Good weekend! Our son is going through RTC now and will be headed to the Nuke pipeline afterward. We have been told by several people that he could be chosen to go to college during the pipeline and be in an ROTC program rather than being sent to his first deployment after Prototype school. Has anyone experienced this process? It seems that it is a pretty rare occurance.
Thanks, Eric P
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Look for the STA-21 Group here on Navy Dad's I started nearly 11 years ago! My son was picked up for this program in FY2010. He was a Nuke and was picked up for Pilot (he's a unicorn). It's a process. Not uncommon to take two or three years to accomplish. Most important: be the best enlisted Nuke you can be. My son never deployed as a Nuke (sub vol.), but he was a qualified RO as a SPU when he was picked up. He received his commission and a degree with no debt. He was paid as a E5/E6 while in school.
My son applied three consecutive years before being accepted. IRRC For STA-21 you must be stationed CONUS to apply/be accepted, meaning, your best shot (perhaps only) is to be a SPU. It's a great program. As a result, my son was in training programs his first ten years of active duty service (now, he's an O3E with 15+ years of active duty service). I am sure the program has changed somewhat over the years, but, not drastically. They accept only about 50 candidates a year (200 accepted of 800 applicants the year my son started). Good news is, most of the 50 selected are Nukes. There are other E to O avenues, OCS being the most common. Good luck.
First concentrate on getting him through Nuke school. Good luck to your son and to YOU, because what lies ahead is the toughest educational experience that you could ever imagine. Your son will be fortunate just to get through the Nuke school.
Great! Thanks, Rob
Google STA-21, he'll need to apply. It is very competitive.