r/NavyNukes

I’m currently in the process of going the army. I haven’t signed or done any real tests, but I took a Picat and got a 94. I was curious and texted my old navy recruiter. He told me I’d qualify for nuke. It’s been a couple days and I’ve read a bunch of Reddit threads and watched some videos and heard from my dad’s coworkers about various different things about navy nuke. I’ve heard it’s extremely difficult on not just the body but the mind, I’ve heard that some have committed suicide because of the extreme stress, ive heard people say that if you’ve ever had any feeling of depression to not join because it’ll only amplify, I’ve heard that you get a pretty bad social life due to all the hours youre working and for being out at sea on either a carrier or a sub. I’ve heard basically that DURING is terrible but AFTER is 6 figure jobs and a pretty easy going life. I’ve heard people be reasonably proud of their time as a navy nuke.

I just don’t know if this navy nuke life is for me, but I’m curious nonetheless. Mainly for the potential money, but also I would feel very proud because on the surface it seems like a very rewarding job. Also, are you really out at sea the majority of your time? Because I honestly never wanted to be out at sea for most of my time, I’m fine with a couple of months but that’s partly why I decided to go forward with army.

Edit: I guess I want to mention that quality of life is pretty important to me. I’ve spent the majority of my life so far with not many friends. So very lonely, not doing anything on the weekends, virgin, all that shit. So I guess my main concern would be: do you really not have much time for yourself? Constantly working? No leave? Do you at least get weekends? Because I can’t go another 6 years without more social interaction

Does having a degree effect pay rate? From what I remember my recruiter said I would start as a E3. Also, I heard you don't get BAH/BAS until after the 2 years of schooling, but maybe I read that wrong.

Maybe I ran out of time for this question to actually be relevant to me, but I am curious. If you chose Ballston Spa as your prototype, did you have to do your moving during power school leave or did you get like an extra day or two to do it?

I have been accepted into the Nuclear Program and am expected to ship out on May 4th, 2027.

I am married with a child though, and I am trying to plan what my timeline is going to look like.

Post basic training, When does the actual Power School semester start?

Does the Navy provide any assistance when it comes to moving my family (Wife and child) from another state to SC?

How much time will I have between Basic and NNPTC to find a house to rent for my family?

Will I be able to help my wife in packing and moving everything to the new house, or should she start getting everything ready to move by herself?

Where in SC should I start looking to find an appropriate rental while attending NNPTC?

If it comes to it, what are the rules for living in base provided housing? My wife has two cats and two dogs.

What resources can we expect for families in our situation at NNPTC?

If anyone has any advice that might be relevant to this specific situation, it would be very much appreciated.

Aside from that I am eagerly looking forward to joining the Navy’s Nuclear Engineering Program and understand demands and needs of individuals involved in this program.

Thank you to anyone who is willing to take the time to shed some light on this transitional process for me.

So has anyone ever managed to set up a desktop in their BEQ? If so, how did you do it? I wanna splurge for a good setup, but I don't see where I would put it to play comfortably.

Apologies if this isn’t the right place to post but I’m really starting to worry. My SO just got back from deployment. We’ve talked about how he’s feeling but he’s not really the best at opening up but he’s said enough that I’ve become concerned for his mental health.

Context: it was his first deployment and they were underway for 5 months and one port call, no emails either.

Edit: more context: he’s been back a bit over a week but has been working crazy hours, worse than before he left. He hasn’t gotten much time to sleep, has duty every couple days and hasn’t had a day off. Is this normal?