[sweetmtn]

As a mother of a sailor that went nuke...I truly wish he had not gone that direction. Yes now that he is done with his time in the navy and in the civilian world, it has done him VERY well, he makes the big bucks now. HOWEVER, it was VERY hard on him...5 sailors in his department of nuke tried to commit suicide and sad to say, so did my son. This happened while on deployment. My son's best friend went nuke as well, and his roommate at Power School did commit suicide while he was away for a weekend, came back to find the guy..very sad. The program is hard, and very stressful. Nukes are always the first on the ship, and last off. They work long hard hours, and on deployment it was not unusual to work 12 to 24 hours at a time. My son did his entire enlistment, and even re-enlisted, however he did not finish his second..but did get a full Honorable discharge and has all the benefits. My son originally wanted the medical field, and was talked into nuke..his original goal was to be a doctor and was even accepted at Iowa State in pre-med. Sadly he no longer wants that and is working as the plant mechanic for Owens/Corning in Texas, and is going to school to get his Engineering degree.
As a mom, you really dont have a lot to say about your son's choice..however, ask your son what his LONG term goals are, what does he see himself doing in 8 years. Does he want to be a nuclear mechanic or nuclear electrician? Does he want to be a plant mechanic in the civilian world later? I know my son originally wanted to make it a career and become an officer. His evals were so good he was recommended for STA-21 program, TWICE, and written that MUST promote, but after 6 years in..things changed. (the reason he got a straight up Honorable discharge as his discharge went all the way to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who approved his Honorable)
If you have questions, I can ask my son for you..he refuses to come on here, as he is way to busy with work and school. Just dont let the recruiter talk your son into the nuke field by waving the big $$ enlistment bonus at him...