Ship Selection 2023

justdoit19

Proud parent of an ANG, USNA X2, and a MidSib
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Ship selection is next Thursday! An exciting event, good luck to 2023! Seems like just yesterday DS got his #1 choice. And now he is prepping for his first underway!

I’ve read “Highly recommend getting a ship that deploys right away so you can get your pin out of the way. Life is way better as a qualified SWO”.

What happens after you get you pin? How is life different?
 
What happens after you get you pin? How is life different?
Understand that this can and does vary on a ship by ship basis but on the ships that I served on as a SWO candidate and then as a junior SWO, it changes the watches that you stand as a first step. One of the drudge watches for many is Officer of the Deck (OOD) Inport which calls for an officer or senior enlisted person. As soon as I qualified SWO, I was pulled off of that watchbill and started standing Assistant Command Duty Officer (ACDO) which can be more nerve racking but less standing in one place at strange hours and bad weather. Eventually qualifying as CDO meant being in charge of the ship at night as the leader of the Duty Section. Underway, once you get Officer of the Deck Underway (often the last challenge to getting the SWO Pin), you lead a watch section at sea and are in charge of the ship when the Capt is off of the bridge. For many SWOs, OOD Underway and/or CDO are the types of things that they dreamed of doing as you are front and center leading things which can be scary but also rewarding.
 
Ship selection is next Thursday! An exciting event, good luck to 2023! Seems like just yesterday DS got his #1 choice. And now he is prepping for his first underway!

I’ve read “Highly recommend getting a ship that deploys right away so you can get your pin out of the way. Life is way better as a qualified SWO”.

What happens after you get you pin? How is life different?
You have earned the trust of the CO to run the bridge underway (including gut-wrenching transits in pirate-infested waters or busy waterways such as the Straits of Malacca) or in heavy weather and have demonstrated foundational understanding of how all the ship’s systems work together to make it a formidable warfare platform. You are on your way to mastering “fighting the ship” as a leader of people working in harmony with complex technology far from the sight of land. Your officer designator changes to 1110, proof that you have qualified as a warfare officer in your community. The path ahead includes more qualifications to earn, progressively more difficult, including being qualified for command at sea.

You have made yourself competitive for promotion. The only 3 things you really have to do to be promoted to LTJG and LT - which are not board-competitive promotions - is achieve your warfare qualification, pass your PRT and be a decent division officer. Gaining the warfare pin is a huge step forward.

Motivational movie: watch “Greyhound” with Tom Hanks

And a salty interlude, “wheee….”
 
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DS has said several times he should be able to Qualify for his pin. Several underways coming up to certify before deploying. I cheer and say ‘yay’ and ‘proud of you’. I feel like a plebe mom, all over again 😂

I LOVED Greyhound. Great movie. Except I probably can’t watch it now…would make me too 🥹🥹
 
Other than the “wheeee…”, what’s going on in that video? Ships going past another, and being announced. And people watching.
 
Other than the “wheeee…”, what’s going on in that video? Ships going past another, and being announced. And people watching.
Tiger Cruise! A family member is allowed to transit with the ship, say, from Pearl Harbor to San Diego. They do all kinds of fun things. This was a carrier Tiger Cruise, and the other ships in the group were being introduced in “pass in review” parade style.


 
Tiger Cruise! A family member is allowed to transit with the ship, say, from Pearl Harbor to San Diego. They do all kinds of fun things. This was a carrier Tiger Cruise, and the other ships in the group were being introduced in “pass in review” parade style.


I

CANT

WAIT!!
 
Something I regretfully never got to do. My older brother got to do one, but I wasn't old enough yet. :(

Although I did get to do a few overnight trips on some of my Dad's ships. I would run around the whole ship looking for the brig, because I had this impression in my head (as a 8 or 9 year old kid) that it would be a full on jail within the ship!
 
DS has said several times he should be able to Qualify for his pin. Several underways coming up to certify before deploying. I cheer and say ‘yay’ and ‘proud of you’. I feel like a plebe mom, all over again 😂

I LOVED Greyhound. Great movie. Except I probably can’t watch it now…would make me too 🥹🥹

My mom - may she rest in well-deserved peace - was always supportive and enthusiastic about whatever I told her about my Navy doings, but was essentially uninvolved with the details. Most famously… Me: “Mom, I screened for major command.” Mom: “Honey, that’s great. Is that a good thing?” Me: “Yes, Mom.” Mom: “Well, good. Are you and DH coming for Christmas this year?”
 
My mother (and even my dad, who while former military wasn't former USN) tried SO hard to keep up with all the lingo. I didn't realize how challenging it must have been until I started reading some of my letters home (all of which she'd saved). Even I had trouble with some of the jargon. This, of course, was before the Internet and parents' clubs, so no ready reference.

Like Capt MJ, my parents were also supportive. They often didn't understand why certain things happened (why I didn't get something I wanted; why something was good or bad). The one thing they (especially my dad who was WWII USMC) never did was allow me to wallow in self pity. I wish I'd taken more time to thank them for their support over the years.

Today, parents seem SO involved. Guess it's a sign of the times, but these young people really can handle things on their own -- with parents (when available) to be a sounding board.
 
My mom - may she rest in well-deserved peace - was always supportive and enthusiastic about whatever I told her about my Navy doings, but was essentially uninvolved with the details. Most famously… Me: “Mom, I screened for major command.” Mom: “Honey, that’s great. Is that a good thing?” Me: “Yes, Mom.” Mom: “Well, good. Are you and DH coming for Christmas this year?”
Hahaha that’s what I say!! ‘Is that a good thing?’ Bless your momma ♥️

Did SHE do a tiger cruise??
 
Our tigers embarked when we were off-loading the Marines and all their gear at Onslow Bay, North Carolina. Parents, relatives and kids boarded LCUs (landing craft unit) to meet the ship at anchorage. They got a little taste of wet well and air operations during the off-load. I remember hearing the CO taking about his son, eleven at the time, while on the bridge. The son, and some of the department head’s kids, got to watch reel to reel movies in dad’s cabin. They wanted to stay up “late.” He gave them their privacy and checked on them later. They had all fallen asleep with the projector still running, back reel spinning. There was a turned over tray that left popcorn strewn all over. The CO was in a good mood as he told the story. He was happy to be heading home.
 
For all those headed to ship selection, this is one of the reasons you respect the heck out of your enlisted personnel, working on the deck in less-than-placid sea states. Not everything is a high-tech STEM evolution.

Nods to those in merchant ships who do this too.


 
So I am a little confused about the tags. If my DS needs to take a red tag, what happens if there are not red tags left? He said there are 60 red and red/white tags with 30 of them, but can't anyone take a red/white tag?
 
So I am a little confused about the tags. If my DS needs to take a red tag, what happens if there are not red tags left? He said there are 60 red and red/white tags with 30 of them, but can't anyone take a red/white tag?
I assume you mean the color coded ships? If 60 red are for Nuke only, I think there are generally only 40-45 Nuke SWOs per year. So, there should be leftovers.

(at least last year, red was nuke only , white with red lettering was nuke available.)
 
I assume you mean the color coded ships? If 60 red are for Nuke only, I think there are generally only 40-45 Nuke SWOs per year. So, there should be leftovers.

(at least last year, red was nuke only , white with red lettering was nuke available.)
I am not sure how many are red only versus read and white. I am just curious, didn't want to ask DS too many questions.
 
I am not sure how many are red only versus read and white. I am just curious, didn't want to ask DS too many questions.
Are you planning on watching? Its *usually* streamed, and fun to watch!
 
Saw a post this morning that it would be live streamed, on Feb. 2 at 1815.
 
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