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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:08:22 PM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The funny thing was, there were two kinds of people. the hands on guys that could actually do the work, but sucked at the book part where they had to learn the theory. Then there were the guys that could do all the book parts but couldn't figure out how to do it for real. So there were a ton of guys I tutored in power school. I taught heat transfer and fluid flow theory so many times, I still remember it, 30 years later. lol. You didn't get put on mando study hours unless you were under 3.0 average. They put me on mando 10 because I only had a 3.5 and 3.2 depending on the time of year, thinking it would make a difference. I remember guys falling a sleep standing up due to late nights out. They would have to stand at podiums at the back of the room. So tired they fell over. But yeah, there were guys there all day for school and then had to put another 40 hours in before the week was up studying. Sunday's were busy days because you could only get 10 hours that day and people need it all to make the 40 hours. Graduated with 3.65 on S-10 all the way through, with the threat from the Chief that if I dropped any exam, it was Mando for me. Never dropped an exam. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:12:02 PM EDT
[#2]
We lost 40% of the class between Power school and Prototype when I went through the O side in 96. I won't say it's easier but they've figured out how to teach better since then, and the current attrition rate is much much lower. The total attrition rate these days is on the order of a handful.
I'm pretty proud to be able to say I qualified first in my power school class and grade-wise was first in the bottom half. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:12:45 PM EDT
[#3]
My neighbor did and after getting out the nuclear plant paid him for 6 months of training to become a manager.
Now he manages and is paid a lot. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:13:27 PM EDT
[#4]
Congrats to your son on the Navy thing...
As for the MOS advise him to change it. There are literally no new jobs in the nuclear industry in the United States since the early 1980's. If you want a job you wait for someone to die. A good family friend has a PHD from A&M in Nuclear Engineering and has been a welder for the past 35y because....you can't find a job doing anything in the civilian nuclear industry. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:15:39 PM EDT
[#5]
Quoted: As a former Marine, and Dad, I am very proud, and sad at the same time. My first born baby boy is going to be gone for 6 years. Anyone on here know anything about this MOS? Be more proud when he graduates. Its a tough school and he has only begun the ride. Tell him to focus on getting his rating and leave the hotel parties and thots alone. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:17:28 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Congratulations! My son was an ET Nuke. Served on a fast attack sub in Hawaii and a boomer in Washington. He told me once there's your sub and everything else is a target. He also told me once that operating a reactor was kinda like checking your tire pressure every 15 minutes and writing it down on a clip board. He has never been unemployed since getting out. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:17:59 PM EDT
[#7]
Thats awesome OP.
So he will probably end up in Goose Creek, SC I think that is where the power school is. I know nothing about Nukes, just a dirt sailor here. They offered me Machinist Mate Sub and Utilitiesman. I told them I didnt want to get on anything that sank on purpose it wasnt natural  .Off to the John Wayne lifestyle I went. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:19:27 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Congrats to your son on the Navy thing... As for the MOS advise him to change it. There are literally no new jobs in the nuclear industry in the United States since the early 1980's. If you want a job you wait for someone to die. A good family friend has a PHD from A&M in Nuclear Engineering and has been a welder for the past 35y because....you can't find a job doing anything in the civilian nuclear industry. As a HT in the Navy and then working for Lockheed after that doing R&D, fabrication, welding and installation I have to say that every nuke I knew went on to do great things. Granted I knew only a handful but they continued in their field of training be it as DOD contractors or civilian roles. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:22:28 PM EDT
[#9]
Fast recovery startups are a trip at every rate. Especially when somebody screws up and the sub starts to drift backwards due to the delay.
Thinking we were really close to an emergency blow on that scram drill. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:22:43 PM EDT
[#10]
OP, your son chose wisely. A lot of our best data center commissioning agents were Navy nuke techs. He has great options post-mil.
God bless you, and your family! Edit - Warn him about line-crossing. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:25:31 PM EDT
[#11]
Congrats.
