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To go Nuke or not to go Nuke....do you have an option?

scoober78

(HCDAW)
pilot
Contributor
Alright, I've been selected for a free vacation in Hawaii from March 26-30; During that time they're going to try to make me switch over to the dark side (subs). Any recommendations for having some fun on the island?


Mask, fins, snorkel...and oh yeah...one more thing...

mambo-sunset-cocktails.jpg
 

milky-f18

loud-mouthed, know-it-all
Does anyone think this may have something to do with too many people not enough airplanes in the aviation side of the house? It seems like the helo debacle in HT's, and the severe lacking of P-3's till the MMA, futher complicates the issues of manning and backups in training on the aviation side of the house....

Just a thought
I'm not sure of specifically what you are referring, since there is no quote, but as far as aviation goes, I'm sure some communities have issues different than the ones with which I'm familiar, but much of carrier aviation has severe undermanning and retention issues. Even more specifically, F/A pilots are pulling chocks at a high rate. If you want a job where you will definitely have assets and probably less people than you're even supposed to have to share flight time with, get into the front seat of a hornet. They need guys. They need guys to stay in, too. Guess those suggestions we made for retention would have had a better chance if they implemented any of them...
 

Scoob

If you gotta problem, yo, I'll be part of it.
pilot
Contributor
CO of a CV/CVN is an aviator.
...who went through Nuke School immediately after screening for Deep Draft Command.


BTW, free spring break trips to San Dog, sitdowns with the Nuke LT in the NROTC unit, and a push to go Nuke all happened in my day, too.

Sine waves, people, sine waves...

We just didn't have AW to enable a bunch of aviator wannabes to all go supercritical feeding off of eachother's anxiety. If you're spinning up into a giant stress ball over this, it's a sure indicator to your Cadre that you're more suited for Nuke than Aviation. They're probably lurking here right now taking down names...




:D
 

Sub dio

Member
Well I got the Hawaii offer, and although very tempting, I was able to convince them not to send me. The way I see out of this mess is to act as uninterested as possible. Clearly they interpret everything as a chance I'll switch. Put subs down as 2nd choice so they froze my service selection. Made me fill out a nuke app. so they want to send me to hawaii. If I had gone to Hawaii they prob would have made me go to an interview. If I blow off the interview there's no tellin what the next step is...probably hiring thugs to come poke my eyes so I get med disqualified for flight and have to transfer over haha.
 

FMRAM

Combating TIP training AGAIN?!
Well I got the Hawaii offer, and although very tempting, I was able to convince them not to send me. The way I see out of this mess is to act as uninterested as possible. Clearly they interpret everything as a chance I'll switch. Put subs down as 2nd choice so they froze my service selection. Made me fill out a nuke app. so they want to send me to hawaii. If I had gone to Hawaii they prob would have made me go to an interview. If I blow off the interview there's no tellin what the next step is...probably hiring thugs to come poke my eyes so I get med disqualified for flight and have to transfer over haha.

Pretty pessimistic for someone whose handle starts with "Sub"...
 

Sinatra

ALOHA LAMPS
So, has there been an update to the Nuke debacle lately? I mean the SWO ranking list was "supposed" to come out today (didn't what a surprise) and the finale of SNA and SNFO selections will correlate (so I've been told).

I'm one of the many who are sitting around in limbo...... I've seen many of the posts about the "special trips" to Pearl, etc. I've even heard my CO talk about it. So, what came of it? Any takers? Anybody know when the 2008 service selections will finally be over?

If I have to hear my wife ask me if I've gotten any word on SNA yet..... You get the point..... What is the hold up, really? Anybody know. Hell I'll take scuttlebutt at this point!
 

HighDimension

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
So, has there been an update to the Nuke debacle lately? I mean the SWO ranking list was "supposed" to come out today (didn't what a surprise) and the finale of SNA and SNFO selections will correlate (so I've been told).

I'm one of the many who are sitting around in limbo...... I've seen many of the posts about the "special trips" to Pearl, etc. I've even heard my CO talk about it. So, what came of it? Any takers? Anybody know when the 2008 service selections will finally be over?

If I have to hear my wife ask me if I've gotten any word on SNA yet..... You get the point..... What is the hold up, really? Anybody know. Hell I'll take scuttlebutt at this point!


There was a shortage of sub guys so they withheld everyones final selection while they tried to recruit some more officers. I spent a week in Hawaii on one of the trips and they made a great pitch (it gave me second thoughts). The last "recruiting trip" ends Sunday so after that I would anticipate hearing more. Out of 12 guys on my trip, 4 volunteered for subs and two more were trying to decide. The trip definitely gave me a new respect for the submariners and I'm glad they're out there taking care of business!
 

