You will get really great opportunities to learn Nuclear Propulsion equipment. But, it will be the navy way and in the U.S. military organization. You will clean toilets, wash dishes, scrub barracks floors and will generally be made into a work slave for several years before you have qualified as a nuclear trained operator. Then, you will still clean decks, do laundry and work on equipment as the navy sees fit. This is the simple basic explanation. You will probably have days wondering why did I volunteer for this?
If you take advantage of the important access to the Nuclear training and ignore the mundane cleaning tasks as just necessary housekeeping, then your attitude will be correct. If you decide you are much more valuable than someone who does laundry, then you already have the wrong attitude and you will be very unhappy for your whole six year tour. Nukes work longer hours everyday and they are expected to perform at a higher standard in their jobs, this is the heritage of the program. So, when you see the coners or topsiders leave early each day and you are still in quals and mess cranking, you will need to understand, this is what you have volunteered to do. You will get a little more money than other Navy rates but not a lot, unless you re-enlist. That option will not be available to you for at least two years into the program. Military life is hard, boring sometimes and in the end usually rewarding if you take advantage of the training to the fullest degree. But, everyone here who has been through it, probably had a very similar experience and in the end it was what the individual person made out of the job. For some, it is a great career, others a great experience, and for some who never wanted to adapt to the navy and the nuclear program, they were bitter and unhappy and still to this day many years later despise the job for their own reasons. It will all be up to you, to meet the challenges in front of you.
Good Luck and thanks for choosing to serve our country.
