Hello everyone,

I’m (20M) a college dropout looking to join, and my recruiter recommended the nuclear program for me. I’ve heard good things about it from my recruiter who was a nuke, and my cousin’s buddy who is a nuclear electrician. I’ve also heard how awful of a life the navy is from my cousin himself and someone from a social I attend regularly. It’s really a matter of finding what I want to do in the navy. What’s the day-to-day of someone who is a nuke? Experiences with the subs? Experiences with the carriers? Deployment? The school in Charleston? Pros/Cons of joining the nuclear program? I want to hear points of view that are not my extended family praying that I reconsider enlisting altogether. I appreciate your responses.

I take PowerSchool comp in two weeks, I haven’t failed a test in the pipeline yet sitting on a 3.3 right now. But I would be lying if I didn’t say the gravity of comp always makes me shit my pants. Comparatively how would y’all say difficulty stacks next to A school comp. Or is it pretty much the same just with a lot more information?

My goal is to get stationed in either Yokosuka or Bremerton. Is this achievable or will they put me where they need me?

Hello fission friends, I was wondering how different the qual process is in the civilian world compared to what we’re used to. From what I’ve read, a lot of civ plants have a similar qual process where you’re a nub for 18-24 months and you go through classroom instruction, tests, and U/Is just like we do. Basically just wondering for any of you guys that got out, how rough is it being a civilian nub and starting over? How hard are the classes and tests compared to what we went through? I’d like to have a better work life balance post navy. For context, I’m a surface RO looking to transition to a civilian SRO trainee program once I’m out

What’s the first year of this journey look like? Birthdays, Holiday, visits etc.

I’m 26 years old married with 2 kids. Recently stumbled my way into a navy recruit office and suprisingly did well on the practice asvab. They immediately scheduled me to take the real test and I scored very well on that apparently. I digress, nuke school was an option offered to me and I’m highly considering it.

In addition to my first question, what should I be brushing up on if I do decide to go for it? I haven’t been in high school in almost a decade so while I’m good at math I’m not familiar with many formulas or properties off the top of my head. Is it algebra specifically I should be refreshing myself on or are there other components as well?

I appreciate any help or answers, and I’m hopeful to be amongst you in the near future.

Hi everyone, I'm a new officer heading to Charleston soon. Any recommendations for a good place to buy a small single family home?

Also interested in which realtors in the area are actually any good, or which ones are really bad.

I’m 19m and am shipping out to boot April 18. I’m a nervous person, but I calm down when in a consistent routine. I’ve scoured this subreddit for the past few months and have seen a lot of negative, but also a lot of helpful information. I’m going to shoot for being on the surface so I can maintain semi-consistent contact with my family. And from the looks of it, 6 years and out seems like the way to go. Do any Ex or current Nukes have any sage wisdom to impart?

If y'all haven't read yet, fy 25 STA-21 has some substantial changes for those interested.

For STA-21(N):

no more officer appraisal (not to be confused with CO letter of recommendation)

Applicants will submit (3) 300 word statements on different prompts addressed in the NAVADMIN.

Following schools aren't accepting this year- Columbia, Southern, A&M

What are the chances if I get my TS in power school and once I graduate prototype I’ll get picked to be put on a seawolf class sub? Im wanting to go on a sub but specifically this class and am curious.

I enjoyed discussions that made you think about how to work creatively within the limitations of each compartment. One such discussion was the argument that nukes could take over the engineroom by locking the reactor tunnel door and then take local control of the rudder and planes to steer the ship wherever they would like. Obviously, this would never work due to logistics like food, fresh air, and ballast tanks, but it's fun to think about. Without getting classified, and keeping it purely hypothetical, what are some of the other arguments for and against this scenario? Did anyone else ever argue the practicality of nukes taking over a ship?

