Ramifications of DEP drop-out.

[Roll Tide]

I posted in here because I wanted to be on topic in this thread. Additionally, I was not trying to suggest that the navy is not a part of the "real world" just that the navy (and the military in general) is a "different world" than what I am used to. One thing, for example, that the navy can provide that the "the real world" cannot is a guaranteed job. I can sign up, go through meps, sign a contract, and take an oath and I have guaranteed employment on my ship day, easy as pie, no hard work involved. To get a job in the "real world" it requires putting out resumes, interviewing, and impressing the interviewers. For me, going through MEPS was like waiting in line at the DMV to get my drivers liscence renewed, nothing hard, no suprises, and a guarantee that what I get at the end of the line is what I expected when I got in line.

You do stand in line at MEPS, and it is how you get your assigned rating schools. But this is no more a guarantee of success than standing in line each semester for registration assured a successful college degree. After you are in the Navy for 3 years in the Nuke program, you COULD be qualified senior in-rate watchstation with a rank of E-5. That is a good status, but it isn't guaranteed or free. You could also be de-nuked and be an undesignated Fireman (or Seaman) haze grey and underway with no new skills to utilize when you get out.