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The final select letter is nice to have, but it's not required. I never got a final select letter, and I went through OCS seven years ago; the Navy has, since then, continued to pay me, detail me, and promote me. The important thing is your orders which, someone correct me if I'm wrong, will...

Let me edit my earlier statement: OK, I see what you're saying. I wonder how often they update all that stuff--I would imagine not often, since the IDWO pin has been around for at least three years now I see exactly where the Information Dominance Corps falls on the list of OCS priorities :)

OK, I see what you're saying. I wonder how often they update all that stuff--I would imagine not often, since the IDWO pin has been around for at least three years now.

Eh, much as it may pain me to admit it, the IDWO insignia is a warfare pin, and since it looks like Fronch got picked up for IW, someone may ask him to describe his future pin. From the instruction: 3. THE INFORMATION DOMINANCE WARFARE OFFICER (IDWO) INSIGNIA IS A TWO- AND THREE-QUARTER...

Yes, sorry if I wasn't clear; that was my point. It was true in the past that flight attrite to intel was quite common, but that's no longer the case. Well, that's true for any job, isn't it? You can be adequate and get by, or you can work hard and be good at what you do.

When I commissioned seven years ago, the flight attrites were practically guaranteed intel if they wanted it. It seems like that's not the case so much anymore. Concentrate on flight school instead of worrying about what might come after. If you want to fly, do your best to stay in the...

Yes, but I don't think that sort of distinction comes up very often; I'm not talking about giving a first-tour E-4 a DMSM. In general, achievements will increase along with rank, but there's a problem when a command ties awards to rank and not to achievements.

Yeah, my pistol and rifle ribbons are a couple of the few I actually earned, as opposed to the four ribbons/medals just for showing up in Afghanistan. Most people probably realize that the campaign and unit awards don't mean much, and I'd hesitate to read too much into someone's multiple NAMs...

You know, part of me thinks that all of this is sensible. What's the point of communal showers or eating by the numbers? Military indoctrination, sure, but how does clutching a giant spoon in your weak hand to eat ribs prepare you to be a naval officer? On the other hand, you get used to the...

Good info. Remember, there are almost certainly more qualified people than there are billets available--it's not as though you're doing your recruiter a favor by simply expressing interest. Make your recruiter want to help you.

Not to mention "know what the operators actually do as opposed to what your instructors at NMITC tell you the operators do" is generally good advice. I wasn't a squadron AI, though, so can't speak to the specifics of that job.

Yes, if you're looking at the military in terms of whether your personal boss is going to be a good leader/decent human being, and basing your decision on that, you're doing it wrong. There are good bosses and bad bosses in every single career field where you have a boss.

I'm pretty sure I wore jeans and a collared shirt. Probably. Actually, it might have been a t-shirt. But then again, that was in 2007, and if NRD New England had a Facebook page with photos from the ceremony, no one told me about it. But if you've got family coming or if you know there are...

My mom was also not at all happy with my decision to join the Navy. She didn't try to stop me, and she reluctantly attended my OCS graduation, but she also made it clear she didn't like it. For about the first two years after I commissioned, she dropped heavy hints about great jobs available...

It's good that you're getting an idea of what's going to be out there. That will help you tailor your "dream sheet" when the time comes. That said, unless they've changed things at NIOBC, you aren't going to get to talk to the detailer at all during the process. When the time does come to...

The appeal of OCS is that you are applying for a specific job in the Navy, and the contract you sign will guarantee you the opportunity to pursue that job--that is, if you get picked up for SNA, you will go to flight school (assuming you meet the physical requirements). So, before you have any...

Good luck!

All true. Usually a "Good morning" and a look solves that problem, assuming you're within six paces and not at a weird angle. I had a CO who would yell "Good morning!" and want his salute well before you had a reasonable chance of seeing who he was. I'm happy to render the proper courtesies...

Yeah, different cultures. Being on a CVN as an ensign, I got to see the intersection of the two. I played it safe and saluted. Sometimes the LT would smirk/roll his eyes/whatever and say, don't do that. As an LT now, I wouldn't say anything to an ENS one way or the other, and I also wouldn't...

Yes, and this is not just an issue with nukes. These guys know their equipment or their problem set inside and out. It's important to them, because it's what they do and it's what they've been trained on. When they don't see the bigger picture, it's easy for them to wonder why the ensign gets...

As an ensign, I never saw anything as extreme as what Spekkio describes, but I can see how the attitude develops in the sub community. I've worked with and around submariners and sub riders, and I've seen similar stuff. And in the surface community, no, ensigns aren't openly belittled, as in...

I lived in Baltimore for a couple years when I was little, and made regular trips to the Air and Space Museum. Later on when I was in school in DC, I went probably once a month--I mean, it's free! I went to the museum in Pensacola with my OCS class and don't actually remember it well enough to...

The better analogy would be that the 2Lt shows up at COP Whatever and gets handed a PQS, and is told he can't go outside the wire until he gets all his line items signed off by the gunny. After that he can go outside the wire, but he has to go with a qualified 1Lt and can't do anything other...

Making a mistake on a submarine can put lives at risk, too. I agree that the chief was disrespectful, but I don't think there's much that ensign could have done, because that is a pervasive attitude among submariners. If you don't wear fish, they don't trust you. That's true for the nubs...