I have my phone interview tomorrow, and I've been studying hard, but I'm incredibly anxious. I was approved for all options and want to do NRE. My major was math, but a lot of it was pure math, and I feel unprepared for the physics portions. Any words advice?

What jobs would be open to me after I complete 6 years?

Hello :) ,

My husband will be starting nuke school sometime this upcoming fall and I’m currently looking for recommendations of places for us to live while he’s in school. We’ll be flying down to Charleston at the end of this month to do some apartment tours and get a general feel of the area. Right now I have scheduled some apartment tours in Summerville, Johns Island, and Goose Creek. Any apartment recommendations or any info on what the best area in general to live in while he’s in school would be deeply appreciated!

So I’m applying for nupoc, just about to have my first phone interview, and I’m kind of conflicted on whether to go surface or subs. I had my nvip trip last month and really enjoyed it, got to tour a destroyer and a boomer, but it only made my decision harder.

I really like the more dedicated, higher quality personnel on the subs, along with the greater levels of camaraderie. I highly value the importance of the missions, as I feel like knowing that what I’m doing is important would make it easier to deal with the high workload. Not that being a SWO nuke isn’t important, but I’d rather feel like my actions are directly contributing, rather than just being a small part of the whole.

The only thing I’m not sure about is whether sub life is right for me. I’ve been reading previous posts on this subreddit, but I still have a few questions for anyone that’s been on a sub that I think would help me make a decision.

How often can you contact your family?

Did you have to get used to being in such a confined space, or did you not mind it from the beginning?

How long do you go between port visits during deployment? (Not boomers since I know those are on ~3 month rotations)

Did you go to international ports often?

Any other insights/advice on subs (or surface)?

Any input is appreciated.

Bettis/Naval Nuclear Laboratory seems like it'd be the right place to start, but their active jobs only includes one post for Charleston, SC (an IT co-op for college students).

Is there still a significant civilian support staff at NNPTC/NPTU? Are they GS federal employees, or private contractors? I was hoping to share information on the Bettis/KAPL pipeline with an interested college student and any other opportunities to work in Charleston as a civilian, but am not having any luck finding actual hiring processes after searching Google/LinkedIn/USAJobs/etc.

I'm a nuke eng guy, some of my friends over there rn say it's not too bad.

Possible to get a 2nd job while in power school? Would like the extra cash. Thinking something menial that I could do part time, maybe weekends.

Hi all, YN here just curious if anybody knows the reason why NF has such a low age limit. Like... a real clue on the reasoning and not just a guess.

I was talking to somebody about age limits today, and it's crazy to me that you can go SO into your 30s, but NF is a struggle after your mid-20s. I realize older candidates are less likely to be able to tolerate the wear and tear, but you can ship any other engineering rate up to the day before they turn 42.

It just seems crazy to me, as hard up as the Navy is for bodies, that they'd limit the pool so tightly. Not that most people over 30 would want the job. I was kinda happy to be aged out when the recruiter got my ASVAB scores.

(ETA: I'm talking about enlisted side. I think given how age limits work in officer communities, the age cap for NUPOC isn't unusual compared to other designators.)

Hey everyone! So I'm in kind of a weird spot, and I'm curious about life after the Navy in my specific situation. I did well in A-school, power school, and prototype (ETN), but after getting to the real fleet, I was only onboard a submarine for one month before getting off due to medical issues. After dealing with cancer for a whole year after that (multiple surgeries, multiple chemo regiments, but now in remission), I'm not sure that I've got the same job opportunities post-Navy as someone who would have stayed in and had normal circumstances. I never got to earn my fish, I never qualified anything past prototype, never got any leadership experience, etc. I know a lot of Navy Nukes have all kinds of great job opportunities after separating, but how am I supposed to find out if I qualify for the same types of jobs? My medboard is still pending, but I have been led to believe that I'll likely be medically retired, and if I'm not, then probably medically separated, and that decision should come by the end of this year I believe. Some other downsides are the fact that I have no networking benefits at all apart from other students I was with in the pipeline, and the fact that I now haven't used any nuclear or electronics knowledge in about a year and a half, so I don't feel like I'm quite as sharp with all of that as I used to be. Thanks in advance for any insights or advice!

