NAVAL SCIENCE INSTITUTE (NSI) NEWPORT, RI

[cjettaf]

I am scheduled to attend NSI this April and can't find much information about what to expect. I figured if there is any place on the internet to find information about it, this would be the place. I will be going to Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach this fall and should graduate

by the Fall of 2005. Any information will be greatly appreciated.

 

[webmaster]

Bring your car, bring your car, bring your car... did I mention, bring your car?

Ok, I went through NSI back in '96, so things more than likely have changed, those of you that may have gone through more recently, please correct anything I put out.

Overall impression, it was a basic knife and fork school to transition you from enlisted to officer. We had two man rooms in Nimitz hall up in Newport, RI. Not a bad setup, and nothing like basic training (Orlando RTC, C164 anyone?). You had a NROTC CO who runs NSI for the summer, and his staff is comprised of other NROTC staff members from various units. You have your drill instructors, we had a Gunny and a staff sergeant. And your class instructors (LTs). The main purpose was to give us our 2 years of NROTC classes we missed out on. There were four of them, history and 3 others, as you can tell they really made an impact on me. Easy stuff to go through, tough to stay awake in. We had classes all day, as we made our way through those 4 courses. In addition, we had drill and PT. During NSI we had to a couple PRTs to do. None of that was very arduous. We got liberty the second weekend I believe, but we had to wear our khakis out in town. Shortly after that, we were given liberty in civvies. Typical training stuff, uniform and room inspections. Though you had a truck that came up in the mornings and evenings, to pick up and drop off your uniforms if you wanted them to dry clean them. So that was of course nice to have!

Big thing, as mentioned above, wished I would have brought my car, luckily a friend across the hall had one, and he drove us around. Would have been nice to store stuff in.

Also, I would recommend against buying your officer uniforms ahead of time. All the people that did that, had to lug all their uniforms with the rest of us in formation over to the uniform shop, so they could show the DIs that their uniforms fit, and get any alterations necessary.

Had a lot of fun in RI, great restraunts, toured some of the estates, and I took my Skipper B card and checked out on the sailboats at the marina on base. Was nice when we were restricted to onbase liberty to take a boat out with some friends.

Oh well, been too long for any other details, have fun.

 

[trvsmrtn]

I was in the second NSI class after STA-21 started. It was a flustercuck. There were no Marines involved. We pt'd M-W-F mornings, uniform inspections on Th, and we went to class from about 7 till 3 and then we were done for the day. I understand that they've tried to tighten things up, but I can't imagine it being too strict. There was no transition from enlisted to officer. I think they expect the NROTC units to take care of that. Probably the biggest joke was using fleet officer washouts to teach the classes. Navigation was taught by a navigator who had been relieved for running aground, weapons was taught by a sorry EDO who had his arms sleeved with tattoos; and who the fc's and et's swore didn't know anything about weapons. Have fun.

 

[cjettaf]

Thanks for the information, I guess it is nothing like OCS then. Now I have some idea of what to expect. TRVSMRTN, what year did you get accepted? Is there anyone else at your NROTC unit that has gone through within the last year. Your help is greatly appreciated!

 

[trvsmrtn]

I was accepted into the last BOOST class in January 2001. That was the traditional BOOST where they decided that we would stay on active duty and the Navy would pay for our school. I went to RI for BOOST in August 2001 and that's when they said, "Surprise, now you're STA-21 and you have to stay an extra 2 months in this hellhole for NSI." And yeah, there's a few who have been through it over the last few months and from what I understand it's still not too strict.

 

[devl505]

I am curently in Boost right now. I will move across the hall to NSI in May. Grad date is 23 July. NSI has really been tightened up in the last few years. It resembles a mini boot camp of sorts. 8 weeks long. The first week to week and a half you will be in PT gear until all company members have all of their uniforms. No civilian clothes until week 8. No liberty for at least the first 10 days, then Friday, Saturday, Sunday until 2100, in uniform if you want to leave base. Don't bother bringing your family, because you will be required to live in the barracks anyway. PT will be three times a week at a minimum, usually in the morning. Show up being able to run at least 3.2 miles. The normal pt consists of 20-25 minutes of warm-up and the 3.2 base trail run. You will have a PRT the first Monday you are here, don't fail it, or your stay will be extremely short. That is about it for now based on what I have seen.

 

[Enishi1983]

stupid question

i know this is a stupid question, but is NSI opened for civilians also??? cuz if it is, i'm there.

