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sweg420blazeit posted:Sup gents. I'm currently applying for the Navy's NUPOC program. It's not a done deal by any means, I haven't even done interviews yet. If there is one thing you take away from this thread, let it be this: If junior officer attrition is so high that the Navy has to have programs like NUPOC for a field, that field is probably not very enjoyable. If the military is throwing near six figure bonuses at someone to stay in a particular field, that field is probably not very enjoyable. No one outside of the nuclear field has an inkling of what people in the nuclear field do. If your recruiter is not a nuke, they have almost no idea of what the job entails.
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Oct 11, 2016 22:02
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sweg420blazeit posted:Sup gents. I'm currently applying for the Navy's NUPOC program. It's not a done deal by any means, I haven't even done interviews yet. Quoting this because lol if you do this
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Oct 11, 2016 22:15
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KetTarma posted:If there is one thing you take away from this thread, let it be this: I don't actually know what a NUPOC is, but it seems like anyone with 'nuke' in their title, including JOs, was port and starboard in shipyard as a reward for being port and starboard during ORSE so if you don't have extravagant hobbies like showering at home or seeing the kids, ever, it's probably a great career move.
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Oct 11, 2016 22:19
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KetTarma posted:If there is one thing you take away from this thread, let it be this: Which really has to make you wonder how the Air Force is still functioning when they're hundreds of fighter pilots short because the $432,000 (yeah!) bonus isn't enough.
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Oct 11, 2016 22:21
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KetTarma posted:If there is one thing you take away from this thread, let it be this: I've heard how miserable it would be, I'd be going in with eyes open. NUPOC is a last resort, b/c job search is not going well to say the least. Do you feel you're better off having been a nuke? Whether it be career advancement, "personal growth," etc.
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Oct 11, 2016 22:24
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Your best hope if you go nupoc is you wash out of nuke school early enough to not hate everything and somehow end up a SWO for 5 years instead.
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Oct 11, 2016 22:24
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Is there a chart on washout & suicide rates for nukes?
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Oct 11, 2016 22:48
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ded posted:Is there a chart on washout & suicide rates for nukes? Out of nearly 30 in my boot div a whole 4 made it through the pipeline.
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Oct 11, 2016 23:07
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sweg420blazeit posted:I've heard how miserable it would be, I'd be going in with eyes open. NUPOC is a last resort, b/c job search is not going well to say the least. Other officer programs get the same paycheck. Its not worth it.
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Oct 12, 2016 01:53
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I am invoking the famous KetTarma rant for this. I haven't thought about the Navy in ages so here we go! sweg420blazeit posted:I've heard how miserable it would be, I'd be going in with eyes open. No, you haven't. Until you've had a friend blow their brains out because of how poor our conditions were, you haven't heard of how miserable it is. You're preparing to sign a contract where the best quality of life you're likely to see is 3 section duty. That's where you work a duty day, work two workdays, then repeat. A duty day is a 24 hour workday. It is extremely common to not be able to sleep during this 24 hour work period. It is common to miss meals. You will not be in comfortable surroundings. You will be soaked with sweat every day. You will be expected to have flawless performance. Mistakes are harshly punished. Miss a signature on one tag out of 200 that you signed at 3am? It's going to hurt your career and impact your personal life. After this 24 hour workday, you will work the next full day. You'll come in the next day and work a full day. After that? Another duty day. One side effect of 3 section duty is you get one full weekend per month. There is no comp time for duty falling on a weekend for nukes. That's what you should plan on your best case scenario to be. If you see 4 section, consider it a blessing. That's all in-port when you would otherwise be spending time with your family. sweg420blazeit posted:
It gives perspective. Any time I am feeling bad about my current job, I think "Well, at least I got to sleep in the past 24 hours" or "at least I'm not crawling through piss-filled bilges trying to hunt down a broken cable at 3am" If you are thinking "I am in such a poor personal situation that I am willing to be completely miserable for as many years as I am in the Navy" then maybe it's a good idea. You will not be a member of the regular Navy. The nuclear navy is a special program. If I haven't talked you out of it, I'll answer whatever questions within reason. E: I guess within the confines of military advancement, I made E-6 at 23 so that's pretty good. I got out of the military with 9 years of solid "electrical tech from the 1960s" experience, 4 years of free college (with a living stipend!) that I used to change careers, and a ton of savings because I reenlisted once. KetTarma fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Oct 12, 2016 |
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Oct 12, 2016 02:14
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ded posted:Is there a chart on washout & suicide rates for nukes? Washout rates are a ton lower than what they used to be. Most people make it through the training now. Most of the washouts are psychological or alcohol related. I do not have data on successful suicides. Anecdotally, when I taught, at least one student in every cycle would attempt it.
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Oct 12, 2016 02:17
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KetTarma posted:It gives perspective. Any time I am feeling bad about my current job, I think "Well, at least I got to sleep in the past 24 hours" or "at least I'm not crawling through piss-filled bilges trying to hunt down a broken cable at 3am" Hey, its your departments own drat fault if people can't pee in funnels when they cant get a head break. Bilge Pee'rs are trash humans who need someone to yell at them until they unfuck themselves.
