I am prior Navy I was an MSSN I did 2 1/2 yrs aboard a ship, does anyone know about how this will translate over for seatime for AB? I am waiting for my sea service records form Navy personnel Command to apply for TWIC and MMC.
What is the better Online Ab course to take, I am kind of land locked so that is all I can do for now?
I understand that different ships are out for varying times when they are back in port, how long usually before they go out again?
When they get back do they give you a specific amount of time off to go home, I live in Las Vegas?
Most of the postings i have seen are for Mixed tour, is that all there is?
If i joined in the steward dept. because that is what I did in the navy, is it easy to transfer over to deck (i want more challenge)?
Thank you in advance, i am sure I will have more questions.
Search the NOAA threads for more specifics. I worked with them for a year until I upgraded. Lots of great people there.
-Crappy pay, so be prepared to make 1/3rd to 1/4 the average going rate for your position.
-You are gone until you accrue leave and take it. You know this system I assume. Most people are gone 10 plus months a year unless you live near the port.
-You can always transfer around. They have a great system
Ask for the relief pool if you want more time off and flexibility. You can go home between assignments, unless they need you elsewhere. The minimum availability is 120 days per season.
I don’t know of any online AB courses. Generally you need to attend a school. Being in Vegas you have some good west coast choices.
Since you were a mess specialist you would have a good shot at second cook which pays better. There is a chart which shows what navy seatime converts (by rating) and I’ll see if I can find it later today. Generally only deck and engine counts however.
Catherder, how is the government shutdown affecting NOAA? Are you guys all on the beach? What about management? Is everything shutdown until further notice?
Yes, all’s pretty much wound down. I was augmenting on a ship here at home so when we wrapped up on Tuesday at noon, I just went home like I was doing every day anyway. They told us to watch the news. If you live on the ship, you can stay on the ship, or go home, or whatever you like just so long as you come back when recalled.
The Ron Brown is out, I think their mission is pre-funded, so they can just keep going. The Lasker had a sea trial and I think they did it with people out of the union hall (as someone else mentioned) because many of the crew bailed on Tuesday, some went out of state to go home. Strange. I guess I’ll know more when we go back to work. Everyone else is in, or almost in…and I got a text from friends on the Fairweather and they just got to Newport OR about an hour ago.
Contractor maintenance stopped, so any unfinished repairs will have to wait to resume when we get the green light. Those all add up to the costs of a shutdown that most people are unaware of.
I’m seeing less and less licensed engineers and I’ve heard this from other people I know among the fleet. It’s been getting tough to meet crew minimum requirements as of late.
[QUOTE=sailorman1981;134489]Has NOAA been hiring anyone?
I’m seeing less and less licensed engineers and I’ve heard this from other people I know among the fleet. It’s been getting tough to meet crew minimum requirements as of late.[/QUOTE]
When they pay licensed engineers less then what a wiper normally makes, why would anyone go to NOAA? That isn’t even talking about the lack of rotation. I want to go back but those are the two big reasons i don’t. My friends that are still there love it, and they live on the ship.
Funny how i find myself replying to a thread i participated in months ago but with new perspective.
What you heard is true. We are very short of licensed engineers especially thirds.
Several ships are indeed having manning issues at the moment.
I am a Junior unlicensed eng and am at the airport waiting for a flight home. The ship I left is short a license. I was filling the vacancy in port.
I will be moving on myself next year as i can no longer make it on the pay I get. I have prior military service so the buyback paperwork is in the pipeline so I can get a retirement. It wont be much but it will be a check for life.
What also sucks is the hiring process. Very slow, very aggravating.
There are a lot of enjoyable aspects to the job as well but they are clearly not enough to keep qualified personnel.
For the OP if you are still interested keep applying. It could be weeks or months before they contact you. Especially if applying as a GVA or Second Cook…
FA still in Duwamish with mech issues RA made it out of the barn.
I have been bounced between three ships in one and a half weeks. Am heading to the third one today. I fly more than I sail. I should be a frigging pilot.
Sorry to hear about all the flights! We had to swap out two engineers and send them east and south. Then we got two engineers to replace them with-one from the north and one from the east. It’s totally crazy right now!
Anyone here get on as a General Vessel Assistant? I applied last year, and my application is perpetually in “reviewing applications” status. I applied at another Government Agency (Army Corps) and immediately got an answer (two days!!) that I didn’t have enough of the skills they were looking for, which is what I expected. Why doesn’t NOAA do something with my application? .
