I am in the STA-21 program and having issues deciding between SWO and Aviator. I have spent my career in the SWO community. I qualified OOD underway as a PO2 and thought I would go back and be a SWO. Any body out there have experince in both that can shed some light on my decision?
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SWO VS Aviation
- Thread starter jjordan19
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Generally, you will work harder as a SWO as opposed to any avaiton officer. You have been there though so you can judge for yourself whether the SWO level of work load is worth the rewards. A SWO will almost always get a greater level of leadership and material responsibilities than an aviator. As a watch stander in a squadron you are rarely more than a point of contact for routine information. The biggest challenge you might face is initiating the pre-mishap plan in case of an accident and working the bomb threat checklist with the POOW. As a fully qualified SWO standing CDO you are able to replace the CO and fight the ship. Personally, I prefer aviation. A SWO has to take perverse pride in self fagellation for the common good. A NFO buddy that went on to a deep draft command at sea said "busting waves" was far more fun than he thought it would be. He enjoyed turning a ship full of hundreds men and weapons and "go'in that-a-way". Good luck with STA-21. It is a great program.
here's my 2 cents ...
I was in the SWO community too (FC1), and now I am in aviation and wouldn't have it any other way.
My buddy from BOOST was in a P-3 squadron (PN2), and is now a SWO. In his last e-mail to me he said that there were no curse words strong enough to express how he felt about his new situation.
Take that for what it is worth ...
I was in the SWO community too (FC1), and now I am in aviation and wouldn't have it any other way.
My buddy from BOOST was in a P-3 squadron (PN2), and is now a SWO. In his last e-mail to me he said that there were no curse words strong enough to express how he felt about his new situation.
Take that for what it is worth ...
petescheu
Registered User
dear lord, don't go swo. I have many friends that do it, and many friends that hate it. i don't know a single person that likes swo, no matter what ship they are on.
on the other hand, i have many friends that are pilots, and many friends that love it. i dont know a single person that doesn't love being a pilot, no matter what they fly.
on the other hand, i have many friends that are pilots, and many friends that love it. i dont know a single person that doesn't love being a pilot, no matter what they fly.
I am/was a SWO. I recently lateral transferred, so I'm a 1375, but I'm still on my ship for 31 days...not that I'm counting the days left in my sentence.
I do not know a single person in my year group or a year group ahead or behind me who likes being a SWO. They eat their young. They make huge deals out of the smallest things. They take great pride in getting as little sleep as possible. Tell me, where is the sense at starting a brief at 2200 for a 12 hour sea and anchor detail to begin at 0600? Can anyone tell me how that is safe? Yeah, we just did it.
Like VarmintShooter's buddy, I can not find enough curse words to describe the SWO community. When I went to SWOS (back when it was 6 months) we got to meet with the department head students. This one guy was talking to our little group. He said, "Ok, here's how it is..." looked over both his shoulders, then proceeded with "stab, stab, look, stab, stab."
Like I said, I just got orders to Pensacola and my command isn't letting me take house-hunting leave because "You're already getting a good deal, so you don't need any more time off." WTF?! They're also not giving my relief any house-hunting leave...she can just find a place to live while we're on holiday leave...two months after she gets here. Everyone on my ship makes fun of me since my designator was changed to 1375, saying "Uh oh...the aviator's driving!" You know what? That's like a bus full of Special Olympics athletes calling you retarded.
I can not say this strongly enough...AVOID SWO IF YOU CAN! Yeah, driving the ship can be fun sometimes, and you do get a certain amount of pride out of doing it, but that's such a very small part of the equation. Most of the time on the bridge is spent tooling around in a box at 5 knots or driving from point A to point B, calling your CO if another ship is going to get within three MILES of you. Pilots...do you call your squadron CO if another airplane is going to come within three miles of you? Seriously...I want to know.
Besides all of that, if you don't get your pin, you'll be kicked out. And it's not like there's a standard for getting your pin. Sure, there's PQS, but we all know that doesn't mean jack. My SWO board was an hour long. On my current ship the SWO boards are no less than 2.5 hours. I don't think I could talk about ANYTHING for 2.5 hours without repeating myself 8 times.
I do not know a single person in my year group or a year group ahead or behind me who likes being a SWO. They eat their young. They make huge deals out of the smallest things. They take great pride in getting as little sleep as possible. Tell me, where is the sense at starting a brief at 2200 for a 12 hour sea and anchor detail to begin at 0600? Can anyone tell me how that is safe? Yeah, we just did it.
Like VarmintShooter's buddy, I can not find enough curse words to describe the SWO community. When I went to SWOS (back when it was 6 months) we got to meet with the department head students. This one guy was talking to our little group. He said, "Ok, here's how it is..." looked over both his shoulders, then proceeded with "stab, stab, look, stab, stab."
Like I said, I just got orders to Pensacola and my command isn't letting me take house-hunting leave because "You're already getting a good deal, so you don't need any more time off." WTF?! They're also not giving my relief any house-hunting leave...she can just find a place to live while we're on holiday leave...two months after she gets here. Everyone on my ship makes fun of me since my designator was changed to 1375, saying "Uh oh...the aviator's driving!" You know what? That's like a bus full of Special Olympics athletes calling you retarded.
I can not say this strongly enough...AVOID SWO IF YOU CAN! Yeah, driving the ship can be fun sometimes, and you do get a certain amount of pride out of doing it, but that's such a very small part of the equation. Most of the time on the bridge is spent tooling around in a box at 5 knots or driving from point A to point B, calling your CO if another ship is going to get within three MILES of you. Pilots...do you call your squadron CO if another airplane is going to come within three miles of you? Seriously...I want to know.
Besides all of that, if you don't get your pin, you'll be kicked out. And it's not like there's a standard for getting your pin. Sure, there's PQS, but we all know that doesn't mean jack. My SWO board was an hour long. On my current ship the SWO boards are no less than 2.5 hours. I don't think I could talk about ANYTHING for 2.5 hours without repeating myself 8 times.
(disclaimer: not a swo, im a jarhead, so i cant even be a swo if in some drug-induced haze i wanted to)
I'll just say that it took me a grand total of about 1 hour onboard a carrier to realize that if I were a SWO, I'd kill myself. I mean, those guys had no life left in them it seemed. When they talked to us in the wardroom it was like nothing else existed in their world -- the boat had consumed their souls.
my .02
I'll just say that it took me a grand total of about 1 hour onboard a carrier to realize that if I were a SWO, I'd kill myself. I mean, those guys had no life left in them it seemed. When they talked to us in the wardroom it was like nothing else existed in their world -- the boat had consumed their souls.
my .02
Sounds like you have a royal jerk for a skipper. It isn't like there aren't jerks commanding anywhere else in the Navy. I can't dispute your experiences. I have had freinds with similar stories, most left. But if everyone had your experiences and thought it was that bad, we would have zero retention and no one becoming a SWO. It ain't aviation, it ain't for me. But SWO retention is pretty darn good now so some odd balls are finding satisfaction in it. BTW roadprogram, you will love NFO. As if you needed me to tell you that.
wink, I know it sounds stupid, but I bet the money is keeping a lot of the SWOs in. Hell...if I hadn't lateral transferred, I would have stayed SWO for the money. I also love the Navy but hate my job. By going NFO, I'm actually going to lose money because the NFO bonus smaller than the pilot bonus and the SWO bonuses I would have gotten. On top of that, it will take a while for my flight pay to catch up to my sea pay.
So yeah, I would stay SWO, but I got lucky.
So yeah, I would stay SWO, but I got lucky.
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