Hey guys,

I've decided to join the Navy and volunteer for Submarine duty. It's what I've always wanted to do since I was a little kid.

I went down to the recruiting station and met with the Petty Officer (who is a fellow bubblehead) and he's treating me real well and so far he's been completely straight with me.

(There ARE good recruiters out there!)

He's told me about the Rates on the Submarine and I've narrowed it down to a couple, but all of them sound like a helluva lot of fun and I just can't decide which one I want to pick.

He told me to go to "About.com" and read up on it and I've read everything I can find...but I'm looking for some fellow submariners to tell me the stuff the website DOESN'T tell you about.

So far, these rates sound appealing to me.

Missile Tech, Fire Control, and Yeoman.

Would any of you guys be willing to help me out and tell me some of the pros and cons of these rates when it comes to schooling, being underway, and career progression?

I've called my recruiter a couple of times to ask him some of these questions but he's rather busy these days and I don't want to keep pestering him all the time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot guys.

I was a fast boat guy, so I don't know jack about missile techs, sorry I can't help you there. Yeomen, atleast on my boat, and at squadron, were universally despised, and tended to do alot of time sitting on the sticks. Fire control, they got lots of respect, tend to be fairly smart, and were one of the few rates we nukes didn't actively try to ban from the engine room. They did good work on my boat, we aced TRE, only missed two shots at the Scranton, also, they put 19 TLAMs on target in Iraq, without us getting counter detected by the Iranians operating in the area. Of those three, I'd say go for FT. If you are up for a severe mental workout, try to get nuke MM and then pick up ELT. Just my two cents.

Sorry to hear that Yeo's are despised . I was an A-Ganger which was good , learned to maintain lots o different equipment . Good job if yer not afeared o gettin dirty . We got along with our Yeo rather well , we (the boat took care of him and he took care of us) . Good YN , SK , CS , make a working boat a better working boat . nukes aint so bad once they learn they can't walk on water , had a few buds that were nukes both ELT , they just wouldn't visit on bomb watch , couple high H2 shutdowns and suddenly no one wants to visit . I was also fast attack so only know about MT by rep , ya dig past all the cheap shots and it is very detailed as in VERY . Then everything on a boat is very detailed just some had their details where it was dirty . If you do go this route remember , in the finale count , the whole boat is the weapon , all the people and parts are needed for her to to do her job .

FT, of course.

quote:

Originally posted by MM2_ss_Lewis:
Yeomen, atleast on my boat, and at squadron, were universally despised, and tended to do alot of time sitting on the sticks. Fire control, they got lots of respect, tend to be fairly smart, and were one of the few rates we nukes didn't actively try to ban from the engine room.

Thanks,

This is the kind of stuff that I was looking for. They don't tell you this kind of stuff on the websites.


I'm interested to hear from someone who's been on Boomers and could tell me about the Missile Tech job.

So far, I'm kind of leaning towards that, but of course I haven't made a concrete decision yet...so I'm still looking for more input.

Thanks for your help.

Having done 2 tours on boomers (as a nuke, though) I have nothing but respect for the missile techs. they seem to combine the jobs of Machinists Mate, Electrician, Interior Communications (Yeah, I know the rate was disolved/absorbed, but the JOB still exists) into one small, easy to carry package.

They also had, at the time, the most detailed procedures known to man. I turned pale green reading "using a 12 inch long 3/8 inch extension, turn bolt xyz counterclockwise" ...then I found out if they use 2 six inch extensions they have violated procedure.

quote:

Originally posted by PO1_Kline:
Having done 2 tours on boomers (as a nuke, though) I have nothing but respect for the missile techs. they seem to combine the jobs of Machinists Mate, Electrician, Interior Communications (Yeah, I know the rate was disolved/absorbed, but the JOB still exists) into one small, easy to carry package.

They also had, at the time, the most detailed procedures known to man. I turned pale green reading "using a 12 inch long 3/8 inch extension, turn bolt xyz counterclockwise" ...then I found out if they use 2 six inch extensions they have violated procedure.

Thanks for your response.

This is the kind of stuff that I really wanted to know.


Another thing you could possibly help me with is this...

I'm planning to probably make this a career and retire from the Navy...but I've also heard the saying "Choose your rate, choose your fate".

Does missile technician have a decent chance for promotions...?

In other words, if you start off as a missile technician...is there a possibility of being the Leading Petty Officer, Petty Officer of the Watch, COB...etc etc etc..?

I know I might be getting ahead of myself...but I'm just trying to make sure that I don't pick a rate without knowing all the facts...and then 8 years down the road I find out that I picked a rate that has a "glass ceiling".

