Is the seaman job a bad thing to start out as

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Permalink Reply by Marcy & Robert on August 14, 2008 at 10:32pm

Seabees are in high demand right now. My son wanted to be a Seabee welder, but the demands for Seabee builders were higher, and went into builder and then go into welding later on. His PIR is Aug.29 and he said in his letter that he has a good chance of going to Port Hueneme for his "A"
school, his classifer told him they are needed badly. Port Hueneme is in Ventura County if you are familar with California. That will be only 3 hours away from us. He was suppose to go to Gulfport, Miss., but things change.
He will get alot of hands on, building, masonary, etc.. Not a bad thing.
I hope this little info helps.
Robert and Marcy

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Permalink Reply by Heloisa/N's mom on August 15, 2008 at 2:54am

My son is a storekeeper. Does anyone know if it is a good or bad job? They said he scored high o his Asvaab, and h is recruiter did not like the classification. She tried to help him get into something "better", but couldn't. He wants to be an IT, and they told him in Boot Camp that he could apply after two years

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Permalink Reply by Achseh on August 16, 2008 at 9:22pm

There's nothing wrong with being a storekeeper. My husband retired as a Master Chief storekeeper after serving 23 years. He was quite able to translate his skills into a job as a consultant after he retired and now works for the Navy as a civilian.

Don't worry mom, it's a good job and one that, as a non-technical rate, has skills that transfer quite easily.

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Permalink Reply by Beath on October 28, 2008 at 5:00am

Hi. My son will have the rate Personnel Specialist and he will be still living for boot camp this late November. Does anyone out there know if this rate is good or not? i want to hear more from you. He scored good in ASVAB. When he had his classification, they gave him 3 choices of Jobs ,these are AD, SH And CS but then He ended up as Personnel Specialist. Can you give me some pieces of advice?

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Leann <3's Douglas on August 17, 2008 at 4:18pm

My father in law was a storekeeper, ended up a Master chief. He loved the job. Every job is a good job and a Needed job. If your Sailor is happy and likes to go to work then yes, it's a wonderful job. Anything ordered on or off the ships that's what he will order for them.

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Permalink Reply by Holly on August 15, 2008 at 7:28am

My understanding one issue with joining the Navy undesignated is the possibility if “Individual Augmentation” (IA). My son is a Nuclear EM stationed on the USS Greenville currently in Portsmouth NH. A teammate of his from high school scored poorly on the ASVAB and was planning on joining undesignated. When I told my son he called and strongly encouraged him to study and retake the ASVAB and get an official rating. He now is a “Hull Tech”.

From Wikipedia: An Individual Augmentee is a United States military member assigned to a unit for the purpose of filling in for, or augmenting, members of that unit. Individual Augmentees or IAs are differentiated from existing members of that unit by the fact that they are assigned individually rather than as part of a traditional military organization (such as a brigade, battalion or company). Individual Augmentees can be used to fill shortages or can be used when an individual with specialized knowledge or skill sets is required. As a result, Individual Augmentees can include members from an entirely different branch of service. The system has been used extensively in the current Iraq War, though with some criticism. Currently, there are approximately 12,000 Navy and Air Force personnel filling Army jobs in the United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and the Horn of Africa at any one time.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Hernandez on August 15, 2008 at 3:22pm

He didnt want to retake it he just said he would wait...but he did get guaranteed his home port in san diego...the main reason he is going in is for the tuition help...he will be fine....my son is very bright but just didnt study or apply himself hard enough to score higher...he shoudl have retested but i couldnt make him. I have heard good and bad things about being a seaman. He has a rate which is E1..but should be moving up to E-2 with his two friends signing.

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Permalink Reply by Jo on August 15, 2008 at 3:37pm

Well as parents we can only offer advise - we can't make them do anything anymore - lol. I have never heard of a guaranteed home port before. Things could have changed - but I would be a little leery of this. Have you seen his orders that show that? When I was in and even now with my son in - I have never heard of anybody that knows where they are going for their first duty station until they are done with school. If he's set on doing this, I guess it doesn't matter anyway. I just would hate to see him being told something that is not true. And E-1, E-2 - those are paygrades (rank). Rate is your job duty rate. You can't move up past E-3 without a job rate.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Hernandez on August 18, 2008 at 12:38pm

Yes he has it in writing.. so they cant change it if its in writing right? Or can anything happen?? I guess he will just find out. He was offered San Diego or Washington...his recruiter called us at home and asked him. He just got two people to sign with his name as a referral and was told he was now getting to E-2. BUT he has not Job Rate i thought.

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Permalink Reply by Leann <3's Douglas on August 17, 2008 at 4:14pm

Hi , Douglas went into bootcamp, usassigned, we freaked as his parents and as my husband being a military man himself. But it was what Douglas wanted, He went into bootcamp, then to a ship, he got to the ship in march 08. he is stricking for the job he wants now. He's glad he went in unassigned as he wanted to be a cook and got to do that job for two weeks after getting on the ship for duty and really didn't like the job at all. Now he's getting to choose his job and not stuck in a job he wouldn't like. Douglas Recruiter tried to talk Douglas into a school but Douglas said he wanted to wait. For him it was the very best thing to happen to him and those are his words. He was a S.R. out of bootcamp and a S.A. now but stricking for boatwsmains mate right now. He didn't have to wait two yrs to change jobs....so it can be a good thing. He should be able to choose his own job once he has his orders.( that's what I was told by Douglas) I think for boys like ours who just want to get going and really don't know all there is to do , this lets them try them out first. It will work out. Douglas is going on a yr and just chose his job, but tried a few. I'm just glad he likes what he's doing and want's to do his job everyday instead of hating it and can't get out of it.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Hernandez on August 18, 2008 at 12:41pm

THANKS so much for sharing this information!!!! Yes Seaman recruit then seaman apprentice...I know he knows what he is doing...i just didnt want him being lied to by his recruiter.

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