Is the Surface Warfare Officer the community for me?

[exNavyOffRec]

Probably. The accessions numbers for the INTEL community will likely go way down over the next few (possibly as long as 5) years. It's a huge discussion point for the leadership and will likely have some negative consequences on the back side. Unfortunately they have very little choice since they are just that overmanned at the moment.

Yes, the OCS accessions number for FY 13 is "7" down from 45 for FY 12.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I agree, I have a bad feeling people are going to be waiting years to go to OCS that were already selected, we have already seen that with SWO and SWO-IP

 

[seannewman0]

This is super disappointing. Will the Navy fill those 60 in? As one of those 60, will the Navy give me any realistic sense of when we would go? I know my recruiter is a busy guy, I hate calling him once a month to ask about news, but even a rough timeline would help.

Any resource I could personally pursue to get a status update?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

This is super disappointing. Will the Navy fill those 60 in? As one of those 60, will the Navy give me any realistic sense of when we would go? I know my recruiter is a busy guy, I hate calling him once a month to ask about news, but even a rough timeline would help.

Any resource I could personally pursue to get a status update?

In most cases the recruiters nor the Program Manager know when people will go, they can only go with what they know for billets in the FY's they know.

 

[seannewman0]

Would it be fair to say that by this fall (next FY), I can rest assured knowing I will either be told I have a spot that year or had been pushed? Again, thank you NavyOffRec.

 

[Uncle Fester]

The way I see it, your job as an Intel weenie in the Navy is producing good product for the warfighters. When I see an intel guy with a SWO pin, wings, whatever, it says to me "I've been on the trigger end and I know what you guys need to know." So I say go be a regular Line guy for a while, and then switch over.

Echoing what they said, I've never heard of any requirement to run a chit to start an application. Is someone in your chain telling you that? If so: bullshit. They chop your package when it's done and endorse it positively or not, but they can't stop you from applying.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Would it be fair to say that by this fall (next FY), I can rest assured knowing I will either be told I have a spot that year or had been pushed? Again, thank you NavyOffRec.

not really, we had a guy get told we are pushing you a few months, then it was pushed to next FY, then it was we will see, then it was pushed to another FY.

It really depends where you are in the stack, you could have been the top select of the board but if you were the last to get all your stuff in, well, you are the last to go.

 

[BigRed389]

The current initiative that is in the works for FY13/14 is to make us one larger community. The designators have been changed to facillitate detailing under that model. The idea is to have promotion boards and milestone screenings under the IDC umbrella vice individual designators. There was discussion about the IDC becoming URL but that was FY15/16 and is being tabled for now. The message that needs to go out to those folks looking at designators within the IDC is this: understand the communities are changing and eventually the IDC may become part of the URL. That said be prepared to fill roles you may not have expected.

What was the argument for IDC going URL? And what roles/billets did "they" envision IDC filling?

 

[BackOrdered]

What was the argument for IDC going URL? And what roles/billets did "they" envision IDC filling?

There are a wealth of billets for these IDC JO SWOs. Such as ACHENG, 2nd Lieutenant, Forward CIWSO and Aft CIWSO.

I kid. Kinda....

 

[vxc961]

To smurf(original poster, right?): You should think about what you want to do...it's odd, but my dad was in the Army, but always seemed to have this romantic vision of the Navy--we'd listen to _Victory at Sea_ every night at dinner. That never really factored into my decision, but I did let the officer recruiter talked me into going SWO. It worked out fine, and I enjoyed it, but I think that other communities or services might have been a better fit for me. I think you have the advantage of having actually been at sea to help guide your decision. I remember in OCS being APALLED that the Navy (of all services!) gave you a ribbon for going to sea! Holy F***, now I wear my com, nam, and rifle/pistol awards with seas server PROUDLY wedged in between. They should give you a bronze star for going to sea...Anyway, good luck with the choice. For a guy who never was intel, it seems like a pretty good deal to be able to ride the ship without having to stand watch in the 120 degree engine room every 8 hours.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

To smurf(original poster, right?): You should think about what you want to do...it's odd, but my dad was in the Army, but always seemed to have this romantic vision of the Navy--we'd listen to _Victory at Sea_ every night at dinner. That never really factored into my decision, but I did let the officer recruiter talked me into going SWO. It worked out fine, and I enjoyed it, but I think that other communities or services might have been a better fit for me. I think you have the advantage of having actually been at sea to help guide your decision. I remember in OCS being APALLED that the Navy (of all services!) gave you a ribbon for going to sea! Holy F***, now I wear my com, nam, and rifle/pistol awards with seas server PROUDLY wedged in between. They should give you a bronze star for going to sea...Anyway, good luck with the choice. For a guy who never was intel, it seems like a pretty good deal to be able to ride the ship without having to stand watch in the 120 degree engine room every 8 hours.

I will say my first sea tour in a 120 degree engineroom was a blast and if you did now what I did then many NJP's would have happened.

 

[CAMike]

Yes.