Navy Nukes

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Comment by Ron Fordham on October 6, 2015 at 3:12pm

lsdemme2001. yeah, that's what we've heard. Thanks for that encouragement. That's why we're prepared for her to re-rate either after A school or even before it's over. It's just more than what she ever thought it would be. We're encouraging her to bust it as hard as she can as long as she can to see what she can do to make as good a grade point average as she can, to help her when she does rerate, should she or the Navy decide that's what she needs to do. It's just tough when you see your child struggle, and there's no way to help much (can't exactly do flash cards with her like in high school chemistry!). We have asked her to ask for help, but there's only so much they can do in that regard with all the kids in the program currently. She's trying hard, we'll see how it goes in the next few weeks and will keep you posted. 

Comment by Ron Fordham on October 6, 2015 at 3:04pm

As a matter of fact, we just asked her when would be a good time to visit. We could even box up her cat and take it so she could hang around with it for a little while :-) So the answer is yes, that was our suggestion to her, is for us to come for a short visit in the next couple of weekends. She's missing decorating for halloween and all that this year and missing out on all the stuff we usually do during the holidays. Seems they will even miss Thanksgiving. So her life has changed dramatically, not only in the difficulty of the school work, so it's all taking a toll. Wish they had let her come home just for a couple of days after boot camp, but I guess they have their reasons why they don't do that. So hopefully we can keep encouraging her and she will make it through. But we're preparing ourselves and her, if she doesn't. Yeah, this is a ton different from high school! You should be very proud of your son for being able to make it through all this, and stick with it, even now. We hear even after they are through with school, the job is a darned tough one that no one can really prepare you for by telling you about it. It's just much more than what we ever imagined when she "signed up". Like others, we just didn't know. 

Comment by lsdemme2001 on October 6, 2015 at 3:02pm

Ron,  It only gets tougher.  Much tougher.  If your daughter is feeling this stressed in A school she is probably doing the right thing by investigating her other options at this point.  Fortunately she has other good options because of her Nuke pipeline eligibility.  She should at least be able to get a few choices, maybe not her first, but the Navy certainly wont let her go into something that is beneath her capabilities.  If she has the scores she can probably get into something that she will find more enjoyable than Nukes.  Keep us posted.

Comment by Ward Baxter on October 6, 2015 at 2:57pm

Ron, if it's any consolation, my son wasn't a great student in high school and he made it through the pipeline. Each student is different in the way the absorb the training. Many say A school is much harder than power school. Keep supporting your daughter. It is a long haul, but she can get through it. She should get a break over the Christmas holiday period, too. Is there any chance you can visit her for a weekend?

Comment by Ron Fordham on October 6, 2015 at 2:48pm

Ward, thanks for the extended reply. I do appreciate it. Random.... oh boy, she's definitely not prepared for that :-) She's always had a plan, if you know what I mean. I hear other kids get a bit down on themselves during A school, but somehow manage to pull it off. Hopefully that's what she will do, but she really wasn't prepared for what she's doing. Being a "nuke" sounded really cool when the recruiter was talking about it and all her friends were talking about it, but now the reality has hit and it's danged hard to do what they're asking her to do. She could study night and day and still not get all of what they want her to get it seems. I guess we'll find out. Scoring high on the ASFAB and the other tests didn't really let her know how it would actually be once she actually got to A school. And I'm sure Power School will be even tougher from what I hear. So much to cram in in a short amount of time. Even boot camp didn't prepare her for this. 

Comment by Ward Baxter on October 6, 2015 at 2:39pm

Ron, sorry if my response came off as being a bit short. It's just that everything I've read and heard (and my son is a nuke) indicates re-rating is random, based on the needs of the Navy. The one thing in your daughter's control is her effort. As long as she continues to show effort, and to ask for help, she will get a new rating if going the nuke route doesn't work out.

Good luck to you and your girl and thank her for her service.

Comment by Ron Fordham on October 6, 2015 at 2:35pm

Ward, thanks for the response. If anyone else has a bit more detailed response, it would be helpful to have a little info to pass on to her if and when the time comes for her to re-rate. I remember one sailor being rerated as an MT, and others mentioned their sailor rerated to a job where they really flourish, just wondering what kinds of ratings might be out there and is it based on their current grade average?

Comment by Ward Baxter on October 6, 2015 at 2:01pm

I don't think she'll have a choice. The best thing she can do is continue making the best possible effort.

Comment by Ron Fordham on October 6, 2015 at 1:33pm

Ok, so our baby nuke is definitely struggling in A school. And it's a mixture of things. She's actually still a bit homesick and wanted to come home next weekend. We chatted with her and let her know that we know this is tough, but coming home for a "break" would probably not be the best method of dealing with all the stress. We're a five hour drive-one way. Even after boot camp, it's still hard for her to wrap her brain around the fact that she's got a big job to do with this. We've let her know that if she wants to re-rate after A school, they would probably let her do that, as long as she just busts it as hard as she can these next couple months and at least finishes A school with a reasonable average. Does anyone know what a reasonable average would be IF she decides to re-rate that would allow her to do so and have good choices, vs just giving up and being rerated to something the navy picks for her that wouldn't be her first choice. We hope that she changes her mind and sticks with the nuke program, but we want to be realistic if she decides to go another route. Any thoughts on the best path for rerating would be helpful, should she decide that's what she wants to do, OR the Navy says that's what she has to do. What's a good grade average to have some good choices? 

Comment by Rocco A Cavallo on October 4, 2015 at 7:48pm

I'm told base is ok but classes are cancelled tomorrow.

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