I was just cleared for appointment last Friday. I’ll start BOTC August 30th and I’m real excited about it, panicked, but excited.
It’s true that there really isn’t a lot of candid information about it. One thing that helped cement my decision to go was the helpfulness of the officers already there. After my first interview I had decided I wanted to go into survey work. I found contact information for the chief of the Atlantic Survey branch, got invited to meet him and the branch and from there got invited to look around the R/V Thomas Jefferson and talk to the officers there. I got a lot of honest talk about it, even an officer who hated it, and it all made me want to be there more.
If you can get through the application process (sure is competitive for a service no-one knows about), do it. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
Word of advice, if you don’t get in the first time, don’t gripe about it, just ask the recruiting officer what you can do to improve for the next one and keep sending in the application. I got it on the second try.
And Jill, I’d be interested in hearing more too. I never can pass up a good sea story and I’m sure any insight you have will help me in the coming months.
Also, fess up, which one is you?