SubtoSky

Officer NOooo...
None
Nukes not ALL that bad.


I didn't have a bad time on subs. You were a SMAG, that probably had a lot to do with your misery. Bottom line is, there are good times to be had on a sub. It all depends on your personality. If you have thick skin and enjoy the movie Animal House, you will do just fine in the sub community. If you are more into things like the sun, the beach and keeping your depth perception, perhaps you should go some place else.
 

ELT(SS)

Member
Nukes don't really follow 'the rules'. There are a lot of things that are unspokenly not open to us as far as shore duty goes. Pretty much once a nuke always a nuke. And while subs are volunteer, given the choice between being a div-o with a division of 5, or being a div-o with a division of 300, a lot of people pick subs just for that reason. We are a strange group of people, and since nobody in their right minds thinks that standing the most ridiculous watches ever is fun, people have to do it. The money is there for a reason. The Navy does not give out $25000/yr bonuses for happy fun jobs, only ones that are physically demanding or so atrociously boring it makes you have to pluck out your nose hairs with pliers to stay awake for the next 6 hours. It is not a good job, but it has its benefits, I would say to most people considering it, if you have no other passion in the navy, give it a shot. If you don't like it, get out and get a different job, having nuclear EOOW on a resume is a good thing anywhere. But I repeat it is not fun, exciting, or anything resembling engineering. Officers watch people watch gages for 6 hours and then go sign some papers after watch.
 

ELT(SS)

Member
...who went through Nuke School immediately after screening for Deep Draft Command.


BTW, free spring break trips to San Dog, sitdowns with the Nuke LT in the NROTC unit, and a push to go Nuke all happened in my day, too.

Sine waves, people, sine waves...

We just didn't have AW to enable a bunch of aviator wannabes to all go supercritical feeding off of eachother's anxiety. If you're spinning up into a giant stress ball over this, it's a sure indicator to your Cadre that you're more suited for Nuke than Aviation. They're probably lurking here right now taking down names...




:D
Funny because it is true. I have been in sta-21 for the last 7 months and still get scared everytime the phone rings it is going to be NPTU calling to say I got ordmodded back to Charleston. I hope Hurricane Hanna leaves the city of Charleston alone, but wipes NWS Charleston off the map and blows those stupid submarines out to sea where they are not to be found until 2341. Nukes are weird
 

Spekkio

He bowls overhand.
Well I got the Hawaii offer, and although very tempting, I was able to convince them not to send me. The way I see out of this mess is to act as uninterested as possible. Clearly they interpret everything as a chance I'll switch. Put subs down as 2nd choice so they froze my service selection. Made me fill out a nuke app. so they want to send me to hawaii. If I had gone to Hawaii they prob would have made me go to an interview. If I blow off the interview there's no tellin what the next step is...probably hiring thugs to come poke my eyes so I get med disqualified for flight and have to transfer over haha.
If you put subs as your 2nd choice, why is this such a big issue to you? You would think that someone who was this opposed to submarine duty would have subs at the bottom of the list, or not on there at all.

The Navy does not give out $25000/yr bonuses for happy fun jobs, only ones that are physically demanding or so atrociously boring it makes you have to pluck out your nose hairs with pliers to stay awake for the next 6 hours. It is not a good job, but it has its benefits, I would say to most people considering it, if you have no other passion in the navy, give it a shot. If you don't like it, get out and get a different job, having nuclear EOOW on a resume is a good thing anywhere.
Don't you think you're blowing things a little out of proportion here? We have several prior enlisted sub nukes in our NNPS class, which leads me to believe that sub duty isn't the worst job in the world like you make it out to be.

The Navy pays $25,000 a year in bonuses for signing a second 5-year contract because O-3 pay alone can't keep up with the earning power of an officer after he's completed his first 5 year nuke contract.

But I repeat it is not fun, exciting, or anything resembling engineering. Officers watch people watch gages for 6 hours and then go sign some papers after watch.
I don't ever remember anyone telling me that the Navy nuke program was supposed to resemble engineering. The goal of nuke officers is to learn how to manage a nuclear power reactor and learn to fight a submarine, and to do that you need to have a basic understanding of how the plant operates. It is not to learn how to design the thing.

I have not been on a sub yet, but I have a feeling that an officer's job extends just a bit past watching people watch gauges and then putzing around for 12 hours.
 
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