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RFA: Enlisted to Officer Commissioning Programs

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
I have to disagree. STA-21 and LDO/CWO are both very applicant friendly. Each has thorough checklists, examples, and FAQs, not to mention POCs on NAVADMINS. The Officer’s job is not to do the work for the applicant but point them in the right direction. If a person can’t put in the effort to read the directions and do the leg work, why should the command waste its time to “yeomanize” it and endorse them?

Point being, the Officer is not to do the work, just point the Sailor in the right direction. As my skipper told me when I informed him of my intent to drop my first STA-21 package, “I am not, nor will anyone else in my command, hold your hand. If you want this, prove it. Putting together a quality package shows your commitment/desire and ability to actually figure out how to follow Naval instructions on your own.”

Based on previous posts in this thread, OCS/ODS (medical) would be the only programs an officer would have to really dig into in order to be an effective resource for the Sailors. But even that wouldn’t take too long to figure out, maybe a package or two. This isn’t rocket science.

I did not say the officer is doing the work, he has to understand the programs and requirements to guide people in what they are doing.

The officer who is the point of contact also has to understand the programs so when the applications are reviewed for accuracy they know they are indeed correct, do you know how many times applications have been submitted to NRC on sailors that didn't even meet the requirements? I have had sailors ask me why they couldn't submit for CEC with a history degree, or didn't understand why they were denied even thought they were 5 years over the age limit? It is because the officer who was the point of contact gave bad advice by not knowing the program requirements and saying "that doesn't apply if you are active duty", or didn't review the application and kick it back to the sailor for corrections, but instead just pushed it up for signature and then submitted to NRC, the CO is putting their signature on that application relying on people to do the work correctly.
 

Goodfou

Well-Known Member
I get your point, but I still think it isn’t a difficult process to understand. In the examples you provide, I would guess the Officer put very little effort into his collateral duty, failing the Sailor and Skipper.

The vast majority of information for these programs is readily available on NPC and the STA-21 websites. My recommendation would be to consolidate all of it into one tab on NPC so you don’t have to fumble through the website to locate the PAs, board dates, NAVADMINS, etc.

To be honest, I still place a lot of responsibility on the Sailors in your examples because they shouldn’t be routing packages with a lot of errors. Furthermore, what I constantly see are Sailors that say they want to be Officers but then expect the COC to hold their hand and direct their every move in the application process. They argue about why they should draft the skipper’s endorsement and why they should take their time to read the Navy correspondence manual. If it is that important to them, they will put in the hours to make it happen. Very few people do.

Again, I agree with most of what you are saying, just not that this should be anything more than a collateral duty for an Officer. The key is having the right Officer to do the job-not even necessarily a mustang, just someone who cares enough to figure it out.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
I get your point, but I still think it isn’t a difficult process to understand. In the examples you provide, I would guess the Officer put very little effort into his collateral duty, failing the Sailor and Skipper.

The vast majority of information for these programs is readily available on NPC and the STA-21 websites. My recommendation would be to consolidate all of it into one tab on NPC so you don’t have to fumble through the website to locate the PAs, board dates, NAVADMINS, etc.

To be honest, I still place a lot of responsibility on the Sailors in your examples because they shouldn’t be routing packages with a lot of errors. Furthermore, what I constantly see are Sailors that say they want to be Officers but then expect the COC to hold their hand and direct their every move in the application process. They argue about why they should draft the skipper’s endorsement and why they should take their time to read the Navy correspondence manual. If it is that important to them, they will put in the hours to make it happen. Very few people do.

Again, I agree with most of what you are saying, just not that this should be anything more than a collateral duty for an Officer. The key is having the right Officer to do the job-not even necessarily a mustang, just someone who cares enough to figure it out.

Yes the sailor should be doing the work, I didn't do the work for the OCS candidates, I rec'd the documents from the candidate, reviewed for accuracy, put in correct order (some items have to be sent to the recruiter not the candidate), and submitted up for review.

That would require NPC to actually stay on top of things, they are getting better, often they wouldn't but info up rec'd by NRC for months, or ever sometimes.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
We had a STA 21 guy that volunteered to be the officer programs mentor, plus having a prior in the front office doesn’t hurt. :) We helped out a guy from our FRC with his process and he’s in flight school right now. Always very cool to see that happen for someone who puts in all the hard work. On the flip side, you’ve got to be able to tell someone they’re just not ready yet. Had a couple of those over the years.
 
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