| Topic Name: |
Should I join the Military? |
| Message Name: |
More Info on Submarines |
| Date Posted: |
06/08/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
Thanks for the information and for your service to your country! I was wondering, will the Navy pay for an officer's MBA while he is still on active duty? I was also wondering what about the boat burned you out. If I join, I am looking at a four year service commitment, so I am looking for as much info as I can so I can make the best choice. Thanks, Lieutenant! |
| Message: |
Hey BGS,
OK, you asked for it:
1) Life on the "boat": As you may or may not know, a Los-Angeles class fast-attack submarine (the one I was on) is about 360 feet long. We have a crew of about 150-160 men (no women, at least not yet). The diameter is about 33 feet. When you show up as a JO, you'll probably get a bunk in a 6'X8' berthing area with 8 other officers or enlisted mixed. I'm not kidding. No desk, personal space, "frills." All the room you have to store your stuff is underneath the mattress, in an area we call a "coffin." It's about 4" thick and it runs the entire lenth of your bed. Now, imagine going out to sea for extended periods of time (we've been known to be underway as long as 90+ days, although this is usually rare), seeing the same people day in, day out, no sunlight, just flourescent lighting and white paint. It can get pretty dull. And God help you if your Captain/Executive officer are raging lunatics (as was the case when I reported). So, that's the bad news. On the plus side, eventually you will graduate to a stateroom as you become more senior which is always shared with a Department Head (your boss). It's about 6'X5', but you only share it with two other dudes. It's about as good as it gets on a sub, unless you're the CO or XO, they get their own staterooms. There's also two desks in each stateroom which can fold up to make more room. You also get a LOT more space for personal stuff. As far as command climate goes, I got lucky about a year after I had been onboard, because my second CO and XO were AWESOME. I would follow those guys anywhere. They made a hard job much, much better. As far as duties go, you'll have charge of a division, and you'll be responsible for pretty much everything that goes on in it, like training, maintenance, any disciplinary actions (usually rare on subs), etc. That part is pretty cool, the amount of responsiblity you get. If you go on a fast attack submarine, expect to spend a lot of time out to sea, but you'll get to see some pretty cool places. I've done two Western Pacific deployments and have been to India, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Guam. I wouldn't give that up for the world. But you'll be putting in long days, usually standing a 6 hour watch every day and then doing divisional tasks or whatever else after that. It's hard to put my finger on it and explain to you in terms you'll understand without having "been there, done that," but I hope this gives you a feeling of why I'm glad to be on shore duty right now.
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