NROTC drop, re enlistment code, ODS/OCS

midmid

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Sep 14, 2024
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Hi, I did NROTC for a couple semesters and dropped voluntarily over a decade ago. I got an injury and thats why I dropped. I told command I was planning on going to OCS when I dropped. I did years of physical therapy, got a bachelors and masters degree.I now have years of relevant work experience. Clean record. I'm good to go now. I would like to commission the Navy as an officer. Im looking into unrestricted line OCS, SWO Cyber or restricted line ODS, Cyber. There are various cyber options in the Navy, due to my CS degrees

However I dont know if I got a Re-4 code or anything like that. Is there a way to find this out? Also is it possible to skip ODS if I have a year of NROTC completed?
 
Hi, I did NROTC for a couple semesters and dropped voluntarily over a decade ago. I got an injury and thats why I dropped. I told command I was planning on going to OCS when I dropped. I did years of physical therapy, got a bachelors and masters degree.I now have years of relevant work experience. Clean record. I'm good to go now. I would like to commission the Navy as an officer. Im looking into unrestricted line OCS, SWO Cyber or restricted line ODS, Cyber. There are various cyber options in the Navy, due to my CS degrees

However I dont know if I got a Re-4 code or anything like that. Is there a way to find this out? Also is it possible to skip ODS if I have a year of NROTC completed?
The RE code appears on a DD-214, which I don’t think you would have gotten in NROTC.

There would likely have been this form submitted on you for record purposes, if it’s still in your DOR paperwork files. See below.

Contact an officer recruiter to get the process started. You will be in the DoD manpower database, so they will know very quickly. Unless you were a truly horrible midshipmen in terms of conduct and military performance, you should not have gotten a negative recommendation. I doubt you would be allowed to skip ODS on the basis of some NROTC semesters. ODS and OCS are accession program portals designed to turn you into an officer and make a final decision about your potential and suitability to do so. Since you note it was over a decade ago, you are essentially new to the Navy and current policies, programs, etc. It’s only a few months. I assume you satisfy the upper age limit and are prepared for the physical fitness/PRT aspect.

Good luck!





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Capt MJ, that is great info regarding the Record of Disenrollment form. Regarding age, Im getting close to SWO Cyber age but still have some years left. It's 35. CWO max age is 42. I wish I still had my 18 year old body but I can still run a 13 minute 2 mile. I will apply for unrestricted line OCS if I cant bypass ODS from prior NROTC experience. Thanks!

Justdoit, thanks for the support! Cheers
 
I wasn’t going to ask this, but you impress me as someone who has really done their research and created a strategic plan after doing the comparative analyses.

I would have thought you would want to go direct accession into restricted line cyber via ODS with your advanced degree and current, fresh relevant job experience.i would think they would get you right into the community going strong. Going URL SWO Cyber first means you’ll spend at least 1+ years earning your SWO pin and essentially letting your cyber skills gather a little dust as you rotate through DivO roles on your ship. Of course, I have the utmost respect for any RL or Staff Corps officer who earns a URL warfare pin and has operational experience. If that is your heart’s desire, I get that.

I think ODS is 5 weeks, and you start as a commissioned officer. The Med Corps start as LTJG or LT, or even senior, based on their professional experience. I do not know if there is a similar allowance made for cyber community. You receive full pay and allowances as an officer as appropriate. You head off to any interim schools if required and then to your first PCS cyber command. It’s designed as “Navy 101.” You would cruise through it.

I believe OCS is 13 weeks, and everyone is an officer candidate, with pay pegged to E-5 or thereabouts, and all graduate as O-1. They then head to their community pipelines and merge with USNA and NROTC graduates.

If you haven’t found these pages yet, try googling search strings with “MyNavyHR community manager career path [fill in community name]”
The cyber - IW community has changed so much over the last 20+ years as the community has expanded, internally reorganized and re-named, developed dynamic career paths and milestones, can’t keep up unless I go to the MyNavyHR site.

I assume you or will be having these conversations with your officer recruiter.
 
@Capt MJ What do restricted line cyber, Direct Commission Officers (DCOs) with rank of O-1 or higher have on their shoulder boards?

In the U.S. Navy, the gold oak leaf insignia on shoulder boards is typically associated with specific staff corps, such as Medical, Dental, Supply, and others. DCOs in the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, and Supply Corps usually wear these gold oak leaf insignia on their shoulder boards as part of their respective corps. I would assume DCO Cyber Warfare officers would wear a shield with lightning bolts and a quill, representing their direct commission in the Information Warfare Corps community. However, I have not been able to find a picture of a Navy DCO Cyber officer in their dress whites like this online. All the cyber officers I see online have commissioned from URL commissioning paths, such as USNA, NROTC or OCS, and have stars on their shoulder boards.
 
