Navy Nukes

Comment

Comment by RBart on January 31, 2012 at 9:03pm

So proud of our son who passed Prototype Board exam today! Selected for ELT training so will stay in Ballston Spa til May, then likely join the fleet.

Comment by Charles on January 31, 2012 at 6:25pm

Welcome aboard Bob (just Bob) My son is just leaving GC for Ballston Spa. Look forward to reading your input and questions.

 

 

Comment by Bob morrell on January 31, 2012 at 6:18pm

Hello to All,  Congrats on your Sons/Daughters being in the Nuclear Program. Our Son Matt has enlisted and been accepted into the program, he leaves for Great Lakes July 18th. Then off to South Carolina after that. Look forward to participating in the site and attaining more information and then helping others as we move along.  Bob

Comment by William in Nashua on January 31, 2012 at 2:54pm

Yes KS Dad sadly there was also a suicide at Nuclear Power School last year too right before the holidays. It was awful. There was another one at Ballston Spa last year too.  It is good to hear from dads whose sailors have made it all the way through the program and are at sea now. Good to hear the success stories too.

When people do fail at the very end of Prototype that must be awful, you have to wonder, like maybe they were struggling a long time and the Navy carried them as long as they could and gave as many chances as they could before dropping them?  It would be creepy if it were just the hand of Fate picking out people who otherwise thought they were doing fine all along.  

Comment by KS Dad on January 30, 2012 at 3:48pm

My son had a similar experience to lsdemme2001's son. He's a MM on the Reagan and did one deployment to the Arabian Gulf. He was also offered the reup bonus while getting combat pay (untaxed bonus) but he decided to turn it down. My son finishes his Navy commitment in 2015 and is planning to use his GI bill to go to college.

My son was never the studious type and he worked hard to pass his tests. I knew he was a very tough individual but I still worried about his emotional health. During the time he was in Nuke A school at GC, two young sailors took their own lives. My thoughts were what the hell did he get into.

He had a classmate wash out in Prototype less than a week before the "awarding of the lanyards." It was very sad and I communicated with the sailor who washed out's mother. He is doing fine after a period of depression and then readjustment. There is a good life in the Navy even after dropping Nuke school.

There is no doubt in my mind that these kids who get through the nuclear program will go on to be their generations leading citizens, whether in the Navy or in the civilian world.

Comment by lsdemme2001 on January 30, 2012 at 11:45am

My son has been out in the fleet for almost three years now since graduating from Prototype. In fact he is getting ready for his second deployment and is now fully qualified with no more qualification worries as an ET 2nd class. 

Just want to say that my son had a room mate at prototype that he went through A-school and Power school with.  This roommate tried exceedling hard and had a deep desire to become a Nuke.  My son on the other hand hated every second of Power School and barely made it through to Prototype.  He struggled a bit at Prototype, but not nearly as much as he did during Power School.  

About two weeks before graduation from Prototype his roommate was informed of his removal from the nuclear pipeline.  No disciplinary problems or anything, he simply was washed out by the powers that be.  This stunned my son, as he felt certain that he would be the one to be washed out at any time.  

Imagine...his roommate made it all the way through to Prototype with only two weeks left to complete his nuclear training...then washed out in an instant!

My son finished Prototype and is now a successfull member of the Nuclear Division on board the USS Enterprise and he is doing well. He was offered a huge re-enlistment bonus and he actually re-upped for four more years.  I am certain that he would not have been offered the re-enlistment opportunity as a Nuke had he not been a valuable member of the fleet.

The schooling and training are grueling and very difficult.  The sailors that make it through do it with a lot of hard work...and in my sons instance...with a little luck as well.  

Its simply not all about the test scores.  The superiors have to see something in the students as well.  If they see that you have what it takes, they won't let you wash out.    

Comment by William in Nashua on January 30, 2012 at 11:02am

My son is on the home stretch in  Nuclear Power School with two months until graduation and I will say this:  Every one who goes through power school is going to get kicked in the teeth  somewhere along the way.  It does not matter if you are up in the top 1/3 of the class, in the middle 1/3, or in the bottom 1/3 of your class.   Just about everyone hits tests along the way that rocks his GPA.    In my son's ET section right before the Christmas break he said they had a test where about 42% of the section failed that exam (he passed but  got a 3.1, that was versus his having a 3.6 GPA).  Then he got a 3.7 in chemistry a couple weeks ago and was very cheerful again but this weekend was grumpy and said power school was getting very hard.   Everyone there is very smart and working very hard to achieve, and when they get hit with a killer exam they take it personally.   This is one of those environments where if  your GPA slips by 1/10 of a point  your are going to hear about it from Chief and get chewed out no matter what your GPA is and even though they are still "doing fine" and in no danger of not graduating.   The pressure on our sons and daughters is  that intense,  and much of it comes from within all I tell him is do your best, it is just as hard for the other students, so keep hitting the books.   I expect by Friday he will be his usual cheerful self again.  All we can do is support them and cheer them up, it really is supposed to be  as hard as it is.

Comment by Zazzws on January 30, 2012 at 9:56am

When your sailor is looking at places to rent, one thing they should consider is if their cellphone will get reception inside the dwelling.

Comment by Zazzws on January 28, 2012 at 2:44pm

Ric,

I think that the fact that your son qualified for nuke school and was willing to give it a try says a lot about him.

Be proud!

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on January 28, 2012 at 11:34am

Ric, I have no experience with Nukes as my sailors went into different rates, but I can recall my years in pre-med and then into biochemistry.  Imagine the Nuke schooling in much like med...very oriented towards type-A personalities.....and this is not a negative term, overachievers.  In those really high pressure environments a high percentage are going to fail- no changing that and I know all about the negative terms we used in college for those that could not cut the academic challenge.  It was a way to cope with the pressure, and most that used those negative terms realized "that there but by the grace of the Lord go I....". 

I don't have any suggestions except to say that those handling reactors and nuclear materiel  better be the best of the best since the consequences are so huge and that I have the utmost respect for these sailors and what they go through.  And yeah, I remember the "diff eq" days as well......though at a certain point you start to "get it", though it can be big hurdle!  Then you get into 2nd and 3rd order diff eq's.....a never ending journey......

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 116
• 117
• 118
• 119
• 120
• …
• 229
• Next ›
• Page