All about DCO Commissioning Ceremony

[HAL Pilot]

As far as what it should (most) include:

Chaplain
Color Guard for posting of the colors
Something for the National Anthem
RESCEN commander, Unit commander, etc
Master of Ceremonies
Officer to issue oath (may be same as MoC) most are not though...at least the ones I have been too
First salute, give them a REAL silver dollar. Mine cost me $53 last week to obtain
"pinning" of your shoulder boards and/or removal of black tape from your SDB coat
Your remarks...Thank your wife/husband or you will be in trouble, etc
Then off to lunch somewhere
and then the "wetting down" ....a bar somewhere


If anyone can think of something I missed please jump in.

You are making it sound like this is a requirement, not what you are doing.

And for me the ceremony is not about ME, its about all those..mainly family, that have helped me get there. And helped my family whenever I have been deployed. They have earned it as much as I have...

Bullshit. It's what YOU want or YOU wouldn't be doing it. This is the same thing women say about big weddings, and everyone knows it's all about the bride and what she want.

 

[3912DCO]

Indeed, my new name is Justin...Justin Ensign, but I agree with you, USAF.Boom. My family and fellow sailors have given a lot to get me here. I'm sure they won't mind my attention to US NAVY TRADITIONS for 15-minutes, considering I am buying their lunch and drinks afterwards (Wetting Down).

 

[USAF.Boom]

Of course it is not a requirement. Look at the first line.... "SHOULD" not "MUST" your in the military and know the diference. I am in the flying community now (in-flight refueler) and use a checklist on every flight and I damn well know you understand the difference between the meanings if you are flying. No boldface.

If you knew me, it is not about ME at all. My family IS that important to me. And while it is not about me, I will enjoy the experience. But I do hate the spotlight. Anyway, each is entitled to their own opinion. Plus, I don't care to get in a pissing match with anyone over something so stupid anyway.

 

[HAL Pilot]

Indeed, my new name is Justin...Justin Ensign, but I agree with you, USAF.Boom. My family and fellow sailors have given a lot to get me here. I'm sure they won't mind my attention to US NAVY TRADITIONS for 15-minutes, considering I am buying their lunch and drinks afterward (Wetting Down).

Of course it is not a requirement. Look at the first line.... "SHOULD" not "MUST" your in the military and know the difference. I am in the flying community now (in-flight refueler) and use a checklist on every flight and I damn well know you understand the difference between the meanings if you are flying. No boldface.

If you knew me, it is not about ME at all. My family IS that important to me. And while it is not about me, I will enjoy the experience. But I do hate the spotlight. Anyway, each is entitled to their own opinion. Plus, I don't care to get in a pissing match with anyone over something so stupid anyway.

I'm not saying you can't do whatever you want to do. It's YOUR commissioning. I'm just saying there is no requirement to even have a ceremony.

Saying "you should" do something is making a statement that says if you don't, you are not doing it right. If the post had been "This is what I'm doing for my commissioning" I would never have commented.

There is no right or wrong answer to how you hold your commissioning. It can be as simple as signing the papers and taking the oath in your OSO's office, or you can get a marching band from the university with Bozo the Clown acting as MC and Tom Cruise giving a Scientology invocation. It's up to you. I personally think USAF.Boom is going overboard and his stated reason is BS. But that's just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions.

Plus it's just my day to contrary.

 

[USAF.Boom]

I'm not saying you can't do whatever you want to do. It's YOUR commissioning. I'm just saying there is no requirement to even have a ceremony.

Saying "you should" do something is making a statement that says if you don't, you are not doing it right. If the post had been "This is what I'm doing for my commissioning" I would never have commented.

There is no right or wrong answer to how you hold your commissioning. It can be as simple as signing the papers and taking the oath in your OSO's office, or you can get a marching band from the university with Bozo the Clown acting as MC and Tom Cruise giving a Scientology invocation. It's up to you. I personally think USAF.Boom is going overboard and his stated reason is BS. But that's just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions.

Plus it's just my day to contrary.

Oh, final thing on this. I only listed those items because that is what I found in a commissioning program online. Your totally correct about being able to do whatever you want. Here is the link.

http://navymustangs.com/pub-resources/comm-ceremony-script.phtml


I personally am not doing everything on that list. No national anthem, no color guard as the colors will already be posted. Not sure on the chaplain thing. I am having my old skipper swear me in and he is a pretty religious guy so I will leave that part up to him. I will have a first salute from a friend of mine who I fly with now and will present him with the silver dollar I purchased for him. I will thank my wife and those who have helped with my military career.

