What can the Navy do for ME??

[HeyJoe]

If I were to join I would love to be deployed over in Europe and get to travel and enjoy the cultural life of where I'd be stationed, basically just enjoy life. I have little desire to be out at sea or stationed in the continental US.

Yet you want to be a SME...read what you wrote; the only thing you'll be a SME for is a travel brochure. You're talking about the N-A-V-Y, which goes to sea and is a seagoing service after all. For what you looking for, another service in shade of green or blue will put you in Europe in far more locations than the relatively fewer Navy assignments so you can "basically just enjoy life". Trying to join up and avoid sea service won't win you any friends or supporters.

 

[xmid]

Wow... I saw a pile on coming, but damn...

 

[Blutonski816]

Please bend over (stretch first because I don't want you to strain anything) and with both hands try to pull your head out of your A$$. People try to become Naval Officers because they WANT TO BE NAVAL OFFICERS. Their brains rarely think of anything beyond that moment. Many young men and women on this board are sweating test scores, physicals and boards just trying to get a chance at becoming a Naval Officer.

This man speaks the truth...


Seriously, lo siento, your post makes me want to Rage. With a capital "R".

Lowly college guys (much like me) are scraping at our chances to give of ourselves and serve as an Officer...


Do us all a favor and stick to your day job. I think I speak for everyone on this board that not just Naval Aviation, not just the Navy but the Military as a whole does not want you.

 

[Flash]

1) Try and get into a position where I would be considered the "customer" to the defense contractors and have oversight of the projects the contractors are working on, make sure the contractors are meeting requirements providing the necessary systems for the Navy, et
2) Join the Navy for 4+ years see how I like it and become a SME then join back to a defense contractor as a SME (know this is viable we have a ton of retired navy who work for us as SMEs)

Thanks

I agree with the other posters here but will add on a little bit here, a little mroe gently for your sake. What you seem to want to be is an Engineering Duty Officer, who often run test and development programs for the Navy while serving as officers.

I have little experience with EDO's except Aviation Engineering Duty Officers. They do not take people right off the street, they are fleet experienced officers who are generally about 8-12 years into an aviation career. Many are Test Pilot School grads but there are also a lot that are not. The ones that I have known to be selected were generally very good officers that did well in the fleet and had a strong technical background, usually with first-hand experience in testing and eval or grad degrees in engineering or science. It is also quite competitive, I believe the last selection took only half of the applicants. Almost all of the selectees had either a science/engineering grad degree or were a TPS grad. All had at least one fleet tour under their belt.

It is also not a common career path in the Navy. I believe there are only about 300 AEDO's (I know know notthing about Sub or Surface EDO's). The suggestion that you look at the USAF is not an unrealistic one, they have a lot more officers who work in such specialized fields, and you get directly accession into some of them. They are much more into the RD aspect than the other services from what I have seen, and they actually staff those fields with officers. For example, there are about 300 officers in their nuclear engineering field alone. Necessary for what they do, not so much for the Navy. The other one good suggestion is the civil service, there are plenty of opportunities there, or continue in the contractor field.

Many of us have seen people in the Navy who have an 'agenda' and are more concerned about themselves than their fellow sailors. I don't want to judge you by a single internet posting but you are coming across as one of those guys/gals. They are generally disliked and not well thought of, and often get what they deserve in the end (not necessarily good). If you do want to serve your country then there are many ways to do so, including your current job. It just does not seem like Naval Aviation is the way to go for you.

 

[Goob83]

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
stay a civilian
if you have this dream become and enlisted FC, ET OR FT.

A little background about me:
- BS in Computer Engineering ~3.2 GPA
- MS in Computer Science ~3.7 GPA
- Currently working for a big defense contractor as a System Engineer developing sonar systems for submarines ~1 years experience
- Currently taking some grad classes on System Engineering and looking into getting another grad degree in Systems Engineering or an MBA.