Been in since November 2020, medical treatments began December 2022

I am a former Reagan sailor, currently on shore CONUS. I am curious about why we don't have any nuclear sailors stationed on shore at SRF (excluding the handful of ELTs and master chiefs). Specifically I am a QAI on a naval base in the states. I assume this job exists at SRF as well, a quick Google search shows that they do have a QA department, do we send sailors to do this job, or do we overpay civilians to do it instead? If the department is manned by sailors, why not nukes?

Disclaimer, I am a fucking weeb and would do 30 if I never had to leave Yokosuka.

Fresh meat in the fleet I’m still unsure of starreenlisting I mostly just want the bonus to pay off my car faster ( I can be pretty impatient). But I hear people make it out and get paid more.

Im shipping out to be a nuke may 2 and signed up for sub, I’ve heard horror stories on submarines and told I can’t un volunteer from submarine, I’m not a pessimist in the slightest but to say I’m not a little concerned would be lying. Any former sub nukes got some perspective they could share?

Hi, hope this is ok to ask here. I'm trying to join the navy and go be a nuke. I'm 25 now and was diagnosed high functioning autistic when I was 18. Never needed accomodations at work, never needed to take psych meds, and the depression went away when I moved out of my parents' house (we do not have a great relationship.)

The recruiters were ok with trying to get me in when I said that the diagnosis was unofficial. I was under the impression that I didn't have a paper diagnosis. Took a practice ASVAB and got a score of 87 - but when I found out I had a paper diagnosis, they say the only possibility is to get paperwork saying it was a misdiagnosis. This is possible; I'm not a doctor and I was in a messed up situation when I went in the first time.

But I hold down a job, am engaged, and live alone. There's still no hope is there?

Sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks.

What is the chance and best route to get a civilian job on base in Italy after retiring as Navy nuke officer O4? How long in advance should I start applying? I wonder or likely it is to get a job in my field. Thank you

I’m suppose to sign today in a couple of hours and I really want to know is being a nuke really worth it. Is it gonna get me anywhere in life after the navy. Would I be better off trying something else.

So I'm going to MEPS this week, plan on signing that juicy miserable nuke contract. My recruiter told me if I need any waivers (I may need an academic waiver since I didn't care in high-school) to just sign a different contract that I don't need waivers for and then when the waivers clear they would give me the nuke contract. So from what I've read and heard from talking to some navy friends this is a somewhat common thing for nukes and they will let you change your rate to nuke if you qualify. But I'm aware this is a classic recruiter line that "you can just change your rate later" and I want to believe my friends and recruiter but I'm not trying to get F'd in the A when what I want most is Nuke. If the waiver is denied I do still plan on enlisting as an STS, CWT, or OS. I also want to ship our ASAP but don't wanna wonder what could've been.

Being so far away from my highschool grades, looking to go into college after I retake my ACT and SAT. I scored really well the last time I did it like a 30 and a 1400. So I’m sure it won’t be an issue, but I’m trying to go into a good college for pre-vet or pre-med. has anyone had luck applying to colleges with the fact that we’ve gone through the pipeline or does that not really matter to most universities other than excelsior and others like it.

I’m currently an MMN2 (SS) ELT and I’m just trying to figure out what I should do or even can do when I’m done with the navy. I will be a 6 and out sailor which I’m both excited for and yet nervous for because I’m not really sure what realistic opportunities I have as far as jobs when that time comes. With that being said, I’ve also thought about taking advantage of the GI bills and going back to school to get a degree with either Thomas Edison or Excelsior but I’m not sure what degree would suit me best since I don’t really know what I want to do. If anyone has any advice or suggestions, it would be very much appreciated!