I'm just trying to get all the facts so I can make a sound career choice.

quote:

In other words, if you start off as a missile technician...is there a possibility of being the Leading Petty Officer, Petty Officer of the Watch, COB...etc etc etc..?

As you progress in the Navy you are tasked with more responsibilities and expectations. The normal course is to strive to be the go to guy and LPO ect come with the territory. The higher you go in your rate the more is expected of you so what you end up doing is entirely dependant on you and your abilities and that includes LPO, Chief, ect.

What he said....

Listen up, OP! You asked for advice on career paths. That's good - but do not put the cart before the horse. By that I mean:

Do NOT - EVER refer to any submarine sailor as a 'fellow bubblehead' or 'fellow submariner' until you have earned that right! That means, to me, when you have earned the designation "Qualified in Submarines" and proudly wear your dolphins. Then, and only then, would I consider you a 'fellow submariner'. Carry on!

"Mack the Knife"
CDR USN (Ret)

quote:

Originally posted by 6396992:
Listen up, OP! You asked for advice on career paths. That's good - but do not put the cart before the horse. By that I mean:

Do NOT - EVER refer to any submarine sailor as a 'fellow bubblehead' or 'fellow submariner' until you have earned that right! That means, to me, when you have earned the designation "Qualified in Submarines" and proudly wear your dolphins. Then, and only then, would I consider you a 'fellow submariner'. Carry on!

"Mack the Knife"
CDR USN (Ret)

Actually Commander, I meant that my recruiter was a "fellow bubblehead" in relation to YOU guys. Not to me.

Sorry, I should have made myself more clear.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 15188102,

Sorry, I should have made myself more clear.[/QUOTE]

Darn , them details can sneak up and bite you . One thing to learn , and Mack was very much using kid gloves ,be very clear . On a boat , yer comment and apology would have you in deep with some Chief and life would have become bad . There's a thread about advice for a nub you might want to look it up and read it .

I was a Submarine ET that crossqualified underway watches in both Sonar and Fire Control. While I liked being an ET I found Sonar to be alot of fun. But that is just my 2 cents.

Out of those 3.. YNS and FTs have the best promotions.. FT are making rank like crazy right now I seen a guy make chief in 5 years. YN have alot of face time with the CO and XO which helps evals and makes promotions easier..

And the way you worded that last response to the commander.. not very respectful

With YNs it can be difficult to be promoted. Our friend is one and often it would be under 10 promoted each exam. And when it came to Chief I think it was 9 or 11 the year he made it. He worked really long hours especially when the boat was in shipyard. He would work from 5 am to 8 or 9 pm every day and i mean every day! Plus bring work home.

With any rate advancement changes from test cycle to test cycle. Just an FYI

Ok, well first off congratulations on being smart enough to want to volunteer Submarines.

Now, as to rate, screw this who gets promoted faster stuff. You want a rate that you WANT to do the work in. Your pay grade doesn't mean a fart in a whirlwind on the boat anyhow. It's QUALS that matter.

YN = secretary. You push paperwork. You handle ALL personnel matters for the guys on the boat. You like paper work? This is YOUR job.

FT = Guys that run the ships computers. Basically the IT department for the boat. They handle the fire control computers, the ships sound monitoring system, and sound silencing program.

MT = the guys that maintain the missiles. These guys are assigned to Boomers, so they deal with nuclear weapons (which I can neither confirm nor deny the existance of on my ships... even though that was their EXPRESS design intent). If you are opposed to ICBMs, nuke weapons and such, this AIN'T the job for you.

Oh, forgot to mention... it doesn't really matter they are ALL cone rates, so feh.

Oh come on Erik and tell us how you REALLY feel.

I am a radioman and I would say my job, hah. I like it, the forward tech rates on my boat tend to have it easiest, well it is relative to the A-ganger's and nukes. If I had to choose out of those three I would select FT because of my interest in technology and computers and also, they are always the first to leave for liberty anywhere we go...

MT have it rough, they have an entire compartment to maintain and care for. However my boat may be different since we have MT's but no nukes. Same ol crap it seems like though. It really depends on the training you would like to receive also.

As a yeoman you literally get only a few weeks of training and as previous posters stated, it is admin work. A lot of it. FT's go through the pipeline in Groton, CT, subschool, ATT, TCNO, and than A school, it chalks up to about 9 months minimum. Than MT's who are different, however they put on e4 like I put on seaman, time in rate you just slap it on.

Just find the one that interests you the most, guarantee you will end up realizing any of them are not what you expected. :-)

Take care and good luck.

Can you get FT in your contract or do you have to sign up under SECF?