6 months on a ship?

Question

I have been thinking of joining the a military for a while. I've heard by alot of people that in the navy you could be out at sea on a ship for at least 6 months. But i was also told by a couple that it depends on what your job is. I have been wanting to do something in the arts (like animation or design) or with animals, so would i be out at sea for 6 months if I did something like that? My girlfriend and i are planning on getting married before i begin basics and dont like the idea that much of me having to leave my girlfriend/future bride for 6 months.

Answer 1

I am a Navy vet. I'll tell you now if you want to go into the art field, There is a job or "rating" in the Navy called "DM" or "draftsman". It's a good rate and DM's do not see a lot of sea time. You will be required to do a little sea time in that rate but not much. DM's spend a lot of time on shore duty. It's a good rate, go for it! Six months out to sea by the way does not mean six straight months of being in water. We do pull into foreign ports in other countries and stay in other countries for a few days or maybe even weeks.




Good answers guys. Its been a while since I've served, looks like things have changed a bit.

Answer 2

Hey I was in the navy for 20yrs and 12 of those was on sea duty, Look you will hear many different claims about ship borad life. My longest stretch with out pulling into a port was 112 days now yes you could be gone from your home port where ever that maybe for a 6mo or more depending on the circumstanses but unless you decide to join for submarine service you will more than likey not be out for more that 2-4wks at one consective strecth, Ship board life is not for everyone it can be very tedious and so you to find a way to keep your self in a positive frame of mind and there several ways to do that sounds like you have a hobby that can keep you busy with the free time you have. Also yes the rate/job you pick will have a bearing on how much or if any sea duty you have to do remmber this though its the navy and they have sailors who work aboard ships that do go to sea. I work now at a naval shipyard for the navy and there ships there for extensive lenths getting repaired so do listen to the negetive comments that you hear in hear or any where else. You do not always have to leave for extended time I have been married to the same woman for 23yrs now and over 15 of them was when I was in the navy. The navy was very good to me I got quite a bit out of it though I also understand its not a life everyone but people do cope and make the most of it every day.
Good Luck hope this was some help.

Answer 3

I don't what you could do with your desires like animation but you could be a dog handler (Master at Arms). A typical ship is deployed for 6 months. Typical means a combatant vessel such as a frigate up to a carrier. However, the needs of the service outweigh the needs of the crew. I made five deployments in my sea time and had two year-long overhauls.
Only one cruise lasted six months, there others were about 8 months and one was a year.

Answer 4

Well the USN does not do too much with graphic design and/or animation. And aside from police working dogs and EOD dolphins they do not work with animals all that much.
With that being said you could try to get in EOD and work with the dolphins, that is specialized and you probably will not just walk into that. You could enlist and work your way into the MA force and try to be a dog handler. Again, you will not walk into that. More than likely you would not do 6 month deployments in either of those fields. For the arts you would likely look at the MS (Mass Communications Specialist) or the IT (Information Systems Technician) ratings. They serve on both ship and shore units. You would take assignments based on their sea/shore rotation. More than likely you would make at least one deployment in your first enlistment unless you lucked into a shore assignment.

Answer 5

6 months cruises are common, but you don't spend all your time on the ship. You'll probably have 6 calls to port in that time..so the average time out to sea between ports is about a month. This is not to say your ship WILL pull into port every month.. on my ship, we spent 110 days out to sea without seeing land.. but I don't think that is the norm. But.. I'm fortunate so say I've been to Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Africa, Australia, Philippines, and a few other interesting places. No regrets, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

If you're planning on getting married, I wouldn't join the service... any service. You could be deployed for years without seeing your spouse. No guarantees from any branch. You do realize we're "at war"?

Answer 6

If you're planning on going into the Navy you have to be prepared for the possibility of going out on "float" for 6 months at a time. Generally speaking if you're going into a career area such as what you described you'd be pretty unlikely to be sent out from whatever your base is. However, the needs of the military dictate, and when you sign the dotted line you give away all sorts of control.

Answer 7

it isn't just the ships that deploy for six months. lots of Sailors on 12 month tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

the only people who work with animals in the Navy are the MAs in K9, and they have to be ont heir second tour usually before they get sent to dog handling school. and there are PLENTY of MAs on year long deployments right now.

very slim chance of doing animation /design work in the Navy period.

Rozzell: DM, PH, JO, LI and whatever the last one is( I always forget that one) all merged into MC last year. It is currently closed to first termers, and probably won't open up again for a good long while.

Answer 8

Actaully when you throw in training and sea trials it might be closer to 7-8 months at sea.
I have no clue what ratings you are looking into that would have anything to do with graphic design or veternary science. Therefore I would assume those are shore-based elements that only go to sea on an ad-hoc basis, if the ratings in fact exist.
Good Luck!

Answer 9

My husband is on a Sub. They go out for anywhere from 3 days to 8 months. The longer ones, they do Port Calls of course. It really depends on your job & what kind of "ship" you get on.

Answer 10

In any branch, expect to be away from family for at least 6 months.