USN Cool New EDO Recruiting Ad

[Twann]

For those handful of us EDOs on the board and anyone who wonders what an EDO does, Big Navy just released a cool new recruiting ad. The production values are pretty good and I think it does a decent job of explaining the world of us acquisitions professionals.

Greeting Sir,

Thank you for sharing about EDO. I wish I did more research about EDO and OCS before I enlisted during the Pandemic.
I graduated in 2019 with a cumulative 3.33 GPA in Electrical Engineering.
I am going to apply for the upcoming SWO-EDO board and SWO board as a backup and then do lateral transfer.
If I obtained a Master Degree in Engineering before commissioning or while serving as a SWO, do I still have to get another Master Degree from NPS?

Very respectfully!

 

[AllAmerican75]

Greeting Sir,

Thank you for sharing about EDO. I wish I did more research about EDO and OCS before I enlisted during the Pandemic.
I graduated in 2019 with a cumulative 3.33 GPA in Electrical Engineering.
I am going to apply for the upcoming SWO-EDO board and SWO board as a backup and then do lateral transfer.
If I obtained a Master Degree in Engineering before commissioning or while serving as a SWO, do I still have to get another Master Degree from NPS?

Very respectfully!

1. Best of luck with the board.
2. There is no way that you will have the time to get a masters while on Sea Duty as a SWO, especially one as intensive as an engineering degree. Furthermore, you would need a Masters of Science not a Masters of Engineering as the community does not consider an M.Eng. to have enough academic rigor. There's no way that that's happening on sea duty and very improbable that you can complete it on shore duty. When you get to the ship, your focus needs to be entirely on getting your SWO pin and learning how the Navy works.
3. The curriculums at NPS are tied to a specific subspecialty code and cover specific topics the Navy deems necessary to do your job as an EDO. You need to have one of these subspecialty codes in order to progress through your career. That being said, can you get an equivalency waiver for non-NPS or MIT coursework? Yes. Is it difficult? Also yes. But it can be done and I know one or two people who have done it. It's rare and requires the OCM to do work on their end. It's also very curriculum dependent. What's your masters degree in? If it's not a hard engineering field (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Systems, Industrial, Aerospace, or Chemical, also Physics) then you're likely still going to have to go to NPS.
4. Will it help your chances? Maybe. The EDO community fully expects to need to send you to NPS to get a degree that they see a need for with classes that are very Navy-centric and will help in your role as an EDO. I know a couple of guys who came in having already started their masters work with online or night classes and they got nothing out of it (no transfer credits or curriculum preference). I know a few who already had masters and still had to go to NPS.
5. Why would you give up the option to get a 2-3 year tour in Monterey, CA, where you get paid to go to school full time at one of the leading research schools in the country? You do yourself a disservice for trying to get out of that.

 

[Twann]

1. Best of luck with the board.
2. There is no way that you will have the time to get a masters while on Sea Duty as a SWO, especially one as intensive as an engineering degree. Furthermore, you would need a Masters of Science not a Masters of Engineering as the community does not consider an M.Eng. to have enough academic rigor. There's no way that that's happening on sea duty and very improbable that you can complete it on shore duty. When you get to the ship, your focus needs to be entirely on getting your SWO pin and learning how the Navy works.
3. The curriculums at NPS are tied to a specific subspecialty code and cover specific topics the Navy deems necessary to do your job as an EDO. You need to have one of these subspecialty codes in order to progress through your career. That being said, can you get an equivalency waiver for non-NPS or MIT coursework? Yes. Is it difficult? Also yes. But it can be done and I know one or two people who have done it. It's rare and requires the OCM to do work on their end. It's also very curriculum dependent. What's your masters degree in? If it's not a hard engineering field (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Systems, Industrial, Aerospace, or Chemical, also Physics) then you're likely still going to have to go to NPS.
4. Will it help your chances? Maybe. The EDO community fully expects to need to send you to NPS to get a degree that they see a need for with classes that are very Navy-centric and will help in your role as an EDO. I know a couple of guys who came in having already started their masters work with online or night classes and they got nothing out of it (no transfer credits or curriculum preference). I know a few who already had masters and still had to go to NPS.
5. Why would you give up the option to get a 2-3 year tour in Monterey, CA, where you get paid to go to school full time at one of the leading research schools in the country? You do yourself a disservice for trying to get out of that.

1. Thank you very much, Sir!
2. I understand the difficulty on time management for work and school at the same time, and right now I have to sacrifice my sleeping time to wake up earlier or skip one or two days of my routine workout for school. I am taking courses for Master of Science in Engineering with emphasis in Control System and Power System (Electrical), Sir.
3. + 4. Thank you for sharing, Sir. I looked into the ECE curriculums at NPS; I can see even though if I obtained the MSE before becoming an EDO, the MSE won't satisfy the Master Degree curriculums at NPS for EDO.
5. This is a very good point, Sir, I would love to have a 2-3 year of shore tour in Monterey, CA. My initial thought was if I can show the selection board that I got selected into a MSE program or eventually obtained a MSE would boost my chance of getting selected into EDO.

