Service Selection - Choices

Extracted Content from an article by MIDN 1/C Swartz, NROTC Berkley, 2002

Towing the Line - With a couple of exceptions, every USNA/NROTC graduate must enter what is called the “unrestricted line,” or “URL.” This term hearkens back to Ye Olde Days of Saile, when “ships of the line” would form an impenetrable line of canon attack. To this day, if one is an “unrestricted line” officer, one is a warfighter—eligible for command at sea. This is in contrast to the “restricted” or “staff” corps communities, such as the JAG, Medical, Supply corps, Intelligence Officers, Public Affairs Officers, etc.

Exceptions - There are three major exceptions to the “only URL service selection” rule: First, a select number of midshipmen are selected each year to go into the Navy Medical Corps. Note that this extends a service commitment an extra 4 or 7 years. Second, people with strong technical, science, or math backgrounds are eligible to become a Naval Reactors Engineer. This involves designing and testing the Navy’s nuclear reactors and also includes extended service commitment. Third, if you are eligible for commissioning but somehow are found physically unqualified to be a URL officer, you may be put directly into a restricted or staff corps billet.

URL: A Three-Minute Tour - All this being said, the vast majority of graduates will be quite happy being warfighters in the Unrestricted Line. Here is a brief tour of these options:

Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) - SWOs form the backbone of our Navy. A host of ships — cruisers, destroyers, frigates, amphibious vessels, and combat support ships — support national policies and project naval power ashore using their Tomahawk cruise missiles, Marines, and the like. SWOs have the shortest training cycle (a 6-month stint at Surface Warfare Officer School, or SWOS in Newport, RI), and thus hit the Fleet earliest, exercising leadership right away. One’s commitment technically means two tours after SWOS, so the sooner one goes to SWOS and assigned to a ship, the sooner one’s “clock is ticking.” Because of the wide variety of ships (and, perhaps more important, home ports) available, a special system is in place to help prospective SWOs choose their future ships. Early in the Firstie Year (senior year), Mids will be assigned to a number based on several factors, such as GPA, most recent evaluation, and PRT score. Whoever is at the top of the list gets to choose from the list of ships on Selection Night. Then the second person chooses -then the third. As you might imagine, if a Mid is at the bottom of the list, there may not be any more shiny new DDGs out of San Diego available.

Submarines - You get to choose either SSNs or SSBNs: the former are attack submarines; the latter are ballistic missile submarines. Note the submarine community is not yet open to women. Because all of our submarines are nuclear powered, every submarine officer is nuclear trained. Submariners thus start their career at Nuclear Power School in Charleston, NC, during which they get the equivalent of a masters in nuclear engineering in six months. “It’s like sucking water through a fire hose and not being allowed to spill a drop.” This is followed up by six months of “Prototype,” during which one works on an actual reactor, in either Charleston or upstate New York. Finally, one finishes up with three months of Sub School. Thus, there is a year of extra training, and this year does not count towards one’s obligated service, so submariners really have an extra year of commitment. However, one does get well-paid for this extra training: there is a substantial signing bonus, followed by another bonus upon completion of training and a monthly bonus added to one’s salary.

SWO – Nuclear Option - Because of their common nuclear training, Surface Nukes and Submariners are often grouped into the same proverbial bag. This option means that a Mid selecting Surface Nukes goes to a regular surface ship like every other SWO, but afterwards, goes to nuclear power school and has one tour doing nuclear things on a nuclear surface ship (i.e. an aircraft carrier). The advantage here is that the first tour is guaranteed to be a “topside” (non-engineering) tour, one gets extra nuclear training, and gets the same nuclear bonuses as the sub guys. Like submariners, one’s commitment is extended one year, although unlike submariners, the community is open to women.

SpecWar and SpecOps - Special Warfare Officers are Navy SEALs, who train rigorously for unconventional warfare, counter-guerilla warfare and clandestine operations. The SEALS are known for their difficult training, known as Basic Underwater Demolition School (BUD/S). SEALS is still not available to women. Special Operations is often called “EOD” (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), because of its most popular specialty, but it also includes Expendable Ordnance Management, Diving and Salvage, and Mine Countermeasures. Unlike SpecWar, SpecOps is open to women. A Mid must submit a special application to join SpecWar or SpecOps; there is a strenuous physical test, along with various recommendation forms. Interested male midshipmen should do Mini-BUD/S (which, as the name implies, is a miniature version of BUD/S) while at the Academy.

Aviation - Naval aviation can involve anything from flying F/A-18 jets off of carriers to flying SH-60B helicopters off of cruisers to flying P-3 anti-submarine planes off of…well, the land. You can also get in on the naval aviation business by being a Naval Flight Officer or NFO. NFOs sit in the back seat (and thus are sometimes called “Rios”) and “do the real work while the pilot just drives,” in the words of one NFO. Both pilots and NFOs have to go to an extensive flight school training at Aviation Schools Command in Pensacola, FL; they then have an extended commitment, after they earn their “wings.”

Marine Corps - Every Marine is trained in infantry at The Basic School (or “TBS,” in Quantico, VA), and then goes on to a Marine Occupational Specialty, which roughly correspond to the Navy’s warfare communities. One’s choice of MOS is largely determined at TBS. Thus, there is no “service selection” process equivalent to the Navy’s. There are over 40 occupational specialties with a number of sub-specialties ( much of TBS is designed to introduce marines to these specialties). One item of note: A number of URL Marine Occupational Specialties (MOSs) correspond to what would be restricted line or staff corps jobs in the Navy. For example, one can be a Public Affairs Officer or a Supply Officer in the Marines as an unrestricted line officer. The Marine JAG Corps, however, is restricted to people who have already gone to law school.

Scholarship Program - The Navy offers a “Scholarship Program” allowing a select number of midshipmen to attend graduate school after being commissioned but before going to their first duty assignment. As a prerequisite, A Mid must have received acceptance to graduate school. The advantage of this program is that you are commissioned, so you receive full pay and benefits. Additional service obligation is incurred for each year one is in graduate school. Mids with high academic profiles and interested in grad school should look into taking the GRE, or Graduate Readiness Exam sometime during before their 1st Class year.

More Information - http://www.usna.edu/Catalog/ VI. Career Opportunities After Graduation: