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FY 20 IWC DCO Board

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Achilles45

Member
Going back to the topic of going enlisted in the Reserve, that is absolutely a solid option, especially for prior service people. Little background on me, I spent 5 years on active duty in the USMC, just finished a little over 3 years in the Army Reserve, and am obviously now going for the Navy Reserve. I have been working with a Navy Recruiter on the enlisted side to go in as an IS and have the packet put together already, he is very understanding of me pursuing the commission and if I am not selected, I let him know and he submits my complete package. This goes to one of the other benefits for prior service people anyways; this will reduce the amount of time in my break in service. I will absolutely try for the next DCO board, and my package will only be stronger from having gone through some Navy Intel training already.

With that, some notes on being a reservist:

-People often say the Reserves is what you make of it, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE. In the Reserve you will have members who only do the drill weekends and the 2 weeks during the summer, and they often hate it because drill weekends are really spent just making sure people are squared away administratively, medically ready, online classes are complete (the annual, the bi-annual, quarterly, all of those), their sexual harassment and EO classes are taken, and everything else that goes into making sure your unit's books are green. This doesn’t leave a lot of time for actual training and doing your job, which leads me to...

-VOLUNTEER FOR CAREER PROGRESSING OPPORTUNITIES. This includes any training or certification opportunities, deployment and mobilization opportunities, ADSW orders to CONUS locations. All of these things will make you a more rounded service member, a better-trained and more experienced service member, and will typically leave you with a sense of fulfillment. Not to mention the fact that these things will ultimately lead to you earning more retirement points. You will also earn GI Bill benefits so you can pursue another degree, stay in long enough to pass off the benefits to your spouse or children, the benefits go on and on. Perhaps most importantly though, you will actually get to put your military training and education to good use while developing new skills and sharpening your existing skills. (In my case, I spent a little over 3 years in the Army Reserve and more than half of that time was spent on active orders between schools I volunteered for and a mobilization to GTMO)

-BE PHYSICALLY FIT. The only thing worse than a NCO failing their fitness test is an officer that fails their fitness test. Failing your fitness test is one of the quickest ways to lose the respect of your subordinates and instantly puts a stop to any real career progression. You must train on your own because your drill weekends typically will not allow you enough time to get a decent workout in, aside from the fact that training 2 days of the month won’t get you in shape.

-There has been some talk regarding the Army/Air Force National Guard, I cannot stress enough how strongly I would urge against going National Guard. Granted, I have never been in the National Guard, however, while I was in GTMO we were supplemented with a few Guardsmen and based on their experiences, I would recommend not joining. Promotion opportunities are dependent upon people in your state getting out, going from one State’s National Guard to a different State’s National Guard can be a hassle, not to mention the fact that you may move to a state that has even more people in the rank you want to be promoted to or you may be further down the list of those waiting to be promoted. I strongly recommend going Reserve, aside from the benefits, promotion and unit selection is much better. You could live in Virginia but be stationed at a unit in MD, VA, DC, WV, PA, anywhere in the area that you are willing to drive to. Not to mention the fact that if you want to move, it’s as simple as finding a unit in the state you want to live and transferring to that unit. In short, go Reserve, avoid National Guard.

All that being said I would be more than happy to discuss any of those points or answer any questions.
 
bubblehead

bubblehead

Registered Member
Contributor
Enlisting as an IS will put you at an advantage, IMHO. From what I've been told, many NAVIFORRES Regional OIC's prefer currently enlisted Reservist's. In this case, they prefer Enlisted IS's for 1835 DCO over a civilian because you'll already be cleared and will have been trained, and the transition to 1835 would be much faster and easier.

Does this mean that a straight up civilian will not succeed as a Reserve 1835 or other designator? No, not in the least. Anyone with half a brain and drive will do well in the Reserve. I would argue a college degree is not necessary to succeed here unless you are in a designator that requires it (JAG, Engineer, etc.).
 
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Achilles45

Member
bubblehead said:
Enlisting as an IS will put you at an advantage, IMHO. From what I've been told, many NAVIFORRES Regional OIC's prefer currently enlisted Reservist's. In this case, they prefer Enlisted IS's for 1835 DCO over a civilian because you'll already be cleared and will have been trained, and the transition to 1835 would be much faster and easier.

Does this mean that a straight up civilian will not succeed as a Reserve 1835 or other designator? No, not in the least. Anyone with half a brain and drive will do well in the Reserve. I would argue a college degree is not necessary to succeed here unless you are in a designator that requires it (JAG, Engineer, etc.).
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree with what you are saying. Plus, NAVIFORRES Regional OICs see current or prior service candidates, and they get the idea that the candidate has already dealt with the military lifestyle and isnt likely to quit or fail. They already know the military lifestyle and are looking for opportunities and career progression.

Also, I'll have to track it down again but i have read the manual regarding selecting candidates and it explicitly states that having a masters degree is not a clear indication of success as a DCO and preference should be given to currently serving IS's.

To your final point, i agree. We have all met inidivudals and officers who have degrees but you would never know it from interacting with them!
 
J

jdjohn5

Member
It won’t too much, but nice to finally know. The one way it could affect it is they are currently ranking us for our evals and if I am fortunate enough to get selected I don’t want to take a high ranking away from others.
 
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