Pros
Stable. Tuition reimbursement. Sick leave + federal holidays. You can move to other jobs within the shipyard relatively easily. If you are going the carrier route, travel to San Diego and Japan are typical, with very high per diem. An extra $10k worth in about 3 months.
Cons
Zero diversity, very few non-white people or women. Instructors and staff are predominantly previous Nuclear Sailors. No overtime during an intensive training program which requires consistent levels of overtime to excel on tests. No schedule flexibility to take leave or vacation during 6-8 month training window, taking sick leave is almost impossible if you don’t want to get behind significantly. Sheer quantity of information required to be memorized is unrealistic and impractical. Computers take 15-20 minutes merely to log-in to check email. An antiquated one-size fits all approach to learning with little room for creativity or “teaching” outside the box. Also, office spaces are very dirty across the shipyard. Very early start times (6-7:30 am) and no staff is in the office past 3 or 4 pm most days. People appear to do the bare minimum. Toxic workplace environment that doesn’t focus on or value the mental health or well-being of students. It is an STE factory, no individual actually matters and everyone is replaceable. People are generally a little odd.