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Designator Advice

Sandcrab01

New Member
Like sculpin said, a little googling goes a long way. But even the Wikipedia articles are a bit technical with regards the peculiarities of command.

Here's a more basic answer:
URL: warfighters. These officers are the ship drivers, pilots, SEALs, submariners who will lead sailors conducting the navy's core mission and will fight their platforms in the event of war.
RL: niche specialist communities that support various parts of Big Navy.
Staff: military versions of professions such as doctor, dentist, lawyer, supply, etc

Bottom line: do you want to join the Navy to learn to be a warfighter and lead sailors during maritime operations to include combat or do you want to be a technical specialist/profession that supports the fleet?

Edit: @JHoward beat me to it and did a decent job summing it up as well.

I would be more interested in leading. Would the URL be more in my favor of being accepted Vs. RL?
 

Sandcrab01

New Member
Thank you ru mu
URL is essentially your "trigger pullers" - NAs, NFOs, SWOs, Sub officers, EOD, SEAL who can eventually have "Command at Sea". A "Command at Sea" is essentially any ship, squadron, sub, EODMU, ST, etc.
RL is support specialties- AMDO, Intel, CW, EDO, AEDO - They can have Command Ashore, but can't Command at Sea.
Staff Corps are support specialties that typically require some sort of unique education - Lawyers, Dentists, Doctors. They can also have Command Ashore.

TLDR: The biggest difference is that URL are the "trigger pullers" and RL/Staff are in support of their mission.

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. With being Command at Sea possible in the future, what would be the duties that they have right after commission?
 

BarryD

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Thank you ru mu


Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. With being Command at Sea possible in the future, what would be the duties that they have right after commission?
Those will vary depending on the designator. If you scour the respective PERS-4X pages that correspond to the community you may be able to find a community brief or career path powerpoint that might give you an answer.

If you want to learn about 1310/1320, anything on here is good.
 

egiv

Well-Known Member
I would be more interested in leading. Would the URL be more in my favor of being accepted Vs. RL?

As said in a few previous posts - you need to research different jobs and be frank with yourself about what your strengths are and what you'd enjoy. All Naval Officers 'lead,' whether they're URL, RL or Staff Corps, but there are HUGE differences among communities. I would spend less time thinking about URL vs RL and focus on what each designator actually does/what its career path looks like and whether that aligns with what you're good at, how much time you're prepared to be away from home, your goals, etc.

To your original post, if you want to do cyber (assuming you don't have an advanced degree), you need to be looking at Cryptologic Warfare Officer. We do much more than just cyber throughout our career, so if that's all you want to do, Naval Officer isn't the right choice. The other option would be enlisting as a CTN, which would guarantee cyber at the operator level, some fairly cutting edge schooling and on-the-job training, and fast promotion. Flip side is you're not leading in the way an Officer does, at least not for several years.
 

Sandcrab01

New Member
As said in a few previous posts - you need to research different jobs and be frank with yourself about what your strengths are and what you'd enjoy. All Naval Officers 'lead,' whether they're URL, RL or Staff Corps, but there are HUGE differences among communities. I would spend less time thinking about URL vs RL and focus on what each designator actually does/what its career path looks like and whether that aligns with what you're good at, how much time you're prepared to be away from home, your goals, etc.

To your original post, if you want to do cyber (assuming you don't have an advanced degree), you need to be looking at Cryptologic Warfare Officer. We do much more than just cyber throughout our career, so if that's all you want to do, Naval Officer isn't the right choice. The other option would be enlisting as a CTN, which would guarantee cyber at the operator level, some fairly cutting edge schooling and on-the-job training, and fast promotion. Flip side is you're not leading in the way an Officer does, at least not for several years.

Is CWO a designator that generally accepts lower GPA applicants? (3.05) I haven't checked the GPA for that designator yet.
 

bubblehead

Registered Member
Contributor
...your post...
We really do a shitty job in educating people on the mechanics of the Navy and Officer Recruiters are only incentivized to get people into slots to fill their quotas.

These said, it would really behoove you and anyone else interested in Navy Officer programs to read as much as possible to understand what you are seeking to accomplish. If you can master and understand this stuff, you will be well ahead of pretty much every one of your peers.
  • Promotion Board. An IP colleague of mine is the hands down expert on promotion boards. She gives this brief every year to all JO's on how promotion boards work and tie in all this stuff. It is here.
  • Program Authorizations. Gives everyone an idea of what the Navy considers competitive at this moment in time. They are all here.
  • Community Briefs. These are per FY for each selection board and are approved by the Secretary of the Navy for Active Duty officer communities. They are here.
  • Community Health Brief (a/k/a drum beats). Probably the most valuable information you can read for each designator. Gives you a pulse on current gains and losses for the community (i.e., inventory of bodies taken from data from NOPPS and OAIS; See below), as well as historical. IMHO, I think these are valuable because if a community is healthy and well-manned or projected to be well-manned in a given year looking forward, the Navy will be less likely to entertain waivers or to lower standards to get more people into the community. Vice-versa if the community is not well-manned or projected to be not well-manned. Unfortunately, some communities' health briefs are easier to find than others, and are buried in each communities' PERS page. I've linked HR's directly so you can get an idea of what the brief contains: HR. Here is Where you want to go: Navy Personnel Command > Officer > Officer Detailing

Screen Shot 2019-01-04 at 08.30.02.jpg

Here is an example of the HR gains and losses. OPA is Officer Program Authorization, which I liked to above. You can see in the chart at the top right corner the current inventory by rank, the OPA from the previous two FY's. The follow on slides in their brief go on to tell you about manning and how to plug the holes.

Screen Shot 2019-01-04 at 08.36.26.jpg
 
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Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
Please stop the bleeding . . . .
1. Direct pressure.
2. Pressure points.
3. Apply tourniquet above the wound.
4. Stitch.

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5. Cauterize.

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HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
Is CWO a designator that generally accepts lower GPA applicants? (3.05) I haven't checked the GPA for that designator yet.
CWO is a rank, not a designator. CWOs come up from the enlisted ranks, not direct recruitment.

You really need to do some research and learn about the Navy. You’re really ignorant about an organization you want to join and commit too. As has been stated before, google is your friend. And as an officer, initiative should be second nature. The information is out there and easily obtainable. Your not doing yourself any favors by asking others to do your research.
 
D

Deleted member 67144 scul

Guest
CWO is a rank, not a designator. CWOs come up from the enlisted ranks, not direct recruitment.

You really need to do some research and learn about the Navy. You’re really ignorant about an organization you want to join and commit too. As has been stated before, google is your friend. And as an officer, initiative should be second nature. The information is out there and easily obtainable. Your not doing yourself any favors by asking others to do your research.

I believe she may be referring to Crytologic Warfare Officer.
 

Sandcrab01

New Member
CWO is a rank, not a designator. CWOs come up from the enlisted ranks, not direct recruitment.

You really need to do some research and learn about the Navy. You’re really ignorant about an organization you want to join and commit too. As has been stated before, google is your friend. And as an officer, initiative should be second nature. The information is out there and easily obtainable. Your not doing yourself any favors by asking others to do your research.

Yes, I agree on needing to do research and I plan on doing it soon. I'm just hoping to get peoples personal experience on this subject where I can't find on google.
 
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