Thank you very much for your advice, Sir!

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

1. Thank you very much, Sir!
2. I understand the difficulty on time management for work and school at the same time, and right now I have to sacrifice my sleeping time to wake up earlier or skip one or two days of my routine workout for school. I am taking courses for Master of Science in Engineering with emphasis in Control System and Power System (Electrical), Sir.
3. + 4. Thank you for sharing, Sir. I looked into the ECE curriculums at NPS; I can see even though if I obtained the MSE before becoming an EDO, the MSE won't satisfy the Master Degree curriculums at NPS for EDO.
5. This is a very good point, Sir, I would love to have a 2-3 year of shore tour in Monterey, CA. My initial thought was if I can show the selection board that I got selected into a MSE program or eventually obtained a MSE would boost my chance of getting selected into EDO.

Thank you very much for your advice, Sir!

If you end up going SWO, quite frankly, focus on being the best SWO you can be. Knock out your qualification ASAP and stand out amongst your peers when it comes to FITREPs. Those two factors will make you a stellar candidate over other items which add lesser value.

Talk to the EDO OCM once you get your SWO pin to start networking and finding the right times to apply via lateral transfer.

@AllAmerican75 anything else I'm missing?

Oh yeah, EDO community will set you up for success if you don't have an MS (which is fine), by either sending you to NPS or MIT to earn your masters.

 

[AllAmerican75]

1. Thank you very much, Sir!
2. I understand the difficulty on time management for work and school at the same time, and right now I have to sacrifice my sleeping time to wake up earlier or skip one or two days of my routine workout for school. I am taking courses for Master of Science in Engineering with emphasis in Control System and Power System (Electrical), Sir.
3. + 4. Thank you for sharing, Sir. I looked into the ECE curriculums at NPS; I can see even though if I obtained the MSE before becoming an EDO, the MSE won't satisfy the Master Degree curriculums at NPS for EDO.
5. This is a very good point, Sir, I would love to have a 2-3 year of shore tour in Monterey, CA. My initial thought was if I can show the selection board that I got selected into a MSE program or eventually obtained a MSE would boost my chance of getting selected into EDO.

Thank you very much for your advice, Sir!

Honestly, unless this Masters you're working on is part of your longer term life goals, I would stop taking classes and focus on getting ready for OCS and spending time with your family and friends. The EDO community really doesn't care about outside degrees and it could actually hurt you when it comes to detailing as they'll skip giving you refresher classes which are definitely helpful after being out of the academic world for 4 years on sea duty. If you really are bored, pursue other hobbies. You don't need a Masters to get into control systems or robotics. In fact, I would say that nearly every single potential employer or even the Navy will be more impressed if you have practical experience from messing around with arduino boards and raspberry-pis in your free time than getting a Masters degree.

If you end up going SWO, quite frankly, focus on being the best SWO you can be. Knock out your qualification ASAP and stand out amongst your peers when it comes to FITREPs. Those two factors will make you a stellar candidate over other items which add lesser value.

Talk to the EDO OCM once you get your SWO pin to start networking and finding the right times to apply via lateral transfer.

@AllAmerican75 anything else I'm missing?

Oh yeah, EDO community will set you up for success if you don't have an MS (which is fine), by either sending you to NPS or MIT to earn your masters.

@FormerRecruitingGuru nailed it. When you hit the Fleet, getting your SWO pin and good FITREPs are paramount for progressing in your career, especially if you are not an EDO option. The lateral transfer selection is not a guarantee and it usually takes multiple times up to the board to get selected. There is a lot you are going to have to learn and get used to as an officer that is very different from being enlisted. It is not conducive to earning a Masters or being distracted with academia. If your goal is to be an EDO, the Navy will help you get a Masters on their terms when it comes time for you to need one. You've got other things to worry about right now like getting good Evals, prepping for the OCS board, and getting ready to go to OCS.

 

[SDEngineeringDutyDCO]

For the Navy Reserve, how hard/competitive is it to laterally transfer to EDO from say CEC?

I currently have a dilemma where I am putting in applications for both CEC and EDO and CEC picked me up as of last week but the EDO board isn’t until 29-May.

