Most likely to make admiral in...

C

cooper1234

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So, I was talking to my friend about how I am an applicant to NROTC and how I want to go into SEALs or Subs and serve for a long time and make admiral blah blah blah. He tells me that I am an idiot and my best chances to make admiral are in Surface Warfare.

So, after an hour long argument with a friend, and two navy live chats, I decided to come here.

Tell me what your opinion on this is.

From greatest to least, what part has the highest chance of reaching any rank of admiral.

Surface
Submarine
Aviation Pilot
Aviation Navigator
SEALs
EOD
 
Normally, I would tell someone just to pursue what he is most passionate about. Typically that is where one is most likely to achieve the greatest success, and, as a result, the most recognition and furthest advancement. In any case, even if the flag officer rank never materializes, you will have enjoyed yourself the most along the way.

In your case, it sounds like that doesn't matter as much to you. So, it sounds like a matter of simple statistics, as far as you are concerned. I am sure someone here can provide that data.

Keep in mind, it is not merely which type of service produces the greatest number of admirals, but how large each pool of officers is. If twice as many admirals come out of Branch A than Branch B, it could still be statistically in your favor to choose Branch B if it consists of only one fourth as many officers.

I must say that I have never met anyone who only cared about becoming an admiral (or general) and didn't care what he had to do for 25 to 30 years to get there. :confused:
 
Gray Hog said:
Normally, I would tell someone just to pursue what he is most passionate about. Typically that is where one is most likely to achieve the greatest success, and, as a result, the most recognition and furthest advancement. In any case, even if the flag officer rank never materializes, you will have enjoyed yourself the most along the way.

In your case, it sounds like that doesn't matter as much to you. So, it sounds like a matter of simple statistics, as far as you are concerned. I am sure someone here can provide that data.

Keep in mind, it is not merely which type of service produces the greatest number of admirals, but how large each pool of officers is. If twice as many admirals come out of Branch A than Branch B, it could still be statistically in your favor to choose Branch B if it consists of only one fourth as many officers.

I must say that I have never met anyone who only cared about becoming an admiral (or general) and didn't care what he had to do for 25 to 30 years to get there. :confused:
Click to expand...


Exactly, this is all about statistics. Even though it is a dream of mine to reach admiral, I am not going to base my decision on it. Even if I was told there is no way I would make it in subs, I would still do subs, because it is something I want to do.
 
I'm going to take a wild guess that your buddy is right. But if you're looking for solid evidence, research the careers of recent Admirals.


I'll give you a head start. Adm. Mullen went SWO from the academy.

To make it even easier for you, click here and read their careers. I just quickly skimmed a few, and everyone that I clicked had some form of ship command. Who knows, could just be chance? :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_States_Navy_admirals
 
goldfarb1 said:
I'm going to take a wild guess that your buddy is right. But if you're looking for solid evidence, research the careers of recent Admirals.


I'll give you a head start. Adm. Mullen went SWO from the academy.

To make it even easier for you, click here and read their careers. I just quickly skimmed a few, and everyone that I clicked had some form of ship command. Who knows, could just be chance? :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:United_States_Navy_admirals
Click to expand...

Yeah, I looked through the A's and B's, but I did see a few Sub officers. Also, if I do recall, one of the former Chairman of the JCOS was a Sub Admiral.

I think that the reason for this is because there are more ships then subs, but I may be wrong.
 
One of the easiest ways to think about this is to remember that every Admiral was a Captain first and a Commander before that. Think about the number of jobs in particular warfare specialties there are for those ranks and you can pretty much look at the chance of making Admiral.

Also don't forget that there will even be breakout inside the major warfare specialties as to how many admirals there are: for example: in aviation there are more "Jet" Admirals than there are P-3(prop) Admirals. It's all a big pyramid.
 
I've had the distinct pleasure of knowing and working very closely with two 4-star generals in my career.

At least a few times I've asked both of them: "Sir...how does anyone make general? I mean...I know what you've done in your career, but did you set out to make general?"

Do you know what their first answer was? (...and they both said the SAME THING!?)

"Steve...I just hoped to make Lt Col...that to me meant I'd had a successful career as the grades up to Lt Col are 100% about YOU! After that, timing, job, luck, etc., comes into play BIGTIME! But you control everything UP to that point!"

And one said, more than a few times: "You know Steve...when I shave in the morning and get dressed and look in the mirror, I sometimes recoil: WHO IS THAT 4-star starring at me? How did I get here???"

They both said:

1. Do the VERY BEST you can at your primary job; then learn the secondary jobs.
2. DO NOT BE A WALLFLOWER! If the commander needs help and asks, be the person that steps up: you will learn SOMETHING from whatever the task is, large or small, that will help you later in some way. And the commander will not forget.
3. Educate yourself! Learn other peoples roles and responsibilities, do your PME early, READ A LOT, go to graduate school, even if it is night school, continue to learn!
4. DO NOT BE AFRAID to step outside your comfort zone: this is how you learn! (To me this meant LEAVE THE COCKPIT!)
5. NEVER FORGET it's the enlisted force and your juniors that will be your ROCK...and they will require you to be their leader, mentor, and SH** shield!

Those are the things that immediately stuck with me and have for a LONG time...

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
flieger83 said:
I've had the distinct pleasure of knowing and working very closely with two 4-star generals in my career.

At least a few times I've asked both of them: "Sir...how does anyone make general? I mean...I know what you've done in your career, but did you set out to make general?"

Do you know what their first answer was? (...and they both said the SAME THING!?)

"Steve...I just hoped to make Lt Col...that to me meant I'd had a successful career as the grades up to Lt Col are 100% about YOU! After that, timing, job, luck, etc., comes into play BIGTIME! But you control everything UP to that point!"

And one said, more than a few times: "You know Steve...when I shave in the morning and get dressed and look in the mirror, I sometimes recoil: WHO IS THAT 4-star starring at me? How did I get here???"

They both said:

1. Do the VERY BEST you can at your primary job; then learn the secondary jobs.
2. DO NOT BE A WALLFLOWER! If the commander needs help and asks, be the person that steps up: you will learn SOMETHING from whatever the task is, large or small, that will help you later in some way. And the commander will not forget.
3. Educate yourself! Learn other peoples roles and responsibilities, do your PME early, READ A LOT, go to graduate school, even if it is night school, continue to learn!
4. DO NOT BE AFRAID to step outside your comfort zone: this is how you learn! (To me this meant LEAVE THE COCKPIT!)
5. NEVER FORGET it's the enlisted force and your juniors that will be your ROCK...and they will require you to be their leader, mentor, and SH** shield!

Those are the things that immediately stuck with me and have for a LONG time...

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
Click to expand...

Wow that sounds like fantastic advice! Obviously...
 
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