Pros and cons of different US Navy ratings?

I was in the Navy 25 years.

I'll not even try to give you the pros and cons for ratings of which I have little knowledge. But I will tell you that attitude is everything. I know that kids take the ASVAB with the idea of getting some grandiose, glamorous, dream job. Because they prepare for the ASVAB and score high, they are determined to be matches for their dream job. A few months down the road, when they're flunking out of "A" school, or on the job and absolutely hating it, they blame the military. It's not the military's fault they fudged on the ASVAB test. The ASVAB is designed to determine for which ratings you're best suited by ability, interests, and temperament. By preparing for the ASVAB, you invalidate the results. By learning how to take the stupid test, that's all the test measures, not for what you might be qualified.

I had a high school counselor once tell me that there's nothing in the world like doing something you like and are good at, and that getting paid to do it is just icing on the cake. Don't try to live your life around impressing others. If you want to be an MA, it doesn't make any difference what others think of it. If you're good at it and if you like it, who cares what they think?

Go look in the mirror. See that guy looking back at you? Parents, family, loved ones, spouses, kids, friends, and kibitzers -- like those of us on YA... we come and go in your life. That guy in the mirror isn't going anywhere. He's there for the duration. He'll get older, maybe grow a few wrinkles, maybe some gray hair, but you're stuck with him. He's the only one in this world you really have to make happy.

It doesn't make any difference what rating you strike for. For the first few months you're going to be stuck with menial tasks. It's not personal. The tasks have to be done. Somebody has to do them. The rated guys are out doing whatever it is they're rated to do. So the non-rated and strikers get stuck with the menial tasks. I told one of my guys that I didn't care if all he was was a toilet scrubber. He could be just another toilet scrubber or he could be the best blasted toilet scrubber on the planet. Even on the menial tasks, you're being observed and evaluated.

During your sojourn in the Navy, you'll work with and for people you personally don't care for... or even get along with. The neat thing about the military is that it's not permanent. And you're almost certainly going to be able to find some guys you like to hang with.

I enlisted out of college at age 20 with a BA in math. I didn't pursue an officer career because I didn't know if I wanted to make the commitment. When it came time for me to extend for my E-6, somebody recommended me for OCS. I took advantage of the opportunity and retired at age 45. I got a couple more degrees -- mostly on the GI Bill. With my military experience, my management experience, my education, and my recent security clearance, I landed a job with a management consulting firm. For twelve years I managed government projects on the West Coast and then I retired at age 60. In that time I'd purchased a house on a VA-insured loan and paid it off in 10 years. At age 65 I moved into a VA Home. I'm renting my place to an officer stationed at a nearby Air Force base. The rent more than pays my fees here. I have no other real expenses other than my Internet connection, my cell phone, and fuel, license and insurance for my car. Virtually everything else is free.

Those smart guys who got out as soon as they could so they could get good jobs... some of them did ok. I suppose some of them made it up their corporate ladders to those 500 square foot, glassed in, corner offices way up in those tall office buildings. They're working 50-60 hours a week trying to make ends meet. And probably, in their rare free moments, when they're not taking medication for their ulcers, they dream about maybe oneday trying skydiving, or scuba diving, or traveling... all stuff I did in the Navy (and got paid for it)... if they ever can find the time and extra cash.

I still look in the mirror once in a while. The old reprobate looking back at me... he doesn't smile much anymore. He's grinning.

Even surface ET's are more esteemed, sorry but it seems to be based on the length and difficulty of the schooling required for the rate. Nukes go through almost two years of school, they will be E-5's when they successfully complete their schooling, and they are "push-button" crows, meaning they don't have to take the rating exam for E-4 or E-5, but automatically advance to second class petty officer when they have completed all the training required to become a nuke ET. Nukes however, are also held to stringent regulations, i.e. if your friend is ever prescribed an anti-depressant, he will lose his nuke rating. To qualify to even take the NFQT, your friend had to have a certain score on his/her ASVAB, and then a minimum score on thier NFQT to qualify for nuke training. A certain asvab score qualified you for OS school, but you might not have had a high enough score to take the NFQT or become a nuke. The score cut-offs are correlated with success in certain schools. ATD and seaman ATD schools require a 35 on the ASVAB, at least that is what I was told when I was in the Navy. Some ratings still have better advancement though, when I was in OS's advanced easier than ET's because we were overmanned. I knew an AT that made chief when he was 25, which I think 7 years is the quickest it can be done in almost any rate.

Most MOS's / jobs are looked at .. on how will this job helped me after I get out of the NAVY. The jobs you mentioned are not valued due to there poor civilian opp. I am a HM2 -corpsman0 5 yrs active and 8 reserve. I love my job and it helped me get a great job on an IV team.It also gave me medical back ground that helped me with my prosthetic internship I am in now.

So.. to answer your question.. Look at it like this- if your not a lifer 0 Will this job help me advance in my civilian life.

as far as NUKE- When I was In 1996-2001 nke would automatically get PO 2 after nuke school in SC.. didn't know that changed.

hope this helps.

Well, one pro of the Coast Guard is you would be covered under HR 218/LEOSA (Law Enforcement Officer's Safety Act) which will allow you to carry a concealed firearm without a permit as long as you have your issued ID from the Guard on you at all times. This would not apply to you in the Navy.

i agree