Hardest Nuke route you would suggest for me?

[omieschmomie]

Before you post: I know "hardest" is subjective.




Do ET and EM have anything similar like the MM ELT?

I'm going NUKE and want to take the hardest possible route through the program.

I also want to go to the Academy. I do know that going through NPS and the Pipeline is long in itself, and the Academy to some people might seem, well, foolish.

But that's what I want to do. Is there any really psycho route to take? Like do MM ELT, do Academy + other stuff?

I want to make the most out of my stay. Please don't try and put me down. Just tell me what my options are as far as intensity goes.

[M1Ark]

Beercourt.... this ones got your name on it.

[Already Gone]

Yer killin' me man!
Okay, a challenge is just what I needed right now.  So, here goes.

I prepared to answer this post by reading the pervious posts of "omie".  Here's what I figured out.  The kid wants a challenge, is smart, and has already talked to a recruiter.

Here goes:  you want the most challenging training and career that a Navy Officer can have.  So, why limit yourself to nuke school?  There's not enough difference between MM/ELT, ET and EM that you could consider one path to be "psycho" compared to the others.  Each is challenging in its own way, and I would suggest that you follow your aptitudes rather than go for the "hardest" route.

However, you have left out a BAZILLION other options.  By going enlisted nuke, you are locking yourself out of a lot of them and limiting your chances at others.

Yeah, maybe 100% of all the eligible nukes who apply to USNA get in.  So, let's break that down.  To be eligible, you have to be an unmarried US citizen who is not pregnant and not yet 23 years old.  You have to be of good moral character and have to have exceptional High School grades to be considered.

Already, you have eliminated an awful lot of Navy nukes.  So, probably a relatively small number of them ever bother to apply.  Most of those who are admitted would have gotten in straight out of High school anyway.  Only the most OUTSTANDING enlisted persons will get admitted to the academy if they were not qualified to get in before they enlisted.  They basically wasted up to two years of eligibility by delaying their application until they were in the nuke pipeline. 

If you want to be a nuke, go ahead.  But I already know that you want to be an officer.  So, make that the top of your list.  Apply to the USNA the minute you are old enough.  Keep applying until you are too old.  If you never get in, it won't be from lack of trying.  You can, during this time, enlist and go to NPS.  Why not?  The important thing is to keep your focus on the thing you really desire.  Unfortunately, you may lose sight of that goal while you are in the nuke pipeline.

I really believe that you must commit yourself to only one major goal at a time, and being in NPS necessarily makes graduating from that program the default goal as long as you are there.  CAUTION!!!  If you do not intend to make graduating from NPS your absolute number one priority while you are there, you have no business there.  Neither NPS nor the USNA is something that can be completed successfully if it is your backup plan or a stepping stone to something else.  You have to approach it as if it is all there is in the world or you won't make it.  This is known as dedication and committment.  Get intimately familiar with this concept.

Before you jump at this, think about all the possible alternatives that may offer the challenge you seek.  Think about being an aviator, a SEAL, or even an astronaut.  These are all attainable and rewarding positions.  They are not open to enlisted nukes.

If you want a challenge, Nuke school isn't it.  It is hard.  It requires work, dedication, aptitude, intelligence, dilligence, and integrity.  But the technology is still in the 1950's.  There's no way to dress it up any better than that.  It does not take cutting-edge technology to boil water - and that is exactly what nuclear reactors do.  Period.

Try landing a fighter plane on the deck of a carrier.  That's a challenge.  By the way, even aviation officers have to go to nuke school before they can be assigned to certain positions on carriers.  There were a few LCDR's with wings in prototype when I was there.  They tend to whiz right through the school so fast that they don't have to stick with a class.

Take this as a little advice from someone who is old enough to be your father;  If you have a chance to go to Annapolis, take it right away.  DO NOT make it a step later along in some other plan.  Make it your primary goal.  To go enlisted nuke before you have exhausted all chances at USNA would be selling yourself too cheap.  The Naval Academy might mean a lot of things to a lot of different people, but I have never heard anyone describe it as foolish.  It is one of the most impressive diplomas that a person can have.  It may not make you a Jimmy Carter, Roger Staubach, Montel Williams, or Alan Shepard.  It hopefully won't make you a Timothy Leary either.  But it will open doors to you that being an enlisted nuke will not.

So, go snowboarding or something to make yourself feel a little confident and then aim for loftier goals.

I do not regret having been an MM/ELT.  It was an accomplishment that I can be proud of, but if I have to be honest, I have to say that I gave up too soon.  If I could do it all over again, I would press harder for a good college education.  I would have followed up on my NROTC application instead of getting discouraged and taking the easier path.  I would have taken the challenge more seriously.  I might still have ended up doing exactly as I did, but I would have known that I gave it all I had.

Sure, you can get into the USNA or some other officer program from NPS.  You can also drive from Florida to Oklahoma by driving through Pennsylvania.  Just the fact that something is possible does not mean that it is the best way to go.  Before you buy the recruiter's story that being a nuke is a springboard into Annapolis, consider that it just might be an unnecessary detour along the way instead.

[omieschmomie]

That was THE BEST REPLY EVER.
Thank you SOOOO much beercourt. 

[Bighouz107501]

Interesting beercourt. So do you believe that I should take a better route to make my civilian life better after the navy? My recruiter wants to start my Academy and NROTC paper to get them in before its too late. Would there be a better career choice benefit and salary wise or is nuclear power where it is really at.

[taterhead]

That was THE BEST REPLY EVER.

Well, it was certainly the longest.

