VTCC, The Citadel or enlisting?

Looking for a bit of advice, My DS has been accepted to VT-Engineering, The Citadel and also received a letter regarding the Navy Nuclear Power Program. The recruiting letter took him off guard , since we have never spoken to a recruiter, but we understand they can get his name many ways. He has interest in all three options. Very interested in speaking with a recruiter regarding the nuclear power program. Just looking for some opinions regarding these options. Thanks.

Are you talking about the NUPOC program? Excellent program, pays for college, then direct commission and on to nuclear power program and either submarine officer or surface nuke track, I think.

https://www.navycs.com/officer/nupoc.html

But - he has to know he wants that career path. It’s a competitive but narrow path, no leeway to explore other things.

If by recruiter you mean an enlisted recruiter, they are looking for STEM-smart HS grads to go to boot camp, nuke school and take the enlisted path. Both are fine ways to serve. The officer path is the college degree, entry-level white collar job focused on leadership of a team. The enlisted path is the technical professional who starts at the lowest hands-on rung of the ladder.

Do ask your son to explore NUPOC if he hasn’t already. It’s a little known great deal for those who know they want the nuke path.

Capt MJ said:

Are you talking about the NUPOC program? Excellent program, pays for college, then direct commission and on to nuclear power program and either submarine office or surface nuke track, I think.

https://www.navycs.com/officer/nupoc.html

But - he has to know he wants that career path. It’s a competitive but narrow path, no leeway to explore other things.

If by recruiter you mean an enlisted recruiter, they are looking for STEM-smart HS grads to go to boot camp, nuke school and take the enlisted path. Both are fine ways to serve. The officer path is the college degree, entry-level white collar job focused on leadership of a team. The enlisted path is the technical professional who starts at the lowest hands-on rung of the ladder.

Do ask your son to explore NUPOC if he hasn’t already. It’s a little know great deal for those who know they want the nuke path.

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Thank you Capt MJ, I was talking about the enlisted path, but I will have him look at the NUPOC program. In the NUPOC program does he go to college first and then apply to that program?

believe2023 said:

Thank you Capt MJ, I was talking about the enlisted path, but I will have him look at the NUPOC program. In the NUPOC program does he go to college first and then apply to that program?

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Read everything at that link, and this too, which is more of an overview - scroll down to NUPOC:
https://www.navy.com/what-to-expect/education-opportunities/college-options-and-scholarships

If your son does follow up with the NUPOC recruiter, that is not going to be the same person as the enlisted recruiter. The enlisted recruiter has a goal to meet of putting qualified candidates into enlisted programs, and may or may not know anything about NUPOC. There is a nuclear enlisted path, with very smart sailors, but that is entirely different. The NUPOC recruiter will specialize in college degree/commissioning pipelines and will not be found in the local recruiting office, and is probably an officer him or herself. It is worth exploring.

Your son has some great options in front of him. If your son wants to be a sailor the nuke program is a great opportunity. He may want to speak to someone who has been through the nuke pipeline to better understand what he can expect before committing, though. It is very stressful and the academics are tough.

However, if he has thoughts of being an officer I don’t think it’s the best route for most people. Having heard the same story from a number of parents of enlisted nukes, he should be aware that the recruiter may try to emphasize enlisting as a nuke is better than NROTC because nukes can easily become officers and he’ll be a better officer with enlisted experience. If all goes right that can be true, but it’s not always the case.

Keep in mind that while there are a lot of nukes in the enlisted to officer programs, they first had to compete against other equally smart nukes to get recommended for those programs. If you don’t rank highly enough in your class you may not be able to even apply. Timing can also be a problem. Depending on where you are in the pipeline you may not be eligible to apply at that point and have to wait until the next year.

There’s also a time factor to consider. My son spent 4 years in NROTC and just shy of 2 years in nuke school before going to his sub. To get to the same point it took my friend’s son a little over 8 years (2.5 years basic & nuke training, 3.5 years STA-21 & college, and 2 years in nuke school as an officer. Yes, you do the whole nuke pipeline again if you go this route). Without having hit any hiccups or snags along the way it still took him an extra two years. He now admits he should have done NROTC, especially since his enlisted experience counts for little as it was entirely time spent in training.

hokiesfan said:

Your son has some great options in front of him. If your wants to be a sailor the nuke program is a great opportunity. He may want to speak to someone who has been through the nuke pipeline to better understand what he can expect before committing, though. It is very stressful and the academics are tough.

However, if he has thoughts of being an officer I don’t think it’s the best route for most people. Having heard the same story from a number of parents of enlisted nukes, he should be aware that the recruiter may try to emphasize enlisting is better because nukes can easily become officers and he’ll be a better officer with enlisted experience. If all goes right that can be true, but it’s not always the case.

Keep in mind that while there are a lot of nukes in the enlisted to officer programs, they first had to compete against other equally smart nukes to get recommended for those programs. If you don’t rank highly enough in your class you may not be able to even apply. Timing can also be a problem. Depending on where you are in the pipeline you may not be eligible to apply at that point and have to wait until the next year.

There’s also a time factor to consider. My son spent 4 years in NROTC and just shy of 2 years in nuke school before going to his sub. To get to the same point it took my friend’s son a little over 8 years (2.5 years basic & nuke training, 3.5 years STA-21 & college, and 2 years in nuke school as an officer. Yes, you do the whole nuke pipeline again if you go this route). Without having hit any hiccups or snags along the way it still took him an extra two years. He now admits he should have done NROTC, especially since his enlisted experience counts for little as it was entirely time spent in training.

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Thank you so much for taking your time to help us out.

hokiesfan said:

However, if he has thoughts of being an officer I don’t think it’s the best route for most people. Having heard the same story from a number of parents of enlisted nukes, he should be aware that the recruiter may try to emphasize enlisting as a nuke is better than NROTC because nukes can easily become officers and he’ll be a better officer with enlisted experience. If all goes right that can be true, but it’s not always the case.

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I didn't quote your entire post but other than the extra time to become an officer via the enlisted route you outlined, I wanted to agree with the above. Prior enlisted do not always make better officers and in fact, some turn out to be lousy officers. And as you stated, if one goes from enlisted training to college then starts the officer nuke pipeline, they were never really enlisted anyway but just a trainee. I always recommend going to college and the officer route if that is available and attainable.