What are the advantages (if any) in joining the U.S. Navy as an officer (versus "enlisted" status)?

Answer 1

Well there are advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

higher pay
more responsibility
more authority

Disadvantages:

your more a supervisor than a doer
not as hands on
competition for promotion is accelerated
not as many advancement opportunities


It's two different worlds, you really cannot compare them.

As an Officer, you will be leading and incharge of the enlisted crew members.

It's more about management and leadership.


As an enlisted, you will actually do the work, whether rebuilding jet engines, turbine, boilers aircraft avionics.

Plus you will have some management and leadership responsibilities as you progress in rank.


Now there are some Officer positions where the Officers get down and dirty with the enlisted, but in the Navy there aren't many.

Answer 2

The obvious answer is pay, but with that out of the way, the best answer starts with a question. What do you want to do?

To join the Navy as an Officer, you will have to have a degree in something.

The Navy Officer Corp is divided into several different areas, Unrestricted Line (Surface, Submarine, Special Forces, Special Operations, Pilot or Flying Officer); Supply Officer; Civil Engineer; Special Duty Officer (Cryptology, Intelligence, Public Affairs, and Oceanography)

If you join as an Officer, base on your degree and what you want to do, you will designated into one of the above categories. In those categories, you will be given jobs where you will be in some type of supervisory job over enlisted personnel.

If you join as an enlisted person you will be able to select the training that you want, you will be sent to that school and then you will assigned where the Navy needs you. The choices of jobs is large (see the below listed web site)

Which is best? Your decision. The Navy's schools are the best in the world. You can find the job that you are interested in and you can see the world.

Walking into a recruiting office doesn't cost anything, but a few minutes and they can tell you what you are eligible for.

Fair winds and following seas.

Answer 3

The best way to explain the difference is the officers are like the Royal Families of England and the enlisted are like the peasants , and the Navy is the worst of all branches in this difference. I was in the Navy in the 70's, and to give you an example, the enlisted barracks got the drug dogs all the time, they came in , scratching the floor up , (that you just waxed for the next day's inspection) and if you didn't steam clean your locker from the guy who had it before you, the dog would smell residue and they would cut your lock off and mess up everything inside, so when you came back that night, Knowing you had everything squared away for inspection, you had to stay up the rest of the night to get everything back to where it was, when you left it, before the dogs came in, BUT GUESS what the officers were a GENTLEMAN, so they therefore did not get the drug dogs , because as gentlemen , they did not smoke dope. yea, right, I've been on so many flights with the pilots so stoned, that the enlisted guys had to fly the helicopter , while the pilots sleep in the back and we would wake them up just before landing, but what are you going to do, report them , before the flight, you know you will be the one that gets in trouble, not them, they're gentlemen
Just my experience with the Navy

Answer 4

there are a number of careers in the army. Any theory what you may opt for to do? floor ships, subs, pilot, SEALS, etc. standard no longer a bad plan. so a procedures as retirement is going, you will have not have been given something to tutor from the army. you will could desire to create your very own. That replaced into the main important undertaking I had. i replaced into in for 9 years, could no longer deduct all of my IRA because of the fact the IRS stated that I had a 401-k, yet when I have been given accessible wasn't one cent in that plan for me. i might evaluate going at contemporary to Customs if that's your mind-blowing purpose. I did have a large time seeing the international. yet once you have kinfolk which you leave at the back of, that's puzzling, emotionally besides as logistically. perfect of success along with your determination. Edit: Roger's incorrect. while the army fights, we push a button from seven-hundred miles away. Or deliver the perfect experienced pilots into action. Or the perfect experienced covert instruments. Your odds of being KIA with the army are narrow.

Answer 5

Most obvious is PAY. Huge pay difference. On the downside, if you're an officer, you might have to serve longer depending on what program you're in. That might not be a bad thing to everyone, but it's worth considering. Also, if you're an officer, if you screw up, it's a lot worse than if you screw up as an enlisted.

Answer 6

Are you sure that a person can just join the Navy as an officer? Don't you have to work your way up like you do in the corporate world? I don't know a lot about this but it sounds plausible.

Answer 7

More pay and different benefits.

First you must have a minimum of a BA or BS college degree to join as an officer.

Answer 8

joining as an officer outs you at a mid-manager level, so instead of starting at the bottom, you start in the middle.

It involves higher pay levels, and if you enlist as a sailor, you will soon wish you had joined as an officer.

cheers,
josh

Answer 9

um.. all the people who have "enlisted" will dislike you , and want to kick your *** untill you prove to them that you aren't a worthless pile of crap (not saying that you are).... if that's an advantage. lol. or so these are the stories i've heard from my brother. he's in the army, but i'm pretty sure its about the same.

Answer 10

As an officer you can't roll around in the gutter and get your whites dirty.