Re: Enlisted Bonus Went Up

[antwon510]

50 quatloos against the newcomer

50 quatloos? No clue what that means, could you please explain.

[Marlin]

100 quatloos against the newcomer who does not know how to use a search function.

50 quatloos? No clue what that means, could you please explain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatloo

[Smooth Operator]

Monetizing discussion....

Think of it as a very long term investment and only think about your investment.

My actual dollar per hour pay rate was probably less than 10 bucks an hour because I spent about 80-90 hrs per week studying in power school (40 classroom + 40-50 study hours).  A little less in A school and whatever it took in prototype to get off 12s, so I went as hard and as fast as possible to qualify.

The minimum capacity Sailors got the same bonus as me. The 2 ack-board Sailor got the same bonus as me.

Eventually, the work horse Sailor will rise above and beyond his peer group and in some instances, not all, but some, have a much better life than the skaters.

It may pay off by getting better orders, advancement, A/Power school, TEOOW, SOY/JOY, LPO, CPO, STA, LDO, WO, but eventually, over time, most hard working Sailors get paid if they choose to stay Navy.

I am sure a bevy of replies could follow to dispute this claim, but I would say, more or less, hard work pays off in the Sailors favor more often than naught.

In the junior years, it may mean a better deal on a duty day, a special privilege, something better for you that a dirt bag doesn't get.

You just can't get caught up in counting your beans now in the pipeline, because its not reality, and your job is to get your NEC, period.

I was near the top of all my schools, qualified fast in P-type, qualified 1st in ELT school, and put in more hours than nearly anyone.

It paid off thusly...

Selected for SPU = gravy ELT SPU duty and life on shore
Orders to Kings Bay = gravy Trident ELT duty and half my life on shore
part time shore duty = finished my AA and BA

It all started with busting my ass for good grades.

[Samabby]

" 50 quatloos against the newcomer "

I say 200.

Ant, you are seeking angles that often do not exist. As stated erlier ( by a gentleman who well may be your boss IF you get through all of this ) if pride in a job done to the best of your ability doesn't work for you, seek another line of work.

Yes, it really is that simple, son, but thanks for asking. 

[jowlman]

The only example that I remember from Nuke School is that if you had a study period the last period of the day, depending on your grades you got early liberty. The opposite was also true, your extra assigned study hours were based on your grades, the lower your grades the higher your mandatory study hours were.

[Preciousblue1965]

Well allow me to give you one instance in which taking the slack way wasn't beneficial for someone.  

Once upon a time, on a big gray ship on the ocean, there were 3 MM2s.  One of those MMs was a Work Center Supervisor for one of the Divisions, one was the assistant WCS for another division, and one had an easy job working in the Training Department.  The two WCS MMs busted their arse trying to make sure stuff got done in time to go off and blow up some bad guys.  The other one had it easy every day just writing up training material.  The two WCSs worked a lot of "overtime" writing tag outs, filling out paperwork, and scheduling maintenance.  The one MM left each day, usually before 1500.  

When the test results came back for MM1, guess which two MMs got promoted, and which one didn't.  Guess which two MMs got a nice raise, while the other MM had to be "capped" to MM1 3 full test cycles later.   

Any questions?

[antwon510]

50 quatloos against the newcomer

100 quatloos against the newcomer who does not know how to use a search function.

" 50 quatloos against the newcomer "

I say 200.

Whoa Whoa Whoa whats with all the hate. Using Star Trek references to insinuate I'm not going to make it through NUKE school? lmao

Let me explain something, and this will be my last post defending my earlier question, I enlisted in the Navy for two reasons: 1.) Because this is the greatest nation in the world, and it is the greatest honor in the world to have served her. 2.) Because I don't have the means to pay for an education at a university and student loans are not an option for me.

I enlisted in the Nuclear program for two reasons: 1.) Because i was told it is reserved for the best, most intelligent and hardworking enlisted men. 2.) Because it offers the best opportunities in the Navy and once you get out.

