Treelover2019
Member
Thank you! I’m hoping to get Colorado!
My list will be
Colorado
Georgia
Hawaii
Maryland
Texas
-
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Cryptologic Warfare Officer Initial Duty Stations
- Thread starter Mteague92
- Start date
My list will be
Colorado
Georgia
Hawaii
Maryland
Texas
CWO_change
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure how the detailers work preference sheets for folks at OCS today, but keep in mind that I was not able to even select Colorado when I was at OCS over a decade ago. None of the 1810s in my class were, though one of us (a prior) was ultimately sent there. Maybe things will have changed, though. In any case, I'm sure it can't hurt to make that preference known when the time comes.
Treelover2019
Member
I have a ensign at my command currently that is a CW and she said you rank 1 to 5 and get your duty station 3 days before you graduate!
jumper10492
CWO Select
Hello, while waiting to ship out to OCS I've been thinking about long term career plans since I don't intend to five n dive. I am most interested in subsurface DISRUP opportunities, but I also understand there's progression leading up to that point. Asking around, I've been told Hawaii and Fort Meade pushes their JOs through their quals (pin and tactical tour) on the quicker side, which can also segway into potential DISRUP teams. Has anyone done something similar? Are there other locations that are also good picks for this?
I'm also curious what do you guys think about immediately going for your tactical tour once you get your pin and not spending the entire 3 year allotment. I understand it's to fill in more tours so it looks good to the board when the time comes to progress. I'm interested in how that went for those who've had/done a similar plan.
I know this is super far ahead and overhead planning but thinking about this kind of stuff gets me pretty excited. It also reassures me that I have an actual plan instead of winging it, no matter how far ahead and vague it is.
I'm also curious what do you guys think about immediately going for your tactical tour once you get your pin and not spending the entire 3 year allotment. I understand it's to fill in more tours so it looks good to the board when the time comes to progress. I'm interested in how that went for those who've had/done a similar plan.
I know this is super far ahead and overhead planning but thinking about this kind of stuff gets me pretty excited. It also reassures me that I have an actual plan instead of winging it, no matter how far ahead and vague it is.
CWO_change
Well-Known Member
I was going to ask why don't you look into doing DIRSUP your first tour, but something you wrote made me take a look at a listing of the direct support officers at NIOC PAC today and no one there is a new accession officer. Everyone I looked into is either a first tour officer (prior enlisted) or second tour officer (at least) and everyone seems to have their IWO pin. If this is how things are, that's a welcome change and something that the community had been talking about moving to when I was a DSO.
The submarine community has long requested this, but we weren't always in a position to do so. I can tell you know that you get more respect (and, thus, are able to more effectively do your job) if you are warfare qualified and preferably not an ENS out on these missions. And this is coming from someone who did DIRSUP subs as an new accession ENS/LTjg when that was the standard rank that was sent out alone and unafraid to support missions. That said, in the event that you can still request DIRSUP subs as a new accession officer, there are still benefits to doing so.
Regarding DIRSUP subs duty stations, your only options are Hawaii (NIOC PAC), Georgia (NIOC Georgia), and Fort Meade (CWMA-61).
Can't answer how quickly Hawaii and Fort Meade are pushing JOs through their CWO and IWO quals today (you won't get a tactical AQD unless you PCS afloat, do DIRSUP, or work with specwar) today and will have to rely on someone closer to those commands now, but as a general matter if you're in a national billet the detailers will pull you to do a tactical tour as soon as possible after you qualify IWO (barring any extenuating circumstances). What I will say is that you probably don't want to wait too long to get your pin regardless as doing so can put you into a tough position if all of the good second tour (DIRSUP or otherwise) have already been snapped up by first tour officers who qualified before you. I
steelfoxtrot
Well-Known Member
Huh. Good to know!
Cool Waves
Member
What would be considered a “good” DIRSUP or other second tour? Is this just based on location?
CWO_change
Well-Known Member
For me, that question comes down to a few things: location, overall quality of life, mission, and/or opportunities for career progression, each of which people will value differently. Can't talk about mission on this platform except to say that mission will be different based on where you're deployed out of. For DIRSUP, generally speaking NIOC HI (CTF 1070) supports ops out in Seventh Fleet, CWG-6/CWMA-61 (CTF-1060) supports ops out in Sixth Fleet, and NIOC Georgia (CTF-1050) supports ops out in Fifth Fleet.
While I still encourage folks to look into DIRSUP opportunities as a first tour if available (notwithstanding what I wrote earlier), second tour quality of life will be noticeably better IMO. You should already have your warfare pin and other basic qualifications, which is significant pressure off your back.
I chose NIOC HI as my first duty station, which enabled me to do DIRSUP subs out of there, based solely on location, to include both the warmer weather factor and the point about higher BAH (and COLA) in Hawaii. But that may matter little to people who don't want to be so far away from loved ones on the mainland, etc.
Note, I apply the same considerations to any tour.
Good evening sir you mentioned a tactical tour done (can you give more details please) I just graduated and have been trying to reach my detailer but nothing after 3 months he or she does respond to emails nor pick up my call. I want to have a carrier as a crypto guy but really don’t know all the INS and OUT of it. Will much appreciated for all the infos I could get about studying or to get ready for promotion to be the leader listener subordinates for myself and fellow members. Am in school in Virginia so haven’t done much. Any advice will be greatly appreciated thanksKeep in mind that while there are still four main locations that you're likely to end up especially as a new accession, there is some variety in what you might do.
You may end up at an agency job, doing a cyber gig somewhere (which is becoming increasingly an option for new accessions), or potentially get sent to the FIOC (Fleet Information Operations Center) as either a deployer (direct support) or as a permanent watch stander. If you're interested in going direct support and getting your tactical tour out of the way early, I'd make that known to your detailer sooner rather than later. Note, if you wanted to do direct support subsurface, you would not have the option to go to all of the big four locations, and the same applies to surface (and air sometimes).
Texas is the smallest of the big four I think in terms of overall billets, so the likelihood of you going there would probably correspond with that. Hawaii and Maryland are the biggest, so I think there's a good chance you'd end up at either one of those two sites. Keep in mind that where the others report to one O6 for administrative purposes, Maryland is now split up into 7 smaller commands (1x ISIC and 6x subordinate commands).
When I was at OCS in 2015, I communicated with the detailer that Hawaii was my top choice based on what I knew about weather, location, and housing allowance ratesYou'll definitely get the opportunity to communicate with the detailer about preferences at some point, so I'd research that carefully (I'm always happy to discuss more, too) prior to attending OCS.