Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)
The NUPOC (Nuclear Power Officer Candidate) program recruiters an interesting blog, and well as a fairly humorous video up on YouTube:
posted by Bubblehead at 7:51 AM
I'm Joel Kennedy -- a married, 50-something year old retired submarine officer and esophageal cancer survivor with three kids who has finally made the transition to civilian life. Politically, I'm a Radical Moderate. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me. Don't call me at home.)
29 Comments:
NUPOC was my entry into the Navy as a sub nuke, and then later as a surface nuke (due to physical disqual during Nuke school). In general, I think the career prospects for sub and surface nukes are pretty good. I don't know if the same is true for NR engineer or instructor. What happens to instructors or engineers once they finish their JO tours?
5/02/2009 9:31 AM
I think in most cases these are people who don't really want a Navy Career, they just want to earn some money to pay loans or save for grad school. So, I think they mostly get out. Just an opinion, though, I have no data to support.
5/02/2009 10:21 AM
Those who want to make a career out of the Navy stay in and go to DH school(s). Then they transition to their DH tour. After that, then on to possibly becoming an XO and on from there.
5/02/2009 10:40 AM
All of the NPS Instructors and NR Engineers that want to stay in the navy usually do. A lot of the NR guys just stay on as civillian engineers or do lat transfers. The instructors and NR guys usually get their first choice. Some went pilot, EDO, and FAO on the last lateral transfer board
5/02/2009 10:59 AM
I thought the You-Tube commercial was kind of lame.
You don't hook guys by bleeping.
5/02/2009 12:43 PM
I like the You Tube video. Short and funny. I do think it is better than most of the Navy Recruiting stuff that I've seen.
You're right - You don't hook guys by bleeping. That's why we use money.
5/02/2009 2:07 PM
Those who want to make a career out of the Navy stay in and go to DH school(s). Then they transition to their DH tour. After that, then on to possibly becoming an XO and on from there.I think the question was about DIO's, who if they want to stay in the navy lateral transfer to some other staff or restricted line community (A lot of people went 'information professional' after they starting up that community at the beginning of this decade). . A few do transfer to line officer communities, including subs, but if they do this they go through the entire pipeline (minus OCS) again - specifically including nuke school - and start as a div-o.
5/02/2009 2:42 PM
But, like SJV said, most get out. Like 60+% of first term officers from all communities. (which is more or less by design)
5/02/2009 2:44 PM
They should have ended the commercial by jump-cutting to a JO working on a 4" RCAS binder...
5/02/2009 9:05 PM
You guys have fusion reactors, dontcha? DONTCHA?
Ok, I'll sit here quietly and wait for the black helicopters to take me away.
5/03/2009 2:21 PM
My physics instructor at NPS was LT Barker, he was a dildo. He decided to convert and I saw him later at prototype after I qualified, he had a qual standard in his hand and he did not look happy at all. Maybe he didn't make the right choice, I don't know if he ever finished. He was a good instructor though.
5/03/2009 6:55 PM
The add struck me as kinda lame but there's some missile launches that pop up afterward. There was a dubble trident launch, they never let us do that.
5/03/2009 10:55 PM
That was funny.
OK, as of now, after 20 years in subs, let me tell you that my perception is that we have about 35-40% USNA, 35-40% ROTC and the rest NUPOC. That's post command O5/O6. Looks like a pretty fair number stay in. Remember, NUPOC has been used for years to make up the difference between how many ENS we need and how many USNA/ROTC provide.
I would say, without firm statistics to back it up, that NUPOC are only slightly more like to punch out.
5/04/2009 4:46 AM
I don't know if the same is true for NR engineer or instructor. What happens to instructors or engineers once they finish their JO tours?I had quite a few buddies recruited into the NR Engineer pipeline (Purdue NROTC), and they all told me that it was essentially a 5-year-and-out program with little or no chance of continuing on in the Navy. Granted, there was a very good chance of continuing on with the Navy as a civilian in NR.
The only DILDO I knew who continued on went P-3 NFO. I know a few who wanted to go Nuc but didn't meet requirements (not sure what requirement they were specifically talking about, but they didn't look too happy).
-LT L
5/04/2009 6:23 AM
I was a NUPOC instructor at Nuc Power School in the early 90s. I chose to crossover and joined class 9002 (I think - it's been a long time). I stayed in thru my JO shore tour (Materials Officer at NPTU in Charleston - actually served with Joel at that time). While I was at Nuc Power School there were at least 2 others that did the same thing. It wasn't too hard, I had an interview with the CO and he recommended me to NR - they approved and I switched. One day I'm teaching heat transfer, the next I'm taking a full day of classes.
