what should i expect from joining the navy as an officer?

Question

I am a college graduate and i've been thinking of joining the navy, but i am not sure what to expect. What is a day in the life of a navy officer like?

Answer 1

Deepnds on the Community you get. SWOs, for instance, spend many years at Sea, typically back to back tours, so your first six years will be spent on sea duty. Aviation, most of those six years will be spent in the classroom and the cockpit learning to fly. IWO, you will be doing Sea and Shore duty, most likely DIRSUP and spend a lot of time going TAD.

Answer 2

You asked the perfect question for me. I am an officer and have been in for about 7 years.

The main question is what do you want to do in the navy. Most likely you will be a line officer and have a choice of three jobs: Pilot, Submarines or Surface Warfare.

I went Surface Warfare and the first 18 months are HELL!!!!! You will go straight to ship as an Ensign and you will be given a division to run with anywhere from 6-20 personnel and a Chief. You are basically a figurehead in the division as the chief will run the division and your main job is to get qualified. You must have a qualification for everything you do in the Navy. In addition you must get your SWO Pin and Officer of the Deck qualification in 18 months or you will be seperated from the Navy.

A typical day on ship is walk your assigned spaces for cleanliness at about 0600. Then grab some breakfast and go to quarters (officers meeting) and there are usually about three of them. This will bring you to about 0830 and then start the day. Watch will be in there somewhere for 4-6 hours and other various meetings and evolutions with drills mixed in there somewhere. In between all that I usually checked in on the workspaces to see how everything is going and if anything needed approval. Admin time is usually left for late night (writing evaluations, approving maintenance) and then there are "knee-jerk" reactions from the eight oclock reports that come down to you from the department heads (last minute taskings). Usually another watch and then you get 3-4 hours of sleep if you are lucky. This is of course underway, inport gets a little more laxed.

You will do this for about 4 years on two different ships then go to shore duty (2-3 years). This is where you are expected to complete an Individual Augmentee tour in Iraq, Afghinstan or Africa and get your masters degree before going to department head school and back to ship.

Pilot and submarines are even harder - schooling with high drop out rate for 2 years for pilot and about 10 months for sub then you go to your first squadron or sub. The advantage of surface over these are commitment time - normally 3 years for surface and about 6 years for pilot and sub.

Any other questions about this glorious life, feel free to ask.

Answer 3

What jbarn forgot to tell you is that us enlisted people will give you just enough respect to your face not to get into trouble. And if you happen to land a division that does a job you have no clue about (i.e an accountant in charge of electronics guys) we will have fun at your expense. My last fresh out of college ensign major'd in BASKETWEAVING!! At least thats what he claimed. When my electronics broke, I let him know it was the flux capacitator. Remember Back to the Future? Yep, they dont exist. But Mr. Junior Officer told the CO what I said.

Thank God the CO had a sense of humor.........

Answer 4

Here's a Site you may want to look over.


http://www.nsgreatlakes.navy.mil/otcp/

Okay, 2 Sites.
http://www.navy.com/careers/officer/

Answer 5

probably in combat given the current war . comcast has documentary you can view that shows the hospitals in iraq that are treating the troops. it's quite graphic. i'd suggest seeing a few episodes of that in prep for being an officer. it might even sway you to find another career choice. your life matters . good luck.

Answer 6

Basically it is a JOB like in the civilian world, but you are serving your country. And more rules. And a uniform.