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MILLINGTON, TN – Recruiting
a sailor
for today's Navy
is no regular job. Finding qualified
men and women can
be challenging - especially
when seeking individuals for the Navy's
nuclear power field, one of the most
prestigious in the fleet.
“Working as
a ‘nuke' will
always have
you thinking.” said Master
Chief Machinist Mate
Rodney Chronister, enlisted nuclear
programs manager
at Navy
Recruiting Command
(NRC). “If you are looking for
a challenge,
becoming a nuke is excellent.”
A “nuke” is
a term used to describe
any job in the Navy
that has
specifications in the nuclear
field. Nukes make up both the
enlisted and officer force.
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Electrician's Mate 1st Class Daniel Day,
the nuclear programs coordinator at Navy Recruiting District Dallas,
talks to local teachers about the Navy's nuclear propulsion program
and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) during
the Metroplex Mini-CAST Conference for the Advancement of Science
Teaching. The Metroplex Mini-CAST is a one day conference that gives
science teachers all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area an opportunity
to network and learn from each other about the latest innovations in
teaching science and share the best teaching practices. (U.S. Navy
photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jonathan Vargas)
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Enlisted nuke jobs include electronic technicians
(ET), electrician's mates
(EM) and machinist's
mates (MM). Sailors
with these qualifications
and ratings
are employed on board
nuclear-powered ships to maintain
the control subsystems, the machinery
and the piping in nuclear
reactors. Some nuclear
MMs receive additional
specialization
in health, physics
and maintaining
reactor chemistry.
In
order to become a nuke in the
enlisted field, applicants
must show a proficiency in mathematics
and science earning
high scores on the Armed
Services Vocational
Aptitude Battery
(ASVAB)
in categories of
arithmetic reasoning,
mathematics
knowledge, electronics information
and general
science.
If these qualifications
are met, the potential
nuke still has
a great
deal of training
ahead.
To be a nuke requires
attending
a series of often time
lengthy schools. Depending on the program,
schools may run
anywhere from three to six
months and may
include more than one during
the training pipeline before
reporting to a first duty station
in the fleet.
After
completing recruit training,
enlisted nukes attend Nuclear
Field (NF) “A” School in Charleston,
S.C., which is the first in a
series of schools which provides the insight into the career
field including the necessary
skills to succeed in this line of work.
“Nuke school
is very demanding,” said
Chronister. “It not only teaches
you the skills needed for your job but skills like
responsibility and time management.”
Following NF “A” Scool is
a six-month nuclear
power school (NPS) also located
in Charleston, S.C. NPS
provides a comprehensive
understanding of
a pressurized-water
naval
nuclear power plant.
After NPS is
completed, students will attend
nuclear prototype training
either in Charleston or Ballston
Spa, N.Y. This six-month phase
of training is focused on
applying the skills students
have learned
on a real
operating nuclear
propulsion plant.
For
select MMs the path will lead
to even more training
at the engineering laboratory
technician school or nuclear
welder's school.
This significant
training prepares
nukes for their highly responsible and
challenging fleet
assignments
and comes with benefits for
those who re-enlist up to six figures.
Individuals
who are commissioned
as an
officer in the nuclear program
routinely join the Navy with
one or two degrees under their belt, but their education
and training
does not stop there.
Taking
charge of
a nuclear
reactor or
a vessel powered by nuclear
power is not a task
asked of many
20-somethings. After
a few years
of training in the Navy,
however, a young officer may
very well be called on to do
just that.
There
are four specialized
nuclear officer career
paths which include submarine
officer, surface warfare
officer, naval
reactors engineer
and naval
nuclear power school
instructor.
Submarine
officers oversee the specialized
personnel, departments
and missions of Navy
attack,
ballistic missile
and guided missile submarines.
Surface warfare
officers oversee propulsion systems
and personnel aboard
nuclear-powered
aircraft
carriers. Naval
reactors engineers
are technical
experts responsible for researching,
designing and maintaining
naval
nuclear reactors
across the fleet. Naval
nuclear power school
instructors are some of the
select few who learn
and then teach
the fundamentals
of nuclear propulsion.
For those interested in becoming
a nuclear officer,
individuals must be
a graduate
or student of an
accredited college or
university in the United States
or in a United States
territory pursuing a BA,
BS or MS (preferably majoring
in mathematics,
engineering, physics, chemistry or other technical
areas)
and have
completed or be enrolled in a
college curriculum that
includes a minimum of one year
each of calculus-based
physics and mathematics
through integral calculus.
Upon graduation
from college, those interested in going the submarine
officer route must complete Officer Candidate
School (OCS), a 12-week
course in Newport, R.I. After
OCS, submarine officers must
also complete NPS, Nuclear
Prototype Training,
and a
12-week submarine officer basic
course in New London, Conn.
“Becoming
a nuclear
officer provides a much broader
range of skills than
a first job right out of
college would,” said Lt. Benjamin
Smith, nuclear programs
officer and submarine
officer at NRC. “A
lot is expected at
a young
age.”
Surface
warfare
officers also
attend OCS but must complete
one sea tour before
attending NPS
and nuclear
prototype training.
To
become a naval
reactors engineer, the first
step is to attend Officer
Development School (ODS), a
five-week course in Newport, R.I. After
ODS, officers must complete preliminary
training
at the Naval
reactors headquarters
in Washington, D.C. This is
followed by approximately
two weeks at nuclear
prototype training. The next
step involves naval
reactors training,
a six-month process of earning
a postgraduate-level
education in nuclear
engineering through the Bettis Reactor
Engineering School at the
Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory
in Pittsburgh. After naval
reactors training,
naval
reactors engineers
are then
assigned
a nuclear
engineer position with the group responsible for managing
all technical
aspects of the Naval
Nuclear Propulsion Program.
To become a Naval
Nuclear Power School
instructor, officers must complete ODS
and NPS.
Once
all the required training
is completed, there are
benefits both enlisted and
officer nukes receive.
“One of the biggest benefits
is having confidence in
stressful situations,” said
Smith. “You learn to make
intelligent decisions with limited amounts
of information.”
Chronister said the
accreditation
of nuke schools counting toward
college degrees is a huge
benefit of becoming a nuke.
“When I finished nuke school, I had
over 50 college credits,” said
Chronister. “Many college
degree plans
also will link up with the Navy
nuke program.”
Another benefit to becoming
a nuke is the
advancement
rate. Nukes have
a higher
advancement
rate than
many other rates
in the Navy
and enlisted nukes
are advanced
to Petty Officer Third Class
(E-4) upon graduation
from NF “A” School.
“Advancement
for nukes is very fast,” said
Chronister. “I was
able to make
master chief in 17 years.”
With the continued increase
in nuclear power
and its benefits, sailors
who have trained
and worked in this line of
work in the Navy
are able
to easily transfer
their skills to the civilian
side.
“I have seen
a lot of nuclear
officers go onto successful civilian
careers
after the Navy,”
said Smith. “The nuclear
program is excellent for learning
interpersonal skills, time management
and leadership.”
Today's Navy
has 283 ships
and approximately
323,000 sailors. Manning
the fleet with top notch nukes will take
our Navy into the next
century. Navy recruiters
are always
interested in reaching
individuals for these programs,
and seek
applicants
with superb academic
skills and moral
character.
For more information
about Navy
Recruiting, visit
http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/.
By U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Tyler Fraser
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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