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Comment by Connie foaling-lady (Groton) on April 12, 2011 at 12:36am

hapsmolmr, tell your son (altho if he's in boot camp, you won't be able to communicate much if at all) to not give up if nuke is his dream. My son was told in boot camp that he was dq'd for a medical reason. He was pressured repeatedly to sign for a new job -- offered only corpsman or cook, both a sure ticket to the Middle East -- but he refused again and again. He got to call home once, from the legal office, what a nightmare, we could only pray that he would stay strong (he's 18). Came down to the wire, final week of boot camp, and he got waivers and went to Goose Creek.... where he won the Commander's Award for Excellence in A school in October, was honorman in machines, and just missed being #1 overall in his class. So ... if your son wants it badly enough, it will happen.

Comment by hapsmolmr on April 12, 2011 at 12:19am

Thanks for the words of encouragement.  My son says that since it will be his job he will be motivated to study and he has shown that in the job he had between high school and going to RT so I know he has it in him.  You just always hear these horror stories of " the recruiter said...... but it never happened" and the kid ends up scrubbing barnacles off a boat somewhere in Alaska so as a mom there is that concern that he hasn't been led to believe things that aren't true.

Comment by Mark on April 12, 2011 at 12:02am

The 90% figure is high, for sure. The number varies somewhat year to year, but 75-80% is better. As others have mentioned, the ones that don't make it academically will have other opportunities, because they are still capable of more than the average sailors. If they're submarine volunteers, the MMs often become auxiliary MMs (A-gang) on the boat; EMs and ETs often cross-rate into electronics/computer fields in the non-nuc part of the boat. Roughly a third of all submarine A-gangers started out in the nuc program.

Comment by hapsmolmr on April 11, 2011 at 11:30pm

thanks for the insight.  I'm not worried too much about boot camp -- more the studying for tests part that is my concern.   Guess we will just have to see.

Comment by DramaboysMom on April 11, 2011 at 11:29pm

I believe that Connie is correct in what she says.  Our son had 2 recruiters, so to speak. Signed up originally in Chicago, then moved back home to Northern IN to wait out the 9 months of DEP for Nukes.  We were also fortunate in the Nuke Recruiter from MEPS was a Northern IN boy, who happened to graduate from our HS and his little sister was in my son's class at school)  He also lead us to the same conclusion.  It's a tough program, but the strong will survive!

Comment by Connie foaling-lady (Groton) on April 11, 2011 at 11:14pm

hapsmolmr, not sure how to answer this ... I know from my son's experience that quite a few recruits will not make it thru boot camp (I think his division went from 88 to 64 guys by graduation) for various reasons, incl. flunking physical tests, fighting and other discipline problems. Then, some will not make it thru A school as a nuke; the studying and testing proves to be too rough. If the nukes make it thru A school, I've heard that power school is even rougher. But if they get thru power, then they'll likely make it thru prototype ... at that point the Navy has so much invested in them, it's very likely they'll finish. To be more specific to your question, I believe the Navy does try to honor the contracts, but always, it's "the needs of the Navy" that count, and I know that the sailors can be offered other jobs and asked to switch ... I think however if the sailor stands his/her ground, the contract will hold. Let's see if anybody else on N4Ms has another take on this.

Comment by hapsmolmr on April 11, 2011 at 10:30pm

I have a question for you other nuke moms.  The recruiter told us that 90% of the recruits that go into the nuke program actually get out doing the job they signed up for.  Do any of you know if this is true or is there a larger ratio of sailors that can't pass the tests and end up in some other area of the navy?

Comment by hapsmolmr on April 11, 2011 at 10:03pm

connie-- haven't gotten the clothes but did get the first letter so have his address.  He says the hardest part is drinking all the water and not having time to use a bathroom -- :)

Comment by Kris, Stevens mom on April 11, 2011 at 4:07pm

I'm shocked, you mean snafus happen in the navy - heehee

Comment by Michimom (MM Nuke Mom) on April 11, 2011 at 2:04pm

Oh, my, Mrs. Andy!  I had a similar experience, but not nearly as bad.  My son came home for his grandfather's funeral shortly after he arrived at GC for A school, while they were still going through briefs.  He flew home Friday evening, and since this was Columbus Day weekend, he flew back on Monday.  Tuesday a.m. he reported wherever it was he was told to report.  When I got home from work on Tuesday afternoon, there was a message on our answering machine, timed at about 10 a.m., from someone at GC asking where my son was, as he hadn't reported in.  Well, I panicked, but only slightly, since my son had texted me Monday night that he had arrived back at GC.  So I knew he was there--well, somewhere there.  The next message on our machine was timed a couple of hours later from our son, telling us to disregard that first message. 

 

I was SO glad I heard these messages one after the other.  My son later explained that he was right where he was told to be, but someone wasn't clear on that.  A matter of the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing.  Oh, brother.  :)

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