The Path Of A Mechanical Engineer Within The United States Navy

At a time in life, everyone is forced to choose a career path to usually follow for the rest of their lives. Me for example, it’s that time of my life where I’m graduating high school and pursuing a specific career! Personally, I was going to pursue acting, however, it wasn’t realistic due to the $300,000 of student debt I would end up with after graduation. So I’ve decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy and serve as a Private (A rank we all start with) I’m planning to become a U.S. Navy Seabee, which is Navy but on land, doing construction, mechanical engineering and so on and so forth. The career that I’ve laid my eyes on is Mechanical Engineering. As mentioned, the career I will be pursuing is a part-time Mechanical Engineer in the U.S. Navy. In the U.S. Military, the most important thing out of any job even a rifleman is teamwork. According to the official U.S. Naval Career Website, an Engineer’s most important duties are “... efficiency, teamwork, and reliability, mixed with an ability to build almost anything permanent or portable”. As a Mechanical Engineer, my specific duty is to repair damaged automobiles, heavily armored vehicles, and air crafts. I will have to attain the ability to prepare land surveys, maps, sketches, and blueprints at a moment’s notice. I will need to learn how to operate “bulldozers, backhoes, forklifts, cranes and many asphalt equipment”. Although I’m listed as a Mechanical Engineer, I also have to by law, be a part of the US. Navy Seabees. This means I will also need to learn to “install drywalls, paneling, ceramic tiles, ceiling and floor tiles, millwork and also learn how to install, operate or repair heating and cooling systems, power production, electrical distribution, and plumbing systems”. Like I said earlier on, careers are usually something we first pursue then follow for the rest of our lives, which means that career choices must be wise and picked out carefully. I chose this career because it’s offered in the U.S. Navy which means I would still receive the same benefits as a regular U.S. Navy and help my family out but at the same time being able to conquer challenges I will have to face throughout my career of mechanical engineering. At the minimum, I will by law have to sacrifice anywhere between two to six years of my life serving in the U.S. Navy in general. I will also be put at risk of mechanical failure injuries throughout my life as a mechanical engineer.

In my opinion, this career suits the best because of how difficult it is to do and how much attention you must give while doing your job. I personally am a dedicated person who really likes a challenge and being a mechanical engineer will keep my life challenging at all times because there are so many different things in life that a mechanic gets to repair and most of them are similar but different at the same time which prolongs the challenge. Furthermore, being a mechanical engineer doesn’t mean that I must join the U.S. Military. I simply just chose the Military for the additional pay and benefits that may or may not impact me greatly later on after I become a veteran. The path I would have to take is to first pass the Navy’s boot camp just like all other recruits of any military branch. Upon graduation from boot camp, I then will proceed to “A-School” dispatched by the U.S. Government for mechanical engineering and work as a mechanical engineering intern with other well-skilled engineers already within the U.S. Navy. I then will have to graduate this university (Still not determined by the Government so I currently do not know) at the minimum with a “bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or mechanical engineering technology”. This then allows me to work full time as a Mechanical engineer without being supervised by another engineer of the same type.

Overall, I’ve learned through my extensive research that being a mechanical engineer in the Navy isn’t an easy task. In fact, it’s arguable that it’s more difficult than that of a regular mechanical engineer due to the extra rifle training, personal training, and schooling we must go through while working. I’ve learned that being a mechanical engineer requires the most basic levels of teamwork but while I’m in the Navy, the most important values aren’t the most basic level of teamwork, I must provide everyone on my mechanical team with love and respect, efficiency, teamwork, and reliability, mixed with an ability to build almost anything permanent or portable. And most importantly, my trust, and hope. I’ve learned/realized that through these hardships, there are a lot of things we can let go of, but there is one thing that we absolutely cannot let go of, and that is hope. Even if it is a slim glimmer of hope, as distant as the stars in the sky, as small as a single match stick, it’s a light that leads us to walk forward to the dark.