My recruiter literally told me and every NUKE in my station that only 80% of NUKE prospects actually make it through NUKE school and that's only because they bust their arse every day for 2 years. This challenge appealed to me greatly, and is the main reason why i decided to go NUKE, because the GI bill is offered to all factions of the Navy.

Now if you read through this forum you will find that several people have confirmed the fact that it is impossible to fail NUKE school. And on other forums NUKE school is compared to a JHS baseball team by veterans of the nuclear program and of the site.

This very much contradicts what my recruiter told me. In fact, it seems the station is straight up lying to us nukes.

Having read that it only takes "0.00000000001% effort" to pass raised a lot of questions and concerns. The one i thought i would ask on this forum, seeing how it's made up of many many veterans of the nuclear program with valuable wisdom, was what makes a NUKE do his best and not just skate by. Without the possibility of failure, it seems like there's a lot of room for dirt bags to enter the nuke program, put in 10^-10% effort, and reap the same benefits as others who put it all in.

I understand people are passionate about the Navy's nuke program. I am simply trying to get my facts straight and gather as much info before i leave. The Star Trek insults, as cool as they are funny, are unwarranted and unnecessary. (Btw, 99.9999999999999% graduate, i like those odds. I think there's some Trekers in here that will be out a couple quatloos in the near future )

I appreciate the substance based information from Neutron_Herder, Smooth Operator, jowlman, and Preciousblue that's exactly what I was looking for. I'm definitely going to forward this to all my NUKE recruit buddies at the station, it seems we have been gravely misinformed. Hopefully more people will add to this and share their experiences in the coming days.

And i apologize if my original post seemed rude or abrasive, that wasn't my intent

[JustinHEMI05]

Good luck and keep us posted Antwon. Thanks for your service.

As far as "monetizing" pride, I am not sure why people take offense to it. I agree with Antwon that although in a Utopian society, we would like to think people work to better themselves just for personal pride, that simply isn't reality. If it were, there would be no need for the huge bonuses and salaries commercial nukes pay people to go up licenses and to keep them after the fact. There wouldn't be a need for enlistment/reenlistment bonuses or nuke pro pay. These things exist because people do not work purely for pride, and if you claim the money doesn't mean anything, I will throw the BS flag. You work hard for your pride in order to get paid. His questions are legit because we all put a price on our pride, and mine is about to go up.

[HydroDave63]

The Star Trek insults, as cool as they are funny, are unwarranted and unnecessary. (Btw, 99.9999999999999% graduate, i like those odds.

Thin skin and a lack of humility are two things I wouldn't bring to boot camp. As a experienced poster mention above, get back to us in 3 or 4 years and see how ya like it....

[Marlin]

   200 hundred Quatloos against the newcomer with no sense of humor, poor social skills, and who seems to have missed the whole metaphor of asking a boon from disembodied brains in a strange world.

  Not to mention poor comprehension and communication skills. You started your diatribe of a response with statements of facts not in evidence only assumed, then proceeded to defend yourself from those perceived grievances. You are arguing with over a hundred years of experience in commercial and Navy nuclear power with just four (maybe three) of the recent respondents to your post. This could have been a couple of hundred years of experience if some of our other regular site curmudgeons had chimed in ( I'm surprised they didn't smell the blood in the water   ).

  Lighten up, listen, and grow a thick skin young padawan... I hope you don't have to look up that one   . If you have been through previous posts you would know that the quickest way to draw fire is laziness (not using search functions and your brain) and attitude ( don't expect instant respect from those who had to earn it themselves).

  Other than that enjoy Nukeworker and thanks for your service.  

Whoa Whoa Whoa whats with all the hate. Using Star Trek references to insinuate I'm not going to make it through NUKE school? lmao

Let me explain something, and this will be my last post defending my earlier question, I enlisted in the Navy for two reasons: 1.) Because this is the greatest nation in the world, and it is the greatest honor in the world to have served her. 2.) Because I don't have the means to pay for an education at a university and student loans are not an option for me.

I enlisted in the Nuclear program for two reasons: 1.) Because i was told it is reserved for the best, most intelligent and hardworking enlisted men. 2.) Because it offers the best opportunities in the Navy and once you get out.