I really enjoy my job and am trying to set myself up to go on our first boat install to test the equipment and get to go out on a sub but am currently considering joining the Navy with 2 different goals just based off of what I've seen working so far:
1) Try and get into a position where I would be considered the "customer" to the defense contractors and have oversight of the projects the contractors are working on, make sure the contractors are meeting requirements providing the necessary systems for the Navy, et
2) Join the Navy for 4+ years see how I like it and become a SME then join back to a defense contractor as a SME (know this is viable we have a ton of retired navy who work for us as SMEs)

If I were to join I would love to be deployed over in Europe and get to travel and enjoy the cultural life of where I'd be stationed, basically just enjoy life. I have little desire to be out at sea or stationed in the continental US.

So my question is option 1 viable and where do you think with my background would be a good career path for me in the Navy?

Thanks

 

[Goob83]

You are also wasting typing time on this site. get a life and move on or go enlisted NUKE BTW your too old

I just started my own small programming business on the side with a few of my friends. I do the project management, talk with clients, gather requirements, assign tasks and make sure they are completed.
What are the chances of keeping the project management aspect of this programming business while I am the in Navy?

In particular I would like to know if there will still be time in my life to check email and be on conference calls? Do naval aviators and naval flight officers also work twelve hour days?

Also I would like to do an MBA (Masters of Business Administration) in a few years. A lot of the best schools do not have an online MBA so I would have to go with the old fashioned attending class. I don't think I will have a problem doing well on the GMAT (Graduate Management Assessment Test) and putting together a competitive application package.

However how does a naval aviator or naval flight officer who gains acceptance to these schools actually go to them while in the Navy? These schools are namely:
Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern (Kellogg), UPenn (Wharton), New York University (Stern), University of Chicago, Dartmouth (Tuck), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan), University of California at Berkeley, UCLA (Haas), Columbia, or Duke University (Fuqua).

I am 28 years old now and would be interested in earning an MBA at the age when most people traditionally earn their MBA as opposed to finishing my committment (at 38 years old for aviator or 36 years old for flight officer)

It would be good if someone who owns a small business or went to one of these schools could speak to it.

 

[lo siento]

So wow, it looks like my post came off pretty badly. I don't want to get into an huge argument on here but here are some more of my thoughts. Keep the comments coming if I what I'm saying is just totally off the wall, I'd rather have the blatant truth then some BS answer that you get sometimes.

It looks like I was coming off as just "thinking about myself" but I was looking at it as knowing where I want to go and having some goals and using the experience to help the country by being able to develop better systems.

1) I'm helping to develop systems for the Navy that I have no personal experience with and will more then likely never get to a chance see how the systems get used in a tactical environment. I kind of see a big problem with this which is why I'm trying to position myself to help out on the first boat install.
- With time developing these systems I will get good experience, but it will be experience coming from one point of view, the defense contractor side
- I believe if you are to be one of the better System Engineers you need first hand knowledge of everyone involved in the system from the Politicians throwing the money at the project to the end operator and maintainer of the system. I see it at work all the time with people thinking about the problem from their only perspective and I'm guilty of that too since I don't have the experience needed.
- Just by posting the original post I'm starting to get an understanding of the culture in the Navy that I probably wouldn't of seen in my current job position.

2) I'm also a big believer in you should enjoy what you do and as soon as you see it as hard work you are in the wrong field of work and will be unhappy the more you do it. That is where I was coming from with the comment on enjoying life.
- Your job should be challenging you everyday and when you have to put in that extra effort I don't think it should be work to you, just a fun challenge that needs to be accomplished. When you take a job you take the good and the bad of the job.
- Before someone jumps all over this one I see the meaning of "work" as something you do but won't enjoy as a whole.

So when I go into my current job I see it as a fun challenge and enjoy doing it, but think I'm going about it the wrong way and not getting the experience I need to do it the best I can.

Joe you made a good point my comments on being a SME was kind of contradicting lol.

