DCO for CEC Hopefuls

[Mitehre]

I thought I would create a new thread for that small community of Naval Reservists who are hoping for a CEC commission or those who have been lucky enough to have recently received their commission. I myself am waiting for the board to meet this very month and hope find out that I have been selected. I'm told that will know by the end of the month if I was selected.

I am also hoping to use this thread as a source of support and information. I was an enlisted reservist with the Seabees for 10 years before getting out to go college. Now that I’m graduated, I’m looking forward to going back in. My only reservation is not knowing what to do for the first couple of months. Before I got out, I could tell you the job and responsibility of every enlisted man and woman in my unit, but for life of me I could not tell you what my OIC did all day! In my 10 years I went through 3 OIC’s and I have no idea where they were or what they did all day long. So hoping for a commission and going back as an Ensign is a little intimidating.

 

[JasonB]

Whats a CEC commission? Something to do with the Seabees?

 

[floridaseabee]

I wouldn't worry about 'not knowing what you are doing the first few months'. You are an Ensign and people are going to be expecting that. This isn't to discourage you, but to let you know that this is normal for all the ENS that come into the Reserve NMCB's. Don't stress the details right now. You already know that you will typically be detailed to an NMCB as an ENS. The XO/S3 will figure out what job you want to have, but with the influx of Ensigns in the past few years, don't be too set on being a Det OIC. There are some that do that job, yes, but there are plenty more that are doing other things, such as S1A, S3E, etc. This is different then when I first came in as I remember being the only ENS in the entire Battalion. Talk to the XO/S3 about find a good Chief to be a mentor for you, as well as making sure you have a good LT to guide you.

The Det OIC is extremely busy both during and outside of the Drill weekend. They have two chains of command to worry about. 10 years and you only went through 3 OICs? Thats pretty good, especially for my Battalion. I've been a Det OIC, S1, S6 and now B6...in my almost 7 years in doing this.

- One is the Battalion. This is where your OPCON lies at and where most of your tasking comes from. You will have Admin tasks coming down, such as Motorcycle Safety, GMT, GTCC hell, etc.....but you will also have Operational items. These could include Weapon shoots, Mini-FTX's, schools, etc. Call your CO CDR once a week.
- The other is the NOSC. While they don't write your FITREP, your relationship with the NOSC cannot be understated. They have items that your Det must take care of just like the Battalion and you will find yourself running out of time during the drill weekend. Keeping your relation ship with the NOSC CO in good repair, and the FTS staff will prevent a lot of ass pain for your people (think Admin, pay, orders, etc.). Talk to them and let them know of items coming from the Battalion side that will affect them (short term orders, mobilizations, etc.) as early as possible.

Few things. Be prepared to be busy. You will be fielding calls and emails at home, work and on vacation. Do your best to balance Navy and home life to prevent yourself from becoming burned out. Expect to work on Navy items while not being paid by the Navy and to occasionally take non-paid IDTT to drill at the RSS. Money is getting tigher now.

Changes to the NCF on both the Active and Reserve side are coming just like other communities.

TLDR: For you ...remember this one thing. Its not about you. Its about that Seabee freezing his ass off in that fighting position or behind that crew served or swinging that hammer. Do what needs to be done to support them. Talk to them, walk around and see what they are doing and take an interest.

 

[Mitehre]

Thanks for the words of encourgement. I'm just trying to not go crazy while waiting to hear if I got selected. The rumor was that the board was meeting this week so candidates will know by the end of the month if they were selected. It sucks to be so close to fulfilling one your life's biggest dreams and yet not be able to touch it yet.

 

[Mitehre]

Anyone know the limit of persons per DCO class or the difference between 'closed' and 'full'? If selected, it looks like the only class date left this year is at the end of August which would be really bad timing for me since that's my second child's due date.

