<p>i won't mention what i read your line "out trying to find his little ball in the woods" as at first, but let's just say I started to laugh. Glad I can be of help. I completely forgot that option as a graduate of KP: Janitor.</p>
<p>You KP guys have terminal mind in the gutter disease. LOL You had better get busy polishing your clubs seeing as how its one of the requirements for your profession. Too funny...</p>
<p>Major discussion here: Length of containership is 965 feet equals the length of a short par 4 for regular golfers or one Tiger Wood's drive. </p>
<p>But seriously, KP2001, this information is nowhere to be found except by word of mouth (WOM?) or now, by CC! Thank you!!! Nonmariners are clueless about how the system works (or doesn't). </p>
<p>What inspired you to jump from the mariner world to medicine? Were you an EMT at KP? Hated the sea? Didn't like job, $ or being away? Do you stay in touch with your classmates and how are they doing 5 years out?</p>
<p>weski: I started pursuing the medicine option late in my third class year (in fact took a biology course at night at the local community college during the last part of the year at KP). I was an EMT at school, but I'm not sure that had much of an effect on me, I just wanted out of the normal watch schedule and a phone in my room (back then cell phones weren't around as much). I think the main reason I jumped ship was due to the deckie work schedule and the months away from home. I think it's great as a young person, but I'm not sure how well it works for a family. Some mariners have great families; others, well let's just say not so much. Also I think medicine is much more mentally stimulating than sailing. </p>
<p>I do stay in touch with some of my classmates. The Kings Pointer is great for keeping you up to date on those you don't talk to as often. Alot of my class is still sailing, many have upgraded to Chief Mate or 1st Assistant Engineer. Some are sailing for the cruise lines, ran into one of my classmates recently who had been doing some Masters in economics program over in Amsterdam. Many have gotten married and several have children now. Most of those who went active duty (not including the pilots) are now getting out at the end of their commitments. A few have gotten advanced engineering degrees from MIT (on full scholarships). We have sadly lost one of our classmates during flight training, but otherwise I think most are doing very well for themselves.</p>
<p>For your 2 week naval reserve vacation, what did you do?</p>
<p>What are the chances of being activated in the naval reserves? </p>
<p>Do tankers pay more?</p>
<p>What is it like living on a ship? </p>
<p>What is your room like? </p>
<p>What amenities do they have? </p>
<p>What do you eat? </p>
<p>What did you do for entertainment (dare I ask)? </p>
<p>Did you find yourself bored much? </p>
<p>In a few years do you think ships will have good internet access? </p>
<p>How long does it take to sail from asia to n.america or n.america to europe?</p>
<p>When you hit shore, how much time do you have to explore the area?</p>
<p>What is the weather like at sea? ass-freezing-cold? or are you in a bubble in the ship and dont really go outside?</p>
<p>How does pay increase with experience?</p>
<p>How many months a year do you have to sail to keep your uscg license?</p>
<p>thanks. :)</p>
<p>holy smokes, I'm going to start charging per question, haha. </p>
<p>1)Naval Reserve duty: First one I went to San Francisco and worked in the Maritime Admin office, also spent some time doing inspections on some of their vessesl. Second duty I went to Norfolk and did vessel tracking for the war effort. Basically sat in a secure room and received positioning reports for the vessels we were in charge of. Weekends are usually off.</p>
<p>2)Chances of being activated: If you do the regular merchant marine program the probability is close to zero. There has never been anyone involuntarily recalled to active duty from our program since World War II. If you were recalled it would be to serve on the ships taking gear to the war.</p>
<p>3)Do tankers pay more: nope. the pay varies by the company or the contract the union has. </p>
<p>4)Ship Life: As an officer you'll usually have your own room and own bathroom with a person who cleans your room for you (be nice and clean it for them, your mom/dad don't live on the ship with you). Amenities vary by the ship. Some are incredibly lavish, others not so much. There is almost always a officers lounge that will have more movies than you can imagine and most will have at least some weights if not a decent gym. Eating - usually you eat very, very well. This can be dependent on the cook, but on the APL ship I was on that went to alaska we would buy fresh king crab to eat each voyage. </p>
<p>Entertainment: there are tons and tons of movies on every ship. Alot of people also read various books, I got hooked on Harry Potter by one of the engineers on my ship. I also did some correspondence classes through the navy while out. As an officer you are usually kept pretty busy (as a cadet it can depend on your crew, sometimes i worked like a slave (literally made less than $1 an hour at one point), other times I had more free time than I knew what to do with. In port the entertainment can vary from G rated to as far up the scale you so desire (sorry moms and dads, there are some salty sailors out there). Mostly I just saw the country I was in and did some shopping...and maybe had a few beers. Bored: not really, I kept pretty busy. The first couple weeks on the ship can be bad, but then you get in a routine.</p>
<p>Future Internet Access: this one could go either way. Right now most ships have email access that you can use. The problem with the internet is you have to use satellite communication and that is both slow and expensive. I can't really see many companies paying for total internet access at the current expense. Really no need for it out there. Email is very, very nice though.</p>
<p>Sailing times: This one is very dependent on the ship you're on. Some of the newer ships are rather fast. My fastest ship did the asia to california route in about 12-14 days I think. My slowest ship did the Gibraltar to Houston route in about 7 or 8 (these could be way off, can't quite remember). Let's just say it's enough time to be ready to see some land.</p>
