(it’s no fun reporting to a ship headed to the shipyard for a long period, makes it challenging to progress on warfare qualifications)
My first Nuclear Submarine after Graduation, Submarine School and a year of Nuclear Power Training with Admiral Rickover, etal, was a New Construction Boat.
It delayed my Submarine Qualification, and delayed my receipt of Submarine Pay until the boat was Commissioned, but it made me one of the best qualified toads on the river. I had inspected tanks and voids most Submariners only had dreamed about, I had participated in testing and evolutions that very few had ever seen, including Initial Reactor Criticality, and it developed a tighter bond with the men and other officers than I believe is possible outside of that environment.
My next boat was again New Construction in that same Shipyard, and my third Nuclear Boat was identical. (I also served on two Diesel Boats, one that had seen Service During WWII.)
Finally, later on in my career,
I had another New Construction ship - this time in Command of 424
Men and 54 different Shops. While there, we converted to men
and women in the crew and had the highest Productivity of any Tender or Repair Ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
After that, I was a significant contributor to the design of the replacement Class of Nuclear Submarines - replacing the class that I had three New Construction tours on. In the areas of Ship Silencing and Marine Acoustics I still see my hand prints over the design and continuing to the present. .
I certainly can not know for sure, but I have to wonder if a Pilot or a Army Tank Driver had the opportunity to take a year off from flying to follow his next "vehicle" for a year while it was designed, assembled, tested and Quality Controlled, whether both he or she would not have benefited and whether the Service would be better off for it.
Don't dismiss a tour in the yard because it will slow down your initial Qualification.