If a young man wants to be a Submarine Commander, what is the best career path?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Asking for an eager young man I know.

Do you have to be a straight “A” academic genius or can “B” students be Submarine Commanders? Are there physical limits to height and weight? Minimum vision requirements without glasses?

What is the most important real world skill to develop if you want to rise in the ranks? What is the most effective career preparation if being a sub commander is your goal?

Sure I could tell him to call the local recruiting office, but I wanted to see what my fellow Straight Dopers have to say before I did this.

2

Oops- Realized post-post that this is more of a IMHO question. Would a kindly mod please move.

3

Probably needs to be in math/science. All of the ROTC guys I knew who went “subs” were engineers, they needed to go through “nuke” school too. I doubt that the physical requirements are any thing other than standard Navy (maybe a height maximum?), but the mental requirements may be higher. IIRC, all the sub guys had to have extensive mental evaluations before they got their assignments. I am not in the Navy, so this is all totally anecdotal. YMMV etc…

4

I’d say - from having worked for the Navy and knowing many, many Naval enlisted and officers - that whether someone got straight As or “only” Bs in college is irrelevant to any career path in the USN. If someone wants to be a sub commander, first he needs to be an officer, obviously, and then he needs to get throguh Submarine School, then get on a boat (that means a submarine - boats go under the water, ships stay above the water), and wherever he ends up through his career, he needs to get outstanding fitness reports and on-time promotions and eventually he can try for a sub command. This probably won’t be before he has attained the rank of at least Commander.

5

Subs aren’t my thing, but there are some generalities I’m aware of.

I’d highly recommend going in as an officer, which means a) USNA at Annapolis, b) NROTC, or c) OCS. He’ll need to prepared for the nuke syllabus, which is probably the most difficult academic syllabus for acquiring a warfare qualification in the Navy. This means he’ll have to be up on physics, calc, and maybe engineering of some sort or another.

Physically speaking, I’m not aware of any restrictions for eyes or body.

Mentally speaking, I also think there’s some sort of psych eval, and I believe there used to be (not sure if there still is) an interview process to get into the community.

Lastly, I’ve spoken to a few sub junior officers. They’ve all said the same thing in that the sub community is notorious for eating its young. They treat their JO’s like shit.

6

I’ll add a little more to clarify some of mine and maybe some of misbunny’s post.

Yes, you have to be an officer, but you don’t necessarily have to start out as an officer. You can enlist for a while and then apply for NROTC or OCS.

Also, while grades may not directly correlate to becoming a sub skipper, having a very solid background in math and physics (which, IMO, is gained through not only getting those A’s and B’s, but also the discipline required to do so). That strong background will help in your status in nuke school (graduating at the top of your class is a very good thing), qualifying quickly (pegs you as what we call a “front runner”) which will help you break out when compared to the guys you’re competing against. This’ll allow you to get those outstanding fitness reports.

When you’re not serving on the boat (i.e., on your “shore” tour) you’ll want to take tough jobs in order to look good and be competitive. At some point you’ll probably want to get your Master’s or PhD in something.

Right before or after you promote to Commander, you’ll be screened for command. If you get a thumbs-up, you’ll get a boat.

7

Off to IMHO, as requested.

Good luck in your quest.

8

A couple of my friends went Navy ROTC during college. One’s serving in a 688 attack boat and the other on an aircraft carrier. Yeah, they are both engineers, and pretty good ones at that.

9

I doubt that good grades will help- they expect most of your work to be below “C” level.

10

Practice tactics by playing “Battleship” frequently.

11

What flyboy said is right on, though I would add that it is much easier to start out on the officer path than it is to enter it from the enlisted ranks. Only 10% of naval officers are prior enlisted, and few rise to command rank.

12

Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard THAT one before.

Stick to playing with 'em in the bath tub, old man.

13

My brother-in -law, was the CO on the Los Angles for a time, so I can only offer you the path that he took. Attending (and graduating quite high in his class, I believe) from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md and majoring in neclear engineering. Needless to say, my BIL is very bright and upon meeting him, you’d find him him to be just the type of person you’d want to be in control of a submarine possibly full of missiles.

Good luck.

14

Ex-submarine officer chiming in…

I would concur with most of what has been mentioned already.

Here is some guidance:

To become a U.S. submarine Commanding Officer (CO), you need to be a line officer.

Assuming your friend is currently in high school, I would recommend the Naval Academy or NROTC. Trying to get into an officer program once enlisted can be very difficult, despite what a recruiter might tell you.

Once in an officer program, you need to look forward to securing an interview with the four-star Admiral in charge of Naval Reactors (NR). To accomplish this, you need the best grades you can achieve, preferably in a branch of engineering. Majoring in a hard science is less desirable, and typically requires higher grades. Majoring in liberal arts is not very desirable, though I have seen it happen. NR would like some assurance that you will complete the nuclear power training curriculum.

Personal anecdote: I was in an NROTC program majoring in engineering at a school with a reputation for rigorous grading. Due to this (and immaturity), my grades were about C-average for the first half of college. For the last half, I made the Dean’s list every semester. I submitted a package for a nuclear interview three times. My rising GPA, combined with high SAT scores, finally got me an interview. Most of my interview with the admiral was concerned with my academic performance.

Once commissioned, through the year-long nuclear training program, followed by the three-month Submarine Officer Basic Course, you’ll be assigned to a submarine. Your performance as a submarine junior officer (JO) pretty much sets the stage for the rest of your career (or lack thereof). A fine balance is required between having the authority of an officer while learning from the far more experienced senior enlisted personnel. You have to do your assigned division officer job, stand watch on a rotating-shift basis, and complete your quals in a timely fashion. You have to learn to function on very little sleep.

All that being said, there is little to compare to being the Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW), in charge of an operating nuclear reactor, at age 24. Shortly thereafter, you’ll qualify as the Officer of the Deck (OOD), in charge of the entire submarine. (Of course, the ship’s Engineering Officer and CO are also on board.) Once you finally qualify in submarines and receive your gold dolphins, your path to becoming a CO will be clear.