5/04/2009 6:42 AM
srvd_ssn_co: People here are mixing up NUPOC and Instructor/NR Direct Input Officers (sometimes called DILDOs, once by an enlisted student to the NPS CO's face, which I found amusing).
Plenty of NUPOCs stay in. Few NR and NPS instructors stay in. For that matter, I never understood why NPS instructors were actually Navy, rather than DON or DOE civilians or Bettis/KAPL contractors.
BTW, the physical/medical standards for DIOs have always been lower than for NUPOCs or anyone else, which is why some DIOs aren't able to make the move. One of my instructors at NNPS in the 1990s was an NECP who developed a partial loss of hearing in college and convinced NR to let him to teach at NNPS as a DIO (not a tough sell - he had been an E6 RO/EWS and got a physics degree)
5/04/2009 9:07 AM
I recall civilian instructors at S5G. We had one on our crew (I think his name was Kromka, but this was 20 some years ago so I may be wrong).
NRF did use contractors for security and other activities-- Mr Kromka was a Bettis employee I think. Nuke school was strictly Navy so I am not surprised that there were no civilian instructors there.
Anon@09070405 indicated a difference between NUPOC and DIO people. Did this extend to the instructors? In other words, were there DIO instructors as opposed to strict NUPOC instructors or were they one and the same? Both of these would be different than instructors who came from the fleet.
5/04/2009 9:45 AM
I don't think there is a difference now between NUPOC and DILDO. You can be a NUPOC power school instructor. Go to www.navy.com/nuclear and read some of the propaganda.
5/04/2009 1:23 PM
I know of -0- DIOs who have made it to command. I know of -1- who came very close but did not close the deal. Most DIO's were not recruited with 'line officer' in mind.
That said, at NPS, LT Park and LTJG Shinn had some hot bods. Crappy teachers, but they were eye candy. Ah the days when the night duty instructor wore skin tight jeans!
5/04/2009 5:18 PM
I don't think I had the fortune of having those two as instructors...
5/04/2009 6:38 PM
To the crossover guy who became the Materials Officer at NPTU while Joel was there: I was the electrician in the office next door. I'm an O-4 LDO now and the ELT from across the hall is a NRRO guy in the shipyard. I remember you getting out around 1996. Hope life is treating you well.
5/04/2009 8:39 PM
Mad-Libs, bublehead style, anyone want to fill in the blanks?
The technology on a Navy Submarine, it's beyond cutting edge. Like, the new ____, the ____, or the _____ which allows us to make the _____ . It's the most advance ____ out there.
5/05/2009 5:12 AM
The technology on a Navy Submarine, it's beyond cutting edge. Like, the new bugjuice machine, the deep fat fryer, or the mixer that uses the wrong voltage which allows us to make the Ney Award Finals . It's the most advanced galley out there.
*based on actual experience with a CO who had a big woody for winning the NEY award
5/05/2009 7:38 AM
CO who had a big woody for winning the NEY awardEveryone has to have a dream.
Carl
5/05/2009 12:30 PM
Bigbill,
Life is good, and I hope the same for you. You still a big cyclist, I remember you be pretty dedicated to the sport back then. I'm in the Northern VA area now, and I deal a good bit with the Navy (including NR). Let me know if you make it to the area, it would be fun to catch up.
5/06/2009 3:37 PM
NUPOC/NR/NI is a good deal because the individual gets full pay and allowances (except uniform) while they are going to college and their time in the program counts for active duty time.
When a NUPOC graduates, he goes to OCS. When a NI or NR graduates, they go to ODS.
I agree with most, NIs should come from 1120 that have served at sea. Not some college idiot who has no clue what it is like to be in the Navy. That would be like havign a NCCM recruiter be the MCPON. No clue about the regular Navy at ALL!
STSCS(SS/SW) USN Ret
CNRC Off. Processor for civilian job
5/07/2009 5:01 PM
I honestly say I didn't give a crap about the Ney. By the end of my tour every rider told me we had great chow--best praise. During the Chop's tour he replaced every single thing in the galley.
"Call it a shake and bake project. Takes decades." Or just under three years. He cared. It showed.
5/07/2009 7:15 PM
NIs could come from 1110s as well...
5/08/2009 11:08 AM
This is the most honest review of NUPOC and the nuclear Navy that I've read.
1/02/2010 1:29 PM
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