I was supposed to be a nuke but they wouldn't put my rating in writing. I wanted to be an ET, not an EM or MM. So I went conventional. I did want to go to the CGN USS Texas, though. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:25:57 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The funny thing was, there were two kinds of people. the hands on guys that could actually do the work, but sucked at the book part where they had to learn the theory. Then there were the guys that could do all the book parts but couldn't figure out how to do it for real. So there were a ton of guys I tutored in power school. I taught heat transfer and fluid flow theory so many times, I still remember it, 30 years later. lol. You didn't get put on mando study hours unless you were under 3.0 average. They put me on mando 10 because I only had a 3.5 and 3.2 depending on the time of year, thinking it would make a difference. I remember guys falling a sleep standing up due to late nights out. They would have to stand at podiums at the back of the room. So tired they fell over. But yeah, there were guys there all day for school and then had to put another 40 hours in before the week was up studying. Sunday's were busy days because you could only get 10 hours that day and people need it all to make the 40 hours. Study time is no joke, but thats a foolish policy based on a productivity presumption about studying. Once someone is mentally "full", their mind needs down time to process what it has absorbed. Making someone sit in a room & study beyond their processing rate is akin to making them eat when they're already full. It will cause them to lose what they did remember &/or grasp due to the info overload. There's probably a "rite of passage" motive behind it to a degree. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:28:17 PM EDT
[#13]
He’ll pick up E6 in like 3 years and get out after his first enlistment and make $100k + as a contractor for any ship builder.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:29:04 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: There's probably a "rite of passage" motive behind it to a degree. Rickover was a salty strict man. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:30:59 PM EDT
[#15]
Loose lips sink ships.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:31:01 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Congrats to your son on the Navy thing... As for the MOS advise him to change it. There are literally no new jobs in the nuclear industry in the United States since the early 1980's. If you want a job you wait for someone to die. A good family friend has a PHD from A&M in Nuclear Engineering and has been a welder for the past 35y because....you can't find a job doing anything in the civilian nuclear industry. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:31:46 PM EDT
[#17]
You can pass down your crayons to him.
 Congratulations on raising a citizen! If we don't send good kids into the military NOW we're going to have the ARMY taken over like the MEDIA and the EDUCATION system. Have a  or a  on me! 
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:32:34 PM EDT
[#18]
Dumbest person here, but know someone intimate with subs. Best to OP’s son as well as the OP & his...
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:33:35 PM EDT
[#19]
He's a smart one, huh?
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:34:20 PM EDT
[#20]
ok someone explain this to me how does a marine produce a nuclear technician??
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:35:34 PM EDT
[#21]
Thats one of the brainest MOS. wtg!
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:40:40 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The most valuable thing about a nuke is that they can learn damn near anything in short order. I dont know of any navy nukes that have their shit together that aren't well employed. I had one as a DOD fire watch a few years ago. I felt embarrassed telling him how to do a bullshit job like firewatch. He was waiting for some sort of Nuke civilian DOD TS to clear through (long process at the time) he was cleared to work with us and needed to make money before going off to Norfolk to work. He was out of Kings Bay IIRC. Great guy, loved tabletop RPGs...lol |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:47:49 PM EDT
[#23]
*navy life in humor*.
forgot one - safety wire your car's lug nuts... 
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:48:11 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I had one as a DOD fire watch a few years ago. I felt embarrassed telling him how to do a bullshit job like firewatch. He was waiting for some sort of Nuke civilian DOD TS to clear through (long process at the time) he was cleared to work with us and needed to make money before going off to Norfolk to work. He was out of Kings Bay IIRC. Great guy, loved tabletop RPGs...lol Shut all four. Written by an EM I know |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 9:50:29 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: *navy life in humor*. forgot one - safety wire your car's lug nuts... FFS, the horror of proper safety wire. 
