Did some research into the main stuff the Navy recruiters mentioned while I was there. I do know that, because of my very good score on the practice ASVAB, I was more immediately considered a candidate for high-profile Navy work; the two fields that came up were Linguistics (brought up by me, since despite my high aptitude for mathematical, scientific, and musical areas, I consider language to be where my true talents lie) and Nuclear Power (which immediately interested me because in the last semester I attended college I had just been getting interested in power systems in general).

First general thing I know is that a contract with the Navy is "eight years". All seamen spend four years on active duty after boot camp and Basic Training (BT), which is most likely up in Great Lakes, Illinois; some of the enlisted, like the nuke power guys, need an extra two-ish years of scholastic training to familiarise themselves with the workings of maritime nuclear power and such. After that, whatever is left of the eight years is spent in the Navy Reserves (which, as I just found out by looking, is not the NROTC (enn-rot-see), which is the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps), and then you're back in civilian life, if you so choose. There is a re-enlistment program, and obviously there's the Officer training if you're accepted—and, hey, while I'm thinking about it, there's also the SEALS which would be absolutely ... well. Think about Basement Cat the Navy SEAL. lolz

According to the Petty Officer I talked to, the worst case scenario (assuming I don't quit, which I don't really see myself doing...) is, I spend my four years active in the Navy and I hate it, and I want out. I get my Honorable Discharge, go on my way, and in return I get 75 fully-paid-for college credit hours, good anywhere in the country. Since I'm about two years into the ME program, that means I could easily finish out my Bachelor's, with some stuff left over to put towards a Master's (if I so chose). I also would receive an $80,000 scholarship good for anything tuition-related: tuition itself, books (thank the Lord), fees, housing, probably food; basically a complete coverall.

It's a really good deal. Again, I don't really see myself absolutely loathing the Navy, but who knows what can happen in four years?

And while we're talking about money, I'd basically be getting paid as soon as I get out of BT. An E-1 (which I believe means enlisted-1) pay grade, as I researched, is ~$1,460/month. That's the lowest tier pay rate. That's almost as much as my father was making when we were back in South Carolina and he was a company draftsman. I was a little surprised at this; up until now I'd thought that you only started getting paid when you started active duty, but according to the military branches you're automatically working for them as soon as you pass BT. This means that any career paths that require extensive schooling are basically allowing you to attend a military-grade college and literally getting paid to attend. As opposed to loans and grants and such; I even discount scholarships, personally, because that's in effect someone financing you, betting on your future returns, where the military thing seems more like "you're going to school, but we classify it as a full-time job already". That's nifty to me.