Firstly, I would like to introduce myself and why I am here. My name is Skipperooni. I am 29 years old. I have graduated with a BS (Bull$**t) in chemistry and physics. I am currently a graduate student and research assistant in physics at some crappy state university. I will be done with a master's degree in physics by May of next year.
Your salesmanship needs a lot of work, particularly when you're selling yourself and your accomplishments. You call your degree bullshit and your university 'crappy,' yet you want someone to hire you? I mean, I know career counselors at colleges aren't always the brightest bulbs in the box but you have to do better than that.
So, start with that and you may have some more job openings come your way.
Anyway, onto your career questions...
NUPOC means jack and shit to anyone inside of academia. I had a buddy learn that the hard way when he thought NUPOC was going to boost his resume enough to get into an ivy league grad school. Turns out they treat your service just like the Marine who did a 4 year enlisted tour as an 0311 - that is to say, they don't know and don't care to know the details between someone who has attended nuclear power school and manages a nuclear plant and someone who shoots rifles for a living or anything inbetween.
R&D at a university doesn't incur a lot of money and if you are interested in a better paycheck, you need to become tenured faculty at a university. You become tenured by getting research published, which earns the school government funding for more research. But you don't get paid well for any of that really until you are tenured faculty. Everyone has to pay their dues and that's your career pipeline in research.
You do have alternatives, one of which is to seek employment at pharmaceutical companies. My uncle does that and he makes quite a handsome salary.
If you want to go into the Navy then go for it, just understand that it's a diversion from your ultimate career path, not a progression toward it.
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