Welding In the Navy

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I've been taking the welding courses at my community college for about a year and half now and I love it! I want a career in welding, however I also want to become a Navy Officer when I get my bachelors degree.My questions are: 1. What welding jobs (If any) are open to Navy Officers? 2. What qualifications would I have to meet for those jobs? 3. Would I need a certain major for those jobs? 4. What type of welding would I be doing in those jobs? and 5. Is navy the best branch for welders? Thanks in advance!
Reply:The Navy rate for welders is HT (hull tech). If your set on becoming an officer in the Nav;go for it. That's if you want to get paid. Officers in the Navy do not do physical work; they ensure projects and tasks are done to Navy protocol. This may not be the case for Navyseabees or seals, I don't know.
Reply:Navy officers do none of the physical labor like welding. If you want to become an officer, easiest way is ROTC while earning a bachelors. an engineering degree would be a great place to start. Just because that is the career field you want to go into, doesn't mean that's where the navy will put you. Most of the welding jobs as I've seen are contracted out (as far as it goes for AF and most of what I saw at Pensacola for the aircraft side of things for Navy)
Reply:X2 on a degree in mechanical engineering or similar and get your CWI cert too.   You may not get to weld directly but may then get to supervise or run welding related assignments.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Welding in the Navy is performed by contractors, shipyard workers (both gov't and contractors), and as previously stated HT's (not officers).  The Navy personnel also perform wet welding.  Wet welding is performed by Navy Divers who are enlisted.  Officers do not do manual labor, they supervise and most of the time the senior (and even less senior) enlisted guys know way more than the officers when it comes to performing the work.The Navy has a ship engineering department (NAVSEA - Naval Sea Systems command) which now-a-days is most program management run by people (civilians and ex-navy officers) with engineering degrees who never have really done anything but cost, schedule, and supervise.  However, they do still have a few engineering disciplines that do get involved in real work.  Welding is one of those disciplines.If you are looking for a career in welding it would not be a bad place w/in that command to work.  You'd be exposed to all of the welding that the navy does, and that is quite frankly a lot.  The Navy is involved in and uses all types of welding (MIG, TIG, Stick, friction, underwater welding (dry and wet) , etc,, etc) of all types of materials imaginable.  A shipyard that works on Naval vessels (gov't or private) also have welding departments and if you want to be closer to the work that is the place you may want to go but you might not be exposed to as many different types if you decided to go to a shipyard vise going to headquarters.  But going to a shipyard would give you a very solid foundation.A degree in metalurgy would probably suit you best if you want to be a welding engineer.  If you actually want to do the welding then getting an engineering degree wouldn't hurt but it is not something that you need and so if you got a degree and then when and got a job welding, you'd be 4 years behind where you would have been if you just went and got a job as a welder to start with.
Reply:Poptm, in order to get a degree in "metallurgy" it would have to be either in ME with an emphasis on metallurgy or Materials engineering with an emphasis in metallurgy. Either way, an engineering degree
Reply:you sound like a naval officer all ready
Reply:Close, Air Force
Reply:During twenty plus years in the US Navy, I never saw, or heard of, an officer doning a welding helmet or picking up a stinger.I offer three choices: Good, Fast, & Cheap. You may pick two.Hobart AC/DC StikMate LXHarbor Freight AD HoodHarbor Freight Industrial Chop SawDeVilbis 20 Gallon, 5 HP Compressor
Reply:As others have pointed out, an HT is the job. If you get in, and are looking for OTC, then what you want to shoot for is a Hull Tech with an ATF (Advanced Tech Field. ) This will get you boiler, steam vessel training. Opens you up to maintenence on the glow in the dark boats which have steam systems for power. The basic part of this would put you in a school in Colorado for about 18 months before your second deployment. Don't feel bad if they screw you on the class; you will be under a pretty good contract and can back out of the stint. Believe me; when you sign up for 8 with a mandatory 4 on the re-up just to get accepted to the school....... you want them to at least hold up their part of the bargain for your time invested.And then, after so much work...... you have it in your hand, and you look over to your side...... and the runner has run off. Leaving you holding the prize, wondering when the runner will return.
Reply:My buddy is the head welder/plumber on the USS Enterprise I can give you his email.
Reply:Originally Posted by justinTMy buddy is the head welder/plumber on the USS Enterprise I can give you his email.
Reply:HA HA HA HA!! Navy officers work? you crazy!As a navy officer you will spend 30% of your time in the wardroom and the other 70% on watch in the bridge. No welding for officers. As an HT on todays navy ships the most advanced thing you will be doing is welding pipes and MAYBE a few SS test tubes to nipples.
Reply:Originally Posted by 1967martiHA HA HA HA!! Navy officers work? you crazy!As a navy officer you will spend 30% of your time in the wardroom and the other 70% on watch in the bridge. No welding for officers. As an HT on todays navy ships the most advanced thing you will be doing is welding pipes and MAYBE a few SS test tubes to nipples.
Reply:I did quite a bit of welding when I was on the Enterprise back in 03.  Aviation side would be your AM's (Aviation Structural Mech) and AS's (Aviation Support Equipment) (IIRC)  Most of it was TIG on aluminum aircraft parts.At workMillermatic 252Syncrowave 250DXAt HomeLincoln Pro Mig 140Lincoln AC/DC 225/125