Maybe this post helped some or maybe you guys are thinking wow this guy is a jack*** I don't know but would like some more of your opinions on the matter especially with my #1 comment above and what your thoughts are on that.

Thanks

 

[Flash]

1) I'm helping to develop systems for the Navy that I have no personal experience with and will more then likely never get to a chance see how the systems get used in a tactical environment. I kind of see a big problem with this which is why I'm trying to position myself to help out on the first boat install.

I would ask some fo the current or former Navy officers that you might run into at the install about submarines or Submarine Engineering Duty Officer. With your background and from what I can glean from your posts, I believe that would be the better way to go.

Naval Aviation is for people who have a burning desire to fly, it doesn't seem like you have that.

 

[Oh-58Ddriver]

If you want to go to Europe, join the Army.

Correction: If you want your household goods to go to Europe while you go to Iraqistan, join the Army.

 

[phrogdriver]

Plenty of people join the Navy to learn skills for later, but you have to realize that the service doesn't exist to help you out. You aren't going to be working regular hours. You may be deployed on a ship in the middle of the ocean or in the middle of a desert.

The opportunities to go to civilian schools while in the service are generally geared toward career officers--i.e. someone whom the military will get a return out of funding his education.

Cush staff jobs in decent foreign countries generally do not exist for first-term officers. Stick around for a career and you might find some. Besides, if your goal is to become a SME in sensors, wouldn't sea duty be exactly what you need? Just having been in the service won't get you a technical job.

In the end, being in the service entails some sacrifice. That's why it's called "the service," and not "the eternally happy land of flowers, lollypops, and blowjobs." It definitely has rewards that can't be quantified by dollar signs, but the idea that you can waltz in, have some job wandering the cafes of Paris, get an MBA on the Navy's tab, then leave soon after and cash in on it is just absurd.

 

[snake020]

What can the Navy do for ME??

"Ask not what your Navy can do you for, ask what you can do for your Navy!"

 

[shotcalla10]

A little background about me:
- BS in Computer Engineering ~3.2 GPA
- MS in Computer Science ~3.7 GPA
- Currently working for a big defense contractor as a System Engineer developing sonar systems for submarines ~1 years experience
- Currently taking some grad classes on System Engineering and looking into getting another grad degree in Systems Engineering or an MBA.

I really enjoy my job and am trying to set myself up to go on our first boat install to test the equipment and get to go out on a sub but am currently considering joining the Navy with 2 different goals just based off of what I've seen working so far:
1) Try and get into a position where I would be considered the "customer" to the defense contractors and have oversight of the projects the contractors are working on, make sure the contractors are meeting requirements providing the necessary systems for the Navy, et
2) Join the Navy for 4+ years see how I like it and become a SME then join back to a defense contractor as a SME (know this is viable we have a ton of retired navy who work for us as SMEs)

If I were to join I would love to be deployed over in Europe and get to travel and enjoy the cultural life of where I'd be stationed, basically just enjoy life. I have little desire to be out at sea or stationed in the continental US.

So my question is option 1 viable and where do you think with my background would be a good career path for me in the Navy?

Thanks

Information Warfare. If you're lucky you'll get selected... like me. =)

 

[Zissou]

Dude. If you're unsure, maybe want to see what the Navy is all about before choosing a career field?

There is only one choice: undesignated Seaman

Some zen time with a needle gun, some wisdom from the Deck Department.

You'll be on the right track in no time.

 

[phrogdriver]

He wants sonars and shore duty...how 'bout the glamourous field of listening to hydrophones on the floor of the ocean? SOSUS might be the job for you! :icon_tong

I actually saw a LT with the SOSUS warfare pin one time. Just pure weirdness. No idea how one goes into that bizarre, seemingly incredibly boring field.

 

[phrogpilot73]

There are guys who do that, but they are all reservists and they damned sure didn't do it in flight school.

And we all had our initial stint on active duty as well...