FY10 STA-21 Applicants gather round!

[cbaker]

I know last year one of the guys in my command that got selected didn't have any LOR's.
Did anyone have to write there own? I had to write mine from my previous CO and my LCDR.

 

[loweryab]

I know last year one of the guys in my command that got selected didn't have any LOR's.
Did anyone have to write there own? I had to write mine from my previous CO and my LCDR.

Yes, I wrote my own and provided a copy of my last couple evals. I knew the Admiral pretty well, but had only worked with the General a couple times. They kept my general draft of the LOR but spruced it up with their own unique catch phrases.

 

[ChrisLC710]

I know last year one of the guys in my command that got selected didn't have any LOR's.
Did anyone have to write there own? I had to write mine from my previous CO and my LCDR.

Yea, i had to write a few of my own as well.

FYI: This powerpoint is a review of last years board. A lot of good info.
The best LOR's you can get are from your CMC's and CO's

 

[Brydown1]

I also wrote my own LOR's except for my CMC's who insisted that he write his own.

For the most part all of the other OC's I have spoke to also wrote theirs. So it is a common trend.

 

[JJLindsey]

I submitted zero LORs and am not sweating it one bit.

I only included 1 LOR, but that was from a prior SIO on my ship. I'm a big fan of quality not quantity so I was very selective on who I asked to write a LOR for me.

But i agree with you. I'm not really sweating it anymore. At this point I would just like a definitive "yes" or "no".

 

[MR1(SW)-->ENS]

I agree on the quality of a LOR. I think the most beneficial LOR you could have is of a prior Commanding Officer.

The important thing to look at is that you are basically trying your best to show the board the person you are and the potential you have. Maybe having a senator or other politicians doesn't help you that much, but I know for me I believe it at least showed effort to obtain an LOR from my senator. The effort put into a package, IMO, shows how much dedication an applicant has towards the navy and their desire to lead those as a naval officer.

But regardless of how many LOR's you have, I do not think you would get selected on just them alone, you must have a decent package to begin with.

I will have to second that agreement. make sure on your LOR's it says they would love to accept you into their wardroom. if it says he would be a great addition to any wardroom, it doesnt sound as good as, I would humbly accept PO Smith into my wardroom as one of my DIVO's. and oyu do have to have a good looking package. rank has its privelages as well if you know what I mean.

 

[QthePirate]

I say since were done blowing up STA-21 desk, we should blow up NPCs phone, they don't know how annoying we can be yet... (I'll even sign this post with a fake name)

~Brydown1

(Sucka!)

 

[leadblimp]

I say since were done blowing up STA-21 desk, we should blow up NPCs phone, they don't know how annoying we can be yet... (I'll even sign this post with a fake name)

~Brydown1

(Sucka!)

OH FACED!! What ya gonna do?
NPC feel our phone dialing fury!

 

[Brydown1]

I say since were done blowing up STA-21 desk, we should blow up NPCs phone, they don't know how annoying we can be yet... (I'll even sign this post with a fake name)

~Brydown1

(Sucka!)

HAHA! Well whatever works for ya

 

[MR1(SW)-->ENS]

I will have to second that agreement. make sure on your LOR's it says they would love to accept you into their wardroom. if it says he would be a great addition to any wardroom, it doesnt sound as good as, I would humbly accept PO Smith into my wardroom as one of my DIVO's. and oyu do have to have a good looking package. rank has its privelages as well if you know what I mean.

Also, be careful with too many volunteer letters. Being someone who sat ranking boards before, we used to have peoples first classes go up and say oh yeah hes volunteered for this and this and this and my question was always "Oh thats great......What does he do for my Command/Big Navy???? It seems he is doing all this great stuff outside of work so when are his normal working hours to fix my command problems" but dont get me wrong the right amount of volunteers letters can be beneficial

 

[coxl6314]

This is my 4th time applying, the first three times I applied I was at pretty small commands, and had to go to some other commands to get recommendations from CO's I previously worked with, and no luck. This time I am on a carrier and only went back to my last CO for a recommendation. His position was that my dedication is unquestionable, and that as before he recommended my with the same enthusiasm as before.

 

[LandoTheMando]

I did not submit any LORs at all and I got picked up on my first application to the program. IMO, I think they're a waste of time and a complete mockery of all the reasons people get selected for STA-21. If, in the end, it came down to someone getting selected because they had a LOR from some Admiral they met one time because they knew a guy who knew a guy, that would be a pretty lame state of affairs. I know there's some people out there who have perfectly legitimate ones, but from the people who I knew that received them, they were basically just political/family favors. Make sure you get in on your own merit, not on the name of a high ranking officer.

 

[QthePirate]

I did not submit any LORs at all and I got picked up on my first application to the program. IMO, I think they're a waste of time and a complete mockery of all the reasons people get selected for STA-21. If, in the end, it came down to someone getting selected because they had a LOR from some Admiral they met one time because they knew a guy who knew a guy, that would be a pretty lame state of affairs. I know there's some people out there who have perfectly legitimate ones, but from the people who I knew that received them, they were basically just political/family favors. Make sure you get in on your own merit, not on the name of a high ranking officer.

I will have to agree. As much as the navy is "not what you know, but who you know" I got to where I am on hard work and persistance. I want to make it as far as I can on this before I even consider calling numbers. And even then, if it's a dire situation only. (Think about it, if you are calling someone higher up for help on a dire situation, solving that situation gets you merit anyways).

 

[SingleBE]

Saw this on a note in the Powerpoint file:


Saw lots of grammatical and editing errors in CO Endorsements. Saw one that said the candidate was an outstanding candidate for the “LDO Program.” Obvious cut and paste from an LDO package endorsement.

 

[SurfRodder]

Saw this on a note in the Powerpoint file:
Saw lots of grammatical and editing errors in CO Endorsements. Saw one that said the candidate was an outstanding candidate for the “LDO Program.” Obvious cut and paste from an LDO package endorsement.

Only one word for that:

AWESOME!