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SWO lifestyle

ndea

ndea

New Member
It seems like people have a lot of negative things to say about SWO, why is that?
Is the quality of life just sucky? is it overmanned and people are annoyingly competitive ? What's so wrong with SWOs?
also how hard/easy is it to get accepted by an OCS board
 
Check out this thread: https://www.airwarriors.com/communi...are-stories-of-the-swo-community-valid.32623/

Also check this forum devoted to SWOs: http://www.sailorbob.com/phpbb/index.php

Maybe some SWOs here can chime in. I know quite a bit about the positives/negatives from SWOs I've been close with, but it's best you hear it from people who have experienced it. I'll just say one thing: you're going to spend a lot of time underway.

ndea said:
also how hard/easy is it to get accepted by an OCS board
Click to expand...

For reference, the last board had 60 selects from 202 applicants. The community gets most of its people via NROTC/USNA and STA-21. From the community brief, OCS makes up 25% of commissions. If you get through NROTC/USNA and your major/GPA and other qualifiers aren't suitable for anything in particular, you get thrown in as an SWO since you have a 4 year commitment and they have to put you somewhere. This and other factors make it a bit of an uphill battle for OCS applicants.
 
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ndea said:
It seems like people have a lot of negative things to say about SWO, why is that?
Is the quality of life just sucky? is it overmanned and people are annoyingly competitive ? What's so wrong with SWOs?
also how hard/easy is it to get accepted by an OCS board
Click to expand...

Many of the opinions here are from the outside looking in, are dated or because aviation is awesome......its a pilot forum, who knew?....

A lot of things changed in the SWO community over the last few years, particularly JO training and qualification. Most SWO DHs I encounter and currently work with (products of the SWO-in-a-Box era....) didn't like how things were as Ensigns and are trying to be the leaders they wish we had. I would say things have greatly improved for the better overall.

Whether or not you want to drive ships and be proficient is the grand discriminator. If being a ship driver isn't for you, initial qualification is a grind. Some of it is fun, many things are dry and you have to take the good with the bad.
 
SWO here, was going to be a pilot but accepted for SWO instead and never bounced from the forum. Its a lot of time at sea, a lot of work and little to no real training. Most of your training will come from people 2-4 years senior to you and its a lot of tribal knowledge. Depending on your platform/DH's and CO it could be a ton of fun or absolute hell. If you want to lead sailors and be a jack of all trades but a master of none then SWO is for you. On the plus side promotion is great so if you do want to stay in for 20 you will promote well by just staying alive.
 
Sculpin said:
Check out this thread: https://www.airwarriors.com/communi...are-stories-of-the-swo-community-valid.32623/

Also check this forum devoted to SWOs: http://www.sailorbob.com/phpbb/index.php

Maybe some SWOs here can chime in. I know quite a bit about the positives/negatives from SWOs I've been close with, but it's best you hear it from people who have experienced it. I'll just say one thing: you're going to spend a lot of time underway.



For reference, the last board had 60 selects from 202 applicants. The community gets most of its people via NROTC/USNA and STA-21. From the community brief, OCS makes up 25% of commissions. If you get through NROTC/USNA and your major/GPA and other qualifiers aren't suitable for anything in particular, you get thrown in as an SWO since you have a 4 year commitment and they have to put you somewhere. This and other factors make it a bit of an uphill battle for OCS applicants.
Click to expand...

It actually is about 1/3 when you look year after year, overall 1/3 USNA, 1/3 NROTC, and 1/3 OCS, now OCS is a way to make up for or reduce numbers as needed so some years more, some years less. FY 18 for USNA was 260 but they don't break out SWO-C and SWO-N and SWO options, OCS goal is about 185, and NROTC was around 250. If you take out about the same ratio from the USNA as NROTC for SWO-N and SWO options it would be about 60, so overall it works out to about 1/3, but of course some years will be higher and some years will be lower.

One important note about everything is that USNA and NROTC is primarily a commissioning source for URL designators so only a few Intel, CEC, IP, etc......
 
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