Navy LDO's

J

Jcleppe

10-Year Member
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Feb 10, 2010
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Just a curious question.

I found myself at a retirement party for a Navy LT last week. I figured that he had to have been enlisted for a while since he was retiring as an 0-3. I had just a quick conversation with him and asked him if had gone through NROTC or OCS and where he went to college. He stated that he did not have a degree but was commissioned as a Limited Duty Officer.

I was just curious, does the Navy still have LDO's? I guess I could Google it and do my own research, just wondering if anyone was familiar with the program and if it was still active today.
 
Oh yes - LDOs are valued and respected members of the officer community. They were stand-out enlisted personnel, and were chosen for a “limited duty” commission to blend their deep technical expertise and outstanding leadership skills and bring them to bear on complex assignments.

When I was the XO of a 950-sailor intermediate ship repair facility, the Repair Officer department head was an LDO LCDR (O-4), and most of the division officers were CWOs or LDOs. A phenomenal bunch - they had done the hands-on work as junior sailors, showed promise as tech experts and trouble-shooters, demonstrated leadership, and now teach, train and lead others. Though they can attain the rank of Captain (O-6), many have so many years in, they choose to retire. My very first department head was a former bosun’s mate, a LCDR LDO. The “limited” means they almost always work in their specialty area.

As you can tell from my response, I have nothing but respect for LDO and CWO Officers. Woe betide the feckless JO who assumes lack of a college degree signifies a lack of acumen in other areas!

https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/officer/communitymanagers/active/ldo_cwo/Pages/default.aspx
 
Thanks for your quick response, with a couple keystrokes I did find more information.
 
We have them in the Marine Corps too. My community had lots of CWOs and LDOs. I believe in the USMC they cap out at O-5 (but could be wrong on that). In the USMC LDO’s come from the CWO community. So once they reach CWO3 they can apply for LDO. Capt MJ can correct me, but I think the Navy side someone can go from Chief to LDO without being a CWO (please correct me if I am wrong). To be honest our CWOs and LDOs were amazing. We got along great and had a blast. 1 bar as 1 bar as the general rule, so all Lts and CWOs were on first name basis. They were great mentors who had been around awhile and kept us young Lts straight.
 
CaptMJ..."Woe betide the feckless JO who assumes lack of a college degree signifies a lack of acumen in other areas! "

You mean like the young Lt I had in the AF when I was an Ops Officer (think deputy commander) and was asked to counsel the young man? He was furious, absolutely furious at "this old enlisted guy that thinks he knows everything because he's been in a while...I went to XXXX and have a degree in this, he doesn't. He didn't like my idea...he should have just said yes sir and done what I suggested. I'm so angry. Such disrespect."

It was hard not to slap him right across the mouth. He had "chewed out" the Wing Command Chief (in the navy I think you'd say the Command Master Chief) for not knowing the "right" way to do something, in his opinion. The chief, to his everlasting credit just smiled and said "yes sir, I'll get right on that sir, thank you."

Then I got "the call..."

Ahh...the joy of educating junior O's...
(tell me you never had to do that)

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
Yep, guaranteed to be an annual crop of those “FJOs” (Feckless! Feckless!) emerging from SA/ROTC/OCS/OTS every year. They either learn, or they don’t, and perhaps wonder why things don’t go right in their division.

One of the best nuggets of advice I received from a well-respected admiral as I left his staff to go to my first XO job I mentioned above: “Be sure to let your Command Master Chief know he or she has an open door to tell you about any officer who is abusive or disrespectful to the enlisted personnel or any of the LDOs or CWOs, yet manages to project a different image to the XO and CO. Don’t forget what it was like when the CO or XO seems to be in love with a particular JO, but his or her peers and sailors know differently.”
 
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