[dctoedt]

> 100% agree that submarine life is better than a surface ship.

Maybe it's different now, but I spent a week riding an SSN as an NROTC midshipman, when I had orders to nuke school a few weeks later (I was commissioned right after first-class cruise and had already gone through The Interview with the KOG; long story). In nuke school I switched to surface, asked for and got sent to the Enterprise, and was pretty happy to be there at the center of the action with great port calls. Standing OOD underway on a carrier — the officer on watch who's in charge of the entire ship, and de facto of the task force — was the most rewarding thing I've ever done professionally, especially during evolutions such as night flight ops. And you deal with (and learn to lead) sailors of all educational levels and from all walks of life, not just the cream of the crop as on subs.

[jedc]

Oh, interesting! I thought that the sub community got all the nukes fresh from school, and the surface nukes all had a sea tour under their belt before getting sent to Power School / Prototype.

You make a compelling case - OOD on a carrier has got to be a hell of an interesting job! Personally I liked the smaller team on a sub, getting to do TS missions, etc. But I can definitely see where you're coming from. (And frankly, I still think submarine life is better than traditional non-nuke SWO life, still.)

[dctoedt]

I think you’re right, nowadays CVN nukes get a div-o tour before power school. Somewhere they work in SWOS. My class of surface nukes was the first to be sent to SWOS right after prototype (this was 1975), and power school was right after commissioning.

[frontierkodiak]

I recently met someone who had desired to be a nuclear operator on a sub, but ended up working an aircraft carrier. At the time that she joined, the Navy didn't permit women to serve underwater-- so apparently operating surface nukes despite having never taken your Jules Verne voyage was permitted, at least ~20 yrs ago.