Hey, I am pretty much in. 11 days until good ole' boot camp! I have a question regarding time, is it truly 18 hour days with 6 hours of sleep 4 years in a row non-stop? Let us say I want to take CLEP tests... is it possible to have time in the day to take one? How much time will I have for weight lifting and reading books? Sea and shore time regardless. ( I know it isn't all fun and games and that you have a 24/7 duty to the country...but I feel it is a duty to become smarter as well... it helps everyone.) Also, I have to expect the schedule like time in a civilian job. I worked 1 year in factories so I dunno how worse it can be. One more thing, is getting EAWS difficult?

Ironkettle- For a starter quit listening to all the bull around you every duty station will be different.Yes you will be obglaited to the USN 24/7 that don't mean you work 24 hours a day.As far as CLEP you schedule all Civilan projects around the Navy not the other way.Just go with the flow you will not be the only new guy.Your job will change as your experince grows just remember your Shipmates is your best friends that will come natural.The weightlifting and other things depends on your Duty Station.Good Luck

Thanks. After I asked my recruiter questions, I just went online and found a lot of negativity about the navy. So, that kinda scared me. They even have a site dedicated to hating the navy. What were some of your guys experience with the Navy?

The MARDOT? They always got me to where we were needed and didn't sink on the way there!

That, and they cured me of all kinds of nasty diseases.

Ironkettle-I served on just about every type of Surface ship.Heavy Cruiser,Minesweeper,Riverine Force,Coastal Patrol PTF,Gator Navy ,Tugboat.No Sub duty.

One can always find folks that don't like an organization, especially one as large as the US Navy. But for everyone of those you find, there's ten others that disagree 100% with that viewpoint. Serving successfully in the Navy is something one aquires. You have to put forth the effort in order to do it up right. The large majority of Sailors do just that. As always, there are those few that can't just seem to get the hang of it and start blaming the entire Navy for thier own shortcomings and faults.

Keep the right attitude and you'll do just fine. Always try to remember exactly why you joined in the first place. Keep that in the front of your mind and everything generally falls right into place.

Oh yeah, ping Sully. He can tell you the real scoop.

Thanks gunny! That is one hell of a motivator. Yeah, it seems you will always find that one person that gripes no matter what the scenario. Be it a Navy or civilian one. I'll just be proud to be next to people that protect my family and I feel like I should protect theirs in return.(Also, I hope it is like the Coast Guard in that there are rescue missions or help people at sea.) About attitude, my friend's dad pissed and moaned about the Navy while in and misses it now. Besides, he even said he was a "burnout" while in there, that alone would probably make me hate anything I was doing besides drugs. Thanks for comments! Sully, wow you have done a lot in there! How many years have you been in?

Ironkettle I put 17/3 and got out after Vietnam the US Navy had a program called the Z-Grams and a lot of the Old Navy kinda lost our respect for the change it eventually went back to the old days but I had already gotten out.Even though I got out without anything but a lot of great memories and seeing the World or most of what a lot of people would spend a lifetime trying to do.By the time I was 18 yrs old I had made a Round the World Cruise onboard a Baltimore Class Heavy Cruiser the( USS Helena CA 75 )she was President Harry S Truman's choice of Flagships she was called the Queen of the Fleet.