 

[floridaseabee]

Don't know here, and the penguins that held the particulars of DCO classing up left the ice floe a long time ago. You should be able to take another DCO class later on, not to worry. You haven't even been selected yet and you are getting worked up about this. While getting DCO done is a requirement, you don't have to do it 5 minutes after you raise your right hand. Birth of your kid will take precedence...and I'm sure the Navy will understand that.

Slow your roll.... Have you talked to your recruiter yet?

 

[OnTopTime]

Anyone know the limit of persons per DCO class or the difference between 'closed' and 'full'? If selected, it looks like the only class date left this year is at the end of August which would be really bad timing for me since that's my second child's due date.

When I was doing reserve officer recruiting, the requirement was for DCOs to complete the officer indoctrination class within one year of commissioning. I don't know if that's any different today. As a prior service guy, the class for you isn't so critical. For non-prior service DCOs, my recommendation was that they attend the class as soon as possible.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I rec'd word from a CEC officer with indirect knowledge that the CEC DCO board for January is not happening and that February is the next one.

 

[Mitehre]

I think you may be talking about the active duty board. My recruiter told be today that the board for reserve CEC met this week and they should be releasing the list of chosen candidates in the second week of Feb.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I know active has met, I just talked to one of the board members 2 days ago, maybe reserve is releasing the results in Feb and counting that as Feb board?

 

[CECARCHITECT]

Can anyone give me an idea of how much time reserve CEC officers will spend on active duty/mobilized, beyond the one weekend a month thing (i.e if you get picked up for an IA or deployed somewhere, after the training period is over). I applied on the active side, just want to compare what life is like on the reserve side. Also I've heard its pretty much impossible to come in on the reserve side and then transfer over to active duty side, is that accurate? Also are next Reserve boards in May?

 

[Mitehre]

I can only tell you what I've been told from the guys in my old unit as well as what a CEC admiral told me in my interview. Being activated for IA is based on the needs of the Navy and completely unpredictable. It is also highly unlikely that a new ensign will be activated for at least two years since you need to go to DCO school and you also need a FEX and other qualifications.
Now, the admiral did tell me that policy has changed since the start of the Iraq and Afganistan conflict. They are now integrating the battalion rotations of active duty and the reserves. Apparently, the Navy found out that not activating the reserve battalions for 30-40 years resulted in a disaster in the begining and despite best efforts, the reserve battalions were completely unprepared and took way too long. Now, reserve battalions are activated once every 4-5 years and put into rotation. With this, you can expect a 100% guarantee that as a new CEC officer, you will be activated at least once in your 6 year commitment. My former reserve battalion has been activated twice in the last 7 years. If fact, they just got back about 6 months ago from thier second tour.
Now this new policy could change again since activation of a reserve battalion is extremely expensive and we are going into an election year. Also, with NMCB-40 and NCMB-7 being decommissioned at the end of this year could change this too. Of course, this all conjecture since we have no idea what the 1st NCR will do.

 

[Mitehre]

I was curious if anyone has heard anything from the Reserve CEC Board selections. I was told that we should find out some time this week but thus far, nothing. I know it's only Tuesday, but maybe someone out there has some information.

 

[Mitehre]

Does anyone know if the selection board for reserve CEC officer selection met this month? I was under the impression that they met in January and results would be out in Feb. Here it is, the end of Feburary and I've heard nothing. I'm starting to think that perhaps NavyOffRec was correct in that the board was to meet this month instead and perhaps the results will be out in early March.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Does anyone know if the selection board for reserve CEC officer selection met this month? I was under the impression that they met in January and results would be out in Feb. Here it is, the end of Feburary and I've heard nothing. I'm starting to think that perhaps NavyOffRec was correct in that the board was to meet this month instead and perhaps the results will be out in early March.

When I asked about active results last week and if they were going to be emailed out the response I rec'd was "results of board results for all board that met have already been sent out" but I don't know if that was active only? The recent update shows 12 pro rec yes, the problem is I don't know if that does or does not include the recent board, if it doesn't they probably pushed the board since if you add those numbers together they are 5 over the goal, if it does don't know why the info isn't out.