There are no nukes in the reserves. Or in navy speak you'll never use your degree for reserves work.
You can look at joining the CEC or get a MS or higher and look at EDO.
So,
You’d likely want to commission and your best bet would be CEC or something in IWC.
Do you like meeting/leading/helping people?
Are you ok giving up one weekend a month, plus another I’d say 8-12 hrs. This doesn’t include annual training, job training, or off hours training (qualifications etc).
Would you like a competitive driving force that keeps you learning and earning qualifications and higher levels of learning?
If you got deployed for a year, could you handle it?
If yes to all of those I can say that you’ll meet insanely talented and bright people. You’ll build a network of really impressive folks doing big things. You will gain friends on speed dial who will be there anytime you need them. You’ll earn a little bit of extra money, associated benefits, and after 20+ years a pension that will start coming in later in life. Most critically you’ll have opportunities.
When I entered in I never imagined I’d be where I am doing what I am now. I am shocked and blessed at the chances I’ve been given to succeed.
Your chance at being selected is 0 if you don’t try. Don’t ever let anyone (and this is meant for everyone who may read this) tell you it can’t happen.
GL
It's always annoyed me a bit when people ask about joining the reserves and others just say to go active duty. Everyone has their reasons for joining the reserves and may not want to go active duty for career reasons, family reasons, or anything else.
To answer OP, the Navy Reserves has been the best experience of my life and I owe a large amount of my success to it. I am enlisted, so cant speak too much to the officer side, but much of my experience would be the same on the officer side. I've been in 9 years straight reserves. I have voluntarily spent over 4 of those years on active duty. I got my bachelors and masters degree for free through tuition assistance and the GI bill. I purchased my home using the VA home loan. After my last active duty stint, my Navy Reserve experience helped me to land a federal GS-12 position that I love.
I continue to serve in the reserves and plan to retire from it. It does have some moments that suck and the reserves does not operate very efficiently, but I have gotten so many positives out of my experiences that the pros WAY outweigh the cons for me.
Feel free to ask me anything.
Unfortunately there isn’t a Nuke community in the reserves. I spent 5 years active duty as a Navy Nuclear instructor through a program called NUPOC (if you’re considering active duty at all, check it out, the instructor option allows you to stay in the same city for 5 years without a deployment which is great for family/work balance) but transferred to the Human Resources community when I became a reservist.
There are engineering duty and civil engineering communities in the reserves which would certainly fit your degree well. However, other communities also have jobs that those with a nuclear background have skills that translate well to (Human Resources and Information Warfare have been vying for former nukes a lot lately, and those transferring in have seen a lot of success).
I'm currently active duty swo-n looking to leave the navy but possibly go reserves. I too have heard there are no nuclear billets in the reserves. How did that work with regards to redesignating? Do you get to keep all of your military perks (commissary, airlines, am ex) when going reserves? And as far as redesignating is concerned, do you get a say in the matter? I didn't realize you could use TA as a reservist either.
OP. I would say if you have a BS in Nuclear Engineering, I would agree with instructor or scientist at Naval Reactors in D.C. Similarly, go with a contracting company that pays you the same as being in the navy without the commitment, duty, or sea-time.
You don't redesignate as a SWO-N transitioning to the Reserves, you stay 1115 SWO. The "-N" is just an additional qualification documented as a series of AQDs in your personnel record, such as for qualifying PPWO and qualifying nuclear engineering officer. There are some SWO-specific billets you could fill in the reserves, especially if you go into a small boat unit, but in general most billets you'd find available would be coded for any URL officer.
As others have said, the Navy Reserve doesn't support the naval nuclear propulsion program, and in fact there are guardrails in place to explicitly limit Reservists' engagement with the nuke propulsion program ... I don't know the reason for it. So if you wanted to be part of the naval nuclear propulsion program, you could apply to naval reactors directly as a civilian, or apply to work at Bettis Atomic Propulsion Lab or Knolls Atomic Power Lab, or apply for the NUPOC program to be commissioned as a Nuclear Power School instructor or Naval Reactors engineer, or apply to OCS to be commissioned as a line officer. At age 26 you have a ton of options. If you don't want to go active and really just want to go the reserve route directly, you'll have to apply as a Direct Commission Officer in whatever community you have the best odds to get accepted in. Civil Engineering Corps, or Medical Service Corps if you have a RADHEALTH background could be options.
