Will The Navy Screw Me Over??

[Atomic Frog]

This will be my last reply because we're just a LITTLE off topic.  They didn't convince me not to. The point is that I have a choice and either way, I WIN. Goodbye all.

WOW   

[Rad Sponge]

Dave,

Picture yourself as the Officer of the Deck of a Virginia Class submarine or the Engineering Officer of the Watch transiting littoral waters off the coast of Iran, systems aligned for ultra-quiet, SEAL team is locking out to deploy, your entire crew at Battle Stations, nobody is making so much as a stomach growl. No one has slept in a nearly a week as you stay concealed off the coast listening to Iranian message traffick.

You have to get the SEAL team to the insert point, however 4 Iranian frigates with ASW supplied by the Russians are cross cutting in the gulf.

You have one shot to do this right because intelligence reports received by Radio 3 hours ago state that the SEAL time has to eliminate key launchers; mobile launching platforms that have been relocated to positions near the coast, before the Iranians launch nuclear warheads into India, Israel, and Germany.

So far the frigates do not suspect you. Right before the SEALs complete the lock out, a MSW cross connect flange ruptures and you have flooding in the engineroom.

Going through the procedures, you secure ASW/MSW and isolate SW. You here a ping in the water. The Iranians heard the transient. Torpedoes are in the water and homing on your position. Your SEALs are still tethered to the egress lock out. Communication with them is cut off during the casualty.

You have to dive or your crew is dead. Decide.

Whether you are the OOD or the EOOW you have about a microsecond to make decisions that will either save you or kill you.

And you can't even take some good natured ribbing?



Maybe you should stick to the lab work.

[visserjr]

To all,
If my replies contributed to "angering" anyone, sorry. But JMK is right. If Dpalm can't take a LITTLE ribbing, he would certainly have gone mad in maneuvering during his first EOOW drill set as the eo and ro plat against him. No offense to the guy, but he came across like soooo many of the Annapolis grads we have all retrained in our time. If I was not true to the forum I blame it on the morphine.

John

[Nuclear NASCAR]

To all,
In the case of someone coming here looking for an answer and instead getting the ration that ya'll gave, it's not a matter of being right.  It's a matter of being helpful.  "Good natured ribbing" usually doesn't come across the internet very well due to not being able to see a persons face and usually not knowing the person responding. 

PWHoppe posted a good reminder to try and be civil and it obviously fell on deaf ears.  I'll admit that the title stuck in my head the whole time I was reading the initial post for the first time.  After reading it again I saw someone with genuine questions and concerns run straight into the smart*** patrol.  Witty banter such as I've seen here happens daily here at work among folks who know each other.  However, when it's obviously not received in the manner it was given it's time to quit feeding on the carcass and see if PERHAPS we should just answer the question rather than do the recruiters job and the job of those who are charged with determining Dpalm2 is fit for the Navy or not. 

Please consider this the last reminder for this thread.  Fun is fun but ya'll oughta be ashamed.

[M1Ark]

Nuclear NASCAR,

You obviously were not a prior navy nuke and therefore didn't get it and apparently neither did dpalm2.  You are right in that a lot of what was said was more of an inside joke to those that did get it and was a disservice to the original post.

[visserjr]

In all honesty, I was serious about the morphine, as funny as it sounds, I just had Major Knee surgery. Anyway. It is always difficut to respond to a question that is inflamatory in nature when doing so over the internet, without offending someone. 

[dpalm2]

Couldn't help but to reply again.  JMK that is a very interesting scenario you thought up(or possibly read in one of your solider of fortune magazine).  Of corse im not prepared for such a thing.  What college kid is. I have a family history in the military, and I assure you that neither of my grandfathers were prepared for what lay ahead of them when they landed on the beaches of France in '44.  I didn't realize when I posted the first time that almost everyone here enlisted out of high school(by the way, I respect that more than you all might think).  I think as soon as I said I was a Univ. student who wanted to go into OCS, you all just decided to give me a hard time because you all resent the officers that had it better than you.  Why else did some of you just start talking about how guys out of high school did better than guys with degrees?  You thought I was being an jerk stating my GPA while I only posted it because the program I'm interested in has a minimum GPA requirement.  None of you seemed to know what I was talking about. Sorry I came to the wrong place.

[PWHoppe]

Sorry I came to the wrong place.

