Interview with Nuclear Field Advisor In Boot Camp?

[PercMastaFTW]

According to this post: http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php?topic=3053.0

there is an interview that helps determine your rating around week 4. I'm really hoping for ET and have had a small amount of experience that I'd probably talk about during the interview. Such as soldering and putting together a sumo bot with resistors, capacitors, and all that at this engineering academy. I just found it very intriguing and something I'd really love to incorporate into my job.

Does anybody remember if the interview is conducted in about five minutes, around thirty minutes? Will he be asking me a bunch of questions that will automatically allow myself to explain some background, or will I have to try and be proactive in giving more information?

In any case, maybe you could share some good tips with me for the interview. I just want to be prepared as possible and have the "best" chance of scoring the job I am interested in.

Must thank everybody for all the great guidance I've been given throughout the past year! It's almost here.

[SpaceJustice]

Unless something has changed since I went through, you're giving the "interview" portion too much credit.  You'll go into a room where the guy will tell you a little about each rate, show you the nuke school video, and then you'll write down your preferences on a dream sheet.  That's pretty much it, they'll look at your line scores and needs of the Navy.

[ChiefRocscooter]

If you want to be an ET and have good scores your dream sheet better say ET 1st /EM 2nd /MM 3rd.  I do not ever remember meeting someone who said ET other than 1st, they try and meet the 1st's first (if that makes sense).

Used to go like this, First time through they pick those who want MM and if you put MM 1st done!, now on to the EM's if you put EM 1st mostly done (assuming there are enough EM spots), now everyone who put ET as 1st if enough spots then everyone happy, if not then scores and hey did any ET 1st person say MM2nd well there are always MM spots available!! Well lets make them MMs and they will be happy with 2nd pick! (you get the gist?)

OK now everyone left is ET/EM/MM best scores (and yes they look at background, well they used to) get picked for ET leftovers get EM, if any spots open.  Left overs get made into MM's and from what I remember lots of them ended up being ELT's

Met lots of EM's who put EM/ET/MM and lots of MMs who put ET/MM/EM but like I said never recall meeting an ET who did not put ET/EM/MM.

Good Luck! and Push hard no matter the out come cause they are all good!

[PercMastaFTW]

Hey, thanks guys so much. Getting to understand the process better and learning how to get the best shot for obtaining the rate I want!

Also, do you know exactly what ET's and EM's do that are different? I was under the impression EM's work with larger electrical equipment and work with the flow of electricity, and ET's work more on small electronic equipment and do soldering etc. (of course operating the reactor).

My nuke EM friend told me that he's never seen an ET doing any soldering, and that EM's do that more, if any at all. What's true? Making my view of the two rates pretty similar besides the reactor operation now...

[SpaceJustice]

Hey, thanks guys so much. Getting to understand the process better and learning how to get the best shot for obtaining the rate I want!

Also, do you know exactly what ET's and EM's do that are different? I was under the impression EM's work with larger electrical equipment and work with the flow of electricity, and ET's work more on small electronic equipment and do soldering etc. (of course operating the reactor).

My nuke EM friend told me that he's never seen an ET doing any soldering, and that EM's do that more, if any at all. What's true? Making my view of the two rates pretty similar besides the reactor operation now...

ETs work on the reactor protection systems.  Electricians are anything with electricity that isn't a reactor protection system (to put it broadly).  In order to be qualified to solder nuke electronics ETs have to go through Electronic Technician Maintenance School and earn the NEC for that.  This doesn't happen until you go the fleet, qualify RO, and then find time in the schedule to go to school.  With the new Type II equipment soldering is becoming less frequent, but there are still boats with analog equipment that occasionally gets soldered.

[spekkio]

Hey, thanks guys so much. Getting to understand the process better and learning how to get the best shot for obtaining the rate I want!

Also, do you know exactly what ET's and EM's do that are different? I was under the impression EM's work with larger electrical equipment and work with the flow of electricity, and ET's work more on small electronic equipment and do soldering etc. (of course operating the reactor).

My nuke EM friend told me that he's never seen an ET doing any soldering, and that EM's do that more, if any at all. What's true? Making my view of the two rates pretty similar besides the reactor operation now...

What you say is kind of old knowledge. An ET or two will go to Electronic Technicians Maintenance School (ETMS) to learn to solder components onto circuit boards. But usually you'll just replace the affected card. Think of it as if your video card on your computer blows. You don't try to find the transistor or capacitor that's faulty, you just replace the card.  Only time you'll find ETs working on a specific card is when the LSs can't find the part and you really really need to get something working, and that something probably won't be a nuclear system.

Otherwise, yes, basically electricians work on motors, circuit breakers, and electrical appliances. Being racked out to fix s**t like the ice cream machine, the deep fat fryer, or the dryer will be the bane of your existance. Your workcenter maintenance will mostly fall under the 3M manual (non-nuclear), with very little reactor plant maintenance outside of circuit breaker/interlock testing. Most of your maintenance will involve getting your hands dirty with grease, cleaning carbon dust out of motors, etc.

