Enlisted Nuke to SNA/SNFO?

[OUdrumz22]

Evening everyone.
It's been some time since I've even visited here and it's been a bumpy road since then. To make a long story short, I am leaving in 3 weeks to go to RTC Great Lakes and begin my enlisted journey. Afterwards I'm headed to South Carolina for Nuke school.

I came back to visit just to browse, but then I began to read some posts that made my stomach drop a little. I initially set forth to apply for OCS after school, but I was told by the officer recruiter that it wasn't going to happen. Granted, my GPA was low (2.59), but I thought the rest of my resume wasn't that bad. Several clubs, leadership positions, 5/6/6 60, etc. I was pretty much lead away from. Fast forward to now, and I was convinced to go the enlisted route and pursue the Nuke program. When I read that it seems the boards have been taking some lower GPA's I became a bit disheartened. So my question is..."did I make a mistake?" No, my mistake would not be serving my country, because I'm all about that. But am I wasting my time going enlisted, when my actual goal is to be an Officer and to fly?

Lastly, since I'm pretty much destined for this road in 3 weeks...can I still obtain my goal. Will the Navy "let" me go from enlisted nuke to an aviation officer? Thanks for everyone's input! Either way, I'll see you all in the fleet.

 

[ea6bflyr]

PM sent.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Evening everyone.
It's been some time since I've even visited here and it's been a bumpy road since then. To make a long story short, I am leaving in 3 weeks to go to RTC Great Lakes and begin my enlisted journey. Afterwards I'm headed to South Carolina for Nuke school.

I came back to visit just to browse, but then I began to read some posts that made my stomach drop a little. I initially set forth to apply for OCS after school, but I was told by the officer recruiter that it wasn't going to happen. Granted, my GPA was low (2.59), but I thought the rest of my resume wasn't that bad. Several clubs, leadership positions, 5/6/6 60, etc. I was pretty much lead away from. Fast forward to now, and I was convinced to go the enlisted route and pursue the Nuke program. When I read that it seems the boards have been taking some lower GPA's I became a bit disheartened. So my question is..."did I make a mistake?" No, my mistake would not be serving my country, because I'm all about that. But am I wasting my time going enlisted, when my actual goal is to be an Officer and to fly?

Lastly, since I'm pretty much destined for this road in 3 weeks...can I still obtain my goal. Will the Navy "let" me go from enlisted nuke to an aviation officer? Thanks for everyone's input! Either way, I'll see you all in the fleet.

If you came to me and said you wanted to put in an application I would say sure, but you need to do the work, you GPA is just above minimum and your PFAR is just above minimum, I have put lots of people into aviation programs, and never seen a person with your GPA or PFAR get accepted.

I would say your best bet is to look at the flying CWO program and work toward that.

 

[OUdrumz22]

Would enlisting and passing through the nuke pipeline warrant any attention on an application in the future?

 

[e6bflyer]

Nukes cannot apply for flying CWO.
There are lots of people in your shoes who have pursued the exact same thing and achieved it.
The positives about going nuke : long school pipeline will allow you to apply for OCS multiple times prior to hitting the fleet, prior nukes have a good showing in the prior enlisted officer ranks.
The negatives : very demanding school equals lots of study time and not a lot of extra time to pursue other things, once you hit the fleet you are going to be extremely busy with work, quals, etc. Nukes spend a good deal more of their lives at work than other sailors.
Your GPA is holding you back. Unfortunately in today's economy, the Navy can afford to be choosy. For every dude with a sub 3 GPA attempting to apply for OCS, there are probably 2 or 3 who don't have that issue. The only thing you can do is to forget about OCS for a while and concentrate on being the best sailor you can be. Once you have proven yourself, reapply. One of my V2 sailors on the boat had exactly the same issue as you and applied after 3 years of fleet time with glowing letters of recommendation and interviews that were knocked out of the park and got picked up.
Good luck.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I didn't realize nukes were excluded from flying warrant, sorry for bum guidance.

One other thing is to hope for the economy to get better and retention to fall, the USN gets less picky during those times.

 

[OUSOONER]

Timing is everything. I had a 2.4 in Aviation Management. I think I had something like a 5/6/5 45 or something on my ASTB the first go-around. I had some really good extracurriculars and my Officer package didn't even make it past the screening for the board..due to my GPA most likely.

I had a lot of hours already b/c I screwed up early on (lost NROTC scholarship b/c of poor grades) so I had to bust my ass to get a 2.5 GPA and studied for the ASTB again.. I turned a 5/6/5 45 into an 8/9/8 60ish with a little studying and got picked up the second go-around. Time was getting short since I was turning 26 and the min for a civilian was 27 at commissioning. This was late '08 time frame, so you never know. Just keep bettering yourself, show leadership, get some good LOR's and maximize every opportunity you can to shine...that will look a lot more impressive to a selection board than someone who just sailed the golden path the entire time. They know you faced some adversity and overcame, who knows how the golden child will react when the first sign of trouble hits them.

Doors will open for you..just give a shit and like others have said, do well at what's in front of you first.

 

[OUdrumz22]

Thanks all for the advice! I really appreciate it! Yes, right now I'm going to focus on what lies ahead. I'm going to be the best damn sailor I can be, then we'll see how it goes from there. Thanks again!

 

[exNavyOffRec]

One thing you can do is if given the opportunity to be a staff pickup is to do it, it gets your instructor check in the box done, and it puts you on the path to get advanced fairly quick.

 

[EM1toNFO]

been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I went the STA-21 route. I had a very marginal GPA (1.95) and almost no additional college since being in the Navy. However, I kicked ass in my job and it showed. I re-took the ACT/SAT and did well, and had excellent officer interviews. Going officer can be done as a nuke (into a non-nuke officer billet). Just work and study hard and let your reputation speak for itself. Good luck.

 

[AGonxAV8R]

If you came to me and said you wanted to put in an application I would say sure, but you need to do the work, you GPA is just above minimum and your PFAR is just above minimum, I have put lots of people into aviation programs, and never seen a person with your GPA or PFAR get accepted.

I would say your best bet is to look at the flying CWO program and work toward that.

Times have changed.... I got accepted on my first go around with a 3.3 GPA (Mech Eng) and something like a 48 7/6/7. I guess as they say, it is all about timing.

 

[OUdrumz22]

Thanks EM1. Sounds like exactly what I'm going to have to do...kick ass at everything.

Oh, and to OUSOONER....Boomer Sooner! Class of 2010, right here!