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Ask an OR anything

I've got a couple.

First, I didn't realize there were recruiting billets for officers. Guess I never thought about it. Of the three recruiters I've worked with they've all been enlisted. Are you like a recruiting office manager, or do you actually interact with applicants?

If I read your signature right, you were selected for SWO and CW but went with SWO? What influenced that decision?

What's been the biggest challenge in your career so far?
What surprised you the most?
Favorite part?
If you could go back and change one thing you did, what would it be?
Favorite/least favorite places you've been stationed?

TIA!
 
Hello Rainold,

First,

There are absolutely specific Officer Recruiters.
I get referrals all the time from Enlisted recruiters because if you disclose that you have a degree, they require an "OPO Letter" either from an Officer recruiter, the AOCR or OPO.

I interact intimately with my applicants, often for over a year. I train them, work them out, give them their Oaths, Comm docs, meet their families, etc.

I ended up going SWO over CW because I wanted a "jack of all trades" job. I was an engineer, Electronics Materials Officer, and Navigator. As a CW, you have less flexibility. Plus, I LOVE being at sea. I am a Sailor after all, and the peace, danger, unknown, and romance all at once of being alone at sea cannot be described, only experienced.

The biggest challenge has and will always be your Sailors.
They are people all with unique experiences, problems, talents and personalities.
Some are amazing, some are the 10% that take up 90% of your time.

My favorite part is serving with the above Sailors.
They will become your brothers, sisters, siblings, mentors and inspiration.

If I could change anything? Hmm. I wouldn't have gone recruiting and stayed at Sea.

I loved Mayport Florida.
Liked Oceana VA.
Liked Dam Neck VA.
LIiked NCAAD TX.
Middle of the road on Pascagoula and Little creek.
Disliked NOB.


Very Respectfully,
LT/ LCDR (SEL) Serano
NTAG SA
USN
 
Adendum:

Holy Smokes guys....

If its super personal send me a DM but if it's not please post so other people can benefit from it.

it is going to take some time to respond to everyone on the DMs so bear with me shipmates.

Thanks for your interest in the greatest fighting force the world has ever seen.


Very Respectfully,
LT/ LCDR (SEL) Serano
NTAG SA
USN
 
Rainold said:
First, I didn't realize there were recruiting billets for officers. Guess I never thought about it. Of the three recruiters I've worked with they've all been enlisted. Are you like a recruiting office manager, or do you actually interact with applicants?
Click to expand...

I can answer this one. It depends on the NTAG (recruiting district) but there’s anywhere from a few to several officers assigned there as an officer recruiter. Some are either nurse corps or medical service corps officers (healthcare admin) supporting medical recruiting. The rest are going to be your unrestricted line - primarily SWOs followed by sub nukes and aviators.

For the latter, most jump on the opportunity as a means to off-ramp and start prepping for life outside the Navy. The vast majority of URLs I’ve served with in recruiting either got out after their recruiting tour or soon after (aviators still owe a little bit of time after their initial shore tour).

For SWOs and Nukes, recruiting duty is neutral career wise and gives them time to work on a masters degree, joint education, etc. If they’re staying Navy, they’re already dept head screened so really it’s an opportunity to make the most use of their time before going back to sea.

For pilots, this is falling off the golden path of flying since you’re expected to remain on production (ie flight instructor, WTI, etc.) after your initial squadron tour - not so much recruiting. The 13XX’s here can confirm or adjust this assessment as needed. The aviators I’ve served with in recruiting all knew this and had other plans, either inside or outside the navy, that didn’t involve flying.

You’re not going to recruiting duty as an IP officer, in case you’re thinking.
 
FormerRecruitingGuru said:
I can answer this one. It depends on the NTAG (recruiting district) but there’s anywhere from a few to several officers assigned there as an officer recruiter. Some are either nurse corps or medical service corps officers (healthcare admin) supporting medical recruiting. The rest are going to be your unrestricted line - primarily SWOs followed by sub nukes and aviators.

For the latter, most jump on the opportunity as a means to off-ramp and start prepping for life outside the Navy. The vast majority of URLs I’ve served with in recruiting either got out after their recruiting tour or soon after (aviators still owe a little bit of time after their initial shore tour).

