I'm thinking about possibly majoring in an Engineering or Computer Science field at USNA. I'm wondering what I would be doing during my years of service. Would my major/what I learned at USNA apply to what I do during those years of service or is it something unrelated? For example, if I studied cyber security, would my service be something related to cyber security or not? I'm worried that I would "forget" what I learned at the academy during my years of service. Not sure if this is a very obvious question but I thought I'd ask anyways.
What is life like during service?
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UHBlackhawk
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Your major has little to do with how the military will employ you. I was a German major but I could never get the Army to send me to Germany. Korea, Panama, French and Spanish Morocco, Middle East... several other places. But no Germany.
There are exceptions. You could be an aeronautical engineer and wind up in flight school or a nuclear engineer and wind up in nukes. But don’t count on it. Even if it is the case as an officer you will primarily be a leader not a wrench turner.
There are exceptions. You could be an aeronautical engineer and wind up in flight school or a nuclear engineer and wind up in nukes. But don’t count on it. Even if it is the case as an officer you will primarily be a leader not a wrench turner.
Good questions that do come up. For the most part your major has little to do with what you do in service. If you major in Aero will it help with flying? If you are a Nuke Engineer who will find nuke school easier? Possibly to understand some concepts, but actually flying a plane, handling a sub, leading people, probably not much. Cyber might be the one major and then career choice that does relate. Where I do think your degree matters are what are considered shore tours or B billets (Marine lingo). If you want to earn a grad degree in engineering then go work helping the Navy to design, test and field the next generation of ship, plane, radar system, weapon, ejection seat, etc. then a degree like Engineering will help to get there. Will you remember everything from undergrad no? Will you be fine, yes. Remember USNA’s goal is to create unrestricted line officers who will hit the fleet to do their jobs and lead people. Regardless of job, you will lead people. Even a new pilot will have some job outside the cockpit managing people and something else in the squadron.
I was a history major at USNA. I spent my time doing typical Marine things (leading, training, crayon eating, etc) while at home and deployed. It’s really the problem solving, innovation, critical thinking, analysis, writing skills, speaking skills that I learned and refined at USNA that I used daily as a Marine. Most my friends say this too. After I got out I started as an Analyst then moved quickly to being an engineer and manager. It was those same skills that I learned at USNA that had me move up quickly gaining responsibility, more decision making, managing more people, etc. Even as a history major I was working side by side with engineers from GT, Auburn, Fl St, MIT among many others. Pretty quickly they all worked for me. I now hold multiple masters and never had an issue with any grad program.
I was a history major at USNA. I spent my time doing typical Marine things (leading, training, crayon eating, etc) while at home and deployed. It’s really the problem solving, innovation, critical thinking, analysis, writing skills, speaking skills that I learned and refined at USNA that I used daily as a Marine. Most my friends say this too. After I got out I started as an Analyst then moved quickly to being an engineer and manager. It was those same skills that I learned at USNA that had me move up quickly gaining responsibility, more decision making, managing more people, etc. Even as a history major I was working side by side with engineers from GT, Auburn, Fl St, MIT among many others. Pretty quickly they all worked for me. I now hold multiple masters and never had an issue with any grad program.
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Our son is at Army, so I’m not sure how relevant his details are, but since you are interested in cyber, I’ll share them anyway until someone on the other side corrects for Navy. He graduates as an EE next month and was selected for the Cyber branch which, at Army, is a six-year commitment. In September, he’ll report to Cyber Command at Ft. Gordon, GA where he will complete an intensive 11-month BOLC (Basic Officer Leader Course) that will determine exactly what his initial duties will be in the branch, whether he’ll be on the offensive or defensive side, etc. As @NavyHoops mentioned, cyber is probably the one branch where major and duties relate well and where “forgetting” what one learned at the academy would not be an issue. Also, the group of cadets who will be going to Ft. Gordon with him have been told that, except for the potential for short-term project stints elsewhere, they will remain at Ft. Gordon all six years.
He’s also been told that life in the Big Army is a breath of fresh air compared to the slog of the academy.
He’s also been told that life in the Big Army is a breath of fresh air compared to the slog of the academy.
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Note that NavyHoops was a HISTORY major at USNA and then worked as an ENGINEER in industry. I was an International Security Affairs (international political science) Major at USNA and when I left Active Duty, GE hired me as an engineer and I moved up to Senior Engineer and eventually Principal Engineer. Then I went to Lockheed as a Principal Engineer and eventually moved into Program Management but always of Technical Programs and then other spots in the hierarchy but always dealing with technical subjects.
For the vast majority of former military officers (especially Academy Grads), civilian companies want us for our skills with people as opposed to actual detailed engineering/science/etc. While I had Engineer titles, most of my responsibilities were managing/coordinating/running technical "stuff" where the actual designing work was done by others and I managed/led/enabled it. I needed to understand what they were doing and critique/approve it.
Depends on your community.
If you commission into IP or CW, you will have frequent opportunities to make use of a CS, CE, or Cyber degree pretty much immediately. Less so in other communities, but general technical acumen will be useful anywhere. The Navy runs on increasingly more complex combat systems and computer networks.
If you commission into IP or CW, you will have frequent opportunities to make use of a CS, CE, or Cyber degree pretty much immediately. Less so in other communities, but general technical acumen will be useful anywhere. The Navy runs on increasingly more complex combat systems and computer networks.
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A very broad question haha. I would say your experience depends very much on several things: your boss, unit "atmosphere" (aka your boss), location, and finally specialty you choose to enter. I have seen how one individual at the top of the chain can impact the mood of an entire battalion. I'm Army but I don't imagine the Navy being another uniformed service will be too different. I'm sure its also very different between being at sea and back on shore.