My recruiter literally told me and every NUKE in my station that only 80% of NUKE prospects actually make it through NUKE school and that's only because they bust their arse every day for 2 years. This challenge appealed to me greatly, and is the main reason why i decided to go NUKE, because the GI bill is offered to all factions of the Navy.

Now if you read through this forum you will find that several people have confirmed the fact that it is impossible to fail NUKE school. And on other forums NUKE school is compared to a JHS baseball team by veterans of the nuclear program and of the site.

This very much contradicts what my recruiter told me. In fact, it seems the station is straight up lying to us nukes.

Having read that it only takes "0.00000000001% effort" to pass raised a lot of questions and concerns. The one i thought i would ask on this forum, seeing how it's made up of many many veterans of the nuclear program with valuable wisdom, was what makes a NUKE do his best and not just skate by. Without the possibility of failure, it seems like there's a lot of room for dirt bags to enter the nuke program, put in 10^-10% effort, and reap the same benefits as others who put it all in.

I understand people are passionate about the Navy's nuke program. I am simply trying to get my facts straight and gather as much info before i leave. The Star Trek insults, as cool as they are funny, are unwarranted and unnecessary. (Btw, 99.9999999999999% graduate, i like those odds. I think there's some Trekers in here that will be out a couple quatloos in the near future )

I appreciate the substance based information from Neutron_Herder, Smooth Operator, jowlman, and Preciousblue that's exactly what I was looking for. I'm definitely going to forward this to all my NUKE recruit buddies at the station, it seems we have been gravely misinformed. Hopefully more people will add to this and share their experiences in the coming days.

And i apologize if my original post seemed rude or abrasive, that wasn't my intent

[antwon510]

First,

half the questions you have posited in the last little while are just chum,....

I believe my question is valid and definitely not "chum." I understand it's a question you don't like to hear, but it is absolutely valid.

I mean think about it. Do you know how many scum bags there are in this world? What would make you strive to do the best when you can do the least and end up in the same place?

Second,

The junior high school reference from a different thread concerns the Navy nuclear power program vis a vis commercial power boilers and (to a lesser extent) PWR's, compared to being an SRO at either of these, the NNPP is Nuke 101

I'm not really familiar with all the Navy acronyms and lingo yet so most of this part i don't understand. But the context of the JHS baseball remark was a response to a fathers question about his son's good grades in nuke school and how they translate into military and civilian life. Several people said the grades don't translate into anything, and the context is that good grades in nuke school are worth in the military and elsewhere, what 10 SO's in JHS are worth in the Majors.

By that logic, military and civilian service = the Majors, and nuke school = JHS. There is no other context.

Third,

If you're as bright as you present yourself to be

and are as smart as you present yourself,

[The] smarmy factor,....

Guess what buckwheat? We're all smart people too, we even know people smarter than ourselves that we work with on a daily basis, if you would like to take one persons singular thread about only 1E-10 of all candidates failing out and run with that, more power to ya'.

Nowhere on any of my posts did i ever say or imply that i was smarter than anyone else, nor did i imply that anyone was dumb. If anything it's the opposite, I come here as an ignorant DEPer trying to collect as much information and wisdom as I can. Where are you getting this smarmy factor thing from? If you're saying that because i wrote 10^-10 instead of .0000000000001, well then i guess i should apologize again. It was not meant to insult anyones intelligence, 10^-10 is just a shorter neater easier way to write .00000000000001.

And i didn't just take one persons singular thread and run with it. My comments and questions are based on my different threads in this website and outside information. If you notice on my post there are two or three different examples. So again, i don't know where you're getting that from.

A serious review of the threads would reveal that some folks glide through A school and die in nuke school, some die in prototype, some can't get past boot camp. Yet others are happy as a clam until they hit the fleet and then they start looking for low hanging I-beams to hang themselves from. And every now and then, there's that guy/gal who just manages to adapt and do well in every facet of his/her NNPP experience.

