What jobs have you had, and would you recommend them?

[P3 F0]

I'm wondering what tours people have had that they'd recommend (or not recommend). This'd be aside from your JO/DH squadron tour. Brett327 had a decent list in a thread back in 2005, but it's really only a start, and I'm interested in hearing from people that have actually done these things. Aside from word of mouth, it seems like there are relatively few resources out there for determining what jobs are out there and worth looking into. (And right now I'm almost afraid to talk to my detailer for fear that IA will pop up)

I'll start:
FIWC. Shore tour. I'd recommend it if you have any interest in Info Ops and want to live around Norfolk. Not sure if they take flyers anymore, since the Info Warfare community got spawned. Not really good for the career, and doesn't bring much to the fight, so my sense of accomplishment was pretty much nonexistent. But living in Virginia Beach was great.

Open Skies. Sea tour (follow-on to my disassociated). I took this mainly so I could get the extra flying months I needed for my year 12 ACIP gate (and I'm not even sure if anyone at BUPERS even tracks that-- have people not met a gate and still got paid?). As a sea tour, this is a pretty sweet deal. 8 to 9-day trips here and there, with a couple O-4 and a couple O-5 billets. Not good for the career unless you need to check the Joint box.

What about you guys?

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Not good for the career unless you need to check the Joint box.

Are you doing this as an O-4? Technically Joint Duty isn't supposed to count unless you're an O-4. I know big navy has been trying to work something out for those folks that do an IA tour. But as far as I know, nothing else has changed regarding other joint billets.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

I'm wondering what tours people have had that they'd recommend (or not recommend).

I did my shore tour as a reserve center XO. Highly recommend it if you think you'll be putting in a package to transfer to FTS. It's a whole different world than the active side and your package will be a lot stronger if you already have experience. A lot of these billets are not advertised, at least not for the URL bubbas. If at all interested, ask your detailer.

I stood no duty during the whole tour. The downside is that you'll end up working one or two weekends per month for when the reservists are drilling. The upside (for us anyway) was that we had all Mondays off. For the most part, it was hard coming up with shit to do during the workday. I had a good staff of E's and they really took care of most everything. The only officers were me and the CO. We came in at 8am, and then for lunch, we'd run our daily 5 miles, play some raquetball, and then head back to the office until he left for the day around 3 or 3:30. The CO was a SWO and while he was fairly laid back, I had a hard time convincing him that 12pm was a good time to punch out for the day.

 

[P3 F0]

The CO was a SWO and while he was fairly laid back, I had a hard time convincing him that 12pm was a good time to punch out for the day.

There's a whole 'nother world outside the squadron. I'd never heard of Curtailment days until I got to Open Skies. Definitely a nice perk. Yeah, I'm here as an O-4. What sucks is that I'm doing work at an O-1/O-2 and sometimes E-6/E-7 level, and I don't need the check in the box.

And I don't trust a word that comes from Big Navy unless it comes in a message (and even then they can screw you). It's great that they're trying to hook up the IA folks--nobody deserves it more--but until I hear it actually happening, I'll be skeptical.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

And I don't trust a word that comes from Big Navy unless it comes in a message (and even then they can screw you).

Yea, it was in a message about 6 or 7 months back, before I got out. I'll see if I can find it.

edit: I looked and can't find it. It might have been in a P4 message. Either way, until they make it public and advertise it, I wouldn't believe it either.

 

[bert]

I think you are looking for this and the others in the series. It is also starting to be mentioned in the precepts for promotion boards. Would have been nice if they had planned to take care of people before they sent them, rather than scrambling afterwards, but I suppose it is the thought that counts...

http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/4D68C2BD-94E7-440A-AABE-9D1E07AD2E56/0/NAV06300.txt

 

[Steve Wilkins]

http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/4D68C2BD-94E7-440A-AABE-9D1E07AD2E56/0/NAV06300.txt

No, I found that one too. The one I'm thinking of specifically talks about joint duty for officers.

 

[Heloanjin]

I would recommend an NROTC tour to anyone. It was one of the most rewarding tours of my career. It gives you a chance to shape future Navy and Marine officers.

It is not career enhancing, which I am sure comes as no surprise to anyone. Although, considering the influence the ROTC instructor has in developing early office traits in our youngest officers, you'd think the Navy would take a little more interest in assigning strong officers. But I digress.

It also isn't a 9-3 job with a 2 hour lunch. I was in the office by 7 am and didn't usually leave till after 6pm. And twice a week I taught an evening class, so I didn't leave till past 9pm on those days. Many weekends are working weekends, and during the summer you get tagged with supporting NROTC cruises, which means being away from home. I should point out that I was working on my masters at the same time, adding to my office hours. But graduate studies with an ROTC job is what most do.

If you are interested in an ROTC billet, you need to start looking VERY early. As much as a year before your PRD. Most billets open up in the summer. There is usually a nomination process through the university, so the Navy generally submits names by the winter prior. The list of openings should get to the detailer by the fall prior. I was able to get the list of expected billets straight from the ROTC placement officer before it was released to the detailers. This was about 12 months before the billet would open. I told the detailer my first three choices. When the list came out from Placement, the detailer grabbed my first choice. Yes, the detailer actually worked to get what I wanted.