Hannah, et. al.
Let me give you some advice from someone who has served on Brigade, Battalion, and Company level staffs, as well as someone having some experience in the Fleet.
1. What marvin is saying about stripers having more stripes than friends is completely false and a generalization that cannot be supported by facts. All stripers that I have served with are nice people, are respected among their peers and subordinates, and if they didn't wear stripes, you would not know what billet they might hold. Let me caveat by saying not ALL stripers, or MIDN for that matter, are going to be the same leaders as others and some might have different leadership styles or might not be as dedicated -- something you will see throughout your career Navy, Marine Corps, or life.
2. Many of the billets, which MIDN might say are "useless" are not. Those billets might become useless if the billets are not planned out or the dedication is not present. Plan of Actions (POAMs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), or Instructions are not written up to waste people's time, it is to outline a course of action, direction, or way in which programs are suppose to be ran. For example, when the AT/FP and Safety billets were created, these programs lacked a SOP/Instruction to govern how those programs should be ran. Therefore, no one had any expectations, goals, or purpose of the program.
FYI, Safety and AT/FP (called ATTT in the Fleet) are MAJOR programs. The fact that marvin is saying these programs are "useless" tells me one of two things: one, the program still does not have clear goals and procedures that been disseminated to the Brigade OR two, the lack of Fleet exposure limits the importance MIDN place on some programs.
Finally, I recommend trying to serve on a staff, whether, Battalion, Regiment, or Brigade; you will learn how to communicate, both up and down the chain of command, something that is important as a DIVO and one holding collateral duties.