For SWOs and Nukes, recruiting duty is neutral career wise and gives them time to work on a masters degree, joint education, etc. If they’re staying Navy, they’re already dept head screened so really it’s an opportunity to make the most use of their time before going back to sea.

For pilots, this is falling off the golden path of flying since you’re expected to remain on production (ie flight instructor, WTI, etc.) after your initial squadron tour - not so much recruiting. The 13XX’s here can confirm or adjust this assessment as needed. The aviators I’ve served with in recruiting all knew this and had other plans, either inside or outside the navy, that didn’t involve flying.

You’re not going to recruiting duty as an IP officer, in case you’re thinking.
Click to expand...


This is 100% correct.
I was "forced" to go to shore after 16 straight years at sea.
The SWO community will roll their eyes at anything other than staff or WTI. But it's a reset.
I work with a "fallen angel" Aviator who was redesignated to HR.
It really depends on your rotation and designator.
Like I said SWO is just a jack of all trades. I had an option to be the "Division Officer of the Navy E-sports team"
IP is SWO-lite.
You're going to train at Dam neck for ICMC and be a EMO/Commo.

Very Respectfully,
LT/ LCDR (SEL) Serano
NTAG SA
USN
 
Rainold said:
I've got a couple.

First, I didn't realize there were recruiting billets for officers. Guess I never thought about it. Of the three recruiters I've worked with they've all been enlisted. Are you like a recruiting office manager, or do you actually interact with applicants?

If I read your signature right, you were selected for SWO and CW but went with SWO? What influenced that decision?

What's been the biggest challenge in your career so far?
What surprised you the most?
Favorite part?
If you could go back and change one thing you did, what would it be?
Favorite/least favorite places you've been stationed?

TIA!
Click to expand...
To add to @FormerRecruitingGuru post, we had about a 50/50 split of OR's that were CPO's and Officers (we did have 1 HM1). The CPO's would have a 3 year billet while the officers would be 2 years in most cases, this allowed for good overlap and hopefully consistency in knowledge, but not always LOL.

I worked with an LDO IP officer, an Intel officer, Sub nukes, nurses and HR officers. When I went through OR school there were aviation types who had been DQ from aviation, or their aircraft platform was retired and they didn't get selected for another platform.

In the case of Nukes while it is neutral duty if one is assigned to the local recruiting district they most likely didn't pass the engineers exam on the first try which essentially moves them off the CO afloat track. There were nukes who went to work at NRC and they are a bit different.
 
Hey Zoeth, thanks for this, and thanks for your service. I've never seen anyone else able to make SWO sound appealing, but you did, lmao.

I have one question I'll copy and paste from another thread:

I don't trust my recruiter. He's been shady and flaky and flip-flopping what he says. He says my waiver was approved, and my package is officially past the processors and submitted for the upcoming supply and SWO boards. My question is does anyone do you know if I can somehow confirm this? I have no prior service.

Thanks
 
htfosrs said:
Hey Zoeth, thanks for this, and thanks for your service. I've never seen anyone else able to make SWO sound appealing, but you did, lmao.

I have one question I'll copy and paste from another thread:

I don't trust my recruiter. He's been shady and flaky and flip-flopping what he says. He says my waiver was approved, and my package is officially past the processors and submitted for the upcoming supply and SWO boards. My question is does anyone do you know if I can somehow confirm this? I have no prior service.

Thanks
Click to expand...
There is a lot of talk about the brutality of SWO (Swo dagger etc.)
I will tell you that every designator has days that are stressful and some that are phenomenal.
None of them are easy. You are a Naval Officer, and you need to perform at a very high level in all designators.

It is difficult not having trust in your recruiter.
To be the Devil's advocate, there are generally only a couple of us in each NORS, and we deal with dozens of applicants. And I will be honest, sometimes it is difficult to remember who is who and exactly where you are in your process. If you have serious concerns about you being up to board, politely request that they send you a screenshot of your pride PROC1 page, and you can see your status.

Very Respectfully,
LT/ LCDR (SEL) Serano
NTAG SA
USN
 
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