Alternative to ROTC/USNA: Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program (NUPOC)

Brian8715

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Oct 6, 2016
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Hi all,

I'm a 2010 USNA Graduate and submarine officer who manages NUPOC Accessions for the Navy. NUPOC is an alternative commissioning source to ROTC and USNA that functions quite differently and focuses on engineers and other STEM majors (predominantly, but not exclusively).

The program will pay students at the E6 (promotable to E7 while in school and inclusive of BAS/BAH) pay grade for up to 30 months to complete their degree, at which point they commission via either OCS or ODS depending on their chosen designator. This time as a student counts towards military retirement and the vesting of the post-9/11 GI Bill, and does not entail any outside responsibilities (no uniforms, no special classes, no limitations on other jobs or internships/co-ops, no drilling, etc). Their only requirements as a student are to (a) stay drug-free, (b) maintain their grades, and (c) pass a fitness exam semi-annually. This also counts as time in service for pay purposes in the future. NUPOC is not a scholarship. It goes directly to the students' checking account.

Please see the websites below. The first is the official Navy website. The second is a site that I built and maintain and that will be maintained by my office into the future that breaks down the program and pulls the curtains back to the extent I can (no "black boxes" here) on how we determine who goes to interview. It also includes an applicant profile and an extensive compilation of reference links to facilitate further research by potentially interested students.

https://www.navy.com/joining/college-options/nupoc.html
https://nupocaccessions.blogspot.com/

The positions that are available through NUPOC are:
1. Submarine Officer
2. Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer
3. Nuclear Power School Instructor
4. Nuclear Prototype Instructor
5. Naval Reactors Engineer

I hope you find this to be helpful and informative. Much more detail is available in the links above.

Best regards,
Brian Linville
USNA '10
Nuclear Officer Accessions Manager
 
Can a contracted NROTC midshipman apply and switch into NUPOC?
 
5Day,

We are unable to bring students to interview if they have / are receiving money for school from another commissioning program (incl. ROTC) We do bring students who are drilling with a ROTC unit but are not on scholarship.

Best,
Brian
 
So if an NROTC Midshipmen has received advanced standing, but no scholarship, can you interview them? I know you mentioned money, so wanted to clarify if stipend was in that category?
 
NavyHoops.

Yes and no. From our program authorization:

"Former USNA and NROTC midshipmen of either the scholarship or college programs who have received pay entitlements, subsistence allowance, tuition, or fees under the provisions of these programs are eligible but may not be placed on active duty until graduation."

So, basically, we can serve as a commissioning source, but they will not be able to reap the benefits of being paid while a student. One advantage that would still apply is that they would begin earning Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits immediately upon acceptance rather than having the 5-year wait before the start of the 3-year vesting period. In my case, for example, I've been commissioned for ~6 1/2 years but will not earn full GI benefits with Yellow Ribbon (which is by far the biggest chunk) for another 18 months. The vesting of Yellow Ribbon is upwards of $100k in value for most JD & MBA programs I'm looking at.

If there are questions about a specific case I could raise them and work to get an answer, but this is the overarching guidance. I'm not sure what the answer would be if someone had received a minimal amount of $$ while in advanced standing and offered to pay it back (it's not a situation that I've come across to this point), but that sort of scenario would have to be routed for a variety of approvals.

Best,
Brian
 
Advanced standing college program students have signed a contract and are on a path to a commission.
 
Advanced standing college program students have signed a contract and are on a path to a commission.

In that case, we would not be able to bring them into the program. We make a point of not cannibalizing ROTC students unless they are not going to be able to obtain a scholarship / contract.
 
So, to clarify: high school students are ineligible to apply for NUPOC? This is only a program for existing college students or COLLEGE graduates?
 
So, to clarify: high school students are ineligible to apply for NUPOC? This is only a program for existing college students or COLLEGE graduates?

By all means high school students who might be interested should put the program on their radar to help inform their college choices, but NUPOC can only pay students for a maximum of 30 months which correlates to November / December of Sophomore year.

An application can be started earlier than that, but that's the earliest for interviews.
 
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