Career In San Diego

[Gonzo08]

the only truly trash navy station for pilots is Lemoore, but the upside of that is that you get to fly a super hornet.

Or F-35s...

 

[Spekkio]

Not a pilot but I will pass along some great advice I got: Never prioritize your duty station over the billet.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Not a pilot but I will pass along some great advice I got: Never prioritize your duty station over the billet.

This. Even in civilian life.

 

[HuggyU2]

I'm willing to sacrifice platform for location on my dream sheets.

Forget the Navy. Call your AF Recruiter. Good chance they can get you to Cannon AFB, or maybe even Altus AFB or Thule.

 

[taxi1]

Out of NROTC, SWO selectees get to pick their first ship type and homeport based on a ship list. So it would guarantee first tour in SD.

Right now, as I type, someone somewhere is staffing up a future fitrep bullet that changes that rule. Count on it.

 

[taxi1]

Forget the Navy. Call your AF Recruiter. Good chance they can get you to Cannon AFB, or maybe even Altus AFB or Thule.

Minot, ND. Thule without the surfing.

 

[Swanee]

Out of NROTC, SWO selectees get to pick their first ship type and homeport based on a ship list. So it would guarantee first tour in SD.

Yes, go SWO to live in San Diego. But what's that old saying? Sailors belong on ships and ships belong at sea?

Monday I was headed across the HRBT to grab a beer with an old friend while I'm visiting my folks on leave and I saw an LCS headed out. The Monday after Christmas. That's one way to prevent any libbo incidents.

 

[insanebikerboy]

Right now, as I type, someone somewhere is staffing up a future fitrep bullet that changes that rule. Count on it.

That’s how it was as far back as I’ve heard. They’ll have all the ships available listed under Hawaii, San Diego, etc, and you go choose which one you want. At USNA they had a big board with tags that the SWOs would walk up and pick.

Needless to say, every time I’ve seen picture of it, Norfolk stays on the board the longest.

I say that just to add that I doubt they’ll change the process anytime soon.

 

[nittany03]

This. Even in civilian life.

That's . . . arguable. There are times it'd be worth it, but if you're not careful, you'll end up retirement age wondering why you spent your life living in such shitty spots.

Few civ jobs are worth this level of sacrifice. Those that are are "make bank, and then bail."

 

[Griz882]

That’s how it was as far back as I’ve heard. They’ll have all the ships available listed under Hawaii, San Diego, etc, and you go choose which one you want. At USNA they had a big board with tags that the SWOs would walk up and pick.

Needless to say, every time I’ve seen picture of it, Norfolk stays on the board the longest.

I say that just to add that I doubt they’ll change the process anytime soon.View attachment 37206

Cool system, they have something similar at West Point (the exception being branch like infantry or artillery and then location). I do have to ask, what is a “blue chip” SWO job and why are all the SWO “Nuke” ships powered with conventional plants?

 

[ea6bflyr]

Cool system, they have something similar at West Point (the exception being branch like infantry or artillery and then location). I do have to ask, what is a “blue chip” SWO job and why are all the SWO “Nuke” ships powered with conventional plants?

I can answer the SWO Nuke question: All SWO Nukes do their first tour on a non-Nuke surface ship to earn their SWO pin, then go through the Nuke pipeline. Second tour is usually a CVN.

 

[sevenhelmet]

That's . . . arguable. There are times it'd be worth it, but if you're not careful, you'll end up retirement age wondering why you spent your life living in such shitty spots.

Few civ jobs are worth this level of sacrifice. Those that are are "make bank, and then bail."

Fair point- job trumps location in the military, because you’re gone a lot and you’ll likely be moving on eventually anyway, whether you want to or not. On the outside, there is a lot more nuance.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Minot, ND. Thule without the surfing.

Hard to surf on pack ice, bro. ?

 

[nittany03]

Fair point- job trumps location in the military, because you’re gone a lot and you’ll likely be moving on eventually anyway, whether you want to or not. On the outside, there is a lot more nuance.

Oftentimes on the outside, though, "job" and "location" are still intertwined. You're not working in tech living in Dubuque, Iowa or Youngstown, Ohio. You're not working in petroleum engineering living in San Francisco or Seattle. You're not working in finance outside a major hub like NYC.

But yeah, we all have places we'd like to live based on not only what jobs we think are cool, but also the social and political climates of the places we want to be. And how far away they are from Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, etc. And whether they have stuff worth doing after you get done with work. Some people want red states. Some people want blue states. Some people are cool being in a red or blue area of the opposite state. Some people want to live in the heart of the big city. Some people want suburbia and Applebee's. Some people want acres of rural land where they can hunt, farm, and/or fish.

All of this is a continuum for each individual person, and all of this comes into play when you pick where you want to live post-military. Sure, "embrace the suck" may be the right answer (at least for awhile) if you're dead-set on the highest paycheck in the highest-paying career you can get. But the whole "I must move every three years and I must take the toughest job possible because I'm in a stack-ranked military career field where only I out of my summary group can win" is not the only way to success in the private sector.

Unless you're really dead-set on eventually seeing a therapist or the bottom of a bottle, like some people who dedicate their lives to ruthlessly chasing that EP or the civ equivalent.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I can answer the SWO Nuke question: All SWO Nukes do their first tour on a non-Nuke surface ship to earn their SWO pin, then go through the Nuke pipeline. Second tour is usually a CVN.

Yep, something like this: conv ship, nuke school, CVN, shore, conv DH tour, CVN PA tour, several years of other stuff, RO tour about 19 year point.

Basically a nuke SWO will spend 6 years on a CVN with operational reactors out of a 22 year career.