Becoming a U.S. Navy Nuke

Nuclear Machinist's Mate Alicia Ferrell relates her firsthand experiences about becoming a Navy Nuke and working on nuclear reactors. Navy Nukes harness the power of the atom to move aircraft carriers and submarines, which are among the most important assets in the Navy.

[liltimy]

I am currently a fifth year Electrical Engineering Major, ( yes it can take that long for a BS in EE), and when I feel my back against the wall with 14 and 15 hour days, including long hours in the lab, preparation for presentations, heavy research for homework assignments, and of course studying for midterms and finals, I think back on my time in Nuclear Power School. Suddenly my life doesn't seem so bad. :)

[iamanubus]

Class 8105; submarine nuke electrician....you get what you put in to it....haven't made less than 100K/year since 2000.

[JamesShinevar]

9-5... I never saw a 9 o'clock morning in my Navy life...

[TheStrangeButFunEMan]

i am 18 years old and i just got a 95 on my asvab, and a 263 in the nuke portion! im VERY excited to start training, but im stuck in MEPS for the next month or 2!

[izayerrsdope]

Aight I watched this before I joined the navy and lemme run you through the pipeline now that I've finished:
you go to boot camp, if you get through and you're not medically disqualified (one guy had a nuke contract and then he got to boot camp and was disqualified because somehow he passed a colorblind test but ended up being colorblind) then you go to nuke A school, its NOT 9-5 its more like 0530-1500 or 1630 (hours are pretty much the same for Power school) then in A school you have mandatory study hours and don't even get me started on A school homework (EMN btw) so you'll start on 4 hours and after a few weeks your SLPO will look at how you're doing and can give you reduced hours. If you make it through A school you go to power school, power school is more lenient when it comes to study hours (for example the electricians didn't have mandatory study hours every day you just had mandatory study hours for the week so if you did 7 hours over the week and you have a mandatory 12 for the week then you go in on the weekend and make up the 5 hours.) DO NOT SHORT YOUR HOURS OR YOU WILL GET SHAFTED in some way. (usually extra hours on top of your 12 hours) Power school isn't too bad, maybe for MMs cause their A school is only 3 months compared to EMs or ETs which is 6, but its not as bad. Once you get to Prototype you'll think "its gotta get easier from here" it doesn't, in my opinion prototype was a little harder just cause you have to study stuff on your own and then get signatures in your qualification and that's probably the hardest part. Prototype is 12 hour rotating shift work. once you're qualified in rate you go to the fleet, idk much about that yet cause im on my way there but thats the training pipeline in a nutshell. quick way to get masted or kicked out of the nuke pipeline or navy? 1) lying 2) drinking underage 3) drugs 4) just being a shitty person and being bad at your job. The pipeline is stressful but you're literally being paid to sit and study so at least perform better than the minimum needed to pass.

[bcoffee]

I am not out of the military and working in the corporate world. The Navy prepares you best for the civilian world. Next up is the Coast Guard, then Airforce. I don't meet many former Marines in the corporate world. Neither Army nor Marine training translates well when it comes to the corporate world. My Marine and Army friends all seem to be working as bus drivers, security guards and so forth. Nothing wrong with that type of work. It's just an observation ...

[SaltiDawg]

I am a Retired 24 Year US Navy Submariner. Yes, I was a "F'ing Nuke" in the parlance.

I think the presentation was well done and some of the posted criticisms below are way off the mark and seem to originate with some males that seem threatened. The the video describes her off-time activities she describes the situation as not being too different from a regular 9 to 5 job. She takes crap below.

IN PORT, we generally had the Duty Every Third Day. The other two days were off if on the weekend or 7:30 - 4:00 and then off. Have no misunderstanding, if something was broken or otherwise required additional people THAT TOOK PRECEDENCE.

Being a F'ing Nuke is not for everyone, any more than being a Submariner is not for everyone! The young woman presented herself well and made a good pitch to help get more recruits. Did she paint a sometimes rosy picture? Yes. I have to wonder if some of the nonsense below would have been posted had she been a male!

[USNavy]

2+4= 6. The reserve commitment is inactive reserves. No drilling, no active duties.

[jtmnavy]

oh wow lol, , i need to do a reaction to this

[nathanschubert]

It's an exceedingly hard job in the most stressful job field in the world that pays very little while you are in, so if you are disciplined with your money and get scholarships going to college or trade schools and starting your civilian career sooner is better in the long run, BUT if are not able to get many scholarships (ie. not as smart or disciplined) and you want to have them pay you for your education, get some experience as a technician, and THEN go civilian side (since that's where the money is for nukes), then you will find yourself with fast money (6 years being fast here), little to no debt, and on the path to early retirement.

