NROTC vs. Summer/Career Opportunities

U

usnahopeful19

5-Year Member
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Messages
124
Hi all, I've just finished my first year of NROTC and am heading to CORTRAMID later this summer.

I've been thinking a lot about my future after the Navy because I know I probably won't be career Navy. At some point or another I'm going to get out and need to find a job. I'm an Aero major but if it were possible I would minor in polysci, history, law - all sorts of stuff my school doesn't offer.

First question: How do summer cruises and summer internships usually play out for people? I've been looking at internships in both my field and for Senators/Congressmen that seem to take up the whole summer. Would it be possible to not go on a cruise if I land an internship? I know the 1/C one is mandatory, but what about the 2/C?

If I wanted to go back to school after the Navy or while I was still in how would that work? How would law school come into play?

And does anyone have experience with public office after service?

Thank you in advance - this is all stuff that's been kicking around my head and I can't really find answers to.
 
I wouldn't think you will be allowed to miss a cruise just to take on some internship. I suppose it might happen from time to time but would be extremely rare. As far as internships with Congressmen and Senators you might find they'd be will to work around your cruise dates. Always worth a try.

Going back to school after the Navy will depend on how many years you have in and if you've accumulated enough time to be eligible for GI Bill benefits which takes longer because you've already gotten money for the scholarship.

You're best bet would be to have (or had) these conversations with your cadre. If you are going to pull anything off with regard to internships you will need their help anyway.

Just my two cents worth of free advice... and you know what that's worth.
 
As a midshipman, your job during the summer is to go on summer cruise. The cruise time and underway time contribute to students' professional development and expose them to the many communities in the Navy. As an instructor, I would absolutely NOT waive summer cruise (any of them) for a student to pursue an internship. The only thing that takes precedence over summer cruise is academic classes. For second and first class cruise, you can request a certain phase (time of the summer), and then try to schedule other plans around it. Bottom line, summer training is the priority, individual desires are not.
 
This is only my personal experience, and not representative of the program, but I am currently doing a 12 week summer internship and not going on summer cruise as a rising MIDN 1/C. I told my cadre very early in my 2/C year that I had an internship within the Department of Defense for the summer, and asked if there is any way I could satisfy my cruise requirement and still do the internship. My cadre worked with me and they were able to setup a winter cruise that satisfied my 1/C cruise requirement that I completed over winter break of Junior year. Winter cruises are not often talked about as they are usually used as a last resort for 1/C MIDN that were unable to complete a summer cruise due to academic difficulties, but they are open to everyone as long as your cadre can present a valid reason. I speculate that my winter cruise was approved because I am interning within the DoD and gaining valuable military experience at a joint command. I believe interning with the federal government improves your odds for being selected. As a final thought, I did not miss out on anything by going on a winter instead of a summer cruise, I was able to sail from San Diego to Pearl Harbor and spent almost four weeks at sea (longer than all of my classmates will be spending this summer). Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.
 
I think the key is your internship was DoD not just federal government. Interning with the Dept of Agriculture or something like that isn't necessarily a valid reason. You made a commitment to the USN, it's important you fulfill those requirements as your priority to prepare the best you can to lead your future sailors.

Kinnem nailed it for post service school. You need additional years to qualify for the GI Bill. Lots of older threads on here about that. Military service can help on those applications for grad school.
 
1/c mech e here...my school has a science career fair and the first three companies I talked to told me there was no opportunity for internships because I'll belong to the Navy after graduation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top