Half of your job will be qualifying; that'll make you "useful" to the wardroom. I posted all about that here:
http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,33498.0.htmlAs far as being useful to the enlisted guys... Depends on your interpretation. I found it beneficial for the enlisted when I could, through a strong
technical understanding of the ship, how the guys do maintenance, and a general knowledge of a bunch of maintenance manuals/procedures/requirements, make sure they could safely do the job or manipulate the equipment, and that I could accurately and eloquently brief my bosses (ENG/NAV/WEPS/XO/CO). Unfortunately, the JO is a bit of a middleman... The choice is are you a knowledgeable middleman or just a middleman. Both exist out in the fleet.
I'll give an example: I'm standing duty officer, and A-gang comes to me with a Trim & Drain tag-out. The MM2 shows me the tag-out, and I tell him that the tag-out won't work, it probably needs to be on a few different components (because that reflected the current system status), and that he should go talk to his chief again about it with some different boundaries... An hour later, he comes back, tag-out ready to go AND safe. I wasn't just a "yes/no" man, I provided a little bit of direction for him because I had the knowledge and experience (and
TRUST I'd built up with the enlisted by being willing to listen, learn, and understand), and had him check with his chief so that the system expert gets his say.
As far as technical vs. admin? I'll just go with a 50-50...