yes... i hope you arent about to make a bad joke
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Really stupid questions about life as a SWO and anything else not aviation related [mod dog wuz hərə]
- Thread starter Wiley
- Start date
yes... i hope you arent about to make a bad joke
Just wondering why an 18 y/o girl would join this site with that handle...
because said 17-yo girl then (18 now) didnt know at the time that her initials meant anything until some person here on AW commented on it!
it doesn't exactly go in the dictionary, does it? 
A friend of mine talked face to face with a lot of O-6+ in DC before he decided to quit his job and join the Navy as a SWO. They told him about the good old days of the surface Navy, and that's what he expected coming in. He's become unbelievably disillusioned by the experience as a result.
Before I got to my first command, the SWO Officer at OCS told me he never met a JO who wasn't bitter/disgruntled. The best JOs on my ship are overworked and bitter. The "less capable" ones sleep the days away.
I'm not saying there aren't positive experiences, in fact, I'd say it's pretty much universally acknowledged that SWO JO gives more leadership and management opportunities than aviation. But if I were a wannabe, I'd still want to talk with a JO about the community and hear their gripes to get a second opinion before signing the dotted line. No matter what, you're going to be a JO for 4 years first.
I don't even believe a MIDN cruise is an accurate picture of SWO life. I felt my COC went out of its way to give the MIDN a positive cruise experience, giving them preferential treatment.
GroundPounder
Well-Known Member
What is it about being a SWO that people get so dissapointed by? I was an Army Infantry officer, and it was rare to find anyone that didn't have a real good idea about his/her branch was going to be like on a day to day basis prior to their selecting. The only people that I ever ran into that were likely to be dissapointed with their choice of branch were Finance and Medical Service Corps types who discovered that they were doing what they could have done on the outside for less money, and with all the stuff that goes along with being in the military.
Do they not do a good job of giving prospective SWO's an idea of that really do on a day to day basis? I'm guessing that the day to day admin type stuff must far out way the fun stuff that an SWO guy gets to do. ( whatever that is )
This post seems a little bit smart assed, but not intented to be, just trying to get some knowledge.
Do they not do a good job of giving prospective SWO's an idea of that really do on a day to day basis? I'm guessing that the day to day admin type stuff must far out way the fun stuff that an SWO guy gets to do. ( whatever that is )
This post seems a little bit smart assed, but not intented to be, just trying to get some knowledge.
I hope you picked up my sarcasm. In my opinion, I think the SWO life has its ups and down (no sea pun intended). We are the one community that pretty much throws you into the job with little preparatation and depends highly on OJT and time management. There are some parts of this job that do suck ( I can't say I enjoy friday afternoon field days, and conning was a bit nerve racking), but there is a lot I enjoy. Working with my division and interacting with them is my favorite part and I believe the most important part of my job. That part is why I wanted to be an Officer in the first place. Also, I enjoy the learning, learning, learning. Learning my people, learning my equipment, learning how to improve. Now thats not to say the other communities don't do that, I am merely pointing out what keeps me going. As far as the whole stab in the back thing, well, I have never experienced that from any of the other members in the wardroom, and all have been most helpful answering my questions. Sailorbob does seem to have a more formal tone to it. I read it, only posted once I think. It does give good technical issues regarding SWO stuff. It should not be a used as a model of SWO's in general.
This is a big "your mileage may vary" issue. There are a lot of Mids who spend 4 weeks eating ice cream, watching movies, playing X-Box, riding around in the RHIB, conning a man overboard, and think that being a SWO is just the best job in the world.
I stood every single mid and rev watch with my running mate for a month, helped him make up lifeboat assignments, write evals, and listened to a fair amount of bitching from other JOs. My advice to Mids going on cruise (regardless of what community it's with) to try to integrate yourself as best as possible, 'cuz BigRed is right, the brass will definitely (*for the most part) try to shield you from the sh***y parts of the job while you're on cruise.
Everybody has different motivations and expectations. Top that off with the wide variety of experiences you can have, and there's the beginning of your problem.
Not always all bad though...I know one ship that just got off a Med cruise and is getting ready to do a UNITAS.
But you could also end up doing back to back 5th Fleet/Horn of Africa cruises to the asshole of the world.
While you are probably one of the better people around here to answer SWO questions, don't you think that it might take more than a couple months to determine whether the backstabbing rep is legit? But I'm glad to see you appear to be enjoying your job dude. I bet your roomate on the boat ain't as cool as your OCS roomate...
m0tbaillie
Former SWO
Here at MSU we have a huge rock in a very visible part of campus that is traditionally painted night after night. Frats paints it, organizations paints it, random people profess their love for their S/O or propose and some people just write various arbitrary/crazy shit.
The other night I was walking with a group of newbie RAs and one of the sophomore girls looked at the rock which was painted black and in BIG bold letters said "FISHING FOR FRESHMAN" with a picture of a fishing pole that had hooked a pair of pink panties.
She then looked at me and very innocently asked, "What's that supposed to mean, I don't get it?"
While you are probably one of the better people around here to answer SWO questions, don't you think that it might take more than a couple months to determine whether the backstabbing rep is legit? But I'm glad to see you appear to be enjoying your job dude. I bet your roomate on the boat ain't as cool as your OCS roomate...
I never tried to make myself sound like I was overly experienced, and anyone who writes me for SWO advice gets a disclaimer regarding my time onboard. All I know is what I have experienced, and as I said, I have not experienced it. I have experienced other JO's dropping what they were doing to assist me with a CASREP, taking time to help me if I have questions regarding quals when they could be racked out. Helping me relax when I get spun up (you know me after all) and even having a DH contact me to make sure I was doing alright before I even reported to the ship. Sure there is the occasional FNG ribbing that goes on, but im sure that goes on in all communities (aviation right??) If I do get stabbed or eaten I will let you all know. I do agree that my roomates are not as cool as you though
