Out of college - thinking of joining the Navy

[MeganCR]

I came across a job advertisement for language/translator opportunities with the Navy while browsing one day. I graduated from college in 2007 with a degree in foreign languages and have been at my current job for a year. I like what I'm doing but would really like to travel and use my degree so I applied for the job with the Navy and am waiting for a recruiter to contact me. I guess my question is - will my experience be different than someone joining straight out of high school? I really have no idea what to expect. Any advice would be great, thanks in advance!!

[PETTY OFFICER]

Congratulations on your decision, you will never make a mistake joining the worlds' greatest Navy. you will first take your asvab that will determine if you even qualify to take the dlab test, dlab stands for defense language aptitude battery. you will then go through your physical and moral checks at meps, and then there has to be an availability for a seat for cti school, if there is you will select . which comes with a shipping date to commence basic trg. your school in monetary Ca, is a joint service school where they will pick the language you study based on your dlab score. minimum to pass is 100, 101 to 110 is spanish, 110 and higher will qualify you for arabic , urdu and more, so the higher your score the flexibility on your language choice...great school.. you can then compete for an officer position later, do not think thate the fact that you have a degree they must commision you. it is very competitive to be selected.
good luck!, seats are getting filled, do not procrastinate. the earliest you might ship is next year, plenty of time to take care of your personal stuff and go running!

[PETTY OFFICER]

congratulations on your decision and in my last 8 years in the navy i hv seen 30 countries and the leadership opportunities are amazing. stick to the right crowd and you will excel!

[Chris A.]

While having a college degree would definitely qualify you for officer, there are some jobs that require you to be enlisted. My son has a degree but wanted to be a rescue swimmer so had to go enlisted. He always has the opportunity to "mustang up" to the officer ranks in the future if he chooses.

[Achseh]

Just to clarify Chris's point, you can go in enlisted and when you are senior enlisted (E-6 to E9) apply for a commissioning through the Limited Duty Officer program (affectionately known as Mustangs). These are former enlisted who apply for, and are selected, to receive a commission. This is unique to the Navy. They are limited in that there are specific positions they can fill and subsequently their career path is limited. For instance, a Storekeeper who would accept a commissioning through the LDO program will only work in Supply during their career.

If one were to become an Officer from the begining, they are called Unrestricted Line Officers. These people are officers their entire career and are the ones who go on to command a ship or become Admirals. There is also a Seaman to Admiral program that I am less familiar with, but given it's name, I believe they would be Unrestricted Line Officers.

Another point to consider is that leaders can be both in the enlisted and the officer corp. The Officers tend to look more at big picture things than the NCO does. NCO -non-commissioned officers E7-E9, actually E10, which is the Master Chief of the Navy and again, only the Navy has an E10 billet (only one). The NCO deals directly with the people assigned to him. So you would have to also look at what kind of leadership role you are looking for. My husband turned down a commission to LDO because he loves working directly with the sailors.

So are you more of a big picture leader (officer) or a hands on leader (enlisted)?

[dmarie]

My daughter will be leaving for OCS in the next two months. She is 28, married, three dogs, house. She started looking into joining the Navy in February. She has a bachelors in natural science, masters in human biology. Her concentrations in school were in forensics and forensic anthropology. She worked in sales for four years, has applied to the FBI, but w/o a computer background, isn't a strong enough candidate.

She has worked with a recruiter and submitted her credentials to the Intelligence board. We found out on a Thursday that she was accepted by the board, and on Friday she was laid off her job!

My fears when she first told me about the Navy was the old "bait and switch", promised one thing but given something else. She explained that by having her degree, she had more options, and would not join if she didn't get the position she wanted. She will start off in Officer Candidate School, not Boot Camp. Although, from a posting on this website, OCS won't be a picnic.

It seems that your experience will be different, from my daughters experience and from what I have read on other postings on this site. Look for the posting of "Surviving OCS" and read that. It should give you some idea what you could expect. Talk to your recruiter, do the research. I know my daughter found other websites that had forums discussing Navy life. Beth is now excited about joining. When she took her physical and failed the depth perception test, she was afraid that it might kill her ability to join. Fortunately, it won't, in her case.

Good luck, and I think the above postings have given you good info.

[Drick]

Its deffinitly not. You got Marine Gunny Sergeants in OCS :D But it still wont be that bad they're not that much more mean.

[Gloria]

Our son graduated from college in May 2007 and enlisted in Sept. 2007....he DID not go in as an officer...he was an E3, however, and in the highest division in Boot Camp. He got his first choice in "A" school -- Corpsman training. Also, got an immediate appointment to a "C" school -- so within 1 year he completed Boot Camp, A School (3 month) and C school (6 months).
He's now stationed in Japan as an Optometric Technician. He may work on a Master's degree for the next few years he's in the navy...but then will have GI bill to continue in Graduate School. He also passed his test and is not an E4.

overall, Navy is a good choice, however, it's an LONG commitment. You're away from home and don't always have a choice as to what you'll be doing...our son was fortunate so far. Research, and THINK hard....best of luck to you!
Gloria

[Drick]

Go in as an officer for sure if you have a bach degree. If I had a bach degree I sure as heck wouldn't be enlisted like I am. Im currently working on my degree so I can become and officer and hopefully a pilot down the road. Well thats my goal for the Navy.

But you can go so many directions in the Navy. I love it and right now I plan to do my 20 years. But we'll see further down the road also.

Talk to an officer recruiter. Dont even waste your time going to a regular one because they will try to tell you how there is so much more opprotunities if you go enlisted. Which isn't true. They both have many opprotunites. But you get paid more as an officer also, alot more,......

[Diana]

Good afternoon:

Visit www.navy.com and review the "Officer Career Planner" and look for the telephone number for the recruiter who works with college graduates and not the recruiter who only works with enlisted personnel. With a college degree, you could be eligible for commissioning as a Naval Officer.

[Barbara (Derek's Mom)]

My suggestion is to talk to both kinds of recruiters and if you don't like one go to another office, find one that you feel comfortable with, ask for other sailors to talk to that have gone through that office, and parents! My sons didn't think boot camp was that bad. It's been 6 years ago though. Officers and enlisted do not hang out together, there is a "class system" in the military.

[sculptor1]

Hi, My son joined the Navy following 4 years of college in EE. I think he enjoys the Nuclear Power field. It was a bit uncommon among our friends to join the Navy following graduation. He is older than many- but not that much.. alot of positive vibes I get from him about this... Proud mom- Chris

[MomofSailorEm]

Hi! My daughter left yesterday for boot camp. She graduated in December 2007 with a dual degrees in business and accounting. She started her career that January and enjoyed it for awhile but got bored. She thought and thought and thought about joining the military and after some research decided on the Navy because of their opportunities for learning. When she made the decision to join it was full speed ahead for her. Called the recruiter, met with them, took the ASVAB and did very well, went to MEPS as a DEP. She wasn't sure if she was going to apply for officer's school or not. In the end she decided to go enlisted to gain that experience. I definitely believe her experience will be much different than if she would've went in at 18. So - once Emily met with the recruiter until the day she left was just 3 weeks for her. I will say one thing about my daughter - she knows who she is, is comfortable with herself and the decisions she makes. I think she'll have a difficult time being talked down to, but she's strong and knows why it happens. I can hardly wait to talk to her and see her at graduation.