarctica.
Sorry you didn't make it.  Half of my section packed their bags at the 3 week ac-board.  I was sad to see them go, but it doesn't make you a failure.
Here's a little tidbit of happy news.
DeNuked ET's are prime candidates for the navigation department of nuke subs.  They get the same food, bunks, ports of call.. etc as the nuke ET's -- only they get to go on liberty about 4 hours before the nukes who are still shutting down the hot-rock.
You're not where you though you would be, but you're still 80 - 90 % there.
Your parents are still going to be proud of you too.
Fair winds and following seas to ya.

[hamsamich]

yeah man, for real, theres alot of reasons to be happy about not being a nuke.  A big part of me wishes I would have been part of the "real Navy".  Better liberty, more interesting job opportunities and at least you had an intro to Nucdom if you want to do it when you get out.  You can get stationed so many more places after your Sea duty has been done, you can do something really cool if you want to, go somewhere awesome.  Nucs are very limited in what they can do with shore duty not to mention all duty stations are limited for a nuc.  Do something cool!

[halflifer]

...and if you dont wind up being a 'lifer', the electronics industry isn't exactly dying.

[bbishop]

There were two guys on my boat who failed out of my Nuke school class.  One was an ET and one was a MM.  They kept their crows.  One became a Nav ET and the other was an A-ganger.  The A-ganger ended up making Chief in less than 8 years (a year before I did) and the other guy is out now making a good living and getting home in time for dinner every night.  The best advice I can give you is pick up the pieces, learn from your mistakes, and move on.  I recommend Nav ET, Chrypto, or Missile Tech if you have a choice. 

[Rad Sponge]

At this point ATTITUDE is everything.

If you have not done so, become a poster child for Honor Courage and Committment.

Uniform: Starched and creased razor sharp
Boots: Mirror finish
Hair: Tight on the sides and back.

Appearance is everything now that you are going to have to interact with lots of non-nukes and what not as you transition into a different job. How you present yourself to your supervisors is how they will present you to their superiors, detailers, etc.

As far as jobs go: Think Life After Navy. Think current and projected job markets. Think globilization. Hmm, I strongly encourage you to kiss enough booty and take the DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery). Maybe you can become a CTI (Cryptological Technician Interpretive). Its a little bit electronics and alot foreign languages. That is a critical skill in and out (just like nuke).

A general ET is also good if you gain a wide knowlege of electronics especially PLCs and Solid State stuff. Many of the ET civilian jobs I saw mention Programmable Logic Controllers.

Overall you do not want to pigeon hole yourself into a job with limited application to life after the Navy. You may think of yourself now as a 20-30 year career Sailor (so did I), but life happens and you must be prepared academically and financially for life post-Navy.

Long story short: Choosing your rate, choosing your fate.

R/

Former: MM1(SS)

Current: Health Physicist

Sponge

[s_Phoenix]

Of the 4 ET's we lost in my section in 01, all got to keep there crow.  But unlike the days of old you cant go to the fleet as an ET right away.  Nuc Et's are split out from the rest of the navy's ET's.  MM's & EM's job's match up close enough that they can be sent as there rating.  But ET's have to be given an other rating.   So the best thing is to kiss ass of those above you and get the best "longest" school you can.  The CTM rating is hot right now.  Its computer networking and repair of classifed system's.  The CTR is data collection.  I know guy's in both rating and the love it.  But there duty is back ward's from the rest of the navy.  Sea duty is easy, they play game's most of the day.  Shore duty is the hard work, they'll 14+ hr day all the time.

[maxxchia]

BeerCourt,

Real Submariners would hope for fair winds and seas ABEAM shipmate!!!