This is very, very sad. This site is supposed to be a place to help ALL people, not to drive them away. I am not going to point fingers or go on a rant but we all need to look ourselves in the mirror and ask what was the young man looking for and what could I have done to help.

[taterhead]

This thread has outlived its usefulness.

[Fermi2]

I read it, and if I were a young sprout asking advice I'd have found that thread extremely helpfull. I had my 18 year old son read it and he said the same.

While some ribbing was done, none of it was out of line, especially considering the wealth of information that was given.

Maybe it's me but I thought the kid over reacted.

Overall it was an excellent thread.

Mike

[PWHoppe]

Mike,

Quite possibly true, you can't tell what someone is thinking and you can't gauge anything using the internet, which is why the ribbing has to be done carefully. You are most correct in that there was a tremendous amount of very sound advice given out.

[Nuclear NASCAR]

Nuclear NASCAR,

You obviously were not a prior navy nuke and therefore didn't get it and apparently neither did dpalm2.  You are right in that a lot of what was said was more of an inside joke to those that did get it and was a disservice to the original post.

My lack of Navy nuke experience is why I rarely post in the forum because I know without a doubt that I have very little to offer here other than perhaps in the Getting Out section. 

I don't want to discourage anyone from offering their opinions and ideas, we're all here to exchange information, stories, and helpful hints.  One of the greatest tools we have are the smilies to at least show a little emotion that can't be read without seeing ones face.  I've encouraged Dave to continue to seek his answers and I'd encourage honest answers from any with feedback.  It sounds like he's running a "what if" scenario through his head and coming up with more questions than he has answers to.  He probably thinks out loud and keeps coming up with more and more questions.  Sounds like he's got a great future ahead of him in accident analysis of nuke plants when he gets out.  

I know that ya'll have not only the answers but the ability to ask probing questions that can help him make one of the biggest decisions of his life.  I'm thanking you in advance for doing that.

By the way, visserjr, I hope the knee gets better for you as you recover.  My wife had to have her ACL replaced about 5 years ago and I remember it was no fun.

[visserjr]

Nascar,
They relocated my knee cap because apparently the Navy thought 28 was too young for knee replacement.

As to the thread, I went back and reread it. There was some most likely submarine specific ribbing, and through it all there was some decent advice. Like Mike, I had an 19 year old MM3 straight form prototype read it, he foud it pretty usefull.

[Fermi2]

Thanks, because I try to be reasonable.

If the ribbing wasn't that bad then the kid should have taken it. He received the info he desired, it was good info and we don't always get what we want out of life.

It's time he learned it.

MIke

[dpalm2]

The thread answered one of my many questions, and that was about sub service.  Other than that, nobody had any idea about the program/contract offer that I was talking about.  Obviously that's no one's fault, but don't say there was a lot of information in the thread.  Maybe there was a lot of useless information, but not much that pertained to me.  I can take a "ribbing" as good as the next guy.  I like to argue because most of the time it's productive.  Maybe after military service I'll learn how to take s**t and not have the need to sling in back 

[Fermi2]

The thread answered one of my many questions, and that was about sub service.  Other than that, nobody had any idea about the program/contract offer that I was talking about.  Obviously that's no one's fault, but don't say there was a lot of information in the thread.  Maybe there was a lot of useless information, but not much that pertained to me.  I can take a "ribbing" as good as the next guy.  I like to argue because most of the time it's productive.  Maybe after military service I'll learn how to take s**t and not have the need to sling in back 

LOL!!!!!! Good response!

Mike

[rlbinc]

To All You Shellbacks, Sea Lawyers, Salts, Scallywags, Snipes, and Slimy Creatures Of The Raging Main;

Not all of our nuclear industry colleagues have been subjected to the daily demoralization, denigration, and disenfranchisement which characterized the Naval Service.

Like you, I never experienced a day of service when my own (or my Mother's, Girlfriend's, Sister's, or Dog's) personal dignity was not attacked verbally by "shipmates" in the Navy. It was all good fun at the time. I played in that role myself.

But, hey, eight years later and twenty plus years ago - it ended.

My advice to any young man is to serve his country. That advice has worked in my family for generations.

I served 3,107 days, and I wonder how I can remember that number. Must have been the thousand times I counted, huh?

