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Supply Officer Overview

Greetings,

Are supply officers generally looked down upon by other officer communities?

So supply officers stand watch on ships? If so, do they earn warfare badges like other officers?

Can supply officers serve on all kinds of ships, including submarines?

Is OCS the only commissioning route for supply officers?

Are promotional opportunities slower for supply officers than officers from other communities?

Thanks.
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
Greetings,

Are supply officers generally looked down upon by other officer communities?

So supply officers stand watch on ships? If so, do they earn warfare badges like other officers?

Can supply officers serve on all kinds of ships, including submarines?

Is OCS the only commissioning route for supply officers?

Are promotional opportunities slower for supply officers than officers from other communities?

Thanks.

These are all questions your officer recruiter can answer.
 

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
No.
Everyone "stands watch" of some sort. If you mean "bridge watch", I dunno, but much depends on the CO of the ship and what's required for their SC warfare qual. SC Os have their own warfare badges, in 4 different flavors.
Yes.
No.
No.
 
Greetings,

Are supply officers generally looked down upon by other officer communities?

So supply officers stand watch on ships? If so, do they earn warfare badges like other officers?

Can supply officers serve on all kinds of ships, including submarines?

Is OCS the only commissioning route for supply officers?

Are promotional opportunities slower for supply officers than officers from other communities?

Thanks.
These are all questions your officer recruiter can answer.
Thanks, but I was hoping to obtain a different perspective here.
 

Larick

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
"SUPPOs on the bridge. So, SUPPO this is where we drive the ship....."
 

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
This is aircraft carrier-focused, but it'll give you some good insights into the complexities of the job(s). Note that the main talking head wears two Supply Corps warfare devices…Aviation and Surface (I think).
 

haimehhh

Well-Known Member
Greetings,

Are supply officers generally looked down upon by other officer communities?

So supply officers stand watch on ships? If so, do they earn warfare badges like other officers?

Can supply officers serve on all kinds of ships, including submarines?

Is OCS the only commissioning route for supply officers?

Are promotional opportunities slower for supply officers than officers from other communities?

Thanks.

1. Are supply officers generally looked down upon by other officer communities?
Looked down upon... who cares? What job do you want to do? How do you want to be perceived and how do you want others to treat you? That comes from your ability to perform and your social skills, not what your designator is.

2/3. So supply officers stand watch on ships? If so, do they earn warfare badges like other officers?
Yes Supply Officers can stand watch on ships. Supply officers can earn their Surface Warfare, Aviation, Submarine, and Expeditionary Supply pins, in addition to Fleet Marine Force and Seabee Combat Warfare pins depending on your various tours you may be assigned.

Within the surface community, you may go to small platforms like Minesweepers or LCSs. On a minesweeper you'll be one of 8 total officers so you will absolutely stand watch. The more involved and capable you are, the better. On a small boy you may or may not ever have a chance to stand a watch like you would on a minesweeper or LCS. On small boys, however, you will likely become the HCO and stand watch during vertreps. You may stand OOD in port. On a sub you may have a similar experience to a platform such as the MCM/LCS and become a "battle chop" and stand watch as a dive officer.

4. Is OCS the only commissioning route for supply officers?
No. Many supply officers come from redesignation due to personal preference or attrition from other communities, for any number of reasons. While I would say the bulk commission through OCS, some come from ROTC, the reserves, the academy, and LDO programs. I have also heard that they may gain ascensions utilizing the DCO pipeline and eliminate supply from OCS but don't quote me on that cause i think it has been rumored around for quite a while.

5. Are promotional opportunities slower for supply officers than officers from other communities?
Depends? In terms of pay grade, no, and in some cases opportunities may come "sooner". In terms of your level of leadership and responsibility, again, it depends. some ensign suppos will manage massive budgets in S-1 or S-2 Divisions and some will serve as wardroom officers. Supply officers are needed on installations and platforms all over the world, so there is typically some opportunity to fill a billet that will benefit your career, if you want to check boxes and seek to promote as quickly as you are able.

If you have other questions pm me. Hope this helped a bit.

Best,
James
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
This is aircraft carrier-focused, but it'll give you some good insights into the complexities of the job(s). Note that the main talking head wears two Supply Corps warfare devices…Aviation and Surface (I think).

SUPPO on an aircraft carrier is a hard gig, everyone SUPPO I saw was constantly under fire from other department heads or the CO, basically if a SUPPO doesn't realize any parts dealing with the reactor takes priority he will have a very hard tour.
 
Thanks for the latest responses and info.

Would it be correct to say that most supply officers who come from ROTC and USNA are redesignated? I thought you could get directly commissioned into supply from these two sources unless one was physically unable to obtain commission into a line field?

Do supply officers who serve on a sub complete additional training before being so assigned? By any chance, do they complete the same pipeline, such as nuclear training?
 

haimehhh

Well-Known Member
Supply that comes from ROTC and USNA may attire from their unrestricted line programs, or may be medically disqualified before even beginning their training. There may be some extenuating circumstances that allow folks to go directly into supply but i don't know of any.

supply officers who go to subs do go to a punctuated Submarine Officer Basic Course (SOBC) either before or after they go to Supply Officer Department Head Course (SODHC), after graduating the BQC. that's all i know about it. submarines are the only platform you cannot be assigned to- aka you must volunteer. Additionally, to get subs out of the BQC you must screen through a board process relative to the first 5 or so weeks of the BQC curriculum. in terms of the timeline, if you began the BQC in the beginning of the year (first class is beg of February each year), you would graduate in July, and probably get to your boat by end of september or october. For a surface ship, you would go to your boat by the end of July.
 

azguy

Well-Known Member
None
SWO perspective...

SUPPLY O's are important members of the crew. You will be "looked down upon" and tortured if you're a generally bad officer or person, the same as we do to fellow SWOs, helo pilots, or any other officer in the wardroom. Based on your posts in this thread, I would expect to be tortured regardless of what designator you commission into.
 
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