And it begins!

[kelly2315]

My son, as of March 18, 2011, enlisted in the United States Navy...He scored a 90 on his asvab and was given a choice of three jobs.....air man (which looks like rescue swimmer), nuclear and the seals...He passed on the seals, but is trying to decide between the other two....are there any words of wisdom I can pass along to him in deciding which path to take....He would like to fly jets,(im sure a lot of boys do, but I believe he can achieve this goal), so is one path better than the other one?

 

This is new territory for me, I'm nervous, scared but extremely proud....i am honored to be his mother...He will make the Navy a better Navy, this I am sure of. :)

[kelly2315]

he wants to fly....we were told that the better "job" he got, the more "credits" he got.(we know he has to bave a bachelors and be an officer/which kinda go hand in hand dont they?)..we were told that he could stay in the nuke part, or apply for the flight school (or whatever the appropriate terminology is) and if accepted he could persue that....ill be the first to admit that we are both kinda flying blind here and are SOULY relying on the recruiters to guide us along this journey.(although we are not nieve enough to think that being a pilot is an easy thing or easily obtained...my son is a incredibly bright and smart young man...a lil cocky for his own good at times, but he is driven.....if this is obtainable, i believe he can obtain it.)

 

thanks for u input...i welcome more of it if it can help me understand more about the life he will be leading and maybe to help guide his decision making... :)

[NavyMatt]

Pilots have to be at least a bit cocky, so he certainly has that going for him! I want to make it clear, again, that I am not trying to be negative. Just making sure you are knowledgeable of what is ahead.

I may be wrong, but recruiters for enlisted personnel may not be able to provide you with the best information about transitioning from enlisted Nuke to OCS Aviation. Perhaps if you're able to find an OCS recruiter and ask if he/she is willing to devote some time to answering your questions, you might be better off. The more information, the better! I believe there are also Naval Aviation-specific message boards that you can consult as well.

Keep us posted!

[BunkerQB]

I think it is great that kelly's son is ambitious but NavyMatt does bring up a number of valid points.

1)  I have noticed that most of the recruits going into the nuke field have ASVAB of 98 to 99 (just observation - no statistics).  The enlisted Nuke training is long and demanding. kelly's son may not even like it.

2)  Getting an engineering degree (Bachelor of Science from an accredited four-year university) requires ambition, discipline and intelligence. kelly indicated her son never cracked a book in high school. This will definitely have to change if he is going to be competitive. My son studied but no rigorously in high school but he had perfect 800s on the SATs in math & physics. He studied regularly w long lab hours to attain a 3.5 (ee degree w honors) from an excellent university w a top engineering department. He joined the Navy as an officer and went through OCS. He informed me of several enlisted Nukes (w degrees) who are re upping into Aviation (don't know whether it is helicopters or jets). So it can be done. The road is just long and hard.

3) Many things may open up in the next 5-6 years. kelly's son may want to join the civilian sector. After all, qualified candidates with engineering degrees and work experience in the Navy will be in high demand. It would appear to me that if a sailor goes from nuke to aviation successfully, chances are that sailor will be staying in the Navy for life.

4) Moms tends to "project" dreamily into the future - with all sorts of variations - I am hopelessly guilty of that myself. My sailor was a scratch golfer in high school. I heard his old CO was nuts about golf. Wouldn't you think my son would at least let the CO know that he can hit a golf ball and participate in a team or two?  I thought OK - he could win the "All Military Golf Tournament" (someone told me there is one somewhere). Anyway - mothers! My husband said a woman who gave birth is entitled to fantasize. :)  LOL.

5) What we have to applaud kelly's son for is that he has taken the first step to a career. What he does and how he gets there will be an adventure.

Good luck.

[kelly2315]

ty  bunkerqb....i appreciate your sentiments!!....we were told the cut off to be eligible for the nuke field is like 252....dylan has a 252...in other words he made the cut....my son is very smart, but is, well i wouldnt use the word "lazy"....maybe "unmotivated" is the term i would use...i have no doubt that the Navy will help "motivate" the boy!...lol.....the one difference that i see in him, that i havent seen is his enthusiasm towards this...he is genuinely excited about this and that to me is gold!!....i dont care if the boy flies a plane or if he even re-enlists to further that career path, as long as he is happy and doing what he loves....again, i believe if he truely wants to go mach 5 with his hinny on fire, he will accomplish that goal....but, if he gets in there and decides to do something different he has that freedom to do so....either way, i am greatful because he has opportunities i could never afford him....and that....that right there is worth most important to me......go get'em son.

 

i cant say how grateful i am to all of you that have given me insight and advice....it is truly appreciated and heart felt....ty again.  :)