Recent content by nuensis

I guess it must be because I haven't done my division officer ride yet. I think that comes later on in the career pipeline. Nothing like that exists. Don't ask about it. Don't talk about it. Just understand the process.

The what now? That's not a real thing.

Cyber is in the name for CWE but think of it as more software/capability development and program management/acquisition than cyberspace operations. CWE is to MCWO as Surface EDO and AEDO is to SWO and Aviator. The Navy hasn't been great at making up clear and consistent names for some of these...

This is not true. Cryptologic warfare is here to stay. Navy cyber has undergone some recent changes. Until recently (about six months ago), Navy cyber roles were split between the Information Professional and Cryptologic Warfare communities. Last fall the Maritime Cyber Warfare Officer...

Minimum service obligation is currently 5 AD + 1 SELRES + 2 IRR. All officers must serve no less than 6 years of active duty or SELRES service and no less than 8 years total (i.e. OCS would be 4 AD + 2 SELRES + 2 IRR). If you leave active duty before 8 years you must accept a reserve commission...

You could just buy a set of SDBs (or likely, just a jacket), he'll get to wear them for four years.

I think warriors with mariner skills is kind of the target here. Commercial industry or whatnot might scoff at it, but the Navy has also had the opportunity lately to demonstrate that we are still good at what we were originally chartered to do--protect commercial shipping from direct attack...

SWOS has been back for the better part of a decade. It was up and running at the time of this article's publication. In this case I think the author just had not kept up with the news. There's a decent pipeline and go/no-go milestones for JOs to POCR out at different points. A better problem to...

Nope, whoever was manning the chat feature was wrong. Plenty of PAs that allow for up to 42, especially since BDCP targets a lot of IW communities. Age waivers are also possible depending on the circumstances. Your degree would still be considered STEM, but some communities prefer specific...

Yeah, that's been my point, there's nothing stopping the Navy from promoting everyone on first day of the fiscal year other than not paying a chunk of officers at the next paygrade. It's definitely not a seniority thing, I don't think we've cared about date of rank determining seniority for a...

Navy divides out 15% the first month (ends up being merit reorders and the most senior above zone selects), 3% each month until September, 55% in September. If you do good enough you skip the line (merit reorder).

Can vary significantly depending on the community. 10-12 is about normal for URL. IW (except Intel, they're closer to URL) makes O-4s at around 7-9 years. The Navy also does a neat thing where you select for promotion but then don't promote until the end of the next fiscal year so there's just...

I'm more a fan of just adding incentive pay rather than accelerated promotions. Some are just not ready at 6-7 years for the responsibility of O-4. That's a minesweeper CO, detachment OIC, small shore station OIC, XO of a cruiser, XO of an SSN, etc. Pushing people into those positions when they...

Submit as soon as possible. No rush, but don't sit on anything. Plenty of good reasons to delay (as listed above) and plenty of bad reasons to delay. CFA is pass/fail--if you pass, you pass, no need to do another one. You don't need to keep grinding prep work until you max all events. For...

There was a Special Operations Warfare officer community prior to the establishment of the EOD Officer community; they are now EOD officers. SWO on my ship bought the wrong pin for a dining in one time and we gave him crap for days. SDVTs and SBTs are still led by SEAL officers. IIRC CAPT Clark...