All you want to know about being a "chop" (Ask your STuPId Supply questions here)

[kacraven]

While in port for a port visit can supply officers leave the ship and see the sights like the other officers? Or do they have to stay with the ship and help with re-supply?

 

[BackOrdered]

Well thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it. What's it like being an Assistant Supply Officer?

It can have highs and a lot of lows early on. You are pretty isolated and being the only other supply O-1, it is hard to relate with JO SWOs. You are probably the only OCS type in most cases which can suck. You really have to have a grasp on the disbursing and retail ops side because SUPPO may not have first hand or current experience. Also when SUPPO isn't around YOU are now SUPPO but honestly I had fun as department head.

 

[BackOrdered]

While in port for a port visit can supply officers leave the ship and see the sights like the other officers? Or do they have to stay with the ship and help with re-supply?

I haven't deployed yet but I'm going to be mad busy and probably won't get out much. Getting supplies and paying bills before the ship pulls out will be my goal. You also have to consider your enlisted supply types that won't get much time themselves, performing YOUR tasks.

 

[GreenLantern330]

Few jobs in Supply aren't much different. All of them are about being accountable for funds, services, and assets and a lot can never be delegated without consequences. If you have an immature mindset, think a senior enlisted guys job is to do everything for you (a fatal error in supply), or hate inventories you are going to get in trouble quick.

I was just thinking about this the other day, and a question popped up. This may seem like a bad question, but I'm generally curious. Have you witnessed a lot of supply officers get in trouble (fired or jailed) because they screwed up? I'm just curious as to how often this happens since it seems to be really easy to fall into.

 

[GreenLantern330]

Oh and one more question, which might be yet again another dumb one, are there any types of supply officers that are more accounting oriented? Like, is there such thing as an accounting officer?

 

[GreenLantern330]

So, would you say that loss of accountability is usually a result of careless mistakes/lack of attention to detail? Or would you say it's just really easy to lose accountability? And thanks for the info!

 

[Steve Wilkins]

hello!

There are no “typical” working hours for a supply office onboard any ship. I’m on a ddg so i can tell you that i have, generally, more crap to worry about then a supply office onboard a cvn. Onboard a big deck you can be anything from the sales officer (which is huge and a lot of responsibility!) or you can be the wardroom mess treasurer (which is a fricken joke). It really depends on what billets pop, at what time, and with what ship.

If your ship is about to go thru smc then you will be there from 0600 (our liberty expires at 0700 each day) till about 1600-1700. We also had insurv two weeks before smc so i like to refer to that brief stint in my naval career as the “i’m getting the hell out of this in 4-years” phase. That phase has passed, however. Right now we are a week out from deployment so i am letting my people go by 1200 each day because the navy is about to get 6 solid months of work out of us and there just simply isn’t anything for them to do.

Underway i spend odd hours in the hco tower. Now depending on which suppo you have, these hours can be long or short. My suppo is great and will relieve me for a bathroom break here and there and the occasional “i’m about to fall asleep during green deck” moments (i’m being dramatic). I have normal working hours in disbursing but since papadet has appeared a lot of the pay/travel issues of the past are now handled on the shore side. I refuse to help out on the bridge and on the watch-bill underway because contrary to swo ignorance, i am not and will never be a swo. I will never command a ship, i will never “drop warheads on foreheads” or any of that other swo crap. I deal with treasury checks, ship store items, navy cash and flight quarters--beyond that consider it outside of my preview and beyond my caring. I stand ood in port and duty supply and that is my contribution to the greater whole while in port.

However, all of the above can be thrown right out the window if your command climate is radically different than mine. If your co/xo wants you to get your ood letter and puts you on the watch bill, then you will be on the watch bill and you will stand bridge watches. Fortunately i have a great co/xo and a strong suppo so they support my “the only time i’m on the bridge is if i get lost” mentality.

Being a supply officer is what you want it to be. Sure i can be a bag of ass and go on liberty at 1200 every day, but it helps to show my people that i’m in the same boat as them and that i will not leave before they do. I can also work myself to death and stay until 1700 every day but that isn’t productive, cuts into my social life and is generally unhealthy. The trick is to find your niche within the command and to stick to what you, and your chief if you have one, feels comfortable with.

I think i just heard the 1-mc announcement for liberty call—see ya!

ygtbsm

 

[GreenLantern330]

Thanks for the insight. It really helped.

 

[snizo]

There are a lot of possibilities for getting a masters degree.

Many Supply Officers go to NPS after their second sea tour. We've also got programs with civilian schools if you want a certain type of supply-specific masters (ie fuels management through Kansas). The alternative is the 810 program, which will actually fund you to go to pretty much any civilian school you can get in to (hello, Harvard - really). 810 is competitive. NPS is not. Anyone who wants their masters shouldn't have a problem doing so with the Supply Corps. It is highly encouraged & taking time out of the operational Navy to get one won't harm your career.

 

[GreenLantern330]

snizo, would you have to get your MBA? Could you get another masters degree in something business oriented? Like if I wanted to get my masters degree in economics would that fly well with the Navy?

 

[snizo]

snizo, would you have to get your MBA? Could you get another masters degree in something business oriented? Like if I wanted to get my masters degree in economics would that fly well with the Navy?

Probably - there is a lot of slack for what is 'supply related'. Just remember that if you're looking at a program that isn't offered at NPS, you are going to have to do a civilian school (ie 810) or get it on your own time.

 

[GreenLantern330]

My OR said that the supply boards look down upon poor math grades. With that said, I only had to take business calculus in college so far, and I got a C. My OR recommended that I take regular calculus and try to get a B or an A to offset this. However, my university requires me to take precalculus before calculus 1... for some reason business calculus can't replace precal... anyway, I think I'll take up my OR's advice but what are some thoughts on this? By the time I apply, they'll only see my business calculus and precalculus grades so I'm wondering if that'll even be enough.

 

[dmoney5857]

Hey guys, earlier this week I spoke to my recruiting officer and he informed me that Officer programs(supply,intel,swo) are now shut down and not accepting any applications except some tech degrees(for how long, he just said call him back in July and check with him...)? Is this accurate? If so, Im not graduating until July 2012 so should I expect them to be open by then? thanks

 

[dmoney5857]

So should i stay hopefull of supply opening back up before my graduation date of July 2012?

 

[pensfan341]

I am going to OCS for Supply in July and I suck at math. how much trouble am I in?