Question about NPS Instructors

[Wolf9906]

I have a quick question about becoming an NPS Instructor... I am a former nuke with a medical discharge due a corpsman... who was a little less attentive than he should have been to my situation (to put it lightly..) ...long story short: after an ambulance ride to the hospital... emergency surgery.. an extended stay (during which i apparently met with the CO under heavy sedation... i dont remember it, i was told later that it was an interesting conversation) i was sent for a PEB and was subsequently discharged with disability.  I took advantage of my severance and Navy College fund to get a couple of degrees (Sooo much easier than nuke school... but I was frequently frustrated by the low caliber of the students and the tendancy to teach to the "lowest common denominator".. several of my instructors where former nuke as well so i did have some fun..) anyway i found out that i enjoy (and i am good at) teaching... which brings me to my question:  What do i have to do to become an NPS Instructor? What are the requirements to become one? and is it difficult to overcome the medical discharge situation?  I Love the Navy, i Love teaching... i would like to combine the two for a while if i can.

Any help/Advice would be appreciated.

[Fermi2]

Ok here's the deal, I was in a similar situation when I broke my elbows.

The Navy offered the following:

Permanent Staff duty at NPS Orlando (this was in 1990)

HOWEVER there was an issue with that.

1: You can only remain LIMDU for 18 months before they have to boot you.

2: You can't be an instructor at NPS without meeting the Navys physical requirements, you are after all still a member of the Navy.. Which I couldn't do because I couldn't pass a PFT because I couldn't do pushups.

3: There really wasn't a waiver process to get around items  1 and 2. A Captain did his best to work around it or through it for me, but after 9 months of trying the eventual answer was no.

Mike

[Wolf9906]

Thanks for the input! 

As for the physical requirements, i have never had a problem with that... shortly after my recovery (not long before i was discharged) i was actually able to pass a PRT.  It took some work on my part to do it, but i could do it.  That is one of the things that bothered me the most about the whole thing.  i am of the opinion that politics played a big part in my eventual discharge.. (it was a big mess.)

As for the job on monster, if you find it please let me know.  any oppourtunity is worth a try, even if it eventually does not pan out.

-Thanks!

[Fermi2]

Dude, if you were discharged as the result of a PEB you by definition do not meet the Navy physical fitness requirements.

Mike

[MCiko]

If your code on your DD 214 refers to a medical discharge then it will be very difficult to get back into the Navy.
If you are serious about getting back in, the senior enlisted nuke at the Bureau of Naval Recruiting is a good friend of mine. I could ask him about your situation.
Mike

[Wolf9906]

Yes, I was discharged as a result of a PEB, and at the time of the PEB, I did not meet the physical fitness requirements (according to the doctor that made the recommendation.)  however, at the time I was ignorant.  there where many things that I did not know much about including the appeals process, I was just relieved it was over.  I have been to plenty of doctors in the navy and out... one in particular opened my eyes... it was at the VA a few months after I was discharged... he looked over my file.. and without having ever examined me or spoken to the doctors who had he told me with absolute certainty that the diagnosis I had received did not exist (despite the fact that I had seen doctor after doctor while still enlisted..), so he didn't know how to help me... then he sent me on my way.  this made me look into things a little further.. my first discovery: many doctors are full of stuff, some are full of themselves, some are full of something else that smells bad...  both are bad things for the patient..  The second discovery... I looked further into my PEB, I was discharged based on a couple of factors... one being the unfortunate incident with the corpsman the other being an underlying condition that I was diagnosed with in bootcamp... That condition didn't hold me back one time until the final incident.. it was just always there... I got headaches when I ran... bad ones... it never stopped me from passing a PRT, although I didn't particularly like the running part of it, and it didn't stop me from doing my job.  When I was sent for a PEB, I was under the impression that it was because of what happened and the length of time my anticipated recovery was going to be... I didn't anticipate however that it would include my whole file... and my doctors recommendation (to the negative) would play a HUGE part.  was I ignorant?? absolutely, I thought I was invincible and nothing could stop me.. well, my ignorance did more than anything.  I went  to college, visited quite a few doctors... found out most of them where wrong the first few times... and got my life in order.  I have an opportunity to actually teach at the college I received my degrees from this fall... and I might do it. but first and foremost I wanted to find out if I could teach in the navy for a while... I miss the navy.. I miss the pride I felt while I was in, nothing has ever compared to that for me.

thanks again guys
-Justin

[Fermi2]

First don't trust a VA doctor. Their job is to minimize any claim you make not to do a true diagnosis.

And yes, getting discharged on a PEB is something that pretty much kills any appeals.

It doesn't hurt looking into it though.

Mike

[Wolf9906]

So true.. I didnt trust the VA doctor... that wasnt the point... i didnt trust some of the Docs i visited in the Navy either...  the VA doctor just ticked me off enough to start digging.  the guy infuriated me.

-Justin