Anyone ever been a submarine officer?

[Slateman]

So as I approach my 15 months remaining mark on my first enlistment in the Marine Corps, I have started thinking about interservice transfers. In other words, going to a different branch.

The gunner has kept regailing me with stories of how sub guys get paid. He kept saying that they were always driving the nicest cars and the like.

So I've done a little research and I'm interested. Kind of curious if anyone had any experience in this area.

I am most specifically concerned with the academic requirements. Seems like they want/end up with a lot of guys in the engineering fields. I have BAs in History & Psychology. Math was not my . . . strong suit.

Still though, any info anyone can provide is at least somewhat beneficial?

TL;DR: Tell me everything u know about how to become a sub officer

[DiscoBob]

I'm not a sub officer, but my brother-in-law was and I work with many of them. The majority of the officers are guys who have gone through Navy-Nuclear Sub school, which is typically their career path right out of college. The training is equivalent to Master's level material. I believe that they typically only send people with an engineering or similar background. Again, this is the most typical path that I am aware of, but maybe not the only.....

[SkinInsite]

Sure if you want to be pale white and glow in the dark.

[Mongo2365]

Sure if you want to be pale white and glow in the dark.

Exactly why I didn't serve on a sub. I worked on the flight deck inhaling aircraft exhaust, getting rained on, screwing my knee up. Who wants to be cooped up in a round, metal tube for up to 90 days?

[wantarace17]

I'm not a sub officer, but my brother-in-law was and I work with many of them. The majority of the officers are guys who have gone through Navy-Nuclear Sub school, which is typically their career path right out of college. The training is equivalent to Master's level material. I believe that they typically only send people with an engineering or similar background. Again, this is the most typical path that I am aware of, but maybe not the only.....

right on discobob my cousin is serving on board an ohio class submarine off the coast of hawaii and he went through Navy-nuclear sub school to get the assignment.

[twa]

right on discobob my cousin is serving on board an ohio class submarine off the coast of hawaii and he went through Navy-nuclear sub school to get the assignment.

Yep,it is not a simple transfer,plus they must determine suitability

Some can't handle months under water in tight quarters...like me:paranoid:

[NavyDave]

Sure if you want to be pale white and glow in the dark.

Not true our subs are the safest and the best. I used to be envious of the port of calls they experienced. The cross training will be fun.

While I was proud of receiving SW and AW pins on the numerous platforms I was aboard, its a universal consensus among sailors that acquiring the knowledge to earn your SS garners the most respect.

[JMS]

One night when the wife and I were role playing...

[JMS]

Not true our subs are the safest and the best. I used to be envious of the port of calls they experienced. The cross training will be fun.

While I was proud of receiving SW and AW pins on the numerous platforms I was aboard, its a universal consensus among sailors that acquiring the knowledge to earn your SS garners the most respect.

I heard the filters on the air recyclers on the submarine were so efficient that it wasn't uncommon for folks to get a little sick when they breathed outside air after long cruises.

I also heard they used to feed the submarine folks the best of any service.

The entire concept of hot cots would kind of freak me out a littlebit. Three cot Shifts? Yikes.

[DeanCollins]

I heard the filters on the air recyclers on the submarine were so efficient that it wasn't uncommon for folks to get a little sick when they breathed outside air after long cruises.

I also heard they used to feed the submarine folks the best of any service.

The entire concept of hot cots would kind of freak me out a littlebit. Three cot Shifts? Yikes.

I know right, one of the three would be some smelly basturd

[mjah]

I had the opportunity to run through the Navy's NUPOC program and serve on a sub. After checking it out, I was way too tall and would have opted for the carrier instead. Too many opportunities to smash my head on things...

[SkinInsite]

Not true our subs are the safest and the best. I used to be envious of the port of calls they experienced. The cross training will be fun.

While I was proud of receiving SW and AW pins on the numerous platforms I was aboard, its a universal consensus among sailors that acquiring the knowledge to earn your SS garners the most respect.

Jokes ND, jokes. But you couldn't pay me enough to go on a Russian or Chinese sub.

[Slateman]

Yep,it is not a simple transfer,plus they must determine suitability

Some can't handle months under water in tight quarters...like me:paranoid:

Yea, I've heard that to be an officer you have to go to an interview and such.

[twa]

Yea, I've heard that to be an officer you have to go to an interview and such.

You up for going thru Nuclear Power School and NPTU?

I'm sure it is required

http://www.careersinthemilitary.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.profiledetail&profile_id=31

As a qualified submarine officer, you have to know about all aspects of submarine operations and systems that include Command and Control, Weapons, Engineering system and how to operate them all in both wartime and peacetime. This is not an easy feat when you are talking about an 18,000 ton vessel that is two football fields long and five stories high. You also need to be able to troubleshoot, plan, and make quick, vital decisions under highly stressful conditions.

[Slateman]

Yea, I'm up with it. Like I said, I'm most worried about the academics involved. The planning and making quick decisions is sort of second nature at this point, given my service record.

If, for instance, I didn't get above a C in Algebra II and never took Calc/Trig, how much am I gonna struggle?

