Hey guys, I’m set to graduate a state maritime academy by the end of this year. I have passed my license exam and was wondering if anyone has ever thought or hear of someone going SWO (navy Surface Warfare Officer). Not through ROTC but on there own after graduating?
I gave it a shot but didn’t qualify as my GPA was under the 2.8 requirement for SWO (I wasn’t the greatest student) so they had me take the exam for Pilot. I ended up doing pretty great on it and survived MEPS, so almost a year later it finally looks like I’m going to get picked up on the next Pilot board. I have a few friends who’ve gone SWO via OCS after graduating though. They’ve said that after spending four years at a maritime academy, qualifying for OOD and adapting to the Navy way of doing things was pretty frustrating.
Did they graduate from a maritime academy as well?
Yes
Graduated from a state academy as well and went to MSC. When I was at MSC I applied for 3 years active orders as a SWO and after a little over four months on an AKE I got pulled off to start active duty. Coming from a maritime academy and sailing afterwards, surface can be extremely frustrating. You’re going to be belittled constantly by officers with less underway time than sophomores at the academy. I went engine at school and now am one of my CO’s “must trusted OODs.” Its disturbing that a Third A/E is the trusted one on the bridge.
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The primary factor determining if you get SWO qualified is the CO saw. If you can earn his/her trust, you pretty much are going to get it. If he/she doesn’t trust you, no matter how much you know, you will not be qualified.