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Oct 12, 2016 02:19
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M_Gargantua posted:Hey, its your departments own drat fault if people can't pee in funnels when they cant get a head break. Some people just wanted to watch the world burn. I'm sure everyone has the same stories as this: We had people crapping in showers, bags, garbage cans, other peoples linens, on top of equipment, pretty much anywhere. It didnt happen to me but people would poo poo in a bag, duct tape it shut, then send it to the trash compactor so it'd explode on the guy feeding the compactor and spread macerated crap everywhere. My "welcome to the division" gift was being designated to clean up after the phantom loadcenter pisser. Someone peed on loadcenters, under the electrical safety mats, etc... a new place every day. Someone peed in our cleaning supplies so when we sprayed Simple Green, it reeked even worse of piss. Nothing surprises me anymore.
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Oct 12, 2016 02:24
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sweg420blazeit posted:Sup gents. I'm currently applying for the Navy's NUPOC program. It's not a done deal by any means, I haven't even done interviews yet. You are going to come back here and bitch about how miserable you are. We will say we told you so and laugh. It happens every single time without fail.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:04
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M_Gargantua posted:It seems you've made two poor life choices 
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Oct 12, 2016 03:08
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KetTarma posted:
wow. Thanks for that, that's pretty sobering. It sounds like nuclear navy has virtually zero redeeming qualities. If I were to go SWO, NFO, or some other kind of officer, it seems like I could at least get something positive out of it. I mean I know it's still the Navy, but it wouldn't be quite so bad. Hope it's not too late for my recruiter to change my poo poo up, he won't be a happy camper lol
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Oct 12, 2016 03:14
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The Nuclear Navy has one redeeming quality: If you are on a Submarine whose leadership isn't committed to self destruction you will work with some of the most professionally competent people you will find in your life. You have a small chance of getting a division on a carrier with any sort of redeeming culture let alone a whole reactor department.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:19
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sweg420blazeit posted:wow. If your recruiter says it can't be done tell him to gently caress himself and you'll go somewhere else. Nuke officers were just as miserable as nuke enlisted men on our Sub. Doing literally any other job possible would be my suggestion unless you really, desperately want to be a submarine captain. Otherwise do literally anything else and have a much better navy experience.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:21
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sweg420blazeit posted:wow. It's never too late to drop the nuke program. You are making the best possible choice out of a handful of poor options if you don't go nuke. Also welcome to SA, this place and GiP especially, kept me sane during my time in the military. E: you can say the word "poo poo" by the way, the forum filters it to poo poo if you're not logged in, we don't actually say lovingly caress instead of gently caress either. orange juche fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Oct 12, 2016 |
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Oct 12, 2016 03:24
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M_Gargantua posted:Submarine whose leadership isn't committed to self destruction Does not exist in the current Navy.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:28
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I'm gonna call my recruiter tomorrow to talk about other officer options, I've only ever talked to him about NUPOC. I haven't even filled out any paperwork yet, he's sending me the stuff tomorrow. He signed me up for the "VIP" trip down to King's Bay/Mayport to check out a sub and surface ship, but I'll bet he can cancel that pretty easily. Also, I apologize for being a useless newbie, but can you cuss or not on here? I've seen it both ways in this thread.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:35
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no bones about it posted:E: you can say the word "poo poo" by the way, the forum filters it to poo poo if you're not logged in, we don't actually say lovingly caress instead of gently caress either. elohel I'm an idiot
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Oct 12, 2016 03:37
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sweg420blazeit posted:elohel I'm an idiot Uh you take advice and rethink your options. Makes you smarter than most.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:39
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sweg420blazeit posted:wow. To expand on KetTarma's description of your workday, 'port and starboard' that I mentioned earlier means two shifts, twelve hours on, twelve hours off. So the duty day he described isn't every three days, it's half of your life. That happens a lot in shipyard. I was sonar, and us coners sometimes caught it, but it was basically guaranteed for nukes and JOs. So twelve hours of heat, sweat, stink, filth, and noise, then you get to go home and shower, shave, and sleep until you come back and do it again. For weeks. No, no days off. I never met a Supply officer who wasn't happy fwiw. Maybe go chop? e: actually do we have any Suppos around? It seems like a pretty chill community. hogmartin fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Oct 12, 2016 |
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Oct 12, 2016 03:41
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sweg420blazeit posted:I'm gonna call my recruiter tomorrow to talk about other officer options, I've only ever talked to him about NUPOC. I haven't even filled out any paperwork yet, he's sending me the stuff tomorrow. He signed me up for the "VIP" trip down to King's Bay/Mayport to check out a sub and surface ship, but I'll bet he can cancel that pretty easily. Just become a SWO and hate your life while having some time off instead of hating your life and having no time off.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:41
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hogmartin posted:To expand on KetTarma's description of your workday, 'port and starboard' that I mentioned earlier means two shifts, twelve hours on, twelve hours off. So the duty day he described isn't every three days, it's half of your life. That happens a lot in shipyard. I was sonar, and us coners sometimes caught it, but it was basically guaranteed for nukes and JOs. So twelve hours of heat, sweat, stink, filth, and noise, then you get to go home and shower, shave, and sleep until you come back and do it again. For weeks. No, no days off. I had a supply CAPT that worked at my command and he seemed eternally happy like he had discovered the secret to being happy in the military. Really all the chops I've seen have always been happier than most, maybe there's something to being in a non poo poo community.