[twa]

Hard to say,but there is a lot of math as well as physics involved...depends on if ya applied yourself or coasted to get that c

They do work at getting you up to speed and trying to make sure you grasp it,rather than pushing you to fail though.

Long class times and mandatory study hrs are the norm and it's a ***** if ya fall behind...really depends on how quick you pick things up and retain them.

My daughter is there now,but she's a math/physics freak so that part is gravy and she tutors others

[JaimeDeCurry]

I'm currently back in school to cross-rate to STS after getting assigned to the USS Springfield.

The submarine community is unlike any other in the Navy, or the military. Earning your dolphins is the toughest accomplishment the Navy has to offer outside of going special warfare.

Pros to sumbarines:

We get to port more often, and in pretty cool places.

We get to have better food, because we can only carry so much at a time.

We get to do really cool super top secret squirrel type of missions.

You're not on a ship of 500+ sailors, you're on a boat in a team of 120.

You get highly technical training that can be rapidly applied to the civilian world.

You get extra pay.

Better housing than most Navy communities.

Cons:

Deployments are at a moment's notice for attack submarines.

When you're underway, you work 18 hour days - 6 on watch, 6 with your division, 6 sleeping.

You'll have to go to nuclear power school if you're an officer.

Not seeing daylight for weeks at a time messes some people up.

You'll have to be underway with 120 guys...I know I put this as a pro but it can also be a con.

The deployments are six-ish months long for attack subs, and happen about once every year and a half, with other underways in the meantime to do training.

So...that's what you're looking at. If you want some more info, shoot me a PM. My uncle who I'm very close with is a sub Captain and I can get all the info you want, plus I can probably answer most questions about the sub community.

[Slateman]

So, if you like fail out of this nuclear engineering school/thermodynamics/all the crap that the nerds learned in high school, what happens?

Do I get dropped somewhere else and told that I have to fullfill the needs of the Navy?

[twa]

So, if you like fail out of this nuclear engineering school/thermodynamics/all the crap that the nerds learned in high school, what happens?

Do I get dropped somewhere else and told that I have to fullfill the needs of the Navy?

Yes, you will fulfill the contract length in another area of need

And I think that is a required 5 yr hitch,not sure if you can get out of the extra

perhaps this will answer some of your questions?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Nuclear_Power_School

The principal difference between the enlisted course and the officer course is the more extensive post-Calculus mathematical examination of reactor dynamics studied by the officers, and the officers' study of the entire scope of "cross-rate" knowledge.

The nuclear program is widely acknowledged as having the most demanding academic program in the U.S. military today. The school operates at a fast pace, with stringent academic standards in all subjects. Students typically spend 45 hours per week in the classroom, and study an additional 10 to 50 hours per week outside of lecture hours, six days per week. Because the classified materials are restricted from leaving the training building, students cannot study outside of the classroom.

Students who fail tests and otherwise struggle academically are required to review their performance with instructors. The student may be given remedial homework or other study requirements. Failing scores due to personal negligence, rather than a lack of ability, can result in charges of dereliction of duty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Failing students may be held back to repeat the coursework with a new group of classmates, but failing students are typically released from the Nuclear Power Program and are re-designated with the non-nuclear rating of their specialty

[MintHillSkinsFan]

I know it's a good and prestigious duty but as a former Marine, I don't think the ego would allow me to transfer to another branch.

[Leonard Washington]

Yea, I'm up with it. Like I said, I'm most worried about the academics involved. The planning and making quick decisions is sort of second nature at this point, given my service record.

If, for instance, I didn't get above a C in Algebra II and never took Calc/Trig, how much am I gonna struggle?

Don't be so hard on yourself. If you want to do it, you can do it. Also as you get older, you understand complex concepts a lot better than when you were in high school/college.

[Grimm]

I once ate at subway and stay at at at holiday in express

[skinfan133]

if you want to be a navy officer you're required to at least pass two years of calculus. for submariners, it might be three.

[illone]

I spent three years on a submarine but not as an officer.

It sounds by your post that you may not be a good fit for sub duty. Every officer on board has an engineering background except maybe the Navigation Officer, or perhaps the Operations Officer.

Being on a sub requires you to know a LOT of information about a LOT of different fields. Every officer must be nuclear qualified. That by itself is eight hours of new material everyday for two years. It's a huge committment. The attition rates are very low. When I was in it was something like 10% make it all the way through. You have to really want it, and not just because you will get to drive a shiny car.

Yes, sub pay+ sea pay + hazard duty pay + tax free money depending on what part of the world you might be in is pretty nice, but you will never be home to enjoy that car, trust me on that. Subs are at sea all the time. My three years on board I was at sea average eight months per year. And the times when the boat was docked everyday was a field day to get the boat ready for it's next mission. Average muster time was 7am, and we usually didnt leave until 7pm. And the officers were there before me and left after me:hysterical:

Don't get me wrong it is very rewarding. Anything worth having is not easy and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it was the hardest I've ever worked in my entire life. The real world is a cake walk compared to that lifestyle. It'll change your life forever, but might want to be ready to make some sacrifices.

:2cents:

[SnyderShrugged]

I would have but I was grossed out by all the seamen.