So, the somewhat longer, far less stressful path (with much less chance of being masted for stupidity on your part or your buddy's.) go civilian and plan ahead. If instead you want almost all of you work and stress in life frontloaded into 6 years so the rest of your life can be much easier (assuming you don't get roped into a 2nd sea tour), then go nuke.

Unfortunately, this is as much as I can write right now as I need to answer the demands of my own choices on the matter.

[sluggotg]

I was in the Nuclear Navy from 82 till 91, I have been in the Civilian Nuclear world since 92, (10 Frigging months unemployed... my ultimate shame). For the Past 26 years I have been in the Civilian Nuclear Power World. The first thing... Dramatically bigger plants...When you get hired as an ex Navy Nuke OR an Operator from another Civilian Plant... It is dramatically easier for you to qualify. About a year ago.. One of the Nubs on our Crew graduated from his University with a Masters Degree in Nuclear Physics... (Good Guy).... he went through all the usual phases we all went through when we became Nukes in the Navy or the Civilian world...He was MAN enough to admit..."My most Humbling Point in my Life was when I started working as an Operator at our Plant" He expected the Navy Guys To be Moron Knuckle Dragging Low Foreheads...(that is what the University taught). Instead he was shocked at the Knowledge level and Difficulty of being an Operator in a Nuclear Power Plant. (He is a Great Operator now.!, Welcome Aboard!).

[bcoffee]

I was a Navy ET for 6 years. She is telling the truth. The nuke program is top notch. You will work with some of the smartest people in the military. Actually just about all Navy schools will drop you if you don't cut it. It's a honor to make it thru an A school. So yes, you can quit school but nobody likes quitters. If you get dropped or quit, it's up to the Navy where they place you. Nuke school is hard, hard, hard so be ready. I am talking physics, electronics, chemistry

[tgflack]

BZ Alicia! What a bright, well spoken young woman. I was a nuc on subs from 73 to 79. We didn't have many of our credits transfer to college credits back then. I understand that ODU in Norfolk has a great program that allows credit transfer. I went there and got my BSME after I got out. Great job, sailor!

[Locustar]

Navy Nuke ET (Class 9836T; last A-school class in Orlando) - did Power School in Charleston (then a brand new facility), and NPTU in Ballston Spa (S8G). Then four years at sea on CVN-71. It's funny seeing videos like this surface these days, back when I joined there was nothing like this to even give me a hint at what I was getting myself into.

[clana]

1. She likes to shop in her free time? That's amazing for her. Because nobody in Reactor on my boat had "free time"
2. 9 - 5?! Try 6 - 6 with while being on 3 section duty.
3. Depending on how long you are pulling into a port you are lucky if you get to spend 1/2 the time exploring and such as the rest of the boat.
4. Being a nuke is the hardest thing I have ever done and parts of it suck so bad that you will wonder why on god's green earth did you ever agree to do it. But when I got out after my 6 years (as a nuke ET) I got job offers starting at $31/hr with no prior experience. So as much as it sucks, its almost impossible to find something that will set you up for a better future.

[Jon-zyzd]

I’m not big on studying, i’m not really into researching homework and writing essays either(i’m a multiple questions guy)...At first, the big bucks made me consider becoming a nuke, but after looking more into it i’ve learned that 1) Nukes have the longest work times/hours(they also have this thing called “rotations”
2)They barely get any sleep 3) They barely get to go out on deck 4) Most of them hates their job 5) The stuff that you go through before actually becoming one😂-A school-Power school-Prototype...

[waynechrisco]

I'm so much more confident with this. the schooling seems a lot more fitting, a regular nuclear engineer has like 4 years of physics but this seems a lot more cut and dry like it's a need to know basis

[CraigMMN]

Take it from someone who has done it, school never last that long. I was done in under 15 months with all the program for Nuke Machinists Mate. and it is only three months longer for ET's or EM's.

[KCRXB]

I went to MEPS to day and took the NAPT (Nuclear Power test) and passed!! So hopefully the "Nuke Shop" as I'm told will accept me into the program!! I can't wait!

[OSUHARDINGATECHNICEXPERIENCE]

Mostly mopping the deck, painting, and small valve maintenance