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:05:16 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryThank you... Downloaded it, read a few pages and I can tell I will be able to relate to some of it already... |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:06:53 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: ok someone explain this to me how does a marine produce a nuclear technician?? Hey, wait a minute, I was a combat engineer, not a grunt.We had to be semi smart, they don't let any idiot play with explosives. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:11:53 PM EDT
[#28]
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:16:34 PM EDT
[#29]
So if it's still like it was many years ago (I qualified but failed the physical); your son is going to boot, then Florida for education, then most likely New England for submarine school, but if he's lucky he'll wind up on a carrier. He'll probably re-up at 6 years because the Navy will dangle a giant bonus in front of him. When he gets out, he will be well qualified to work at a Power Plant - could be nuclear or conventional, or as a utilities technician at a large manufacturing plant that either runs it's own power / steam plant, or has a significant wastewater operation. At the major manufacturing site I work at, we specifically seek out Navy nuclear techs for our technician roles in our utilities teams. Good jobs - $100k a year is pretty much the typical base pay, with significant opportunities to advance in the organization for those so inclined. Some of the best leaders / managers I've worked with in manufacturing skipped college, did a tour in the Navy or two after completing nuclear school, and tend to be really analytical, smart, qualified leaders of people. I'd say your son is setting off on what can be a very good career path. Good for him.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:18:33 PM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Congrats to your son on the Navy thing... As for the MOS advise him to change it. There are literally no new jobs in the nuclear industry in the United States since the early 1980's. If you want a job you wait for someone to die. A good family friend has a PHD from A&M in Nuclear Engineering and has been a welder for the past 35y because....you can't find a job doing anything in the civilian nuclear industry. ??. I was a nuke and I haven't worked in it since and done pretty well for myself. It transfers to a lot of industries. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:19:08 PM EDT
[#31]
Above my pay grade (actually below).
I had a buddy that went, failed out, suicide attempts, eventually went on to say he was an alcoholic. General under other than Honorable. By that, I hope he stays positive and hangs with a good crew. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:20:52 PM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Congrats to your son on the Navy thing... As for the MOS advise him to change it. There are literally no new jobs in the nuclear industry in the United States since the early 1980's. If you want a job you wait for someone to die. A good family friend has a PHD from A&M in Nuclear Engineering and has been a welder for the past 35y because....you can't find a job doing anything in the civilian nuclear industry. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:28:02 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Extremely difficult school. NPTU chews up smart kids. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:47:02 PM EDT
[#34]
One of our higher ups at work was in the nuke program. Very, very bright individual that learns complex processes extremely fast.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:49:15 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I remember guys falling a sleep standing up due to late nights out. They would have to stand at podiums at the back of the room. So tired they fell over. 
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:51:06 PM EDT
[#36]
i work with a bunch of former navy nukes.
bunch of fucking weirdos.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 10:57:52 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryThat's been floating around (ha, pun city) since before I enlisted. Is he ever gonna get around to finishing it? ETA: OP, your son is going to learn a ton, work his ass off, and (supposedly) have good career prospects as a result of it. I dropped my nuke contract to be a Master-At-Arms (cop/security/tards) before I shipped. In retrospect, good call.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:02:18 PM EDT
[#38]
I was a n EW in the mid 90’s. We had a bunch on nuke school dropouts. EW are CT’s now. I currently work in commercial nuclear power with plenty of nuke school grads. A lot of money to be made.
