Senior enlists in the United States Navy nuclear engineering program

In fear of war always at the doorstep, the United States military must recruit young men and women to serve in the nation’s armed forces. Michael Webb (12) is one of the nine WHS students to answer the call this year.

Webb is an active member in not only the school’s community but also Windsor’s community. Webb participates in two sports — soccer and track — participates in multiple clubs and is an exceptional student.

Webb’s choice to enlist in the United States Navy (USN) wasn’t one that he initially engaged in, following the more typical route of going to college, but late in the second semester of his junior year the idea of enlisting became a real possibility.

“I wanted to serve my country, but I wanted to have a good job after, if I did want to get out,” Webb said. “So I joined — I was going to join as an officer — but decided that enlisting was the best route to end up where I wanted to be and still be doing engineering.”

Grady Thorne (12) is one of Webb’s good friends and hopes to pursue a United States Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps.) scholarship at the Colorado School of Mines. Thorne was one of the first individuals to know about Webb’s plan to enlist in the USN.

“I think it was around the end of last year he mentioned something about going to the Navy and then over the summer, he was telling us that he had talked to a recruiter,” Thorne said. “And then one day he came in and said, ‘Yep, I’m going to enlist.’”

Webb scored a 91 on the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery), which allowed him to sign a contract with the USN to become a nuclear propulsion engineer. Throughout high school, Webb has excelled at math and science, as well as showing his physical aptitude through his athletics.

Phil Weiser (staff) is one of Webb’s teachers and his soccer coach, and he has seen his work ethic first hand. “Michael Webb is one of the hardest working students and athletes I’ve worked with in 24 years of education and coaching,” Weiser said. “He makes sure every minor detail is taken care of; he does not care about who gets credit for the work; and he just makes sure the work gets done and it’s done at a high level.”

Webb is taking many advanced and college courses this year to ensure that he is prepared for the challenging life of a nuclear engineer for the USN. “My future job in the Navy is nuclear propulsion, with hopefully an emphasis in submarines,” Webb said. “I chose this job … because I could be on a submarine, and I think submarines are absolutely spectacular machines.”

The majority of the submarines and aircraft carriers in the USN are nuclear powered, meaning that they have nuclear plants onboard that need to be maintained. This is an important job that Webb wants to pursue in the future.

“I would like to stay for about 10, 15 years and hopefully be commissioned on a sub as a nuclear propulsion (engineer),” Webb said. “After the navy, I’m still unsure about, maybe I’ll become a math teacher or something like that, or go into the nuclear field in the civilian sector or stay in the private sector and still work under the people I worked with.”

Enlisting in the USN is a physically easy process, but it is not as much of a mentally easy task to undergo. Webb’s largest supporter during this process was his mother.

“I would say the greatest support would have to be my mom. She’s a planner, she loves to plan and she was a little unsure what would happen,” Webb said. “You’re not really guaranteed anything when you enlist, it’s kind of all up in the air, even though you sign your contract and everything. But after I completely committed and I was ready and I’m like, ‘This is what I’m doing, no matter what,’ she started looking into it and she’s, like, ‘This is pretty good.’”

Webb will graduate in May 2025 and will attend USN basic training after graduation.