Officer vs. Enlisted

[NoahZark]

At first glance I know this should be an obvious answer but there are more in depth complications and scenarios behind all this.

I graduated college this past December and kind of stagnated for a while and then started looking into the Navy. My GPA was 3.0, not necessarily impressive, and my degree is B.S. in Advertising and my minor is marketing (I managed to minor and major in the same exact thing which is a horrible decision). I talked to a recruiter that deals with officers and he said i was "competitive" and my degree and background qualify me for Intelligence, Surface Warfare, Supply Core, and Aviation officer programs. I have yet to take the ASTB and that will probably have more weight in pushing me in one direction but only one of these boards convenes after this point in the year and thats intelligence. So there will be a long waiting time to determine if I get accepted into any of these programs or accepted into none of them. With this waiting period I am really hesitant and do not want to stagnate much longer because I need to start going in the right direction. So I took the ASVAB and scored well enough to qualify for the Nuke program, which in itself worries me because I have heard that they are miserable and lot of them suffer from depression.

With this timetable should I wait to see what the Officer boards say? Are my hopes of going in directly as an Officer realistic? What are the barriers and circumstances to becoming an officer once enlisted? Will being a Nuke increase my chances to become an officer once enlisted?

P.S. Navy was always something I wanted to do just ended up going a different route and ended up back where I was and wish I would have just enlisted then.

Thank You

[spekkio]

With this timetable should I wait to see what the Officer boards say?

If you want to be an officer, going through the 6 month to one year-ish application process is shorter than the years it will take you to build an enlisted resume that will get you a strong endorsement for OCS. This assumes you can sustain yourself in the interim and you will not be over the age limit by the time you commission.

Are my hopes of going in directly as an Officer realistic?

Yes, although your courses of study probably don't make you eligible for nuke SWO or subs.

What are the barriers and circumstances to becoming an officer once enlisted?

Mostly institutional inertia -- the Navy already has you employed in a job it needs and a large civilian applicant pool for officers, so now you have to convince them to let you 'convert.' This generally involves being a top-notch Sailor, qualifying early, with good evals, etc. which is ironic because your credentials without any prior service are sufficient, particularly if you crush the ASTB.

Depending on the group of guys you become friends with, they might not think it's 'cool' to go 'khaki' and could convince you of that, too.

Will being a Nuke increase my chances to become an officer once enlisted?

No. There is an opportunity for nukes to apply to STA-21 for SWO/sub nuke in the enlisted nuke school pipeline. This is a collegiate commissioning program and you are not eligible for it because you already hold a bachelor's.

You can theoretically apply for OCS at any time as an enlisted Sailor, provided you are not within 1 year (IIRC, if not 1 year then close to it) from transferring to another command. Since you will not be stationed at a command longer than 6 months until you get assigned to a ship or sub, you are talking about 1.5 years minimum before you can apply. It will be difficult for you to get a strong recommendation from your CO until he knows you, which typically takes time, requires you to be qualified, and requires picking up highly visible collateral duties. As an enlisted nuke, it takes 18 months-ish to be senior in-rate qualified.

Put it all together and you're talking 3-4 years of enlisted service before anyone will seriously endorse your OCS package as a nuke.

I had a guy (non-nuke) show up to the boat and immediately put in an OCS package as an E-3. He went dinq because of the time spent applying for OCS vice working on qualifications, and was not well received by his division and eventually the crew. He also didn't get selected. A small sample size, but you will generally be expected to master the basics of your rate before you pursue any additional professional goals outside of that.

[HalfHazzard]

Spekkio is correct.

If you want to be an Officer, apply to be an Officer.

If that doesn't work out, consider other options such as a) reapply or b) enlist.

Neither route is bad, I can only speak for one personally, but successful people will be successful with the skills they learn regardless of the color of the uniform.

[MMM]

Also, if you want to be a Nuke Officer:
1) Get your head examined. 
2) Try to take a couple calculus classes. I think it's required to be a nuke officer.

[Gamecock]

.....successful people will be successful with the skills they learn regardless of the color of the uniform.

Quote of the day!

[NoahZark]

Thank you all. I am just evaluating everything and this is great feedback. Also I took calc and trig and got As. Math is something that I do with ease.

[DLGN25]

Once the Navy has you, they will not let go.  By that I mean the contract you sign is the contract you will live by for a long time, your whole career if enlisted.  If you go Supply, that is were you will always be.  Supply Officers are needed to make things work as much as a Nuke. but that is all you will ever do.  A Nuke Officer will eventually leave the engine room as he advances and get a ship.  If you like flying airplanes, go there, if a great performer, you might command a carrier, otherwise go into operations or weapons.  Stay out of the engine rooms unless you like engineering, as you will be there until you become a Lt. CMDR, and may still be there.  As a non-nuke Lt. CMDR you would be an EXO or Captain of a small ship.  I have no idea of what a Lt. CMDR does on a submarine, but you can bet your ass as a nuke Lt. CMDR, you are well down on the food chain of a carrier.

As far as your degree, it is a plus.  More officers advance on BS in the Wardroom then they do for skill sets.  Playing a good game of golf also goes a long way.

What ever you do, just remember that to make the career work you must like it, and work your butt off.

The effort is not much different the for those who succeed in the civilian world, just that you do not have a choice the suit you wear.

Good luck to you.

[Marlin]

I have no idea of what a Lt. CMDR does on a submarine, 

XO, Engineer, Navigator.

[spekkio]

Navs are LTs. It is not unusual for Nav or Weps to be promoted to O4 right before or just after their DH tour ends with the current nominal pipeline.

[Marlin]

Navs are LTs. It is not unusual for Nav or Weps to be promoted to O4 right before or just after their DH tour ends with the current nominal pipeline.

Times change, all of mine were LCDRs, I did have one CMDR as an XO who got early promotion.