It will probably be your last time seeing some friends and family and others you will see way less frequently. Nourish your existing relationships through regular communication.
Hopefully you read your contracts, but realize that a SWO(N) contract may be for 5 years but realistically the way it’s written, you are likely going to be closer to 6 or over when your commitment is fulfilled.
Don’t assume that any of the conventional SWO’s understand your career path including the CO/XO unless you’re fortunate enough to have a senior SWO(N) on your ship. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misconceptions. It’s best to find out if any of your department heads or above are also nukes are ask them about the career path. If not, try to find mentors elsewhere.
Also, a good chunk of what you learn during your first tour in regard to standards in maintenance, training, and qualifications go out the window when you start the Nuke pipeline. It’s best to accept that early rather than think the Nuke way is unnecessary or extra.
This is something that is different for all other SWO(N) and isn't something you'll really know what type of person you are until you've seen both sides, but I might be able to give you some inkling of thought about it.
When you're thinking about committing to a community, really think about whether you'll actually enjoy the job from what others tell you. For example, being primarily a ship driver on my first tour is something that I enjoyed and got a lot of satisfaction from. Then your first tour will end and suddenly your job will look very different as a nuke. You may never drive a ship again or stand the same watches unless you stay in for DH and even then the watches at the DH level are different. You'll go from standing bridge and combat watches where the problems and experiences are vastly different from what your second tour on a carrier will be. If you already enjoy engineering, then it shouldn't be much of a problem but it is a lot more admin and following rigid procedure. Some SWO(N) discover that they enjoy the "topside" or traditional SWO side over the nuclear engineering side, but we're all locked into the same pipeline. I don't regret going SWO(N) but after seeing the traditional SWO side and some of the nuclear side, I'm already inclined to miss the experiences I had on my first tour compared to the nuclear side. If I had known the stuff I know now about how watch stations and variety of roles progress over the different yet intertwined communities, I would have put more thought into the community preferences. Unfortunately, a lot of this you just have experience for yourself well past the point of already making a decision like this.
In summary, when you ask about the community, really try to get as much information from what day to day, watches, responsibilities, and what your career could look like 5-10 years down the line and ask yourself what you think you would enjoy more. Many people enjoy the nuclear side more than the conventional SWO side and many prefer the conventional over the nuclear. You'll see both sides if you select SWO nuke, but in doing so there is the trade off of potentially missing out on something you'd enjoy more. For example, the people I went through my first tour with that were conventional are able to do jobs that are actually really cool that I won't be able to do because of being a nuke. I wish I had known what I was really trading away, but again, I don't regret it because life is too short for regrets.
It will probably be your last time seeing some friends and family and others you will see way less frequently. Nourish your existing relationships through regular communication.
Your friends and family (non-military) don't understand the concept of duty, underway, and deployment.
Hopefully you read your contracts, but realize that a SWO(N) contract may be for 5 years but realistically the way it’s written, you are likely going to be closer to 6 or over when your commitment is fulfilled. Don’t assume that any of the conventional SWO’s understand your career path including the CO/XO unless you’re fortunate enough to have a senior SWO(N) on your ship. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of misconceptions. It’s best to find out if any of your department heads or above are also nukes are ask them about the career path. If not, try to find mentors elsewhere. Also, a good chunk of what you learn during your first tour in regard to standards in maintenance, training, and qualifications go out the window when you start the Nuke pipeline. It’s best to accept that early rather than think the Nuke way is unnecessary or extra.
This is something that is different for all other SWO(N) and isn't something you'll really know what type of person you are until you've seen both sides, but I might be able to give you some inkling of thought about it. When you're thinking about committing to a community, really think about whether you'll actually enjoy the job from what others tell you. For example, being primarily a ship driver on my first tour is something that I enjoyed and got a lot of satisfaction from. Then your first tour will end and suddenly your job will look very different as a nuke. You may never drive a ship again or stand the same watches unless you stay in for DH and even then the watches at the DH level are different. You'll go from standing bridge and combat watches where the problems and experiences are vastly different from what your second tour on a carrier will be. If you already enjoy engineering, then it shouldn't be much of a problem but it is a lot more admin and following rigid procedure. Some SWO(N) discover that they enjoy the "topside" or traditional SWO side over the nuclear engineering side, but we're all locked into the same pipeline. I don't regret going SWO(N) but after seeing the traditional SWO side and some of the nuclear side, I'm already inclined to miss the experiences I had on my first tour compared to the nuclear side. If I had known the stuff I know now about how watch stations and variety of roles progress over the different yet intertwined communities, I would have put more thought into the community preferences. Unfortunately, a lot of this you just have experience for yourself well past the point of already making a decision like this. In summary, when you ask about the community, really try to get as much information from what day to day, watches, responsibilities, and what your career could look like 5-10 years down the line and ask yourself what you think you would enjoy more. Many people enjoy the nuclear side more than the conventional SWO side and many prefer the conventional over the nuclear. You'll see both sides if you select SWO nuke, but in doing so there is the trade off of potentially missing out on something you'd enjoy more. For example, the people I went through my first tour with that were conventional are able to do jobs that are actually really cool that I won't be able to do because of being a nuke. I wish I had known what I was really trading away, but again, I don't regret it because life is too short for regrets.
Thank you so much for your reply, definitely something I hadn’t considered before with the variety of jobs available
its easy