Who has two thumbs and enlisted in the Navy today?

[rmwest]

20 years in the nuclear submarine navy.  Would do it again.  Thank you for your service.  Any questions feel free to ask.  Squid was a navy term long before a motorcycle term.   Surface=Target   Submarine=bubble head.

MMCS/SS retired Rick West 

[Rod Bensken]

Congrats....My son was up there 12 years ago and it was coldddd in december.  Hopefully you will get to see the old great lakes training center, very neat.

[timsatx]

It's too bad they closed down San Diego. That was a great place.

[MiniCog]

Congrats....My son was up there 12 years ago and it was coldddd in december.  Hopefully you will get to see the old great lakes training center, very neat.

Yeah, I'm going there fro training.  I hear it's cold.   

It's too bad they closed down San Diego. That was a great place.

They had a training center in San Diego and Florida but closed them down because it wasn't cost effective.

I did 5 years as a gunner's mate in the Coast Guard.... So I'm stuck being known as a puddle pirate  . I did get in some great drug and illegal migrant interdiction's though during my time in. I hope the Navy is everything you hope it do be. Best of luck in your endeavors.

Hahahaha, one of my good (lady) friends has a dad that was in the CG.  I'll have to use that term with him, hahaha. 

Atom head squid! Stay out of the subs go on carriers. More shore leave while on deployment. Fresh air and sunshine.
You are one of the 41,000 being recruited this year while 6,000 are being mustered out because the Navy is "overmanned".  Congrats!

I'm not sure which way I'll go, submarine guys get paid a little more, but I think I'll have a chance to check the sub out before I get on it (maybe?).  Yeah, the Navy is overmanned right now (most branches are I think) and they've risen the minimum asvab score to a 50 to make it into the Navy (was 35 I think), just to wean more people out.

Well done Nate!   

The best of luck to ya!

In the Navy

Oh God, that video.  HAhahahahaha.  all I saw at first was a bunch of seamen getting on the poopdeck, and at that point, I was worried....   

Navy?  That involves water doesn't it?      Congratulations!   

I think so?  I can't remember.   
They have these things called "ships" and "submarines," basically ships under the surface...  I think it's under the land's surface though, not water... 

20 years in the nuclear submarine navy.  Would do it again.  Thank you for your service.  Any questions feel free to ask.  Squid was a navy term long before a motorcycle term.   Surface=Target   Submarine=bubble head.

MMCS/SS retired Rick West 

I have a (probably) stupid question...

How often do nuclear subs surface or go back to shore?  How long is leave and what not?

[Son of Pappy]

Another CG term often heard is Puddle Jumpers
Subs are actually called boats, how long they are out depends on the mission and whethor or not something breaks and trust me, that aint a slam, they really are concerned when something goes wrong, 'specially when it is on something designed to sink   A boat has 2 crews, gold and blue, one would be considered on alert and the other is on a training cycle.  If you like confined spaces work at getting on a fast attack sub, if you want to ride in a cadilac, get on a SSBN or SSGN, aka a boomer.  If at all possible, try getting on the Carter, it is the Parches replacement boat.  Do a little research on the Parche, it will blow you away.

[timsatx]

The Blue and Gold crew refers to the Boomers, the fast attacks had one crew. I wasn't on Boomers so not exactly sure of their schedule, but as I remember it they would come in to port, change crews, take on rats and then go out for about three months and do it all over again. The fast attacks just depended on what they were doing. In Hawaii we normally went out on weekly ops (out Monday and back Friday) until we went out on WestPac. Then we were out for 6 months and ended up in the Phillipines twice, Guam, Hong Kong and South Korea. The longest we were under was three months. We also occasionally did training cycles which would take us out for more than a week.

[Conrad]

Snip...

Oh God, that video.  HAhahahahaha.  all I saw at first was a bunch of seamen getting on the poopdeck, and at that point, I was worried....   

 

[roadie]

Late Chiming in, always a good feeling to know yet one more person is doing more for their country than 300 million others did.  And yes, not too late to join the ranks of the Air Force :-)  I did 9 years as a comm officer in the AF.  Enjoyed every day of it; and only got out because I wanted to experience the Defense contractor side of things.  Your experience will set you up to stay in for 20 or step over to the dark side no problem.  Be safe my friend, and thanks for your future service.

[connie_rider]

Congrats! You are about to go on an adventure. I spent 20 some years in the canoe club working on aircraft.  There will be good days, not so good days and some days where you should have stayed in bed. Do the best you can with a smile on your face. Don’t be afraid to talk to your seniors but never ask why you have to do something, just do it. Hard work gets you some slack when something goes just a little bad. Team players work hard and get rewards and have fun doing it. Buck the system and life is not so fun. Being a Nuke you should advance faster than most. As you put on the strips it gets easier and a lot more fun. Since you will have a AA continue to work on a BA. It will pay off in the end, trust me. I’ve been around the world twice and have seen things which are just amazing. It’s a big world out there.
Now having said all of that, I would not enjoy todays Navy. One of the best Skippers I had liked to work hard and play hard.   He probably would be fired today for some of the things we did for fun. No it wasn’t illegal, but it would have raised a few of today’s eye brows. I won’t even get into the women on the ships thing. Boot camp is a mind game. If you can fold clothes you’ll do fine. But you will be dumbfounded why some people think boot camp is like the end of the earth and get themselves into trouble.  If I could spend 20 years and never get into trouble so can you. I ran Aircraft division for my squadron during desert storm and had a blast doing it. Aircraft Division worked on engines, airframes, hydraulics, environmental, ejection seats, parachutes and corrosion control. If it went boom or had electricity it belonged to someone else.
I made some lifelong friends some Navy, some not. If you find a good woman be sure to marry well in your youth. Think with the big head. She might be taking care of you later in life.  Squid.

