On 9/16/04 3:29 AM, in article
, "Atcrossroad"
wrote:

My questions:

1) Is 30 y.o. is too old to be a sailor? I know navy is OK with 30y.o.
sailors, but….will I look like a freak among early 20th crowd?

I know a few 30 year old E-3's--not so square peg as you might think.

2) Have you ever seen a Ph.D. enlisting as a sailor? Do you think it
will be better for me not to mention my Ph.D. at all: a) to avoid
future pecking along the line "let's see how smart you really are" b)
not to be an unofficial poster child for a loser. How thoroughly
background check is done? Will such an omission be counted against me
if discovered?

I know of no Ph.D.'s, but on the order of 25% of enlistees have 4-year
degrees. You will have to account for your history, so you'd better mention
your degree and all post-doc jobs. If you don't, you could be canned for
fraudulent enlistment later on. I'd use it sparingly amongst my buddies on
the ship though for the reasons you mentioned.

3) What is the most challenging electronics field in navy? What is its
rate? Is it open for non citizens (Hopefully, I'll be a citizen in 2
years or so)? Ideally, I would like something involving little bit of
design (I hope to pass PE exam in the future, and I need a design
experience to be registered as a professional engineer).

Avionics Technician or Electronics Technician, I'd guess--although there are
probably a few out there that I know nothing of--here's the kicker though:
All of the rates (at least in aviation) that work with electronics (like AT
or ET), also require a security clearance, and hence, U.S. citizenship.
Your best bet would be nuke power... Also requires a clearance.

4) Assuming that I will like the service, will be good at it, will get
my citizenship and will decide to become an officer: a) what is max
age for applicants to an officer school? b) will I be required to
fulfill my enlistment obligations prior to applying to a school?

Your plan is flawed. You will not find happiness in the Navy--especially as
an enlisted man because:

a. You won't get into a rate that is challenging enough for you because you
won't be able to get the clearance (non-U.S. Citizen), so you'll be stuck in
a more "blue collar" rate.

b. You're over-qualified. Remember this, you'll spend about the first year
of your enlistment--even after A-school--cleaning heads, cleaning berthing,
emptying trash, scouring pots in the scullery etc... If you're unhappy with
your post-doc jobs, what makes you think you'll enjoy taking grief from some
Second Class Petty Officer who's 8 years younger than you about how lousy
you are at scrubbing pots and pans?

5) Are those with earned college degrees qualified for the Navy
college funds?

Yes, but not in arrears--i.e. You're on your own for the education you've
purchased already. Do you really need MORE education?

6) In army, enlisted college graduates fresh out of a boot camp get
higher rank than HS graduates do. Does anything like that exist in
navy?

Has everything to do with your performance through boot camp and then in
your follow-on technical training (A-school). Some small top percentage
come out as E-3's.

Thanks to anyone who'll bother to reply.

Look, your best bet is NOT to enlist. Get your citizenship first and either
jump into the Navy or Air Force as an officer OR go to someplace like Eglin
AFB, NAS Pax River, MD, or NAWS China Lake, CA and get a challenging
technical job as a civilian engineer (civil servant). The pay will be
decent, and the satisfaction is great because you'll be working with cutting
edge weapons systems--hands on--an engineer's dream.

I know the China Lake folks are usually looking for engineers because they
can't find enough people who want to live there.

--Woody