• Please take a moment and update your account profile. If you have an updated account profile with basic information on why you are on Air Warriors it will help other people respond to your posts. How do you update your profile you ask?

    Go here:

    Edit Account Details and Profile

Can you recieve other commissions than the ones listed online?

anddolinsky

New Member
I am a high school junior that wants to become a Naval Officer after college. I am very good with math and numbers. Pretty much STEM related careers. I noticed that on the website it doesn’t give the commission option of like a CW or an IP. So my main question is can you recieve those commissions at all or will you be restricted to the ones listed on the website,
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
It is rare but it is possible. NROTC prioritizes Unrestricted Line accessions as does the Academy. The Academy has a few Restricted Line (CEC, CW/IW, IP, EDO, and Intel) spots open every year but they're hard to get. The only people I know who commissioned out of NROTC as CWs or IPs were because they had medical issues or something else come up that prevented them from going to sea. If you want a guaranteed spot as a CW or IP, then OCS is the way to go.
 

anddolinsky

New Member
It is rare but it is possible. NROTC prioritizes Unrestricted Line accessions as does the Academy. The Academy has a few Restricted Line (CEC, CW/IW, IP, EDO, and Intel) spots open every year but they're hard to get. The only people I know who commissioned out of NROTC as CWs or IPs were because they had medical issues or something else come up that prevented them from going to sea. If you want a guaranteed spot as a CW or IP, then OCS is the way to go.
Thank you for the clarification on this topic. For someone like myself who is more of a STEM/Math/Numbers kind of person, do you think it’s in my best interest to wait for OCS to get one of those Restricted Line areas. Or, do you think I might enjoy one of the Unrestricted Lines that they offer?
 

anddolinsky

New Member
It is rare but it is possible. NROTC prioritizes Unrestricted Line accessions as does the Academy. The Academy has a few Restricted Line (CEC, CW/IW, IP, EDO, and Intel) spots open every year but they're hard to get. The only people I know who commissioned out of NROTC as CWs or IPs were because they had medical issues or something else come up that prevented them from going to sea. If you want a guaranteed spot as a CW or IP, then OCS is the way to go.
I just did a little research on the difference between restricted line and unrestricted line. I just had one question. Do people in restricted line fields still go on ships and sea duty? Or is it just they can’t hold commands on the ship, just in their department.
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
Thank you for the clarification on this topic. For someone like myself who is more of a STEM/Math/Numbers kind of person, do you think it’s in my best interest to wait for OCS to get one of those Restricted Line areas. Or, do you think I might enjoy one of the Unrestricted Lines that they offer?

That's going to be up to you and what you want to do with your life. If you want to do direct operational stuff with the opportunity to hold operational command or command at sea, then URL is for you. If you want to be in more of a support role but have more specialization, then RL is probably going to be more your speed.

I just did a little research on the difference between restricted line and unrestricted line. I just had one question. Do people in restricted line fields still go on ships and sea duty? Or is it just they can’t hold commands on the ship, just in their department.

The difference is simply who can and cannot hold command at sea or operational and strategic command (Think Admirals and the like). RL officers still deploy, still get stationed on or attached to ships, and still have sea duty options. The difference is that you aren't required to do operational/sea tours depending upon where you are in your career and will have more options for production/shore tours. You can also hold shore command and be OICs. There's also a wider variety of billets available since you tend to have special skill sets that are needed throughout the Navy.

That being said, depending upon the community, there will be requirements for you to go to sea in certain billets to be competitive for promotion. An example of this are junior (Ensigns and LTJGs) IPs being sent to manage the comms and computer networks on DDGs or senior (CDRs and CAPTs) IPs being the combat systems officers on carriers and big deck amphibious ships. So you will be able to get your fair share of sea time and sea pay.
 

anddolinsky

New Member
Ok. Thank you so much for the response. Considering one of my worries would be have to deploy later in my career, so being RL and having more shore opportunities might better suit me. I wish I would be able to do ROTC with these options. Quick question, do you think that someone good in the STEM/Numbers type of stuff would be good at a URL job? Just curious because I want to keep my options open, but still need to pick a college degree that suits my future in the Navy
 

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
Ok. Thank you so much for the response. Considering one of my worries would be have to deploy later in my career, so being RL and having more shore opportunities might better suit me. I wish I would be able to do ROTC with these options. Quick question, do you think that someone good in the STEM/Numbers type of stuff would be good at a URL job? Just curious because I want to keep my options open, but still need to pick a college degree that suits my future in the Navy

Yes. The Navy prioritizes these people for admissions into NROTC and the Academy. Particularly early on in careers, fields like maintaining and driving Nuclear Submarines and Ships, flying aircraft, and being a SWO can be highly technical.
 

anddolinsky

New Member
Yes. The Navy prioritizes these people for admissions into NROTC and the Academy. Particularly early on in careers, fields like maintaining and driving Nuclear Submarines and Ships, flying aircraft, and being a SWO can be highly technical.
Thank you for your response.
Are SWO still able to have time to receive their masters degrees?
And what kind of jobs do they have the experience for after their time in the Navy.
I am also considering getting my bachelors and masters degrees in something related to cyber, so is that something I could get into with the Navy down the line?
 

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
Thank you for your response.
Are SWO still able to have time to receive their masters degrees?
And what kind of jobs do they have the experience for after their time in the Navy.
I am also considering getting my bachelors and masters degrees in something related to cyber, so is that something I could get into with the Navy down the line?

Read the forums here and do research on your own as well.

In general:

  1. Yes.
  2. Many different types of jobs.
  3. Probably to possibly.
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
Thank you for your response.
Are SWO still able to have time to receive their masters degrees?
And what kind of jobs do they have the experience for after their time in the Navy.
I am also considering getting my bachelors and masters degrees in something related to cyber, so is that something I could get into with the Navy down the line?

All officers are expected to get a Masters in order to be promotable past CDR. As a SWO, you'll be able to go to NPS for your shore tour and get a Masters there.

The selling point for SWOs is military experience. If you spend some time on your own to meet the requirements for a tonnage license then you may be eligible to captain a civilian ship or work as a mate. Otherwise you'll have a lot of managerial experience but you won't have technical experience in a specific field if that's what you're looking for.

You will not have an opportunity to do cyber things as a SWO, at least as a junior SWO. After your department head tours as a junior LCDR you may be able to get into cyber things if you transition to being a SWO acquisitions specialist, but that's it. If you want to do cyber things then you need to focus on the IP, CW, or EDO communities. If you want to do both, then talk to your recruiter or NROTC staff about being a SWO-CW, SWO-IP, or SWO-EDO option. That would get you 4 years as a SWO and then an automatic transition into the RL community you're selected into.
 

anddolinsky

New Member
Thank you so much for all of your help involving this topic. I will definitely get in touch with my school guidance counselor and recruiter. I think the SWO with an option might make the most sense.
 
Top