PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

retmil46 · #31 11-07-2006, 03:14 AM

Well, looks like I called that one. Don, check over in the "Recruiter" thread, I made a fairly long post over there about dealing with recruiters. I also predicted that if you had good ASVAB scores, they'd push Nuclear Power.

I work 2nd shift at Freightliner, leave home at 1:30 PM and get home at 11:30 PM, that's why I missed most of the discussion. I work there as a Quality Control Inspector, was able to move into that from the Assembly line thanks to all the Quality Assurance training I had in the Navy.

Besides your mom, if you have a family member or acquaintance that has been or is in the military, preferably Navy, have them present with the next meeting with the recruiters. Nothing will shut down the schuck-and-jive from a recruiter faster than knowing there's another squid present that knows the score. He'll be inclined to stick to the truth, knowing that this guy can spread the word on him if he tries to feed you a line, and make it damned hard on him to sign anyone else up.

Just remember, they're salesmen - they're going to push the positive and avoid anything they feel is negative or might make you shy away from signing up. For a Navy recruiter, getting someone with high enough scores to qualify for Nuclear Power is like hitting the Lotto. They'll get bonus points from their bosses for signing you up - signing you up is the equivalent of signing up 3 other recruits to them, makes their job for the month a lot easier.

I served from '77 to '97, enlisted, nuclear power, submarines, retired as an E-6 due to the drawdown after the first Gulf War and the splitting up of the engineering rates (kinda hard to make E-7 when your rating is suddenly 75% overmanned with CPO's). I was a Machinist Mate (MM). Served on SSBN-645 James K Polk (one of the original 44 Polaris boats) Charleston SC, AS-31 Hunley sub tender in Holy Loch Scotland, SSBN-727 Michigan (Trident) Bangor WA, SSN-647 Sunfish (637 class fast attack) Norfolk VA, SSBN-728 Florida (Trident) Bangor WA, did both shore duty tours at Bangor Sub Base in WA state. Boot camp in Orlando, MM "A" school in Great Lakes (or Great Mistakes as we referred to it), Nuclear Power School in Orlando, Nuclear Prototype Training (running a land-based version of a naval nuke plant) on the old S3G Triton plant in Ballston Spa NY (near Saratoga Springs).

This may have changed since I was in, but there were 3 different engineering rates you could be assigned to as a nuke - Machinist Mate, Electricians Mate, or Electronics Tech. The recruiter will tell you you can request to be any of the 3 - and that's all you can do, request. The NAVY WILL DECIDE which one of the 3 rates you will be according to manpower requirements for the program after you're in boot camp, and I'll tell you right now, it's about a 95% chance you'll end up being a Machinist Mate. I saw guys that came into the program with 4 year degrees in electrical and electronic engineering told they were going to be mechanics because that's what the Navy needed at the time, they won't give a hoot what your previous education and training was.

I don't know if this approach would still work, but back in the day ('78) several guys in my nuke school class came into the Navy as regular electricians mates and ET's, so they could be certain of being one of these rates. After this training was complete, THEN they applied to get into the Nuclear Power Program. But that was 30 years ago, and the Navy may very well have put rules in place since then to stop people from doing this end run on them. I can guarantee that the recruiter will tell you flat out you can't do this - he wants to get credit for signing you up as a nuke, and he'll be waving a signup bonus in your face. But if nukes are in as high a demand as they were when I was still in, then it's probably not going to matter to them if you're coming in straight out of high school, or as a EM or ET from the fleet, they're still going to need bodies with enough smarts to run those plants.

For that matter, if you qualify to get into Nuclear Power, then you qualify to get into any damn program they offer - Advanced Electronics, etc. Back in the day, the recruiters handed out a book that gave a brief synopsis of all the different enlisted ratings in the Navy - job description, normal working conditions, tours of duty, required schools, etc. - and the more specialized programs such as Nuclear Power and Advanced Electronics. Ask the recruiter if he has one of these or if you can access it on line. Take the time and check out everything that's available to you, explore your options. I'm not trying to talk you out of Nuclear Power if that's what you've got your heart set on, but you just might come across something that strikes your fancy more than NP and didn't even realize it existed until you looked. And you'll never know if you don't take the time to look. Once you've signed the papers, it's too late to change your mind.

As far as the 3 different rates - machinist mates operate and repair the mechanical systems, both in the steam plant and the reactor itself. Electricians mates should be pretty self-explanatory. Electronics Technicians actually operate and run the reactor itself, and all the electronic systems associated with controlling it.

Lots more i wish i had time to go over, but it's 3 AM and i need to get up and go vote before heading off to work. Hope I've at least given you a head start and a heads up on what to think about. Feel free to post or PM me with any more questions.

Old saying in the Navy - "Choose your rate, choose your fate" , so choose wisely in the beginning.