Adventures in Parenthood, In the Navy Edition

Saturday, February 6, 2010
So the Smart Boy spent the latter part of last year a bit...adrift. He was a student at one of our local colleges, but the lack of structure just didn't suit his personality type, and to say that he failed to thrive there would be an understatement.

So he spent a large portion of the winter break moping around and trying to decide what he'd like to do with his life. I understand the feeling - trying to find a direction when you don't have a clue as to how you'd like to proceed is disconcerting, at best.

So he finally comes over one day (after hiding out at his father's for weeks) and announces that he's decided to join the Navy.

Hurray! The boy has a plan!*

So in January he went and met with the recruiter, and made arrangements to go downtown to MEPS to take his ASVAB.

His composite score was a 99 out of a possible 99, and he basically qualified for any school he wanted. He chose Advanced Electronics/Computer Field, which is the basic school for both Fire Control Technicians and Electronics Technicians, and he has a go-active date of September 14th, 2010. He wants to be an ET, I think mostly because his dad was one.

Of course, what he would really like is to get into the Nuclear Propulsion program. His ASVAB was sufficiently high to qualify, but his calculus and physics grades in high school were so poor the nuclear recruiter is not very excited to give up a quota to someone he has no guarantee is sufficiently motivated to perform the work. So the Smart Boy is hoping to convince him to give him a chance when the next slot comes open by his diligent participation in Delayed Entry Program (DEP) activities and acing the mathematics pretest for enlisted nukes. I don't know if that will pan out or not, but if it doesn't, he'll still be off to boot camp on September 14th.

Either way, I'm very proud of my Smart Boy for making this decision and doing what needs to be done to become a contributing member of society. Go, Smart Sailor Boy!


*Let me explain. My expectation for my kids has always been fairly simple. I wanted them to have a plan. That plan could be college, trade school, apprenticeship, the military, tech school, whatever. The only thing that wasn't acceptable was living at home for free and working for minimum wage. So my delight in his decision has much more to do with the fact that he actually has a plan than the fact that he chose my military alma mater.

14 comments:

Warner (aka ntsc) said...

Good plan.

Same choices with me, fire control or electronics. You couldn't do nuke on a 3 year enlistment had to be 6. Neither the Navy nor the Air Force would offer any specific choice on a 4 year enlistment, so I went Army.

Electronics in my case as I couldn't think of a civilian use for fire control. Then I discovered that my MOS doesn't exist, even my DD214 lists something else. I had wanted to be come a television technician, but no empty slots, so I went into something my recruiter had heard of 'Don't know what it is , but nobody ever asks for it who doesn't have a father or brother in the Army'.

It was interesting and did get me to Paris for a 4 month tour on civilian status. Supporting the peace talks.

Matt said...

Fuckin' A! That absolutely rocks! Hopefully, he gets his wish with the nuc program. Tell him to say goodbye to natural sunlight, but that's offset by the fact that his testicles will glow in the dark! Seriously Janiece, I'm happy for both of you. Almost wish I was young (and energetic) enough to join up and see the world again my damn self!

nzforme said...

Congrats! Now he's gotta polish up his mathematics while you're polishing up your statistics. There's a pattern in here someplace.

WendyB_09 said...

Congrats to Smart Boy!

Former roomie's brother chose the same path about 15 years ago, went for the minimum & stayed for a career. Who'd a thunk it? Anyhow, he's now happily ensconsed in Hawaii as a fire control insructor. Found a bride & produced a couple of kids along the way. And we couldn't be prouder!

Jim Wright said...

Just what the world needs, another damned ET. Hope he likes climbing the main mast ;)

Haze gray and underway. He doesn't need a plan, the Navy will provide one for him. Ain't that right, Senior?

I was a rudderless kid myself when I joined up. I was going to do five years, see the world, meet chicks, get some money for college. Twenty something years later I left as a Chief Warrant Officer and I miss it every Goddamned day.

Smartboy made a damned smart choice, good on him.

Tom Goering said...

My oldest son came to us during his senior year of HS - went nuke. My other Navy son did a year of college first and decided that the Navy was something he also wanted, he too went nuke...both ETs. I was a conventional ET - God loves Twidgets :)

Janiece said...

Jim, I hope he does in fact find his niche, ET or no. Even if he does only his committed six years and then moves on, I still think he's going to have a good experience.

Welcome, NavyCS. Always glad to meet a fellow CPO and Navy parent.

Eric said...

Congratulations to the boy!

Jim Wright said...

Good Gravy, it smells like the goat locker in here.

mmmm, are those donuts?

Janiece said...

Hmmm...doughnuts.

Teacher and Learner said...

Tell Him John and I are proud of his choice.

Tom Goering said...

Donuts and coffee - seriously, it is the fuel that gets any ship underway :)

Janiece said...

Will do, Womanji. Thanks!

NavyCS, you nailed it in one.

Random Michelle K said...

YAY!