ETs work on the reactor protection systems, which are smaller circuit components. On the older boats, they don't really have a lot of maintenance comparitive to other nukes, and their maintenance is mostly diagnostic in nature -- plug a laptop into the stack, deliver a test voltage, and make sure the numbers that come out are in spec. Very little to get your hands dirty like EMs. On the new VA classes, ETs have a lot more maintenance because the entire electrical distribution system is solid state and belongs to them.

The downside of ET is that SRO is such a senior watch that you will often be port/stbd watches on your duty days and 3-section duty to boot. There are also rules that say that you HAVE to have an ET SRO on duty every day, so if your division of 5 has 3 non-qualified SROs then you get to stand port/stbd duty days, no matter how many electricians out of their division of 10-13 are qualified SRO. Only saving grace is that you have hardly any maintenance, so it's easier for your chief to cut you out early day-after-duty. Meanwhile on the MM side, SRW is such a junior watch that they will frequently be 4-section in-port with 3-4 watchstanders per section.

[SpaceJustice]

The only time you're required to have an ET qualified SRO in the duty section is during an overhaul period when the EDM requirements change.  For normal in port operations it's an ET qualified RO that is required in every duty section, which still isn't great (RC Div is typically small) but not as bad as requiring an SRO.

[spekkio]

Whoops, stand corrected. Still, as you mentioned, it creates a pinch in the watchbill. It's not terribly unusual to have the RC-div chief standing 3-section duty for a while when a couple of senior RC divvers rotated until more guys could get qualified.

[SpaceJustice]

Whoops, stand corrected. Still, as you mentioned, it creates a pinch in the watchbill. It's not terribly unusual to have the RC-div chief standing 3-section duty for a while when a couple of senior RC divvers rotated until more guys could get qualified.

haha, that's the truth.  I fondly remember being three section RO underway with my Chief being the third.

[ChiefRocscooter]

Nothing like six on six off for a few weeks to get you "rested up".  We had great Chief who would help the AMRUL watch do the PMS while he was EWS and we only had to help once every few days!  Actually made the underway go by real fast! 

[Fermi2]

They determine your rate by rolling dice and chicken bones.

[SpaceJustice]

Nothing like six on six off for a few weeks to get you "rested up".  We had great Chief who would help the AMRUL watch do the PMS while he was EWS and we only had to help once every few days!  Actually made the underway go by real fast! 

The occasional "time travel" was nice too. 

[PercMastaFTW]

Awesome... thanks for the UPDATED descriptions

I'll see what I can do during the interviews. Gonne be a huge luck of the draw I see, though haha.

I'm leaving to MEPs Tomorrow (Monday), and ship out Tuesday! Getting pretty nervous.

Do you guys know if there are set breaks between schools? My nuke coordinator says it's a week between A and C school, then a month between C and Prototype?

Oh, and lastly, have any good stations for a surface nuke I should look out for? I've been looking at Bremerton and Everett (all in WA where my family lives), Japan, San Diego...

[Marlin]

I'm leaving to MEPs Tomorrow (Monday), and ship out Tuesday! Getting pretty nervous.

Good luck and thanks in advance for your service

[Fermi2]

C School?

[GLW]

C School?

let it go,....

you should watch "Page Eight" with Bill Nighy,...

the relevant dialogue to this conversation on this thread starts around minute 25 and moves forward through to minute 29,...

the coup de maître involves the concept of "have you read it?",...

everybody at the table says yes, as a matter of course, the protagonist, of course, replies consistent with the concept of, "No you have not, if you did, you would know what the problem is without me having to illustrate it for you.",...

it's a good movie,....

[Fermi2]

Is Sofia Vergara or any of the women assistant district attorneys from the various law and order series in it? If not how about Alicia Witt.?

[GLW]

Is Sofia Vergara or any of the women assistant district attorneys from the various law and order series in it? If not how about Alicia Witt.?

how to get this magically back on topic by post #30 or so?!?!?!?,....

BZ's general observation on Internet forums/threads etal, By the 5th post in any thread it starts drifting off topic. By 12 to 15 it has nothing to do with the original topic and if it surives to 30 or so it magically gets back on topic. This applies almost everywhere.

Mike

none of those, it does have Rachel Weisz from "The Mummy" (and it's sequel) and "Constantine",...

but I'm not turning the corner to back on topic with this post for this thread,.....

not yet that is,.....

[DadofMM-ELT]

Do you guys know if there are set breaks between schools?

When son of DadofFutureNuke was in the pipeline (now over a year ago) he had, as I recall, about a month long break between A School (MM) and Power School, then a 6 month hold before he went to Prototype. In the last case his class went to prototype in 3 groups, spaced 2 months apart. He just happened to be in the final group. After Prototype he started ELT school pretty much immediately, then had a couple weeks to make the move from Goose Creek to his boat.

Incidentally, during the pre-Prototype period his group was strongly encouraged to take courses at one of the local colleges (paid for by the Navy).

There's probably no way to tell what your timing will be.