I know my old skipper wants to give a few words and so do the Congressman (not my choice there, I wish he didn't, makes things too awkward) and the Senator that I work for (paid staffer). But I also know they wrote letters for my packet and I really can't tell them no. I could but that wouldn't be smart for my civilian career. I am having a few friends join me for lunch (out of towners) and then we (wife and I and anyone else who want to join us) are all going to party it up that night while the kids are at grandma's, who wouldn't?

 

[HAL Pilot]

^ Ok, that's resonable. I'll quit being contrary now.

 

[USAF.Boom]

Thank you, sir.

 

[USNGRL]

Indeed, my new name is Justin...Justin Ensign, but I agree with you, USAF.Boom. My family and fellow sailors have given a lot to get me here. I'm sure they won't mind my attention to US NAVY TRADITIONS for 15-minutes, considering I am buying their lunch and drinks afterwards (Wetting Down).

BRAVO! Well Stated!

 

[ET_2_IP]

You can take bits and pieces from each and make it your own. For example, I took out the part describing what a CWO is and added in the origins of the Ensign rank.

DCO3912, what sources did you use for the origins of the Ensign rank?

 

[3912DCO]

ET_2_IP,
I found information regarding the origins of the Ensign rank on the Naval Historical Center's website. Not only did I want it to be interesting, I wanted it to be factual as well and I felt this was a very reliable source. Here is the link I used:

http://www.history.navy.mil/trivia/triv4-5c.htm

Hope this helps.

 

[Devil Duck]

I'm a prior service guy who's not too concerned about an in-depth ceremony. I'll be attached to a unit whose uniform of the day is the DCU (desert cammies). I'm considering wearing either DCUs or khakis for commissioning. Frankly, I don't think I'm willing to perform the cheetah flips required to get a set of tailored SDB for the ceremony. Is a working uniform too informal for the commissioning ceremony? The ceremony will occur at my office, I work for the Army. Military attendees will be wearing ACUs. Thoughts?

 

[USAF.Boom]

Don't you need to have SDBs anyway? I think it would be nice to wear them but if your more comfortable wearing the NWU, then go with that.

 

[OnTopTime]

I'm a prior service guy who's not too concerned about an in-depth ceremony. I'll be attached to a unit whose uniform of the day is the DCU (desert cammies). I'm considering wearing either DCUs or khakis for commissioning. Frankly, I don't think I'm willing to perform the cheetah flips required to get a set of tailored SDB for the ceremony. Is a working uniform too informal for the commissioning ceremony? The ceremony will occur at my office, I work for the Army. Military attendees will be wearing ACUs. Thoughts?

I would say whatever you want, within the bounds of good taste. When I was doing reserve officer recruiting, I probably swore in 25+ DCO applicants, many of them prior service, and I can only remember one who chose to wear a uniform. And the one who did went the whole nine yards. He bought choker whites and a sword, and we did the ceremony on the gun deck of the USS Constitution. There was an after ceremony reception/lunch at the Harvard Club. At first when he told me what he wanted to do, I thought that it was a little over the top, but I was probably subliminally contrasting to what I normally did with DCOs- raise the right hand and repeat the oath on the Reserve Center quarter deck with the American flag in the background, take a few photos and then sign the papers in my office. When all was said and done, it turned out to be a pretty cool day.

 

[FlyinSpy]

I would say whatever you want, within the bounds of good taste. When I was doing reserve officer recruiting, I probably swore in 25+ DCO applicants, many of them prior service, and I can only remember one who chose to wear a uniform. And the one who did went the whole nine yards. He bought choker whites and a sword, and we did the ceremony on the gun deck of the USS Constitution. There was an after ceremony reception/lunch at the Harvard Club. At first when he told me what he wanted to do, I thought that it was a little over the top, but I was probably subliminally contrasting to what I normally did with DCOs- raise the right hand and repeat the oath on the Reserve Center quarter deck with the American flag in the background, take a few photos and then sign the papers in my office. When all was said and done, it turned out to be a pretty cool day.

As a datapoint - I was in the other 96% thar just wore a suit, swore in on the quarterdeck, and got a nice pic. Mostly because I didn't know any better, but even today I'm not sure I'd change it. There's plenty of opportunity for pomp and circumstance if you're interested in such things. Don't feel obligated to go with an elaborate ceremony if you don't really want to.

 

[goopscoop]

Anyone have a good online source for American Silver Eagle Dollars to give the Chiefs at Newport?