This is my first post and would love some feedback. I did 4 years in the Navy as a gas turbine technician. I am 37 years old. I have been on two deployments on a US Destroyer traveling well over 100K nautical miles. The ship is 6500 tons and over 100,000 HP by 4 GE LM 2500 Gas Turbines. I finished my quals. as engineroom operator and basically ran main engineroom 2 on our ship. I already have a useless college degree but have no problem going back to school for all the certs I need to attain my 200 ton master/mate license and any other licenses I need to hit the deck running. I live in Portland, Or. and hope to stay in the area working inland on the columbia, willlamette river pushing barges as a tug mate/capt.
My question is to go mate/capt. or engineering where most of my background is? Does my Navy sea time carry over to maritime sea time? I was looking at Clatsop community college for education for my 200 ton mate/master license. School is free for me with the GI BILL so I would prefer to take as many classes as I can before I go looking for a job. What other classes should I take?
This is my first post and would love some feedback. I did 4 years in the Navy as a gas turbine technician. I am 37 years old. I have been on two deployments on a US Destroyer traveling well over 100K nautical miles. The ship is 6500 tons and over 100,000 HP by 4 GE LM 2500 Gas Turbines. I finished my quals. as engineroom operator and basically ran main engineroom 2 on our ship. I already have a useless college degree but have no problem going back to school for all the certs I need to attain my 200 ton master/mate license and any other licenses I need to hit the deck running. I live in Portland, Or. and hope to stay in the area working inland on the columbia, willlamette river pushing barges as a tug mate/capt.
My question is to go mate/capt. or engineering where most of my background is? Does my Navy sea time carry over to maritime sea time? I was looking at Clatsop community college for education for my 200 ton mate/master license. School is free for me with the GI BILL so I would prefer to take as many classes as I can before I go looking for a job. What other classes should I take?
Thanks,
Ty[/QUOTE]
You should go talk to Sause Bros. in Coos Bay. Many of their Captains started out as tug engineers / deckineers.
I doubt that Gas Turbine tech qualifies for any deck time at all. You should go for engineering rather than deck. If you are set on being a tug Capt/Mate, you must work your way up from Ordinary Seaman on deck. Working in the engineering dept. on a Navy ship does not prepare you, or qualify as seatime for Mate/Capt or even AB of a tug.