No offense taken, snizo.
And I completely agree with the others here, about OC participation, with some minor reservations. I'm an OC, and I have seen those OC's who come here thinking that they are above all of the middies, as stated by snizo, and see this as a "vacation from the fleet," as stated by crowbar. I can in no way justify the former, but some latitude must be given in the latter (more on this in a sec). For an OC to think that he/she is better than the middie's is not only ridiculously selfish, but incredibly unprofessional as well. This is like a chief who forgets his roots (and those of you that have worked for one know exactly what I'm talking about)--there is nothing worse. Like ea6bflyr said, not only can we, as OC's learn some valuable academic skills from the mids (especially someone as old as I am), but with proper involvement in the battalion, he/she can be a valuable asset to the battalion, as he/she shares his/her experience and wisdom with the mids. And again, like ea6bflyr so wisely said, officer leadership is nothing like enlisted leadership, so we still have alot to learn in that department. There are a 2 OC's at our unit that are Chiefs, and they both agree with this philosophy. And for the most part, the majority of the "superiority" complexes I've seen in OC's are actually coming from junior enlisted, i.e. e-3's to e-5's, with only a couple of our many e-6's having this attitude. Ironic, eh? I'll leave that can of worms on the floor.
As for the "vacation from sea duty"--well, as I said above, give us a little latitude there. When I started school, I had been in the Navy for just over 10 1/2 years (and no, I'm not pulling the "Oh, I'm so salty!" card here--it just bolsters my argument here). The 3 years prior to this, I was a staff instructor at NPTU Charleston, which, as any nuke can attest, is akin to sea duty without the sea pay. And the 5 years prior to that was sea duty split-toured between two carriers, with 3 deployments in that stretch of 5 years. So yes, in a way I do see this as a "vacation" of sorts from sea duty, and I treat what little bit of spare time I have as such. If any one faults me for this, then you haven't done enough sea time. Of course, I say this in parallel with my above sentiments on OC involvement. I participate in all ROTC functions, give full attention and required time to my billet responsibilities, and participate in some of the extra-curricular activities available within the unit. But in reality, these things come in third on my priority list: 1. Family, 2. Education (i.e. grades), , and 3. NROTC stuff. The reason Family is at the top is because for the last 10 years of my career before STA-21, and for the next 10+ years after STA-21, I will be spending ALOT of time away from home. And I am a man that strongly espouses family values (another can o' worms). So I have made them priority #1 in scheduling my time. Grades are second, because that is what I'm here for--to get a quality education--that's my job, it's what I'm getting my paycheck for. Everything else is just corollary. I've never used the "I'm an engineering student" excuse, but realize that if the requirements and demands of priorities #1 and #2 preclude making extra time (that is, time outside of that required to perform my required duties) for ROTC stuff, then I will always tend to my higher priorities.
Nuff sed.