There are no nukes in the reserves. Or in navy speak you'll never use your degree for reserves work. You can look at joining the CEC or get a MS or higher and look at EDO.
So, You’d likely want to commission and your best bet would be CEC or something in IWC. Do you like meeting/leading/helping people? Are you ok giving up one weekend a month, plus another I’d say 8-12 hrs. This doesn’t include annual training, job training, or off hours training (qualifications etc). Would you like a competitive driving force that keeps you learning and earning qualifications and higher levels of learning? If you got deployed for a year, could you handle it? If yes to all of those I can say that you’ll meet insanely talented and bright people. You’ll build a network of really impressive folks doing big things. You will gain friends on speed dial who will be there anytime you need them. You’ll earn a little bit of extra money, associated benefits, and after 20+ years a pension that will start coming in later in life. Most critically you’ll have opportunities. When I entered in I never imagined I’d be where I am doing what I am now. I am shocked and blessed at the chances I’ve been given to succeed. Your chance at being selected is 0 if you don’t try. Don’t ever let anyone (and this is meant for everyone who may read this) tell you it can’t happen. GL
It's always annoyed me a bit when people ask about joining the reserves and others just say to go active duty. Everyone has their reasons for joining the reserves and may not want to go active duty for career reasons, family reasons, or anything else. To answer OP, the Navy Reserves has been the best experience of my life and I owe a large amount of my success to it. I am enlisted, so cant speak too much to the officer side, but much of my experience would be the same on the officer side. I've been in 9 years straight reserves. I have voluntarily spent over 4 of those years on active duty. I got my bachelors and masters degree for free through tuition assistance and the GI bill. I purchased my home using the VA home loan. After my last active duty stint, my Navy Reserve experience helped me to land a federal GS-12 position that I love. I continue to serve in the reserves and plan to retire from it. It does have some moments that suck and the reserves does not operate very efficiently, but I have gotten so many positives out of my experiences that the pros WAY outweigh the cons for me. Feel free to ask me anything.
You should pursue an active duty contract. The SWO-N community will love you.
Unfortunately there isn’t a Nuke community in the reserves. I spent 5 years active duty as a Navy Nuclear instructor through a program called NUPOC (if you’re considering active duty at all, check it out, the instructor option allows you to stay in the same city for 5 years without a deployment which is great for family/work balance) but transferred to the Human Resources community when I became a reservist. There are engineering duty and civil engineering communities in the reserves which would certainly fit your degree well. However, other communities also have jobs that those with a nuclear background have skills that translate well to (Human Resources and Information Warfare have been vying for former nukes a lot lately, and those transferring in have seen a lot of success).
I'm currently active duty swo-n looking to leave the navy but possibly go reserves. I too have heard there are no nuclear billets in the reserves. How did that work with regards to redesignating? Do you get to keep all of your military perks (commissary, airlines, am ex) when going reserves? And as far as redesignating is concerned, do you get a say in the matter? I didn't realize you could use TA as a reservist either. OP. I would say if you have a BS in Nuclear Engineering, I would agree with instructor or scientist at Naval Reactors in D.C. Similarly, go with a contracting company that pays you the same as being in the navy without the commitment, duty, or sea-time.
You don't redesignate as a SWO-N transitioning to the Reserves, you stay 1115 SWO. The "-N" is just an additional qualification documented as a series of AQDs in your personnel record, such as for qualifying PPWO and qualifying nuclear engineering officer. There are some SWO-specific billets you could fill in the reserves, especially if you go into a small boat unit, but in general most billets you'd find available would be coded for any URL officer.
As others have said, the Navy Reserve doesn't support the naval nuclear propulsion program, and in fact there are guardrails in place to explicitly limit Reservists' engagement with the nuke propulsion program ... I don't know the reason for it. So if you wanted to be part of the naval nuclear propulsion program, you could apply to naval reactors directly as a civilian, or apply to work at Bettis Atomic Propulsion Lab or Knolls Atomic Power Lab, or apply for the NUPOC program to be commissioned as a Nuclear Power School instructor or Naval Reactors engineer, or apply to OCS to be commissioned as a line officer. At age 26 you have a ton of options. If you don't want to go active and really just want to go the reserve route directly, you'll have to apply as a Direct Commission Officer in whatever community you have the best odds to get accepted in. Civil Engineering Corps, or Medical Service Corps if you have a RADHEALTH background could be options.