USN Submarine Life Question

[Spike88]

I'm determined to join the Navy, despite my last two attempts to do so(didn't join out of stupidity, not because they wouldn't take me), I've realized it's my best option for getting somewhere in life. I'm still determined to become a Nuke(and I only have 2 years before I'm disqualified ) and I plan to volunteer to be on a submarine.

Anyways, my questions:

1. From my understanding, submarines go out for 6 months and then come back for 6 months. Is this true?

2. Does the submarine stay in dock for these 6 months, or do they just rotate the crew?

3. What is Navy life like back at base? Particularly when it comes to E4's and up? Is it like any other job with shifts and day's off? Or is it like your time on the submarine?

4. Do you and your family have to live on base and Navy housing complexes, or is it your choice? IE. can you buy an actual house and live there if you want to?

5. I've heard that there is online college courses you can take while on ships, is this true?


Bonus Questions:

6. How long do other ships spend out at sea? And do they rotate the crews off of them? More exactly, how do they handle the crew of carriers? But I am interested in knowing about Destroyers, Cruisers, etc.

7. I've heard that captain's of aircraft carriers are only ex-pilots. Is this true? What command would a nuclear officer get, if any?

[geetrue]

1. From my understanding, submarines go out for 6 months and then come back for 6 months. Is this true?

2. Does the submarine stay in dock for these 6 months, or do they just rotate the crew?

3. What is Navy life like back at base? Particularly when it comes to E4's and up? Is it like any other job with shifts and day's off? Or is it like your time on the submarine?

4. Do you and your family have to live on base and Navy housing complexes, or is it your choice? IE. can you buy an actual house and live there if you want to?

5. I've heard that there is online college courses you can take while on ships, is this true?

1. SSN Fast attack submarines go out for six months and only have one crew

2. SSBN and for the moment SSGN submarines have two crews blue and gold these crews alternate on 90 day cycles keeping the submarine at sea for most of that time except for a five/six day turn around.


3. The first 30 days were free to do whatever you wanted to do after morning quarters around 8:15am or so. You can go to the commisary or the exchange or visit people on base or even go home. Just don't go to a bar in the day time getting drunk and being forced to return to base and blow the whole time off thingy for everyone else ... lol


4. Yes you can buy a house, but who can afford the payments? Navy housing charges the same extra pay you get for being married for Navy housing, which is not very much to pay ( couple of hundred dollars) compared to off base housing, especially in Hawaii.

However you do need to be married (man/woman thingy right now) and the best houses go to the families with the most children.

5. Yes, lots of online courses available that resemble your rating for one, but submarines have a little conection problem with the outside world. They code everything in Washington and send it late at night and then it has to be decoded to be a drill or surprise surprise they even send family grams telling you a baby has been born in the same coded message we just recieved to go to war.

Question six and seven can be answered by surface craft types of people of which I was not one ... well there was that one time early in my young seaman life that I was a radarman on a heavy crusier.

Added advice:

If your wise you will study and ask for extra schools even get another job
in the same field you want to be in when you retire in six or twenty years.

Save your money in the 10% overseas savings plan and don't touch it
till you need a down payment on a house (not a corvette)

[Osmium Steele]

Disclaimer: The following is "to the best of my knowledge". I left my last boat in 1991. Things change.

Originally Posted by Spike88

I'm still determined to become a Nuke(and I only have 2 years before I'm disqualified ) and I plan to volunteer to be on a submarine.

Get your school, nuclear power school, and submarine school guaranteed in writing BEFORE you raise your hand at the MEPS station.

Anyways, my questions:

1. From my understanding, submarines go out for 6 months and then come back for 6 months. Is this true?

Depends on type. Boomers (ballistic missile boats) usually have two crews assigned to them, and do 3 months deployments, handing off the boat to the other crew when they return to port. The 3 months in port are used for training, schooling, vacations, preparing for the next run, etc.

Fast attacks - no rotating crews. No set schedules for most boats. Deployments can last 3 - 9 months depending where you are going.

All boats can be tasked with fleet training exercises, not to mention training and certification cruises, various other tasking lasting from days to weeks.

2. Does the submarine stay in dock for these 6 months, or do they just rotate the crew?

See above

3. What is Navy life like back at base? Particularly when it comes to E4's and up? Is it like any other job with shifts and day's off? Or is it like your time on the submarine?

In port, usually like any other job. 8 - 9 hour days are the norm unless it is your duty day. Then you are there the full 24 hours. Different skippers handle "day after duty" differently. Some give you the day off, even on a weekday, others not.

4. Do you and your family have to live on base and Navy housing complexes, or is it your choice? IE. can you buy an actual house and live there if you want to?

Married? Off base housing is usually available with a housing allowance added to your paycheck. You can also get a place on your own. Not sure how much assistance you'll get in that case. Housing assistance is usually restricted to E-4 or E-5 and above unless you are married.

5. I've heard that there is online college courses you can take while on ships, is this true?

True. Good luck getting your ISP to work at depth, howver. The navy used to go through Southern Illinois University for correspondence courses back in my time. You would be an idiot if you did not utilize this, or similar resources while you are serving.

Once you are no longer a useless, air breather that is. (i.e. have your dolphins) Get qualified nub.

6. How long do other ships spend out at sea? And do they rotate the crews off of them? More exactly, how do they handle the crew of carriers? But I am interested in knowing about Destroyers, Cruisers, etc.

Targets swap personnel out at will. No need for dedicated crews as is the case with a boomer. Time to transfer? Jump on the helo, or transfer to the tug on the way past the port.

7. I've heard that captain's of aircraft carriers are only ex-pilots. Is this true? What command would a nuclear officer get, if any?

I have no data on the requirements for a flat-top skipper. In the surface fleet, nuclear trained officers are usually engineering officers, at least early on, but that should not preclude them from rising to command.

[Spike88]

Thank you for the answers.

Originally Posted by geetrue

3. The first 30 days were free to do whatever you wanted to do after morning quarters around 8:15am or so. You can go to the commisary or the exchange or visit people on base or even go home. Just don't go to a bar in the day time getting drunk and being forced to return to base and blow the whole time off thingy for everyone else ... lol

What is life like after the first 30 days? How comparable is it to a regular job?

If your wise you will study and ask for extra schools even get another job
in the same field you want to be in when you retire in six or twenty years.

Can you explain this a little more? Are you saying you can have two jobs in the Navy? Do you get paid more, for the more jobs you "know"?


Edit:

Originally Posted by Osmium Steele

Get your school, nuclear power school, and submarine school guaranteed in writing BEFORE you raise your hand at the MEPS station.

I was originally in the Delayed Entry Program for Nuclear back in 09, so I'm familiar with this. The last time I checked, the Navy is hurting for nukes so they usually jump for joy at the people that qualify. I talked to recruiters in 11 and things hadn't changed then, so hopefully when I get around to enlisting this year, it's the same.

Back in 09, they put Nuclear and Submarine in my contract. I've heard that most people don't want to volunteer for subs.


Edit2: As I'm not actually married yet, when would be the best time to actually get married, before I sign my contract, or after?

[Molon Labe]

From my time reading blogs such as Information Dissemination, USNI, Neptunus Lex, and CDR Salamander (for example), it does seem like the people most likely to be promoted to Rear Admiral to command a CSG are usually aviators. There is a lot of criticism that not enough people from subs and 'phibs are selected for flag rank, and that is leading to a lack of diversity of thought in naval strategy. Perhaps the criticism is a sign this could be changing.

The navy posts bios of its COs and admirals. You might want to browse them and see what paths got them where they are today.