February 04, 2025

The crew members shared their experiences in the Navy’s nuclear community with midshipmen of Mizzou’s Navy ROTC program.

The Mizzou College of Engineering received a visit from crew members of the USS Missouri nuclear submarine.

Navy nuclear engineers visit each of the 78 Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NROTC) units annually to talk to students about their experiences in the Navy’s nuclear community.

This year, Commanding Officer Gieorag “G” Andrews, Senior Chief Robert Weaver and Petty Officer Colten L. Schmidt of the U.S.S. Missouri visited with midshipmen at Mizzou. The crew members also met with Governor Mike Kehoe and University of Missouri President Mun Choi.

“It’s awesome to see how the nuclear Navy is rapidly developing and strengthening their position as the forefront of the U.S. Navy,” junior Courtney Fadler said. “It’s wonderful to know that no matter how important their role is, the community always makes the effort to continue to educate future officers and students.”

Grace Ousley, a junior at Mizzou, agreed.

“Gaining a better understanding of the nuclear Navy as a whole and learning from the warfighters who serve in that community will make me a more well-rounded, knowledgeable officer in the future,” she said.

Over the past three academic years, Mizzou has produced six nuclear officers for the Navy and will commission another two this year. A recent Navy report ranked Mizzou’s nuclear officer production as “excellent.”

“Mizzou — and especially the College of Engineering — are training up quality students who go on to fill elite Navy jobs in such fields as cyber warfare or nuclear engineering,” Captain Thomas Ulmer, commanding officer and professor of naval science at Mizzou, said. “We’ve actually exceeded the Navy’s requirement over the last couple of years, and we look forward to continuing that trend.”

NROTC is an excellent way for students to join the nuclear Navy, but it’s not the only way. They can join the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) program, graduates of which get commissioned and go into the nuclear program.

Active-duty sailors can come to Mizzou for the Seaman to Admiral 21 (STA-21) Program, which provides them a college education and enables them to become commissioned officers. Mizzou is one of only a few schools that has STA-21.

“The relationship that we have with Engineering is phenomenal,” Ulmer said. “We receive a lot of support from the dean’s office, department chairs, faculty and staff throughout the College. That support helps us meet our objective: to get officers commissioned with degrees in technical fields so they can become nuclear engineers.”

Want to become a nuclear engineer in the U.S. Navy? Choose Mizzou Engineering!