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Old 05-05-2013, 07:17 PM   #6
prop827
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Quote:
Originally Posted by warehimer33 View Post
I have a couple of questions for you, Prop, if you don't mind:
-Is the nuclear field always looking for recruits or is this something that I will have a hard time trying to get from the classifier at MEPS if I indeed qualify with my test scores?
-Can we have cars at A-School, Power or Prototype?
-Is the training really THAT hard?
-Can people that have medical waivers be Nukes?
-And lastly, for the home ports. You said we can be stationed permanently all over the world. Are there any in Europe and if so, are they hard to obtain?
You seem like the only seasoned nuke on here so I thought I'd ask you these questions. Thanks!
Alrighty, I'll try to hit up each question in order so I don't lose track. And I absolutely don't mind, I come on here to share some knowledge with you all and help you guys out much as I can. I wish someone had taken the time to tell me this stuff when I was in your shoes so maybe you'll get that little advantage I didn't have.

-Yes, we are always in dire need of nukes. The vast majority of nukes only stay for one enlistment because our civilian pay is insanely higher than military pay and so we don't get to retain a lot of nukes. To make matters worse is that it is a hard rate to qualify and pass the school for so we need a large volume coming in to make up our losses. Nuke is ALWAYS in demand, as long as you qualify nuke, you'll be offered nuke. Have your recruiter process you straight through as a nuke and you'll get it. I wasn't even offered anything else by the classifier, he sat me down and said "so you're coming in as a nuke?"

-You can have a car as soon as you hit NMT phase 2 during A School, which will be about 6 weeks after arriving in Charleston. You are REQUIRED to have a car (well they require a drivers license, car not needed though if one of your shipmates can drive you) when you go to prototype as there is no base housing available, you will be commuting from off base to work.

- The training is pretty intense. You will be in a classroom at least 12-14 hours a day learning. If you aren't in a class being taught, you are sitting there studying. Cell phones, iPods, other electronics are not allowed in the classroom even during study time and the classroom is kept library silent the whole time. The sheer volume of information you are expected to learn is massive, and the time frame is tiny. You will essentially be doing 3 years of college coursework in less than 1 year. A good example is the nuclear chemistry courses you take, here you will spend 3 weeks taking a course in chemistry; the only civilian equivalent of this course is called "Water Based Chemistry in Nuclear Reactors," a 300 level course taught at MIT (my instructor was always quick to remind us of this fact). The information is challenging but not that bad, its really the speed at which you need to learn it that makes it hard. There is also no margin for error, many of the rules and procedures we learn were created out of blood from lessons learned from others mistakes including Three Mile Island and the loss of the USS Thresher. No mistake about it, it is hard, but you can do it. The part people have more trouble with than academics (believe it or not) is not getting into trouble on liberty. The #1 way to end your nuke training is with a liberty incident, Underage drinking, DUI, etc. All nuke disqualifying.

-Yes, depending on what the waiver is. The only medical issue that is under no circumstances waiver-able is color blindness. Others are on a case by case basis, but the majority are approved.

-Well, I say all over the world because you will be assigned to a ship going out to sea, seeing the world. Shore duty for nukes is limited in choice, and you can only go on shore duty after a tour at sea. ALL nukes go out to sea their first tour. Shore duty options include Nuclear Recruiting, Boot Camp Nuclear Processing Office, Instructor Duty at NFAS, NPS, or NPTU, Naval Reactors tour as an inspector or as a military nuclear escort (Train Rider we call it - you accompany the disposal of spent nuclear materials), Specialized Maintenance Teams (going to ships to do repairs they are not capable of doing on their own), or assignment to related nuclear jobs at ports where nuclear vessels are home ported. Home ports for nuclear vessels include: Groton, CT, Norfolk, VA, Kings Bay, GA, San Diego, CA, Bremmerton, WA, Bangor, WA, Honolulu, HI, Diego Garcia (British Territory in the Indian Ocean), and Yokosuka, Japan. Japan is the only international home port a nuke would be at. Those forward deployed at Diego Garcia are also considered home ported at Kings Bay, GA.
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