A serious review of the topic of conversation would reveal that this paragraph and basically the entire post is totally irrelevant. The topic is: How valuable is you're performance in nuke school; if there actually is no value, what motivations, incentives, benefits does a nuke have to fully apply himself; any experiences where your achievements in nuke school have benefited you in any way shape or form.

Obviously, since you can't fail, people have different experiences. It's more difficult for the guys that work, and it's easier for those that slack. For example:

Just trying to help the guy out...make friends with the people the run the boat..that's whining? Uh, no that is smart.  How many days did I spend in the TR?  Zero.  The E-6 lead ELT in the torpedo room...that is funny.  Case study in "why not to come to the boat with an attitude".

How many field days did I spend in the ER?  Not many, I was in the sonar shack snoozing with my sonar friends....  then the COB comes by telling how nice the sonar looks.... while the nukes have to work extra because the ER is "not clean enough".  so, I'm in the crews mess eating ice cream while the nukes are doing extra. That is funny.  no hilarious.  I think I called back there to ask them if they wanted me to save them any ice cream.  Just trying to help my nuke buddies.  Case study in "why it pays to make friends with the coners".  (I have to spell everything out here. We have career navy dude that can't figure it out.)

Life is working hard and getting treaded like crapola?  Uh, maybe your life is sweet heart.  Not mine.  If I  get even remotely treating like crap now and it's seaya later (I don't)...I like making my own way (I do).   Case study in "why it is smart to be have marketable skill set" Get paid, get treated well. 

I/we sat in temperature controlled environment eating as much food as we could getting fat and cleaning.  whoopie...now everyone whats to make it look like they were some kinda of "heros'.  the most action I seen was when we cleaned out some bar in the PI. 

That goes without saying. But in America, and in any capitalist society, you reap what you sow and the workers are ultimately rewarded in one way or another. If you have an example of that happening in the Navy or outside, that would be relevant and might be something i would be interested in. All this other stuff about "chumming" and "context" and "smarmy factor," and all the insults (which i'm not too sure what they mean) "buckwheat" and "BF" and w/e, is unnecessary. Nothing in that entire post is beneficial to me or anyone else, frankly it's a waste of your time and my time.

And I'm sorry that your not convinced with my apology. My comments and questions are brutally honest, and again I'm sorry if they offended you. I did not post that for the purpose of offending anyone, i posted that for the purpose of expanding my knowledge of the nuke program. And thankfully people have responded with great information. Hopefully more will too.

Good luck to you just the same, thank you for volunteering to stand the watch,....

Thank you, and thank you your service as well.

I hope at some point you can put your emotions to the side and chime in with some useful information.

[Smooth Operator]

 

Antwon, just stop.

[JustinHEMI05]

I like his gumption. 

[antwon510]

[JustinHEMI05]

OMG I love you guys. Just when I thought the Navy section was getting boring. 

Merry Christmas!

[Nuclear NASCAR]

Great discussion (at times  ) but I'm wondering how we can tie it to the topic.   

[HydroDave63]

You are more likely to be working for Gamecock and his ilk within the next three years than "zilla, myself or our ilk in the next six, yet you essentially ignore what will be important to your next most likely supervisor,....

Condensing a lot of fine research...



to Marssim for sea-lawyering above and beyond the call of duty!


On-topic: Poster asked earlier about incentive to strive to do well. Here at http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=41966 we have one answer...

"Perform To Serve (PTS) is a centralized reservation system that helps the Navy manage reenlistments of Sailors with less than six years of service, or Zone A. While most Sailors are permitted to reenlist in their current rate, Sailors in overmanned ratings may be offered reenlistment in an undermanned rating and Sailors with a poor performance history may not be granted permission to reenlist. According to NAVADMIN 017/09 PTS will expand Feb.1 to include Zone B, which is Sailors with six to 10 years of service.