Everyone knows that new ensigns don't know anything. That's not a knock on new ensigns, just a fact of life. In some communities, the new guys work on a warfare pin that serves as am instant visual representation of the fact that they know the important stuff. In my community (intel), the pin...

The main thing to do as an ensign is be willing to learn, and you're going to learn things from the enlisted guys. When you show up at your first command, almost all of them will have significantly more fleet experience than you. Learn about what they do, talk to them about their jobs, and...

This just looks like a list of things they ask for on the application paperwork. Do you have a question, or some kind of gouge to offer other applicants?

I think you just explained a lot about my recruiter. There was a lot she didn't tell me. Obviously it all worked out, but it was pretty frustrating to call and ask what was going on and hear, "Nothing, just wait," as opposed to "The board meets on this day, so you won't hear anything before...

Yes. Your orders are the important paperwork, not your final select letter. Your orders will tell you what time to show up in Newport, and once you have orders, you will be able to arrange a flight if you need to, and you will need your orders to stay in government lodging. Make multiple...

No, you're right, they are talking about it--I remember hearing rumblings about combining intel and cryppie way back in '07 when I applied and commissioned, and since then they've established the (ugh) Information Dominance Corps, and the IDC is moving in directions that suggest IW/IP/Intel will...

True, but it shouldn't be. It's one thing to move in a technical direction, but I think intel is going to lose an important skill set if they try to make it something it something it really isn't.

Ha, yeah, we're not James Bond.. but there are some pretty cool jobs here and there if you know the right people and do the right things. No one's going to get those straight out of OCS/NIOBC, though. I put up with the desk work because it leads to better things sometimes, and because...

Any degree that teaches you how to think and question things is good preparation. What you're doing in intel is looking at what's happening now and trying to predict what's going to happen next, and I don't think there's any one degree that teaches you how to do that. I majored in political...

From what I've seen, officers who are out of standards get cut a lot more slack than the enlisted guys--there's a reason people say FEP stands for fat enlisted people (it's actually Fitness Enhancement Program). And like Spekkio said, officers tend to get held up in meetings and the like, some...

I do plenty of analysis... and then spend more time plugging my analysis into Powerpoint form. I think it's useful to bring in more intel officers with tech degrees, but I think the 60-40 split of tech vs. non-tech degrees is off--maybe it should be the other way around.

I knew what you meant. If their questions are important enough for experienced people to take the time to answer, the least they can do is put in the same amount of effort as the people answering their questions. But sometimes I answer their questions anyway, and so probably play a miniscule...

I'm lazy as hell (i.e., not nearly motivated enough to read a profile in most cases--BzB is a better man than all of us), but the post was clear enough to me. :)

Pretty sure the OP is a sub guy looking to go SWO or SUPPO. Everett is the best bet for finding senior SWOs.

I don't think so, but I'm not a reservist. There might be more reservists reading the reserves thread who can answer that question.

That's interesting, I actually had no idea that many nuke SWOs stayed in. My impression was that most of them got out, but maybe that was just one incredibly dysfunctional Reactor Department. Is this just over the last few years?

My guess is that if the Navy's going to pay for you to get a college education, you're going to go where the Navy needs you, and the Navy needs more URL ensigns than it does staff corps/restricted line. If they end up with too many aviators, they can redesignate more people to other communities...

Dude, if you want SNA, put in your package now, before you hit the age limit. What's the worst the board can say? Next question, do you want to be a naval officer more than you want to be a lawyer? If the answer is yes, also put in your package. (The worst they can say, by the way, is...

Good luck to all of you.

Nope, I'm sure the OCS stories will continue to flow. They're like sea stories, only there's a more limited/less interesting selection to choose from. And I say that as a "band camper." That said, OCS is funny as hell--often at the time, and definitely looking back--just one of those "you...

I hope my previous comments didn't come across as opposition to any and all innovation. There's often a better way of doing things, and the argument that the way we've always done it works well enough doesn't mean no one should look for a better way. At the same time, I will say it's supremely...

Well, the Glasses didn't really help in that case, did they? I can see where it would be helpful to use the Google Glasses moboard app while still watching the vessel... but I think a tablet based app would be quicker and less cumbersome. And I don't think anyone's holding an iPad in both...

So, there needs to be a dude standing there with a camera on his face for all that? I'm not saying it needs to be an either/or proposition, but why not one camera that does the same thing instead of one guy/multiple guys wearing the technology? I completely agree with your last point; there...

All useful, but why not just use an iPad (or equivalent) for those? Existing, proven technology, and surely someone on the bridge team has two hands free to use it. A tablet that has all the manuals and spot check procedures? Ability to call up the Standing Orders without pawing through a...

I can see more use for that sort of technology in a more tactical environment--e.g., guys in a combat environment, spread out, share with each other what they're seeing; that integrates into whatever map technology they've already got, etc. Particularly useful if we're talking NVGs. Not sure I...

Less sleep, yes. Less food, not so much. They don't actually want you to end up in the hospital. They may well be preparing you to get by on less appetizing food (Spekkio's right, MREs are worse than OCS chow, while boat food is pretty much comparable), but while you might lose out on sleep...