@Capt MJ What do restricted line cyber, Direct Commission Officers (DCOs) with rank of O-1 or higher have on their shoulder boards?

In the U.S. Navy, the gold oak leaf insignia on shoulder boards is typically associated with specific staff corps, such as Medical, Dental, Supply, and others. DCOs in the Medical Corps, Dental Corps, and Supply Corps usually wear these gold oak leaf insignia on their shoulder boards as part of their respective corps. I would assume DCO Cyber Warfare officers would wear a shield with lightning bolts and a quill, representing their direct commission in the Information Warfare Corps community. However, I have not been able to find a picture of a Navy DCO Cyber officer in their dress whites like this online. All the cyber officers I see online have commissioned from URL commissioning paths, such as USNA, NROTC or OCS, and have stars on their shoulder boards.
Never assume anything with uniforms, military rule of thumb!

Let me see if I can give you a quick cookbook.

Uniforms with shoulder boards (example, summer white):
- URL and RL have embroidered gold stars on both (gold stars signify line officers).
- Staff Corps have their community insignia in gold embroidered thread in place of star. See insignia comment and link below.
- All have gold stripes to indicate rank.

Uniforms without shoulder boards where insignia is worn on collar (example, summer khaki), as pins with clasp backs:
- URL and RL wear the same rank insignia on both wings of the collar, as line officers.
- Staff Corps wears 1 rank insignia on one collar wing, and on the other, their community device. Each Staff Corps has a unique insignia. See:

Uniforms where rank is shown on sleeve (example, service dress blue):
- URL and RL wear an embroidered gold star on each sleeve plus gold stripes indicating rank that encircle the sleeve.
- Staff Corps has their community insignia in place of the star, ditto on gold stripes for rank as above.


Warfare insignia pin is something else entirely - surface warfare pin, SEAL trident, aviation wings, etc., is the gold device worn by fully qualified officers who have completed the qualifications and earned the right to wear the warfare pin of their community, and occasionally others. This is a metal pin with a clasp back.

I am not addressing CWO or LDO officers here.

I hope that helps.
 
Never assume anything with uniforms, military rule of thumb!

Let me see if I can give you a quick cookbook.

Uniforms with shoulder boards (example, summer white):
- URL and RL have embroidered gold stars on both (gold stars signify line officers).
- Staff Corps have their community insignia in gold embroidered thread in place of star. See insignia comment and link below.
- All have gold stripes to indicate rank.

Uniforms without shoulder boards where insignia is worn on collar (example, summer khaki), as pins with clasp backs:
- URL and RL wear the same rank insignia on both wings of the collar, as line officers.
- Staff Corps wears 1 rank insignia on one collar wing, and on the other, their community device. Each Staff Corps has a unique insignia. See:

Uniforms where rank is shown on sleeve (example, service dress blue):
- URL and RL wear an embroidered gold star on each sleeve plus gold stripes indicating rank that encircle the sleeve.
- Staff Corps has their community insignia in place of the star, ditto on gold stripes for rank as above.


Warfare insignia pin is something else entirely - surface warfare pin, SEAL trident, aviation wings, etc., is the gold device worn by fully qualified officers who have completed the qualifications and earned the right to wear the warfare pin of their community, and occasionally others. This is a metal pin with a clasp back.

I am not addressing CWO or LDO officers here.

I hope that helps.
I will give an assist to she who rarely needs one.

To the specific question about Direct Commission Cyber Officers, the answer is that they wear the same thing as Officers commissioned through the more traditional paths. As was said above, Restricted LINE, wears a star on shoulder boards and sleeve rank and rank insignia on each collar for applicable uniforms.
 
I will give an assist to she who rarely needs one.

To the specific question about Direct Commission Cyber Officers, the answer is that they wear the same thing as Officers commissioned through the more traditional paths. As was said above, Restricted LINE, wears a star on shoulder boards and sleeve rank and rank insignia on each collar for applicable uniforms.
Thank you, good shipmate! There were several embedded questions. I responded with shotgun; you fired a precision round. We are a good team.

And for @midmid tattooing your warfare insignia in the tramp stamp location is always optional. (I amuse myself. And yes, I saw it once, cannot unsee it.)
 
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