Thanks for the input 

[Already Gone]

Interesting beercourt. So do you believe that I should take a better route to make my civilian life better after the navy? My recruiter wants to start my Academy and NROTC paper to get them in before its too late. Would there be a better career choice benefit and salary wise or is nuclear power where it is really at.

Other than Navy reactors, the youngest one in the United States is older than you.  That doesn't mean that there will be no career for you, just that the industry is as close to dead as it can get and still have a pulse. 

The best thing to do to make your life better is to do what makes you happy.  Anyone who makes over $40 -50k (depending on where they live) will tell you that any additional money might make things a little easier, but it has ZEROOOOOO effect on your happiness.  I personally know people who make well over $100k per year who are totally miserable.
If nuclear energy makes you smile, do it.  If you have no idea what you want to be when you grow up, the nuke route isn't the worst way to kill time and pay the bills while you make up your mind.  I know a couple of lawyers who got their degrees (B.S. and J.D.) almost complotely at the expense of the government and their employers.

Definitely follow through on your NROTC and Academy applications.  Don't let that fall by the wayside if you happen to enlist.

[Marlin]

Beercourt you are going to have to stop this. Being open and honest and appearing to give a #%$& is going to give you a bad name, SeaDaddy comes to mind. Hopefully these young men will heed your sage advice. The only point of contention I have is that Nuclear is not dead, the renewed interest of utilities here in the US and abroad is increasing and they will be needing new blood about the time these young men would be getting out, not to mention the increasing average age of current nuclear workers (yes, I mean you and me). There have been enough positive events over the last couple of years to clearly point to a resurgence. The energy bill included new research money including a hydrogen producing reactor in Idaho. Last year Price Anderson was renewed again helping to defray the financial risk for new reactors.

"The future is so bright I gotta wear shades"

[Already Gone]

I'm really hoping you're right.
I don't think nuclear is dead, it's just in a coma.  There is hope for new nuclear technologies, but there isn't anything other than hope at this point.  I hope it revives.  I happen to think it is a great way to make power, and a cool job.
But, if I was 17 again, I'd probably be looking into something more "cutting edge" and sexy as far as technology goes.  Or, if I was looking for "adventure" (remember that one?), I'd be looking at other than the hot, smelly engineroom of a steel tube. 

At this point I want to make it clear that I am not trying to steer these guys away from nuclear.  Rather, I'm trying to steer them toward what they really want to do.  So many young people have gotten on this forum and talked about NPS as a way toward becoming an officer that I couldn't help but notice the pattern.
If recruiters have been selling the program as a back door into the wardroom, they should stop it.  If a kid wants to be an officer, he should take the direct route instead of trying to play an angle.  Going nuke to become an officer is about like breeding thoroughbreds to get the manure.  (No correlation between officers and manure was intended, but it turns out to be quite clever, eh?)
In a way, I'm just too proud of my background as a nuke to see it being dismissed as merely a means to some other end.

[Bighouz107501]

Beercourt,

You seem to give the straight truth, and I really respect that and I can tell that you favor doing what will truely make us happy. Yet, I'm confused about how you mentioned salaries. You gave a rough estimate of only a 50k salary, when 90 percent of the people I talk to state maybe 55-60k starting but can easily move up to nearly a 100k with a few year exp. I do not doubt what you said, I'm just questioning why no one can give numbers near the same, if that makes sense.

[Rennhack]

How about 50-60k base, with up to 100k including overtime?

[Already Gone]

Rennhack's numbers are the ones to use.  I was talking about people in general.  Regardless of your occupation, you'll find that any income over around 40-50k will not increase your happiness level.  Even hitting a lottery seems to have no lasting effect on the happiness of the winner.  Most of them say that the emotional high wears off after a few days or weeks, and they are right back to feeling the same as before.

My point?
Lots of people are trying to impress you with numbers right now.  They're predicting how much you'll earn if you take their advice.  What I'm saying is that it doesn't matter - especially if you are not happy with what you are doing.  Once you are able to support yourself and your family, money no longer matters.
I'm not advising you to become a surfing bum, or to backpack through Europe for the rest of your life.  You'll need a paying occupation.  Just pick one that you'll enjoy.  Success follows happiness.
Good luck to you.

[visserjr]

Beercourt is right, as always. Money will never buy happiness. Do what you love, and the money will come. That being said, if you love selling drugs, that is probably not best career choice. But you seem to be pretty intelligent. Bottom line is if you do go into the Navy, get what you can from it because it will get what it can from you.

[Bighouz107501]

O thank you I understand now. I think that all of the people on this forum are very helpful and they help give me a better view on everything. Beercourt, thank you again for the words of wisdom.

[Marlin]

Those shades must filter out the Hillary sunrise just over the horizon,....don't count your nuclear chickens yet,.....

They may not have hatched but they are in the incubator.

   As for a life time comitment to the Navy I don't know of very many enlisted that entered the Navy with a 20 year hitch in mind. I did know a few JO's that had a command of a vessel in mind which meant at least a 20 year hitch. Most of my shipmates just wanted the training and experience. OK many of us were up for the draft which brings me to another point. Many conditions stay the same but every generation has its own unique environment. I suspect that long hours and a lot of time at sea is still the same but new missions would change the experience as would the Navy command stucture, I suspect that you and I were still in while Rickover was the head man. The people who stayed in the Navy were sometimes predictable and sometimes not, just as a marine would aspire to be a "Gunny Sargent" some asire to the "CPO" mystique that the Chiefs run the Navy (which is true where the rubber meets the road).
   One thing I do know is that a forum like this was not available when I enlisted and I wish it had been. Would I have changed my mind with this kind of information, probably not. The Navy is an experience that I would not wish to do today but I am glad I have it behind me.