One more thing....The West coast Navy is way more fun than the East Coast Navy. Trust me I've done both. Remember this when it's orders time.

Minicog, back in the day,,, I scored pretty well on the entrance exams. They tried to move me into the Nuke program but I choose Aircraft instead. (The idea of signing up for 6 years scared me to death). Loved working on the AC and flying in them!
Often wondered if I should have gone Nuke as I ended up doing 24 years in the Canoe Club anyway. (4 active/20 reserve)

I  do think you made the right choice!!!!

In my case, I won't say I loved every minute of it,,, but it is something I'm proud that I did!
You'll feel the same when it's done.

Tim (and the others) gave you a lot of good advise. Use it!
(Note: Tim you and I have similar service and sea stories. I was an AMS)

I'll end with this. Keep in touch with COGdom. You will be traveling all over the USA and probably the World. There are COG or GCE members in more places than you can imagine. Find them and tell em' hello for us.   

See ya in Arkansas..

Ride safe, Ted

[Cholla]

If the armed forces are over manned why do they keep recruiting?

[Jeremy Mitchell]

If the armed forces are over manned why do they keep recruiting?

They want to get rid of the guys like me that have time in service to try and cut down on retirement checks.   

[MiniCog]

If the armed forces are over manned why do they keep recruiting?

They need smarter people, not more.  They're looking for quality instead of quantity.

[Son of Pappy]

They need smarter people, not more.  They're looking for quality instead of quantity.

Well, not really.  It is part of a cycle, they up the education standards to help keep numbers down.  Anyone who has ever served is quallity.  I hate to tell ya this Nate, it's part of the sales pitch.  Some of the finest people in this nation have worn the crossed rifles of the US Armys Infantry.  Upping the ASVAB scores is a form of discrimination, a very simplified way to keep the numbers allowed to enlist down.  Some of us are blessed with natural test taking abilities, others  have serious test anxietys, yet they could kick in a door on a mission or run into small arms fire.  Never let test scores determine quallity, actions over an extended period of time speak volumes about a persons worth.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Chet

[MiniCog]

Well, not really.  It is part of a cycle, they up the education standards to help keep numbers down.  Anyone who has ever served is quallity.  I hate to tell ya this Nate, it's part of the sales pitch.  Some of the finest people in this nation have worn the crossed rifles of the US Armys Infantry.  Upping the ASVAB scores is a form of discrimination, a very simplified way to keep the numbers allowed to enlist down.  Some of us are blessed with natural test taking abilities, others  have serious test anxietys, yet they could kick in a door on a mission or run into small arms fire.  Never let test scores determine quallity, actions over an extended period of time speak volumes about a persons worth.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Chet

I didn't mean the test, they just booted out 6,000 people out of 41,000 from what I heard.  (I think on here, actually)

I meant that they're looking for people to go into the nuclear field instead of just a bunch of people going wherever.

[gpzrocker]

Trust us or not: Nukes get recruiters extra credit. Mine was cool enough to admit it to me. Plus the major drop out rate (like way north of 50%) means you load the rate up.

I know, believe what you believe, I was that age once too. Old salt encrusted squids? Trust them. I think that was said before......

[connie_rider]

The saying used to be,,, if the recruiters mouth is moving. He's lying!

What gpz sed is true though. Drop out rate from the Nuc program is pretty high.
Only way to make it thru is to stick to the books!
You can do it!

Ride safe,Ted

[ssmith]

One of my high school buddies went nuke...  spent 3+ months at a time below the sea on a boomer.

[okxd45]

Well, not really.  It is part of a cycle, they up the education standards to help keep numbers down.  Anyone who has ever served is quallity.  I hate to tell ya this Nate, it's part of the sales pitch.  Some of the finest people in this nation have worn the crossed rifles of the US Armys Infantry.  Upping the ASVAB scores is a form of discrimination, a very simplified way to keep the numbers allowed to enlist down.  Some of us are blessed with natural test taking abilities, others  have serious test anxietys, yet they could kick in a door on a mission or run into small arms fire.  Never let test scores determine quallity, actions over an extended period of time speak volumes about a persons worth.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Chet

Post of the week........

[Mr. Green Genes]

1982 to 1988.  Great Lakes - Memphis - Pensacola - San Diego - San Francisco - Hawaii - Philipines - Thailand - Hong Kong - Sinapore - Malaysia - Alaska

I'd ride 500 miles tonight to sit on a bar stool and swap sea stories.

If I had to do it again, I'd follow my brother's route and get the 4 year degree 1st and then go OCS.  It pays better and they payed him to get out.

[connie_rider]

Hmm. Apparently there are quite a few of us Squids here. Mebbe we should meet at the national and swap SeaStories instead of Bench Racing?
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.............


Ride safe, Ted