[g8r2th]

I'm glad I happened across this site, it (this thread in particular) is very intriguing.
Not to detract from the heated discussion, but I believe I have an answer for antwon about value in doing good in school. (I may have missed it in a post, so forgive me.) The better your grades are, antwon, the less "study hours" you have to complete. Ask anyone in here who put it UNGODLY hours in the school building and they will surely tell you that life in the pipeline is far easier with a 3.7 than to bust your butt for 80hrs a week trying to maintain a 2.8. I went through school, married with 2 kids. I was happily able to spend my afternoons and weekends with them because I kept my grades around a 3.5. I couldn't imagine what life would have been like if I had to put in an additional 30-40 hrs a week after school hours (people do it, though).
Having said that, though, most of your "reward" for working hard is not always easily realized. As a submarine electrician, hard work doesn't always pay off in early days, awards, or big bonuses. In fact, sometimes we're lucky to get half the reenlistment bonuses that our nuclear counterparts receive. But, I digress . . . Most of the time we work hard simply because it's our job and we're here to do our part to support the ideals that we signed on to defend. Yeah, it sucks a lot when RC division is walking to their cars at 14-1500 and we know we still have a solid 4 hrs (at least) left before we can leave. It sucks even more when those same guys can reenlist for twice as much as we can. But you know what? Life ain't always fair! So suck it the f*** up! Ill tell you something, though. If you cant take a little pride in a hard days work, then you have a long life ahead of you my friend (unless you win the lottery, in which case you're a lucky bastard).
Lastly, if you cant take some constructive criticism and a little ribbing to go along with it, then I'm afraid you've chosen the wrong line of work. In the navy, you're going to be stuck in a 12x12 box (unless you're an MM) with 3 other sarcastic, insensitive, bastards for 6hrs at a time with nothing better to do than devour the weakling in the pack. Now if you show up to your boat with your mouth shut and eyes/ears open (as was mentioned earlier), and a good attitude to boot, you'll find that those 3 sarcastic, insensitive, bastards are probably stand up guys and willing to give you the shirt off their back if you need it. I'm willing to go out on a limb here and say the civilian world isn't too terribly different.
So, do yourself a favor. Lower your fists, listen to whats being said here and take it all with a grain of salt. There's plenty to go around in this forum.

[Neutron_Herder]

I don't think the Perform to Serve stuff has had much of an impact on the Nukes yet.  Yes, they do have to fill out the paperwork, but since we're undermanned no one has been told no when it comes to reenlistment time.

The only thing I can see possibly putting nukes in a even close to fully manned status is going to be when the Enterprise goes away a few years from now, and I figure we'll find a way to mess that up too.  We'll probably start offering people bonuses to get out early, or retire early...  Kind of like the drawdown in the mid 90's, but we'll give them money instead of just letting them out of their contracts early.

I'm pretty much joking in that last paragraph, but I can see something like that happening.  Hopefully the powers that be actually address the manning issues (and the underlying causes), instead of just throwing money at the problem as they have in the past.

[goobs22xx]

it may be devolving back to a filter

interesting choice of word.

[Smooth Operator]

Maybe instead of devolving....

Delavalving?

[JustinHEMI05]

I like the new guy.

[BuddyThePug]

We'll send him to YOUR crew to get signoffs then! 

[JustinHEMI05]

I meant this guy...

g8r2th.

[playswithairplanes]

I will be leaving for RTC on 20100218 (Feb 18, that's just the way they want us to write it these days) and was offered a $25,000 bonus for NF Field.  

My question now is how this is given out?  I have read anything from segmented to lump sum after completion of all schooling...

Can anyone who has been through the pipeline recently offer any insight?

Thanks in advance!

Seriously dude? What does it matter? I mean, you get it when you get it.  You will still be a nub squidling, with a lot of work ahead of you. Just go out and do your damned duty. Your first point of duty is to get through school. If you are enlisting just for the cash, dude... hate to tell you, but you are going about it in the WRONG way. You can earn more money on the outside working less hours. Sheesh.

oh, and
"The civilian world is full of ex-Navy nukes who refuse to touch anything nuclear once they get out."

Count me amonst those who refuse to do anything Nuclear... I am through with it. Finito... I much prefer what I am doing now, which is working in Aerospace. Of course, I wouldn't be where I am now if I hadn't been a Nuke.