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!!

[Anti M]

Congrats and welcome to the Navy!

[Achseh]

Congrats!

[Mom of a Linguist]

I've forgotten. What languages does the 128 score enable you to take? Glad to hear you made a decision. You'll love Monterey.

[MeganCR]

They didn't tell me which langauges I qualified for - I'm anxious to find out!!

[Mom of a Linguist]

That's interesting. My daughter knew right away what she was qualified for and what not. I can't remember what her score was (she's on her way to a 3-week total immersion Russian academy in Germany right now--paid for by the U.S. Navy-- so I can't ask her). She knew she didn't qualify for Chinese or Arabic. And she was over-qualified for Spanish and German I think. There are three levels of competency. She got in the mid level. Whatever you end up getting as your language, take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way.

[TexanOmaandPappa]

My son is a linguist for the AirForce and he got the same score you did on his DLAB and he qualified for all languages. How they worked it is in bootcamp they had to list their 4 choices for languages to learn and then apparently they are filled by those with highest scores first depending on the need for certain languages. He is currently learning Persian/Farsi right now in Monterey and he and his wife love it there. He graduates in Sept...his cousin who is in the Navy and was at the same school and graduated last year from Language school and he had learned the same language my son is. One of my neices was in the Army and graduated from there years ago and she learned Russian. All of them loved it there...good luck to you. My middle son is a Nuke and he loves the Navy my son in law who had his degree went in as an officer in Dec 08 and is not as "happy" being an officer right now although he loves the Navy. Guess he is tired of being yelled at as an officer...LOL

[Sailor Craig's Mom - MB Jane]

Hi Megan
My son got to boot camp Aug. 20th. He first contacted a recruiter right after the first of year. He graduated from college with an International Business degree in Aug. 2008, and couldn't find a job anywhere! He talked to the recruiter quite a bit, and his friend (who is also my daughter's boyfriend). His friend was a linguist in the Navy, and my son took the language test as well. He will be going to language school after boot camp - for about 18 months or so, then have 4 more years of Navy life. His recruiter told him that OCS is very competitive, and that to go straight into OCS you have to have a 3.2 GPA, so needless to say he is not going there straight away - lol. According to the recruiter you do do in as a higher grade with a college degree than someone not having a degree, and also you can have any federally funded government loans for your undergrad paid off by the Navy - yay! You can go on the Navy website and find a recruiter in your area (use your zip code) and just go right to the recruiter office. Good luck.

[Navy Dad]

Watch the video at http://navydads.blogspot.com/2008/06/second-language.html

And visit http://www.navy.com/officer