Keith Delgado
FY-12 Med Corps Alternate
To the Prior Selectees, Was getting excepted to STA-21 everything you expected it to be? How would you compare being an Officer to being enlisted?
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FY13 STA-21 Applicants
- Thread starter omararw
- Start date
The most challenging thing for me was realizing how long the process is. After acceptance, you have at least 4 months before NSI, and then up to 36 months before commissioning. I was selected in 2007, and commissioned in 2011. That's a long time away from the "real" Navy, and sometimes it's easy to get fed up or frustrated with college, ROTC, and sheer boredom. I didn't have a sense of accomplishment or value while going to college...at least not the same sense I had when I was getting shit done in the fleet. A lot of the time it can feel like a really long deployment and you have to focus to stay motivated and succeed.
As far as being an Officer, I've only been commissioned a year and have been in flight school the whole time. I haven't had a chance to spend any time around enlisted sailors, so I don't have a great metric to compare the differences. I can tell you that a lot more is expected of you as an Officer, and if you go the SWO route, you'll be leading sailors very soon after you commission. It's also important to remember that although you are a prior, you're not going to be treated any differently than any other Ensign and sometimes that can be frustrating as well. You have to be able to not take offense to it and remember that there is always something to learn from everyone around you, including other Ensigns.
As far as being an Officer, I've only been commissioned a year and have been in flight school the whole time. I haven't had a chance to spend any time around enlisted sailors, so I don't have a great metric to compare the differences. I can tell you that a lot more is expected of you as an Officer, and if you go the SWO route, you'll be leading sailors very soon after you commission. It's also important to remember that although you are a prior, you're not going to be treated any differently than any other Ensign and sometimes that can be frustrating as well. You have to be able to not take offense to it and remember that there is always something to learn from everyone around you, including other Ensigns.
Couldn't agree more. It was a nice break the first semester but quickly got old. I missed being around the real Navy and real members in the Navy. My unit's aviation club took a road trip to Pensacola during spring break. It was great to be on a real Navy base and get my fix of Naval aviation (enough to get my by until this August).
I had plenty of free time during my stay in NROTC and didn't have to invest much personal time into it at all. I had enough free time that I only had to take leave just to avoid losing any come 1 OCT. When I commissioned this past May I had 94 days of leave. I did take advantage of the extra time by expanding my family (twice), improving my golf game, playing paintball, and drinking. My degree is in Business so it wasn't very challenging academically which allowed for even more free time. I missed/skipped a "few" classes but didn't get carried away with it. With all the free time you will end up having you must ensure you don't get stupid and ruin the awesome opportunity you have. All universities will differ with their policies and SOP but regardless of where you go, be prepared to face the boredom and craziness of a NROTC training command mixed with college life.
Nasty, It'll be greater for YOU to be air controlled by others, than to control other aircraft!
Good luck as an SNA.BzB, prior ET2 (SS)
Thing I wish I would have thought of a little more:
Degree: I chose to get a technical degree while only having 7 semesters to finish it in. Now that it is over, I am glad I did, but if you want your experience to be closer to how ac2 describes it try an easier major. You'll still do the same job in the navy and get paid the same. Engineering degrees at most universities are more than the typical 120 credits required to get a bachelors. At my school, The University of Illinois at Chicago, the number required was 135 credits which amounts to around 1 extra class a semester. Taking 20 credit hours of technical courses a semester will not allow you much free time during the semester. You will have to study on Saturdays and Sundays/holidays. You will spend more time in the science labs and science library than a golf course. No matter what schools you have completed for the Navy, academically, none of them even begin to sniff what is required by technical courses at a four year university. That includes the nuke community, which I was a part of and graduated every phase of training with honors (including ELT C school). I was able to finish with a 4.0, but I can assure you that was because of hard work and not what the navy exposed me to. That being said the rumor last year during the draw down was that you were much more likely to to get re-designated if you had a technical degree and were in that situation.
College of Choice: I would base my decision on which college to attend mainly on which schools transfer the most courses and actually allow them to count as credit towards my major, cost, and the area the college is based at. The smart transcript does a good job of making you think you have accrued a lot of college credit from your navy experience alone. A lot of schools won't even consider allowing those courses to be used as credit. In my experience cleps were the same. Some schools are much more accepting of those courses. If you want to really reduce the amount of classes you have to take each semester go to one of these schools. Also, don't take a degree plan provided to you by the university as a truth. There were four classes my advisor was sure would transfer as credit that didn't once they my transcripts were officially reviewed. That equates to one extra class in the fall and winter semesters I didn't expect to take. Cost: the price you see on a website is before taxes/lab fees/ misc charges which will likely tack on 2-3K per semester. Lastly, is college location. A lot of people take STA-21 as an opportunity to live near family . I did that exact thing. That may not always be the best option. If you own a home where you are currently stationed, don't think being a landlord is as easy as it sounds. Contrary to popular belief, if you rent to military you can't get their wages garnished if they fail to pay rent and most commands will hang up the phone on you if you try to talk to their superior. This is from experience. I would attend college that will put the least amount of stress on your personal life and being 1000 miles away from your 'rental' property doesn't always do that.
Got my AA Degree into Mr. Straten ...... Hopefully that will be a good little push to help with selection. Anyways. I know this is off topic but does anyone like the band Lamb of God? If so, you should go online and sign the petition to have the US help him with his release from the Czech Republic jail. Just thought I'd throw that out there. October isn't getting any closer any quicker ....
Popo Jijo
Primary Complete
Is your AA on your SMART?
Keith Delgado
FY-12 Med Corps Alternate
Popo Jijo asked a qood question, I hope they accept it if it's not.. Did Mr. Straten give you the warm and fuzzy?
jeeplovindad
FY13 Sta-21 Applicant EDO/SWO
Even if it's not, it's fairly easy to get it there - less than a week give or take - and then get it in prior to the Aug 1 deadline.
jeeplovindad
FY13 Sta-21 Applicant EDO/SWO
Even if it's not, it's fairly easy to get it there - less than a week give or take - and then get it in prior to the Aug 1 deadline.
Not yet ... my official transcript is on its way to the VEC in Virginia Beach but Mr. Straten said not to worry about sending my updated SMART once the degree is posted. I checked my package status onine and it says one AA degree was recieved. Under the package status tab it says documented on SMART or official transcript. weird but oh well .
hippievan
FY-13 STA-21 CEC Applicant
I just got my final grade on pre-calculus and macroeconomics classes, should I send in my unofficial transcript (because I am in Italy and for the official to get all the way here it took 6 weeks last time) or should I wait for it to update on smart and send that it in? Or should I just do both? Thanks in advance.
sonarforce
FY-12 Oceano Alternate
Send an email to Mr. Straten for guidance and see if you can get some type of official grade report.
Mr. Straten is the only one who will be able to provide a sure answer .....