Although the U.S. Navy’s first nuclear-powered vessel, the submarine
USS Nautilus, first put to sea in January 1955, it took over sixty years for the Navy to create a service rating specifically for Electrician’s Mates working with nuclear power plants. On November 3, 2015, the EMN service rating—Electrician’s Mate Nuclear—was created, along with ETN (Electronics Technician Nuclear) and MMN (Machinist’s Mate Nuclear).
The training for all three service ratings is offered in the Navy’s Nuclear Field (NF) program, and all offer numerous opportunities for advancement. But the requirements for selection in the program are understandably steep due to the highly challenging nature of the academic requirements and the security issues involved for those working with nuclear technology. Those seeking to pursue a career in an NF service rating must be high-school graduates, U.S. citizens, less than 25 years of age at the time they enlist, and pass stringent security clearance requirements.
Enlisted personnel who are selected for the program will enter at a paygrade of E3, but in doing so they are committed to six years of service: four years when signing up coupled with the signing of an agreement to continue their enlistment for two more years in order to complete all the necessary training. Training is divided into three distinct stages, beginning with up to six months of instruction in a classroom setting at the Nuclear Field Class “A” Technical School, followed by another six months of classwork in physics, basic engineering, and mathematics at Nuclear Power School. The culmination of the training process is a half-year spent actually working at a nuclear reactor prototype plant. Low passing grades or even the appearance of disinterest during the training period may lead to potential Electrician’s Mates Nuclear from being disenrolled from the NF program. And if up-and-coming EMNs do not complete the Class “A” Technical School, their paygrade is administratively reduced to E2 or even E1.
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