He is just a bitter nuke who got out of being a nuke by going STA-21, and now he has to talk like he is a bad ass. He is somewhat right though, but so are you. Officers don't spend the 12 hours after watch just "putzing around". They qualify (i.e. not sleep) because they are dirty NUBs (sorry that was the qualified bitter ex nuke in me). But they do get to learn how to fight a sub and do other "cool" things like sexual tracking party and reconstruct. If I wasn't selected for pilot and was still going officer I would not go back to a sub. Not because I hated it, because I loved it, it is because I wouldn't want to be EOOW. That is because I know what I did to them when I was standing RO. And as every good sub JO knows, even if he was prior enlisted, you are still not in charge as EOOW so you keep your mouth shut.
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To go Nuke or not to go Nuke....do you have an option?
- Thread starter FMRAM
- Start date
Spekkio
He bowls overhand.
There are people who visit this site for general gouge on officer programs (which, incidentally, is how I found it). I spoke up because someone going off on a rant like he did can give a lot of people the wrong idea.
Not saying anyone can't criticize a community, but at least do so constructively and state your reasons like you did. Statements like "I hope NWS Charleston gets destroyed in a hurricane" and "all nukes are weird" are insulting and aren't helpful to anyone.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
vulcanx
Banned
awolfinwater
Member
This is a ridiculous statement. If you are a newly qualified JO, then sure listen to your watchteam and take notes. But once you have some experience under your wings you are expected to lead and control that engine room. If you don't, then you are not doing your job. That is the most difficult portion of the job, earning the respect of the enlisted who have been there longer and thus have more experience. As an EOOW, you need to hit the books hard and have confidence in your decisions in order to be successful.
The best part of being a Submarine Officer is that EOOW is only the first step of the job. After qualifying as an EOOW, you must step up to the plate and start qualifying as Officer Of the Deck (OOD). As OOD, you will be in command of a multi-billion dollar submarine. You are in charge of the Ship's control party, Fire control team, Sonar, Communications, and the navigation party. This is an immense responsibility especially while conducting missions vital to national security. The experience gathered while standing OOD is not only fun but also very rewarding in regards to leadership and teamwork skills.
I haven't read completely through this thread, but I don't think anyone can knock the experience gathered nor the marketability of a nuclear submarine officer. The biggest question that I here always concerns the quality of life. I'm here to tell you, it is not that bad. With the amount of JO's on board submarines these days, it is almost certain that you will stand 4 section rotation. What I mean by that is you will stand watch for 6 hours and be off for 18 hours. During that off-time, you will spend an average 3-4 hours on paperwork, 2 hours on training, and the rest on either qualifying, sleeping, working out, or having fun.
So what do I mean by fun? That is where is depends on the person. Space is obviously limited but there is a lot of movie watching, video/card games, and shenanigans galore.
Working out is also tough but doable. We prided ourselves on our creativity in the gym in MSW/ASW bay. There will be a treadmill, rowing machinge, eliptical, weights, and a bench on board to continue fitness. Pushups, situps, dips, and pullups can be accomplished almost anywhere.
Another great aspect of submarines is the level of intelligence of the crew. You will impressed by the brains on the nuclear enlisted. They will be smarter than you. Not only that, but the other officers on board are also the brightest of the bunch. You will have many intelligent discussions ranging from the presidential race to the microdetail process of brewing beer.
To me, the best part of the submarine is the comraderie on board. You feel that team spirit and everyone on board looks out for one another. I made 6 lifelong friends from my JO tour and the times we spent in foreign/home port will live with me always.
I don't regret my decision at all at going Subs. With a 5 year commitment, my total sea tour lasted 30 months and 3 months were spent on shore at PNEO. I'm now on a shore tour making bank and going to a top 5 MBA school while I decide the next steps in my life. The experiences I gained made me a better person and a leader. The job offers are plentiful and I served my country honorably. What more could you ask for as a 27-year old?