[Halcyon Daze]

Dave,
I'm really not familiar with the program you're talking about, but I can promise you that if you go in, either as an officer or enlisted, the Navy will hold you to the terms of your contract. They will be firm but fair and you will get what you give. If you complete nuke training and serve out your term (and I can only speak for the Sub Service) you will learn to run a nuclear power plant in a way that you'll never be able to learn any other way. It'll be like learning to drive at a Nascar training facility. You'll operate under pressure that can't be duplicated in the commercial world. You'll also go months without seeing your family. You'll go days without sleep. You'll work holidays, nights, weekends and any other time you can find.You'll get kicked in the ass and stabbed in the back. You'll make enemies you want to kill and friends you'll want to adopt. You'll get seasick, homesick, heartsick, sick and tired and 10 thousand other things that will make you want to piss on John Paul Jones. You'll see sunrises and starshows, nightlife and wildlife, foreign ports, maybe exotic islands.....things you'd pay hugely for in civilian life.
With the indignation of youth, I cursed my recruiter a thousand times for getting me into that hellhole of a life,  but looking back, I treasure the education, experience and the memories and frequently call him up to go have a beer when I'm back home (he was from my home town).
I don't know you and can't tell you whether or not you would have a rewarding experience in the Yacht Club, that's something you'll have to decide. But I can tell you this....IT IS A FREAKIN' ADVENTURE!!!!!

[Bighouz107501]

I couldn't help but to post. Unlike this other person I feel that every wueation has been answered thoroughly, I think the only thing you all couldn't tell me is who is gonna be my roommate. I think that the main poster walks with his chin and nose up high. Does he not realize that he is not better than any1 on this forum. I do not know him personally but he just seems this way. I mean comeon I may go NROTC to Villanova and play D1 Tennis, but that makes me no better than any1 else.

Maybe I have already started to learn many things about myself on this forum, mainly JMK, Beercourt, and Broadzilla have tought me many things that I feel no college degree can offer.

Just my input on this all.

Dennis

[Fermi2]

Thanks Dennis,

And after a somewhat rocky start I do appreciate the way to stayed in here and asked darn good questions.

Just remember, it's gonna suck sometimes but in the end it's ALL worth it. I pick on Navy nukes even though I was one, but I'll fully admit everything I have today was made possible by the Navy nuke program.

Its a good time, and wait till you see a sunrise or sunset at sea!

Mike

[Bighouz107501]

No, thank all of the you.

I have accepted that it will be hard, and that's why I'm excited. I was never challenged to the point that I have had to dig deep. I can't wait to find out what I really am capable of and what not. But I found it very disrespectful that this poster says the site is useless. I know that people such as myself, fellow DEP's and parents have found this section of Nukeworker to be USEFUL! But anyways I hope that the poster reads this and realizes some things. Hopefully we just all have the wrong impression on him, then again maybe not.

[dpalm2]

Bighouse,

          Were you there for the last thread?  Lets not start again.  I find the site to be very useful and thank those that make it possible.  I said there was a lot of useless info in the thread, which is true.  And for the 15 posts we've been talking about how much info was in the first thread, when we could have been talking about what OCS or NPS will be like.  That's fine though becuase that information is in about a dozen other places here.  Sorry if I came across like I think I'm Johnny Depp in a Wal-Mart; I never talk in forums.

                Dave

[Bighouz107501]

Ok, it;s cool but I did not see where you stated this site was helpful. But did you figure out exactly what your situation is, in regards to joining yet? I really didn't catch that.

[dpalm2]

I think what I did was read something on a website that made the program called NUPOC and another nuclear teaching oportunity sound the same.  So in my original post in the last thread, I don't think I can get that kind of money out of the navy unless I sign something and commit to becoming an instructor somewhere in the pipeline(possibly at A-school), which I don't want to do.

[Fermi2]

Bighouse,

          Were you there for the last thread?  Lets not start again.  I find the site to be very useful and thank those that make it possible.  I said there was a lot of useless info in the thread, which is true.  And for the 15 posts we've been talking about how much info was in the first thread, when we could have been talking about what OCS or NPS will be like.  That's fine though becuase that information is in about a dozen other places here.  Sorry if I came across like I think I'm Johnny Depp in a Wal-Mart; I never talk in forums.

                Dave

Johnny Depp in a Walmart. LOL!!! Classic!!!

I'm somewhat curious. When I went to A School there weren't any officer instructors, but I was in just prior to Nuclear Field A School. We had Officer instructors in Nuke School, but so far as I know all the A School and pre Nuke instructors were enlisted. Does NFAS have officer instructors?

Mike