I will second the statements of MM3 Bishop. First the Navy has been under reported in this thread. Second, like my tour in the Air Force, the opportunities for advancement are very sweet in some career fields. I was E-3 straight out of A.I.T. (MOS School for the Army and Marines). Within a year I was an E-4. The career field that MM3 Bishop has chosen is one that the military has designated for fast track advancement. He should do well in the Navy.

For all you civilians out there.
Enlisted pay grades are E-1 through E-9, with E-1 being the lowest pay, and E-9 the highest.
MOS = Military Oriented Specialty, A.I.T. = Air Institute of Technology.
In the Marines, Army and Air Force, people are addressed by their rank. E.G. Private, Sergeant, Specialist, Master Sergeant. In the Navy, people are addressed by their function MM = Machinist Mate

Also in the Navy... if it floats it is called a vessel, if it travels below the surface it's a boat, or at least when I was stationed on a vessel called a sub tender.

Inter service digs:
U.S. Army = Uncle Sam Ain't Released Me Yet or Gravel Crunchers.
U.S. M.C. = Uncle Sam's Misguided Children or Jarheads
U.S.A.F = U Sure Are F......d or Uncle Sams Flying Funny Farm, or Fly boys.
U.S.C.G. = Uncle Sams Creative Gourmets.
U.S. Navy = The squids.
and many more... I have had the privilege to be stationed with Marines, Army and Navy. The Marines were my tent mates in Vietnam, The Army in a transportation unit in Germany, and during NATO operations with the Navy on board a sub tender. All of us would dig each other's service, but it was our own means of respect for each other and the service to which each of us belonged.

Serving in the Air Force almost guarantees being on aircraft at some point or another. Serving in the Navy almost guarantees being aboard a ship at some point or another. A Navy vessel is so huge it is like being in a city on a large island. The Army can almost guarantee seeing the sandbox at some point or another. The Marine Corps can guarantee that you might not be in the sandbox on rare occasions. The Coast Guard has been moved from the Department of defense to the Department of Homeland Security, and I am wicked out of date as to the conditions in that service.

Choose well based on how you wish to honour our forefathers in keeping the torch of freedom alive.

Slainte