commissioning options

[lilsnoboardr22]

Hello all, I am a non-select for the second time after these march boards. My question to all is should i keep re-applying to OCS. or should i enlist and try to get in from there. My dream is to be a pilot with the navy. any advice would be great.

 

[Tomodachi]

Well if you enlist there are only a couple opportunities you have to go officer. STA-21 is for those who need to finish their degree, which you already have completed, so that is not an option. The other is apply for OCS, which you are doing now. So no... it wouldnt help to enlist. Just keep improving your package and applying.

If you enlisted you would have to go through boot camp, "A" school, then hit the fleet for awhile building up a rep. After you are at your first command for awhile you may get some recommendations from your CO and chain of command which potentially may help, but by that time you have given 2+ years to the Navy and still there are no guarantees at that time for OCS slots.

 

[lilsnoboardr22]

im willing to give up the two years to finally reach my ultimate goal. the economy isnt getting any better, so at least i will have a job and get paid during these two years. What are good ideas to improve my package. My grades cant change now that i am graduated. The only thing i can improve on is my ASTB score. any suggestions?

 

[Tomodachi]

Stats:

Male 22y/o
Applied for NA/SWO
ASTB 54/6/7/7
BS/ Biology Minor/Economics from SUNY Albany/Pace University NYC GPA: 3.3

LORS
Dean of students
Flight Instructor
Academic Advisor
Employer

Other:
Various Scholarships
Undergraduate research at albany medical college
peer leader in biology and chemistry
15 Flight hours​

So this is your stats. Well lets see your ASTB and GPA is great! Retaking it is a gamble.... your stuck with the new scores so unless you feel like you can nail a better score then go for it.

Looks like you have no volunteer/teamwork activity. I think you could improve in that aspect, there are a million ways to contribute to the community I would start participating in that and get involved with team sports to show you are a team player.

Also you applied for SNA/SWO. How about applying for NFO too? Maybe you would have been picked up for it if you applied for March.
​

 

[Swanee]

im willing to give up the two years to finally reach my ultimate goal. the economy isnt getting any better, so at least i will have a job and get paid during these two years. What are good ideas to improve my package. My grades cant change now that i am graduated. The only thing i can improve on is my ASTB score. any suggestions?

As the Mouse said, there are no enlisted pilots, so if you want to be a pilot enlisting won't help. You are 22, cut off is 27. You have some time. Get a sweet gig as a sunscreen application expert at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas and keep applying.

 

[Uncle Fester]

There's no guarantee of anything if you enlist, so "giving up two short years" does not mean you'll finally reach anything, necessarily. Gotta understand, no matter how smart you are or what you want to do, the Navy doesn't have to let you be an officer. I've seen several very sharp petty officers who had everything going for them - bachelor's, great evals, CoC recommendations, maxed-out PRT's - get denied shots at OCS simply because they were in critical rates or had NECC's the squadron couldn't deploy without.

As long as you're a civvie, you have some control over your fate. As a white-hat in the Fleet, you effectively have none.

There's nothing wrong with being a mustang, and I know plenty of great officers who came up from the ranks. But it's a bloody terrible plan to enlist in order to become an officer, and damn near all the prior-E's here will say so.

 

[Praying4OCS]

................and damn near all the prior-E's here will say so.

Concur with UF.....9 year prior E here before OCS. Keep applying.

 

[FlyBoyd]

....and damn near all the prior-E's here will say so.

My E time was short but I concur.

 

[NAVYBM2]

But it's a bloody terrible plan to enlist in order to become an officer, and damn near all the prior-E's here will say so.

As a 6 year prior enlisted and just selected for BDCP(SNA,NFO,SWO), I will say that the above statement is true; if you already have your degree, which you do.
But for those that don't, and I have seen a few posts on here about that lately, I went in with the sentiment that I will become an officer in no time. I thought I would be able to go to school, get some credits and apply for the STA-21. While it was possible in theory, when I got out to the fleet I realised the ugly truth. It is hard man, there were a lot of times when I asked myself what in the world am I doing here. A lot of people didn't make it through, they got in trouble or did something really stupid. The point is that it will take you a long time to build the reputation you need to even be considered a valuable applicant. It took me 5 years to even get to that point, had I gone to school and applied directly to OCS it would have taken me about the same time.
So, you make your own conclusions, but I would say keep applying.

 

[lilsnoboardr22]

im just looking into my options. i just want to get commissioned and if it means enlisting will increase my odds then im down for that

 

[EM1]

Enlisting only helps your package if you are a stellar sailor driven to be a stellar sailor. Dont enlist to be an Officer in the future. Enlist to be an enlisted sailor, and if you get selected Officer great. You may never get OCS, even if you enlist, and you need to be ok with that before entering as enlisted.

 

[Thisguy]

i just want to get commissioned and if it means enlisting will increase my odds then im down for that

That's the problem: It doesn't increase your odds. Keep your chin up and be persistent.

 

[lilsnoboardr22]

thanks to all of you for the advice. i guess ill just keep cracking at the door. and if i dont go away. maybe they will finally let me in!

 

[NTXRockr]

As said before, boost up your volunteer work and leadership qualities where possible. Also, how was your motivational statement? That is essentially your chance to give your say-so to the board about why you should be allowed to 1) be an officer in the Navy and 2) pilot an aircraft. Don't downplay it; focus on your strong points and what makes you a good candidate, and only give them as many reasons as possible to say yes and not reasons to say no. If needed, post your rough drafts on here and let some of us who are skilled in proofreading edit it for you. Everything else in your package looks good, so unless the past two times you've applied there have been absolute studs applying with you (it happens...) fix those areas and keep applying. They can only tell you no until you hit the age limit...and about that too, is flying the absolute thing you want to do in the Navy? If it is, express that feeling in your statement; if you just want to be airborne, consider adding NFO to the application and at least double your chances of getting in. There are opportunities to move back to pilot, but again you must be confident that you will be happy as a NFO. Let us know if you need any other help, and good luck! If it's meant to be it'll happen, so don't stop applying just one board short...

 

[lilsnoboardr22]

my OSO just sent me the average stats of the selected candidates from this past march board. and it looks like there were a lot of studs applying with me. he said that if it were any other month i should of got pro-recced. so ill just keep knocking on the door. Ill post my re-consideration statement and my moto statement when i get on my home computer later. i would love the advice.