I guess I've been keeping part of my intentions to myself, because it's embarrassing. I'm not that driven guy who can just say, "Here's my gleaming resume, this is where I'm going," but if I was that guy I wouldn't have posted a "Looking for Advice" thread. You told me to go back to school, get my degree, go WO. Which is good advice. I'm afraid to go back to school because I've failed so many classes from lack of trying. I said at the beginning of this thread that I was without direction going into this. Having no direction sucks, it's not something I'm proud of. I wish I knew exactly what I wanted like all of you guys, and I understand your frustration when talking to me. Believe me, I've stressed my parents out enough.
Even though I know "go enlisted to get experience" is a sales pitch, I think it's right for me. Enlisted nuke sounds like the best job available to me.
Really there's nothing left I can say without irritating you guys. It's a real "Put up or shut up" thing, so I'll do just that.
Please don't take my fickleness as being ungrateful. All the advice has been great, thank you, really.
I got on your case because you came back with specific questions about going Army warrant officer from Navy nuke despite the fact that multiple people explained to you that it doesn't work that way. If that recruiter is still in touch with the Army pilot whose facebook he showed you, you should pick that guy's brain. I can guarantee you that it was a very long road to get to where he is.
If the Army requires college to be a warrant and fly, you're going to have to go back to school in 6 years. But hey, at least you'll have the GI bill to do it. If it doesn't require a degree, then your service in the Navy as a nuke isn't going to give you an automatic 'in;' they're still going to want to evaluate if you can pass flight training. Their biggest indicator for that is the FAST, followed by how you did in school. The Navy will never erase your bad grades.
I will reiterate that any way you slice it, that process will occur after you EAOS, a minimum of 6 years from now. You'll also have to go to boot camp a 2nd time, then OCS.
If you join to be a Navy nuke, you should plan on being a Navy nuke at least 6 years. You might get offered an out for STA-21 in prototype, but that will be to go nuke officer. The problem is that your bad track record with college coursework is likely to get your STA-21 application denied.
If you want to be a nuke then great, welcome to the club. But every post you make is about transferring into another program, hell it's about transferring to another service. It sounds like you think that nuke is a free ticket to any other career in the military, you just have to stick it out for a couple years... that's completely wrong. I'm telling you that there are administrative and cultural hurdles that your recruiter is glossing over. He's telling you what is possible but not what is likely or encouraged by your immediate superiors. If you show up to your first command and even utter a word about wanting to do anything other than qualify senior-in-rate and EWS as quickly as possible, you are going to be hated by your peers and your life is going to be exceedingly difficult very quickly. On a 'Big Navy' level, the nuke community would rather let you walk than transfer to another Navy rate.
