Are stories of the SWO community valid?

[Seafort]

Wow, stirring biography. Thanks for sharing. We're all the richer for it.

So...am I reading this right? You want SWO but are worried about being forced to take NFO? If so, that's such a weird stance to take that I have no idea where to begin. However, I was a SWO. I fought and scratched and clawed to get out of the Blackshoe world as fast as I could and into the NFO pipeline.

And also, if you take some time to peruse the AW ROE and previous threads, you'll notice that "what are my chances?" questions are very strongly frowned upon.

I read all of the recommended reading, including the Letter to Garcia, The Laws of the Navy, and the Monkeys post. I also lurked, and I did notice that the "what are my chances" questions were frowned upon.

Essentially, I was told by my OR that NFO needed more bodies, but everything else I have heard, including from my own endorsers and the SWO community at large was that this was, ahem, bovine feces. Just trying to get a second (third?) opinion about this from the air-side. Not my chances of getting one or the other, or even both, but clarifying that there is even a way possible of being PRO-REC'd for NFO and not for SWO, regardless of my own specific case.

It seemed... fishy.

Oh, and, absolutely nothing against NFO. I don't want to make it sound like I would take it "against my will" or turn it down if offered. That's silly. If the Navy needs me as an NFO, I have no problem with that at all.

 

[Sticky]

You get your first choice, so put SWO then NFO. Don't put anything down if you think you won't be happy with it though.

I don't think there's anything sneaky like, "oh we need more NFO's so we won't give this guy SWO, mwahahha..." My first choice was SWO and my third choice was NFO and I was pro recced for both.

 

[Uncle Fester]

I can pretty much guarantee you that you will not be assigned to aviation against your will, if that's what you're worried about. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is stiff competition for pilot and FO. SWO...not so much.

 

[Seafort]

I can pretty much guarantee you that you will not be assigned to aviation against your will, if that's what you're worried about.

That isn't the attitude I have. There would be no hesitation in taking an NFO slot if I qualified for it. It's my second choice, but I want a commission too badly to ignore an offer if PRO-REC'ed for any community.

My choices are:

1. SWO
2. NFO
3. NUKE

However, the one duty I do not want is sub duty, and I believe that was still voluntary only, last time I checked, but there are surface NUKEs. I don't have the math or the physics for NUKE period, most likely. I would imagine I do not qualify for IW and don't particularly want to be behind a desk. The other communities are staff officers, I believe. I want to be a line officer to be able to be screened for command. I am also not a specialist. No law degree, so no JAG, no medical background, so Medical is out, etc.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but there is stiff competition for pilot and FO. SWO...not so much.

I recognise this, which is why the gouge I got from my OR seemed... off.

And that last point has always bothered me a bit. I don't want SWO because I think it's easier, or because I don't think I can't qualify for another community. It's because to me a Navy is, at its core, a fleet of surface ships, going back centuries to, at least, the seventeenth century's Spanish troop ships and the privateers of Elizabethan England. I wish SWO had a better image and was more competitive in general. How many times has a SWO Ensign or JG Non-Attained and been sent to another pipeline? Yet I always hear stories of the other pipelines shunting their non-attains to SWO.

tl;dr Okay, that's what I thought. Would pursue NFO with passion if selected for it. Don't want sub duty. Want SWO.

 

[Uncle Fester]

My choices are:

1. SWO
2. NFO
3. NUKE

However, the one duty I do not want is sub duty, and I believe that was still voluntary only, last time I checked, but there are surface NUKEs....Would pursue NFO with passion if selected for it. Don't want sub duty. Want SWO.

You'll get SWO.

Nuke and Air are both highly competitive and don't need to draft people. If you did very well in an engineering or hard-science major, they may encourage you to interview for the Nuke program, but you won't be forced into it.

As for your SWOtivaton...no doubt you're enjoying your stylish and becoming rose-colored glasses. I think you're probably in for a bit of a rude surprise when you learn that driving the boat is maybe 10% of your job as a SWO. The other 90% being equal parts paperwork and being beaten with sticks. But that's for you to discover.

 

[DukeAndrewJ]

As for your SWOtivaton...no doubt you're enjoying your stylish and becoming rose-colored glasses. I think you're probably in for a bit of a rude surprise when you learn that driving the boat is maybe 10% of your job as a SWO. The other 90% being equal parts paperwork and being beaten with sticks. But that's for you to discover.

hahah my recruiter didn't mention the sticks part (I thought they just used belts)...Still waiting for my final select, and am quite excited about SWO (it was all I applied for), but stuff like this always makes me think...

My dad was a SWO in the late 60s on a destroyer and very much enjoyed (for the most part) his time in the Navy. I wonder how much that has to do with major changes in the Navy since then, or if my dad is just really weird (he sure doesn't seem to fit the SWO stereotype that I always see on AW). Or maybe 40 years makes the memories seem a little happier....Perhaps I will change my mind when I get there, but I think I will be pretty fortunate if I get to spend 6 months out of the year waking up on the big blue ocean...

 

[Mos]

Not my chances of getting one or the other, or even both, but clarifying that there is even a way possible of being PRO-REC'd for NFO and not for SWO, regardless of my own specific case.

To answer your question, YES, it's possible. How do I know? Because I was pro-rec'd for NFO but not SWO. I was a little surprised, but I certainly wasn't heartbroken when it happened.

 

[Uncle Fester]

To answer your question, YES, it's possible. How do I know? Because I was pro-rec'd for NFO but not SWO. I was a little surprised, but I certainly wasn't heartbroken when it happened.

I'm going to guess you didn't have SWO as your first choice.

 

[Mos]

I'm going to guess you didn't have SWO as your first choice.

Correct.

 

[ChunksJR]

It's because to me a Navy is, at its core, a fleet of surface ships, going back centuries to, at least, the seventeenth century's Spanish troop ships and the privateers of Elizabethan England.

That's because flying wasn't invented yet...:icon_smil

...But todays Navy is power projection in places we aren't welcome. That is MAINLY achieved via ESGs and CAGs. Both heavily relying on Naval aviation assets.

I wish SWO had a better image and was more competitive in general.

You could always be the one to start the revolution...

Want SWO.

Sounds like you've made your mind up. Good luck and you can always buy brown shoes anyway, and be "that guy"

 

[m26]

I am thinking about applying for SWO because it has a high-selection rate... Are there any other communities that have high selection rates?

This is an approach that often leads to good life decisions

 

[Pepe]

And I think he just answered his own question. High selection rates = top quality applicants, always...

 

[Schnugg]

You asked twice? try www.sailorbob.com and I'm being serious.

You sound like a good candidate for SWO.

 

[Kyoowashugi]

You sound like a good candidate for SWO.

Sir, I don't know which SWO pissed in your cornflakes on deployment, but not all of them are bottom-of-the-barrel shitbags. It's amazing how a few douchebags can give the entire community a bad name. Such as, dare I say, some stupid ensigns with too much A-Pool free time and firearms. If they'd selected SWO, they would've been doing something useful at that point.

Just sayin'.

 

[OSUbeaver]

Sir, I don't know which SWO pissed in your cornflakes on deployment, but not all of them are bottom-of-the-barrel shitbags. It's amazing how a few douchebags can give the entire community a bad name. Such as, dare I say, some stupid ensigns with too much A-Pool free time and firearms. If they'd selected SWO, they would've been doing something useful at that point.

Just sayin'.

You see some SWOtavating stuff on your summer cruise? The level of salt you managed to acquire in that short amount of time is unreal.