<p>Time to explore: As a cadet this varies by the crew you are working with. As a general rule for the nice crews they will let you have all the time off the ship is in port. For container ships this could vary from 4 to 48 hours. For tankers this could be 12hours to a couple days. If you really want time off find an old timer Break Bulk Ship. For those you'll have 1-5 or longer days in each port. </p>
<p>Weather: Varies on where you are. If you get the antartica route that's available to midshipmen then you'll freeze. If you go to alaska in the middle of winter, you'll freeze. If you go to the equator you'll be warm. Of course if you're an engineer you're pretty much hot wherever you go. Most of your time is spent inside the superstructure of the vessel; however, there is always work to do outside so expect to spend at least a few hours outside each day (unless the seas are washing over the ship and they close the deck) And when you're docking/undocking you have to be outside no matter what the temp.</p>
<p>Pay Increase: Pay increases with your position on the ship. Captains and Chief Engineers make a very nice living. You won't make any more money as a third mate with 20 yrs experience than a third mate with 1 year experience if you're working on the same ship.</p>
<p>Keep your license: You don't have to sail at all to keep your license. You must renew the license every five years (once at least for your graduation requirements). If you have 365 days sailing within those previous five years then all you really have to do is fill out some paperwork. If you don't have that time you simply take an open book test to renew your license. As an aside to upgrade your license you have to take a test (there have been some changes since I got my license, my understanding is that currently you graduate KP with basically a 3rd mate and 2nd mate (or engineer) license and all it takes to upgrade to 2nd mate is enough sea time)</p>
<p>excellent, thanks!!!</p>
<p>I'm right there with Weski, KP you have taught me more in just a few days than I have learned in the past year. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer the questions in the detail that you have.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, KP2001! We don't have much alum info via the web (boy, USMMA is way behind the curve there, which is why we are here). Best wishes in your new career!</p>
<p>KP 2001, Thank you very much for the insight you have given us, and Taffy thanks for asking those very detailed and inquisitive questions.</p>
<p>Kp2001...OMG you are brilliant and a wealth of knowledge as well as patience.
I cannot thank you enough for all your incredibly informative posts.</p>
<p>Taffy, thanks so much for initiating the dialogue.</p>
<p>OK. You'll have to come over now KP. The husband is in a coma. All of his questions were just answered in one fell swoop. He's been sitting around wondering about this stuff since July 8th when we dropped the kid for Indoc. Is wondering about active duty though. From what we understand, if you go active duty, your committment time is less but in choosing an active duty branch, must you be in the top 10% of your class? And he asks if you've been through a Shellback ceremony? Ha!</p>
<p>The Hubby thinks Taffy might have done well during the Spanish Inquisition. ;)</p>
<p>haha. As far as I know you do not have to be in the top 10% to go active duty. That would be very limiting in those going active duty as 10% would only encompass about 20 people at most. The time commitment issue is kinda weird. As far as I know you are only required to do 3 years on active duty (not including aviation - those guys have a minimum of 7 I think). After those three years you are put on a inactive reserve list for a minimum of five years from which you could be recalled to active duty. (I don't know enough for these to be hard and fast numbers, but they are correct to my knowledge) If deciding to go active duty the earlier you make this decision the better, especially for the Marine Corps. For most of the other branches you will be required to attend an officer's course, which if you decide early enough you can do during one of the summers. If you decide in First Class year to go active in a branch other than Navy you may find yourself at an officer candidate school for a few weeks.</p>
<p>I, unfortunately, am not a shellback yet. I never made it south of the equator, closest was Cameroon. But I have a feeling before my Navy career is ended I will kiss the belly of ole Neptune.</p>
<p>KP, your'e experience in the merchant marine sounds awesome so just out of curiosity, what did you major in and what was your license in? Thanks.</p>
<p>marine transportation and deck officer, i believe.</p>
<p>Poor KP2001 - this all started when he replied to above or below decks - see thread where we got him to start talking: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=135695%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=135695</a></p>
<p>thanks again KP2001!</p>
<p>You sucked him in weski and he's ours now! Kudos to you. Thanks KP.
Another question for anyone: If a tutor is needed, how does one go about setting it up? I don't know if it will be but would like the information just in case. Do they have to go outside of the academy or are there upperclassmen who do it for extra monies?</p>
<p>KP, are any of your other mates shellbacks? Just curious. Its just one of those romantic things from the sea I happen to love and has nothing to do with nothing really.</p>
<p>I don't know too much about tutors... I know there are usually more than a few upperclassmen who are more than willing to help out for free. I also seem to remember there being some real tutors who the school set up for us. Not sure how it is now.</p>
<p>Oh there are plenty of my classmates who are shellbacks. Several get to do it during their Academy days, others had to wait until they sailed after graduation.</p>
<p>Wow, I actually typed a response that was less than six pages long.</p>
<p>Whats a shellback?</p>
<p>6 pages plz</p>
<p>I wondered who would be the first to break and ask that question. Although six pages could probably be written about a "Shellback" it is merely a person who has crossed the equator on a ship. There is a traditional ceremony that goes along with the milestone that can range from tame to insane. </p>
<p>BTW, 955 messages taffy? quit pm'ing yourself to up your post count :)</p>