Good luck to him. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:07:59 PM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Join the Navy and see Idaho? Eventually. Probably going on his second retirement. Nuke ships don't have fun. Nuke ships dont get to go off shore as much. Not everybody gets to be nuke. You have to have special brain cells. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:08:57 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted: @cardboardkiller I’ve been out of the nukes for a while, I got a call for a position yesterday, but there’s actually quite a few jobs popping up right now because of all the research being done. That being said, having a degree is always better and makes it much easier to get a job. Coming out of the navy without some degree is better than trying to come in off the street with a high school diploma by far, but I’d want a piece of paper to hang on the wall. Instrumentation & Control, some kind of electrical engineering or electronics degree would be a safer and more widely appealing background. A Health, Safety & Environmental degree is huge right now and will be forever. You can run down job boards of nuclear utilities (SNC, APS, TVA, Exelon, etc.) and companies like Westinghouse to see what is happening now. There’s a lot of shit going on at Oak Ridge and adjacent sites because of the small modular reactors that are being pushed. The Middle East is one to keep an eye on for nuclear power if overseas work is appealing. The UAE (Nawah Energy Company) is wrapping up two reactors and may be building two more. Jordan and possibly Qatar may be kicking off new plants. I haven’t kept up with what they are doing, but there’s big, stupid money for guys over there. His time in the navy should count in other .gov positions towards his retirement. A friend of mine spent 13 or 14 years in the navy on a nuke, got out and went to work for Westinghouse for 6 or 8 years, got a job with TVA at Sequoyah nuclear and was eligible to fully retire once he hit 20 total years of government service. He isn’t degreed, but his military background got him the jobs. It is all going to depend on what he wants to do. Travel the US/world working projects or a safe stay at home job. I’m more or less burnt out on world travel, but the money is too good and workload is low. I spent 5 months in Qatar last year for aircraft inspections getting paid all expenses, 8 hours a day, 7 days a week with time and a half and more when I actually worked. I went to work 17 times. Lol. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:11:16 PM EDT
[#41]
Awesome!
He has a long hard road ahead of him in school. On the ship or boat he will be the first one on and last one off. Not an easy program to get into, you've got a smart kid. Prepare him for 2 to 3 years of very rigorous training 6 to 7 days a week. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:20:34 PM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted: So if it's still like it was many years ago (I qualified but failed the physical); your son is going to boot, then Florida for education, then most likely New England for submarine school, but if he's lucky he'll wind up on a carrier. He'll probably re-up at 6 years because the Navy will dangle a giant bonus in front of him. When he gets out, he will be well qualified to work at a Power Plant - could be nuclear or conventional, or as a utilities technician at a large manufacturing plant that either runs it's own power / steam plant, or has a significant wastewater operation. At the major manufacturing site I work at, we specifically seek out Navy nuclear techs for our technician roles in our utilities teams. Good jobs - $100k a year is pretty much the typical base pay, with significant opportunities to advance in the organization for those so inclined. Some of the best leaders / managers I've worked with in manufacturing skipped college, did a tour in the Navy or two after completing nuclear school, and tend to be really analytical, smart, qualified leaders of people. I'd say your son is setting off on what can be a very good career path. Good for him. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:27:31 PM EDT
[#43]
My brother was in for nuclear. He qualified reactor operator. Did his 6 years, got out, went to college on the GI Bill for electrical engineering, and now runs a big plant in the northeast.
Making 100k+ a year. His reenlistment bonus was big money at the time...80 or 100k but he wanted out so he could go private business and not stay in the canoe club. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:31:42 PM EDT
[#44]
Nice! I hope he does well, and has great job opportunities when he gets out. I really hope we'll see more nuclear power options. The Small Modular Reactors are an interesting design. I'd really love to see those rolled out en masse.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:35:50 PM EDT
[#45]
Love him any how and remind him it is not gay when underway.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:43:25 PM EDT
[#46]
Congrats to your son OP. As others have said, if he makes it through that school he will have a very employable future.
I never did navy nuke school, was a jughead like you, and ended up in a nuke plant four months after EAS where I’ve been for almost 35 years. Work with a ton of folks who did navy nuke school and the main theme is....hard. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:52:51 PM EDT
[#47]
That’s fantastic. Anybody who is willing to raise their right hand and swear to defend the Constitution is headed in the right direction. I hope he remains humble while trying to be the best damn Sailor he can be. May God bless him.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:55:13 PM EDT
[#48]
My father in law is a vet and a A&P mechanic and he works for Grumman.... once installed he inspected all the computer systems for the new reactors on the new aircraft carriers
He makes great money |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:55:53 PM EDT
[#49]
Just rolling through for the TAG.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 11:56:38 PM EDT
[#50]
Quite an accomplishment must be a bright young man as well as a hard working student.
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