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Ventura County is the best part of California

Look, you're never going to eliminate the bad deal orders or the fact that our jobs take us to terrible places. Could detailing be better? Yes. Will it ever be perfect? Absolutely Not. Could detailers try harder? I don't think so. The best thing we could do is extend tours and try and homestead...

Honestly, forget being a SWO. If your recruiter is willing to give it a shot, then go for it but it doesn't sound like you'll find the SWO life rewarding and it will take you away from the medical field for a long time and/or permanently. Just know that you have a black mark on your record and...

There are far more remote jobs than there were 5 years ago and they are growing by the day. I see it quite a bit in the corporate world and having just interviewed for mostly remote work, I can tell you that most white collar professions outside of those that require being in person (sales...

As I'm sure you know, you're fighting an uphill battle here. That said, if you ultimately want to be a medical bubba, go do that. As we often tell people who go enlisted so they can become aviators, the Navy has a strange way of derailing your life plans in rude and inconvenient ways. It's best...

The wrong angle? I understand that certain jobs will be difficult to get. I said that. If your spouse's job is tied to a certain location, then she's not going to have the flexibility to move when the military tells you to go. That's why I said, with the corporate world embracing remote work and...

I did. The same concept factors into civilian employment just like it does in the Navy. If you want to be a fine art curator, you have to be willing to work in major cities, usually in an art gallery and not make much money until you have at least an MFA and decades of experience as a "taste...

Not sure how OTS works, but the Reserves and Air Guard do guarantee flight slots through their UPT programs. Those are highly competitive and you need to network to get them.

From my unwashed opinion, the CSG desperately needs organic ASW patrol and long-loiter tanking capabilities. The likelihood that you'll have tankers in the middle of the Pacific whenever you need them or have P-8s with enough time on station is slim. With all the investment the Chinese are...

They are. I've heard it's a fun tour but there are only two units (one East Coast and one West Coast) for it. It's usually a SWO shore tour.

As you said, it's entirely dependent upon the job. One of friends' wives is a photographer and does photography and photoshop work and other admin for a photography business. Another is a school teacher and teaches remote classes at an online HS/GED/college prep school. The ones who absolutely...

I would assume this is getting easier with the move in the corporate world to remote work. I have quite a few friends whose spouses have been able to maintain employment and career progression by taking advantage of remote opportunities. The only thing that seems to screw it up is how intrusive...

1. The contracts and how they are written and incentivized. As an organization, we really only care about cost so we write the contract to test for and reward reductions in costs. The DoD has zero idea on how to classify, measure, and reward value. It's why our attempts at Agile and DevSecOps...

It also provides those bureaucrats with an opportunity to not take responsibility for things. We often times let the process become more important than the end product. The amount of people I would piss off on a regular basis was high because the civilians couldn't really do anything to me as...

That's the most important part!

This is incorrect with regard to NMCI. Our processes are so byzantine and inefficient that our civilians and contractors are impacted to the point that we actually lose talent (they quit or never accept the job) simply due to how difficult getting the job and the resources to do it are. My last...

The Academy and NROTC do not guarantee you a flight contract. You are almost entirely at the mercy of the Needs of the Navy and the selection boards who will choose what you get to do based upon your performance in NROTC/the Academy and academic record. The only way to get a guaranteed flight...

This is a cost-management and inability to design networks properly issue. Laptops and the like are expensive and we're saddled with legacy IT systems. The move to Flank Speed and Nautilus VDI is a start and there's more coming (I can't talk about it here). NMCI, both it's design and contract...

Most of the tests came back "inconclusive" prompting more testing. Eventually the docs at NAMI erred on the side of caution and gave a me an NPQ letter. This is their job and they are very strict when it comes to anything having to do with cognition, emotional regulation, or mental disorders...

Understood. I don't think we had any TPS bubbas going through at Monterey when I was there but the TPS coop program always seemed like a good deal for a Masters given how technical TPS already is. I can understand how frustrating it could be to not be given much flexibility in your schedule and...

I hate to tell you this but your chances are slim. The best way to get cleared by NAMI is the following: Go to your original doctor who diagnosed you with ADHD and have him or her provide you with a letter saying that you have no signs or symptoms of the disorder and do not require medication...

Were you not given the opportunity to take ML/AI or extra stats courses while in the SE Dept? I was in the SE Dept and most of the courses relied heavily on stats and they were adding more and more ML/AI stuff in my last year there (2020). As an engineer, I would say that the SE program is the...

Are you actually in the Navy? If so, just stop by the quarter deck and talk to whoever has the duty. They can probably point you in the right direction. Also, I believe you can get pretty close to the approach on Oceana similar to Mayport so you can spend all day watching air traffic come in and...

Have you tried just driving on base? Maybe if you go ask the squadrons nicely, they'll give you a tour.

