Naval Aviator earning the Surface Warfare insignia

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rubio1996

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I'm only entering my sophomore year of high school, so this is all hypothetical.

If I am lucky enough to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, and become a Naval Aviator, would it be possible to become earn the Surface Warfare insignia as a Naval Aviator on board an aircraft carrier? Thank you.
 
I believe you have to attend Surface Warfare Officer School to be eligible to wear the SWO pin.

However, if that isn't a requirement this would still be next to impossible during a tour in a squadron. The main reason is that your flight schedule wouldn't give you the time to do it. Possibly you could work on the quals during your disassociated tour (eg shooter/navigator/etc), but you still wouldn't have SWOS (if that is a rqmt)

The better reason is that no self respecting naval aviator would be caught wanting to wear the SWO pin if it wasn't from prior service. :biggrin:
 
The word I got from one of the Naval Aviators on my grey-hull cruise was that aviators/intel guys/non-SWOs can no longer be officially awarded the SWO pin. According to this guy, the reason was that the SWOs got mad that aviators and NFOs were just picking up the warfare qualification during their dissociated tours and thought it belittled their community. I'm sure the SWOs have a different explanation. So, if you see an NA/NFO/RL officer with a SWO pin, he/she got it and then switched communities.

You can, and for an aviator, should, get your OOD (officer of the deck) qualification but that's a far cry from the pin.
 
COMNAVSURFORINST 1412.1C (11 Apr 11):

a. The following personnel are eligible to attain designation as “Surface Warfare Qualified:”
(1) Commissioned officers permanently assigned to a commissioned U.S. Navy surface ship:
(a) Surface (116X) and lateral transfers into Surface Warfare are required to qualify.
(b) Junior officers (O-3 and junior) assigned division officer duties on a commissioned U.S. Navy surface ship with designators 181X, 182X, 61XX, 640X, 641X, 642X, 649X, 71XX, 740X, 741X, 742X, 744X and 749X are encouraged to qualify.
(c) Commissioned officers assigned to pre-commissioning units can submit a waiver via email or naval message to COMNAVSURFOR N7 for this requirement.
(2) Permanently assigned exchange officers from the Coast Guard and international navies. Surface Warfare Officers School Advanced Shiphandling and Tactics (SWOS ASAT) attendance requirement for exchange officers will be determined by ships‟ Commanding Officers based on their assessment of the officer‟s experience level and Surface Warfare competency.
(a) Authorization to wear the insignia rests with the parent service or country of the officer concerned.
(3) Ready Reserve Officers (Inactive Duty) permanently assigned to the crew of a Naval Reserve Force (NRF) ship, Ship Augmentation Unit (SAU) or Ship Maintenance Unit (SMU).
b. The following designators require an approved eligibility request for SWO Qualification from Commander, Naval Surface Forces: 144X/146X, 180X, 62XX, 644X, 646X, 648X, 72XX, and 748X.
(1) 144X/146X, 646X and 180X officers must be O-3 and below, permanently assigned to a surface ship as a division officer, and fulfill the requirement as part of their direct accession pipeline for their respective communities.
c. The following designators are not eligible for SWO qualification: 110X, 112X, 113X, 114X, 117X, 118X, 119X, 12XX, 13XX, 15XX, 162X/166X, 165X, 167X/169X, 168X, 183X, 184X, 185X, 19XX, 20XX, 21XX, 22XX, 23XX, 25XX, 29XX, 31XX, 41XX, 51XX, 600X, 63XX, 643X, 645X, 647X, 65XX, 715X, 717X, 73XX, 745X, 747X, and 75XX.
d. Personnel not eligible for SWO qualification may use SWO PQS to earn Additional Qualification Designators (AQDs) for qualification as Officer of the Deck (Underway) (OOD(U/W)), Engineering Officer of the Watch (EOOW), Combat Information Center Watch Officer (CICWO), and Tactical Action Officer (TAO).
(1) SWO Qualification eligibility standards are not retroactive. Officers seeking SWO qualification must complete the requirements as stated in paragraph 6.
 
By the time you make it to flight school (6+ years), things will have most likely changed, for better or for worse.
 
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