Just finished my 4th glass of wine so hopefully the above rant is coherent!
vulcanx
Banned
thanks for your post wolf...
so you can get your masters within your 5 year commitment? interesting
i'll be honest, subs are very attractive to me. i'm more of a nerd than a party animal even though i'm in a frat. hoping for more sub propaganda to get me locked in.
i'll probably do a sub cruise next summer anyhow.
so you can get your masters within your 5 year commitment? interesting
i'll be honest, subs are very attractive to me. i'm more of a nerd than a party animal even though i'm in a frat. hoping for more sub propaganda to get me locked in.
i'll probably do a sub cruise next summer anyhow.
Sometimes they get to see aircraft fly by.
(Come on - This IS AirWarriors not SubWarriors!)
-ea6bflyr
That is what I was saying, but since I guess I didn't spell it out all long and drawn out like you did then there might have been some confusion. And I like how you make it sound so glorious to be on a sub. If you hadn't said you pulled into foreign ports I would have thought you were a boomer fag, because I don't know of any boat that had JO's in a 4 section rotation in the engine room. I loved being on a boat, it was the greatest job ever, but it was not near as "fun" as you make it sound.
And you never have 50 couples because one guy always holds out.
ELT(SS)
Member
I am in STA-21 and plan on going back to subs. I was not saying it is the worst job in the world. I was just putting a dry spin on it. I did not enjoy my job a whole lot, not too many do. It is the atmosphere on a sub that makes it bearable. I made a lot of good friends on the boat, and while I am going back, I am also the first to admit that it is not for everybody. I know how recruiters are, they got me 8 years ago. I was going for the opposite of the recruiter and using things they told me when I joined. You do get a lot more than a basic understanding of the plant, it gets broken down into what alloys go where and why, but the vast majority of your time is indeed watching people watch gauges. After watch you will go to your division and see if they need anything from you, then you have the afterwatch brief with the CO. Then you work on qualifying other things. Again, I do not want to make everybody think being a nuke is the worst thing that could happen to a person, but it is a unique experience that cause many good officers and enlisted to get out of the Navy because it is very tedious and frustrating at times. But as I said, I was on the boat for 4 years, went to instruct at Prototype, got picked up Core STA-21 and am going to go back to subs. But the money thing is true, there is not much fun in this job, but it does have its benefits. And even with the 30K a year, the pay does not match civilian plants, with all of the other military benefits it comes close, but I promise that the majority of people getting out are not doing it for economic reasons. Pretty much this whole paragraph is saying, find out as much info as possible and seriously think about it before looking at the money. If you think it sounds good without the money, then go for it, but do not do it for the money.
ELT(SS)
Member
I said nukes are weird because I realized that I was making no sense and decided to make fun of myself, so I guess I am insulting myself. I never really completely finished my thought on NWS. While at first the thought was because I despised shore duty at NPTU, the reason I wrote it down was that it would require the Navy to update its training program, which it needs to do. It is understandably prohibitively expensive right now though. And to tell you the truth, about 75% of the time I can pick a Nuke out of a line up, because most of us are too smart for our own good, and act a little strange now and then. Myself included in the strange group.
I was not trying to knock being a nuke by any of these posts, just give the 'truth' on the negatives, the same way brochures give the 'truth' on the positives. The best advice I can think of is to look at all of your options, but not the monetary bonuses, if it still seems like something you would want to do, then go for it. Just know that it is next to impossible to transfer into a different community later, once a nuke always a nuke. I will repeat myself again, I am going back to subs, but the reason is that we are so different than the rest of the Navy that I want to go back to where I feel comfortable, and I miss amine a little bit too.
Spekkio
He bowls overhand.
I misinterpreted your tone, then. Smileys would go a long way in conveying that over the internet ;-).
The main reason I harped on you, though, is post-OCS the SS qualified CMC at my recruiting district sat with me for 1-1.5 hours briefing me on sub life, JO duties, and general advice on how to succeed out in the fleet. It involved a lot more than watching gauges.
You mean memorizing the reduction potential and half reaction of iron is useless in the fleet?! You don't say! :-P.
One of my biggest disappointments thus far has been that most of my class is either: A) doing nuke for the huge payoff in the corporate world 5 years later or B) was voluntold to go nuke at the academy/NROTC (some with < 3.0 GPAs in non-technical majors). Not gonna be a good morale atmosphere when the majority of people hate their jobs before they even started it. Also, I don't know if your 75% rule would necessarily hold up there.