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Oct 12, 2016 03:49
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hogmartin posted:To expand on KetTarma's description of your workday, 'port and starboard' that I mentioned earlier means two shifts, twelve hours on, twelve hours off. So the duty day he described isn't every three days, it's half of your life. That happens a lot in shipyard. I was sonar, and us coners sometimes caught it, but it was basically guaranteed for nukes and JOs. So twelve hours of heat, sweat, stink, filth, and noise, then you get to go home and shower, shave, and sleep until you come back and do it again. For weeks. No, no days off. Ah ok, I was wondering what the "port and starboard" watch was. The shipyard sounds like a terrible time. Based on my limited research on Supply officers, it looks like they handle logistics first and foremost. Sounds a like less "military" lifestyle than other officer roles, but I bet that transfers pretty well to a civilian career. I really like the idea of being OOD/XO/CO on some big rear end warship. Can Supply guys ever be OOD?
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Oct 12, 2016 03:57
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sweg420blazeit posted:I'm gonna call my recruiter tomorrow to talk about other officer options, I've only ever talked to him about NUPOC. I haven't even filled out any paperwork yet, he's sending me the stuff tomorrow. He signed me up for the "VIP" trip down to King's Bay/Mayport to check out a sub and surface ship, but I'll bet he can cancel that pretty easily. Personally I'd take the tour, then say you met some real Nukes on the tour and it totally changed your mind. They didn't even talk because they couldn't muster the energy up as they shambled around. Now you want to be a Toilet Paper Officer (Supply) or something. Edit: I've seen an Intel Warrant Officer qualify underway OOD. So weirder stuff has happened.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:06
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Laranzu posted:Personally I'd take the tour, then say you met some real Nukes on the tour and it totally changed your mind. They didn't even talk because they couldn't muster the energy up as they shambled around. Now you want to be a Toilet Paper Officer (Supply) or something. I would actually like to go on the trip. It'd be neat to check out a sub. I just don't want to get too far up poo poo creek (aka the nuke application process)
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Oct 12, 2016 04:09
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Thanks everyone for all the advice. You peeps are pretty dope
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Oct 12, 2016 04:10
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Supply officers can qualify and stand watch as OOD but being staff vs. line officers they'll never be billeted as a CO or XO afloat. My dad retired as a reserve supply captain and I think he mentioned qualifying and standing OOD but it was kind of a one-off gimmick, not that they were actually going to write him into the watchbill or anything. If you absolutely really want to command warships then supply is probably not your best option.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:14
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sweg420blazeit posted:Can Supply guys ever be OOD? Yeah sure they can, but they'll never be captain of the ship. OOD is a watch qualification, you can definitely get it. I would wait to see if you can fit your job and required duties before worrying about any extra above and beyond stuff, but there's nothing that will stop you from pursuing any additional qualification except for how much time you want to spend on them.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:14
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Holy poo poo it feels good on the inside when the Navy Thread possibly saves a life.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:15
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Laranzu posted:Holy poo poo it feels good on the inside when the Navy Thread possibly saves a life. It almost feels like you're alive again doesn't it?
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Oct 12, 2016 04:20
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There's pros and cons to every community, and if you are a true believer then anything less than serving is not going to be satisfying. That said there's a multitude of roles where the communities aren't all out misery factories like the nukes seem to be.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:46
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I knew a SWO who went nuke. She made it through, and promptly resigned her commission after. Don't go nuke. Suppos are cool, just make sure your paperwork is squared away, I've seen Suppos hosed over because accounting paperwork didn't match up exactly. I hear another easy and happy community is SWO-PA, or whatever they call the public affairs fucks. I was originally looking into a package for that, but now I'm too old.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:48
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Please don't be a SWO unless you really want to be a SWO. I'm really loving tired of dealing with garbage people who picked it only because it seemed like the easiest to get into or because it had the shortest commitment.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:50
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Pilot/NFO is awesome, in case anybody was wondering.
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Oct 12, 2016 04:52
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ManMythLegend posted:Please don't be a SWO unless you really want to be a SWO. I'm really loving tired of dealing with garbage people who picked it only because it seemed like the easiest to get into or because it had the shortest commitment. SWO is what I really want at the moment, now that I have seen the truth about the nuclear navy. I know being an SWO JO isn't exactly a bundle of fun, but I'm willing to put in the work. E: Plus, it seems like being an XO or CO or even a DH would be cool as poo poo. sweg420blazeit fucked around with this message at 05:13 on Oct 12, 2016 |
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Oct 12, 2016 05:10
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FYI the navy needs around 20-25% of incoming SWO ensigns to stick around to department head. Despite this they still give free masters degrees and nearly six figures to anyone willing to do the job.
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Oct 12, 2016 05:20
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