Tiger cruise? I'll have to look that up.
Either of those welding jobs better then the other?
I was a Seabee so I 'm going to say SW LOL.
Seabees stands for Construction Battalion and it's officers are Civil Engineer Corps officers, as opposed to Air Warfare Officers (planes) and Surface Warfare Officers (ships). That Crypto Tech job would have Naval Intelligence Officers.
We did not do ship deployments in the Seabees. It is a land force (Expeditionary) and has an HQ company made up of clerical types and the Command Staff. Engineering Aides also work in HQ. EA's are basically surveyors.
Alpha Co. comprised of Equipment Operators(EO) and Construction Mechanics(CM). Their equipment consist of dozers, graders, cranes, track hoes,.... CM's learn and can get ASE certified on fuel systems, electrical, hydraulics,...
Bravo Co. and Charlie Co. has the same rates in them which are Steel Worker(SW), Utilitiesman (UT), Construction Electrician(CE), and Builder (BU). One Company is in charge of building camps or facilities and the other is in charge of camp maintenance.
Delta Co. is stood up on deployments and is comprised of All the disciplines and are tasked with projects that are away from the main body. There can be as many detachments as necessary and they are sought after because you get to go to many unique places in the world and each is usually comprised of just a few people. Could be humanitarian, could be at an embassy in Djibuti, could be on the Channel Islands off the coast of California.
For me, the best thing about it was that we didn't ever have to step foot on a ship. We flew everywhere we went and would utilize equipment that is staged in strategic reserves across the world. There are cargo ships around the world with a full load out of Seabee equipment. There are some Seabee that do elect to go on these ships to do preventive maintenance and load/unload them.
In the Surface Warfare (Ships) world there are Hull Technicians. They are a shipboard rate so there is an almost 100% chance an HT gets stationed on a ship. They do any welding repairs on the ship. Some, with very good evals and a few years of good conduct, can go to be certified for welding on submarines and nuclear welding. Very good money on the outside but same money while enlisted. A lot of these people will get out before retirement and go into private industry or work for a Defense contractor because they can get paid more than double what the Navy pays.
Deployments are the same length of time for both but the Seabees, at least up to 2011, did a 9/6 rotation. 9 months in port and 6 months deployed. We also had Advance Party (mostly Alpha Co. types) that went ahead of the main body to receive the equipment and when you're coming home Advance Party consists of every one besides Alpha types because they stay to turn the eqipment over to the next incoming. Point is, if you're in Alpha Co. you might end up doing 7 month deployments and 8 months in home port.
Shippies have it worse in my opinion. They are in home port for a year and do six month deployments, however, in between they do work-ups and short cruises up and down the coast to test systems and train. during a home port they could be gone for weeks to a month at a time, multiple times. As a junior sailor you would be required to live ON the ship unless you're married. Everyone that I've met that has done that says it's hell. Ever heard of a coffin rack? That's their bed. You have to keep all your possessions in a small box.
I would suggest that when the time comes she look for a job that does not require living on a ship. I personally don't think men and women should be on ships together. There are sooo many problems that arise. There's enough in the land based jobs but very prevalent on a boat. Not saying it can't be made to work but I would heavily advise my own daughter to steer clear.
I had a friend that was a Crypto Tech. She said they would fly around the world in a P3 Orion listening to and interpreting terrorist conversations. A SEAL friend had a CT on his team that interrogated terrorist in Afghanistan.
If she can take advance placement classes in H.S. and get an Associates knocked out in a year (w/ Sea Cadets) she should be a shoe in for E-3. She would be ahead when taking college classes while in the Navy too. The Navy is big on Sailors going to college while in. Every major base has college offices where multiple colleges send professors to the base to teach. If she has her associates already she could start working toward a Bachelor. It is all tuition assistance while enlisted and you don't even have to tap into your GI Bill till you get out.
Last piece of advice and it bears repeating, DON'T trust a Navy Recruiter to have the Recruits best interest in mind. They have quotas to fill and demographics to recruit. To get what you truly want you will need to do your own research and demand your requests (ie. going in as E-3 as a Sea Cadet graduate). Be well informed and don't compromise. There are other recruiting stations and other branches of service. You could wait 3 months and get a totally different experience because of a change in quotas.