That's just what they told us every time PERS-41 brought out the road show. They told us you need a Masters and JPME complete in order to screen for O5. It's been a while though, so it may have changed. I no longer have to chase the JPME requirement as an EDO so I haven't really kept up with it.

CBT = Computer-based Training. It will become the bane of your existence annually. I'm surprised you haven't gotten any in NROTC. JPME = Joint Professional Military Education. It is usually provided via CBT and will also become the bane of your existence. Is it not a requirement for promotion...

I'm not sure. I'd have to ask the Speedy expert, @mad dog

The watch was obviously a Speedmaster because it was Speedy Tuesday.

I forgot to add that you can also knock out your JPME in person with a real live instructor instead of slogging through CBT hell. You're putting the cart before the horse here. 1) You have no guarantee you'll get to go to TOPGUN or get jets, 2) you have no guarantee you won't get the NAMI...

If you are interested in life as an AEDO, EDO, Permanent Military Professor (PMP), or engineer in general, I would highly recommend getting your Masters. Monterey is a great time, that Shoemaker program is solid, NPS is a pump not a filter (i.e. they will make sure you get your degree as long as...

@edensvj this is great advice. Focus on school, giving back to your community, and taking care of yourself mentally and physically. OCS is always an option as are the Air Guard and Army Flying Warrant Program. Be a rockstar in school and you'll be okay.

Good thing we're working on containerized launchers: https://www.thedefensepost.com/2023/10/30/us-navy-missile-launcher/ Surprised we didn't do this sooner.

IIRC that's the Mark 127 HE-CVT round which is, I believe, less expensive per round than most missiles in the US inventory. I was ecstatic that they were able to engage with the gun. It's been advertised as a capability for years but I've never seen it done or heard of anyone who's gotten to do...

They're still orders of magnitude higher in cost than the drones. Even if the RAM or ESSM missiles engaged (I'm not confident they did, they're still a price mismatch. I believe RAM is cheapest and those are still 5 figures.

The fact that our laser weapons don't actually make a "pew pew" sounds seems like a missed opportunity. I'll tell the bubbas at PEO IWS to make that change.

As an NPS graduate, I'm going to tell you that if you're getting your MBA from NPS instead of a more prestigious school's online program, then you're doing it wrong. Go to NPS for a technical degree (Computer science, engineering, operational research/applied statistics, etc.) or something that...

I am having flashbacks to a bunch of us JOs trying to work MS Paint and Powerpoint in order to crank out storyboard slides for the Admiral so she could brief SACEUR/COMEUCOM, CJCS, and SECDEF on the happenings within COMSIXTHFLT AOR. I really don't know what they got out of those because we had...

Sort of. As others have said, there might be some opportunities for exchange tours or non-flying shore tours in weird places (Embassies doing things like flight clearances) but those could actually be risky for your career as a pilot, or at least were a few years ago. That said, the DoD will...

Here's one from the WaPo: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/27/ridge-alkonis-japan-navy-lieutenant-crash/ Here's one from TownHall with a lot of RW spin and editorializing: https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2022/12/19/the-pentagons-latest-leadership-failure-n2617279...

I'm still waiting on the Navy to issue me a Marine JAG girlfriend 🤞

When I read stories like this, I feel like I joined the Navy at the wrong time and missed out on all the crazy fun stuff.

Here's an interesting video about how Soviets trained their fighter pilots. He also covers Soviet TOPGUN which his dad attended. Also, here's my favorite vid of his discussing how the Soviets smuggled booze using the Tu-22.

I did not know this. I learned something.

Patrol Boat Sailors getting it done! I was always proud to carry on the legacy of the WW2 PT boats when I was on my PC tour. It's truly a different Navy.

My running theory is that those cool videos and presentations about putting the crewed stage of Starship on the moon were entirely to secure funding and investment similar to the Hypersonic transport presentation they made to use Starship as a replacement for long-haul airline service. The real...

I appreciate the "Build a little, test a little, learn a lot" approach and Elon's tireless working style to keep SpaceX and Tesla on track and constantly innovating. That approach seems to be what most people don't like despite the fact that it's almost exactly what NACA/NASA and the US Army...

I'm pretty sure the loss of all three astronauts is a "catastrophic failure" in manned spaceflight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1 Also, you seem to have forgotten about Apollo 13 and how they almost lost the crew and spacecraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_13 Seems like...

False. The Saturn V had two major failures: The first on the launch pad and the second in high Earth orbit. I don't think so. NASA is no stranger to massive failures. They're okay with SpaceX taking the risk and eating the costs for them. Both Gemini and Apollo only had a few successful...

This is a direct result of @mad dog constantly posting Speedy Tuesday (and Wednesday and Thursday and even Saturday) posts. Very cool stuff.

That's the super top secret extra-classified new in-situ ASW module Boeing has been working on.