 

[cjettaf]

Devl505,
Thanks for the great info. No civilian clothes until the last week? Do you recommend driving there, since it doesn't appear I will be getting much liberty?
-CJF

 

[devl505]

Driving your own vehicle is more of a personal choice. It is nice to have so you can get around base, and leave base when you do get the chance, but for 8 weeks it is really not that crucial. Everything on base is within walking distance, and in the spring/summer it won't be bad. There will be enough people with vehicles that you should be able to get around anyway. The other consideration is parking, which is at a premium here. So even if you do have your own vehicle, it is not uncommon for it to be parked several blocks away from the barracks, and have to walk anyway. Final recommendation (this is me personally), if you are on the East Coast, or will be staying on the East Coast after NSI, you could probably bring a vehicle and be fine. If you are coming from the West Coast and plan to drive here and back, I would definitely think hard about it. If you are coming for Boost, both 3 and 6 month, where you will be here for 5-8 months, that is a different decision.

 

[nateb]

I just wanted to say that I graduated NSI in November and everything devl505 said is good info, right on the money. Good luck cjettaf, school is great after 7 years in the fleet!

 

[webmaster]

devl505 and nate, appreciate you guys taking the time to put out some good info, and validate it.

John

 

[cjettaf]

Devl505 and Nate,
Much appreciated information. It appears to have changed quite a bit in the past couple of years when friends of mine went through. Thanks again
-CJF

 

[flynavy2006]

Life at NSI.... from someone who's there.

First of all, congrats on being selected to STA-21. I'm an FY03 selectee, halfway through NSI. I attended 6-month BOOST first. We finally graduate and get out of here on April 23. I was selected with guaranteed NFO option, plan to graduate from college in May 2006.

Basically everything you've read so far is true - our typical week runs like this:

Reveille at 0500 (even though we don't always do anything right away)
PT M-W-F at 0640 (running the trail, approx. 3.4 miles, with calisthenics after) DO NOT FAIL THE PFA or be out of body fat standards. You may be packing your bags.
Classes in Weapons, Engineering, and Seapower on M-W-F from 0830-1520.
Classes in Nav I and II on T/Th at the same time. (Yes, that's 6 classes each day!)
Intro to Naval Science lectures once a week; "distance learning" format where you take one final and that's your grade in the course.
There's also "mentoring" with an assigned officer, it's not very beneficial since most of them are SWOs and don't know much about the other communities.

School is DEATH BY POWERPOINT. No joke!!!! You can print out the slides and still get all the information you need, with the books as a reference.

It really is similar to boot camp, except with liberty and no open-bay barracks. Community heads, though. The rush after PT is unreal, especially since most days we're lucky to have 30 minutes to get ready before class.

Inspections (room/locker/uniform) once a week (different uniform every time, of course), every other week for a "pennant" you have on your company guidon. So far, only one company has any guidons - all of them. Haha.

We wore PT gear for the first few days (a week and a half for the new guys, 3 days for the prior BOOSTers - they had a week of indoc while we had final exams) then winter blues and CNT khakis every Friday.

Liberty is pretty strict; none during the week until Week 3, but F-Su we get it until 2200. This begins Week 5 for us, so I think we get Cinderella liberty on the weekend. We also now have liberty M-Th from 1700-2200. No civilian clothes, OC blues is the liberty uniform (no khakis). Civilian clothes during Week 8, from what I hear. (Week 9 is the last week.) We wear PT gear if we're not in uniform in the barracks. "Regular" pajamas are only authorized to and from the head if you're in the rack.

We live in 2-man rooms, minimal decorating allowed (as in 2 photos and a clock radio). There are 2 TVs for community use, vending machines, laundry, etc. but you won't want to bring a lot of stuff - you'll have to store most of it. You can bring your own blanket/sleeping bag but you have to lock it up during the day. The rooms have to be inspection ready at all times. It's 2 bunkbeds (top is rack, bottom is desk), 2 nightstands, 2 lockers. 10'x14'.

If you plan to go off base often for liberty, you may want a car unless you can make friends and get rides everywhere. Some people never go anywhere, but if you want to get away (as I often do), you'll want a car. Like the other post said - if you're on the West Coast, it may not be worth it to drive all the way out here for just 9 weeks. Newport is a nice town; being here in the spring and summer should be nice for you. There are tons of bars and clubs downtown and lots of other things within a short drive (like Boston).

I hope that helps - let me know if you have any questions!!!!

This might help too - https://www.sta-21.navy.mil/nsiwelcome_10_03.doc
https://www.cnet.navy.mil/netc/boost/nsipage.htm

 

[cjettaf]

FlyNavy2006,
Thank you much for the information. Approximately how many people are in your company? Do you PT before breakfast or after?
-CJF

 

[BestDamnET]

update?

I see it's been almost a year since this thread has been active. I'm wondering if anything has changed at NSI since the time this discussion has taken place. Aside from the PT & school, is anything different? ie. uniform requirements, liberty, families visiting, etc.?