My recruiter just informed me that the processor won’t allow me to submit an EDO application unless I first decline the CEC application which is a dilemma for me as EDO is my first choice and didn’t want to choose until I got the word back from the EDO community. Ive already done my interviews for EDO and the interview appraisals were really good and the OCM already greenlighted my technical masters and issued a waiver letter for my undergrad GPA as it was below 3.0. My cumulative graduate GPA is above 3.2 (including past coursework from 10 years prior) and my degree program GPA is 3.966. I am non-prior, late 30s, have over 15 years of experience as an electrical engineer working in embedded software, wireless mesh networking, software defined radio design, systems engineering, product management, and program management for both defense and non-defense companies. I also have an EIT but never got my PE license yet as I didn’t need to for any past jobs.

Is this a normal thing when boards are around the same time? Seems a bit odd that I can’t submit to both boards and wait to accept until the results for both come in?

My recruiter is recommending that I commission via CEC and then laterally transfer to EDO after finishing CEC quals…
How hard is it to transfer to EDO from CEC on the Reserve side?

Any advice on how to best proceed is much appreciated!

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

For the Navy Reserve, how hard/competitive is it to laterally transfer to EDO from say CEC?

I currently have a dilemma where I am putting in applications for both CEC and EDO and CEC picked me up as of last week but the EDO board isn’t until 29-May.

My recruiter just informed me that the processor won’t allow me to submit an EDO application unless I first decline the CEC application which is a dilemma for me as EDO is my first choice and didn’t want to choose until I got the word back from the EDO community. Ive already done my interviews for EDO and the interview appraisals were really good and the OCM already greenlighted my technical masters and issued a waiver letter for my undergrad GPA as it was below 3.0. My cumulative graduate GPA is above 3.2 (including past coursework from 10 years prior) and my degree program GPA is 3.966. I am non-prior, late 30s, have over 15 years of experience as an electrical engineer working in embedded software, wireless mesh networking, software defined radio design, systems engineering, product management, and program management for both defense and non-defense companies. I also have an EIT but never got my PE license yet as I didn’t need to for any past jobs.

Is this a normal thing when boards are around the same time? Seems a bit odd that I can’t submit to both boards and wait to accept until the results for both come in?

My recruiter is recommending that I commission via CEC and then laterally transfer to EDO after finishing CEC quals…
How hard is it to transfer to EDO from CEC on the Reserve side?

Any advice on how to best proceed is much appreciated!

Don’t apply / be in a community that you are not 100% committed to.

Easy.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Don’t apply / be in a community that you are not 100% committed to.

Easy.

It sounds like instead of submitting one application with CEC and EDO that 2 separate applications were trying to be submitted, that could be one of the issues.

 

[SDEngineeringDutyDCO]

It sounds like instead of submitting one application with CEC and EDO that 2 separate applications were trying to be submitted, that could be one of the issues.

I actually filled out an APSR with both designators on it, but my recruiter tells me that because the boards don’t take place simultaneously it caused the issue where the processor won’t allow applying for EDO for this board without me declining the offer from CEC first which seems a bit odd.

I would prefer to make a decision only after knowing if the EDO community would’ve wanted me or not if possible… is there a way to get the processor to still submit me to board and not force a decision for CEC?

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

I actually filled out an APSR with both designators on it, but my recruiter tells me that because the boards don’t take place simultaneously it caused the issue where the processor won’t allow applying for EDO for this board without me declining the offer from CEC first which seems a bit odd.

I would prefer to make a decision only after knowing if the EDO community would’ve wanted me or not if possible… is there a way to get the processor to still submit me to board and not force a decision for CEC?

Why not just apply for EDO DCO first snd only choice and then go from there.

Aside from IWC and AMDO/AEDO I don’t think I’ve ever seen an applicant apply for multiple DCO designators.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

I actually filled out an APSR with both designators on it, but my recruiter tells me that because the boards don’t take place simultaneously it caused the issue where the processor won’t allow applying for EDO for this board without me declining the offer from CEC first which seems a bit odd.

I would prefer to make a decision only after knowing if the EDO community would’ve wanted me or not if possible… is there a way to get the processor to still submit me to board and not force a decision for CEC?

To be clear you have been selected for CEC correct? If so see below.

I think what you put on the APSR and what actually happened are 2 different things.

The submitting for more than 1 DCO designator is not common as most don't meet the requirements close enough to be competitive for more than 1, but that doesn't mean it can't be done. I myself never saw it done before.

You said you put both on the APSR, what should have happened is that application with both designators would be submitted to NRC, then it would be reviewed by all applicable boards. This would not require the processor to submit anything for a second board. I bet what happened is even though both were put on the APSR you were only submitted for the CEC board and then subsequently picked. Then as you asked about EDO and as you weren't actually submitted to NRC for EDO in order to actually submit you for the EDO board you would need to decline CEC.

@FormerRecruitingGuru does this sound like a plausible scenario to you?