Posted on May 11, 2015
Thinking of switching over from active duty Army to Navy as a logistics officer. Any advice?
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I'm currently active duty Army and am ETSing in about a year. I am thinking of switching over to active duty Navy as a logistics officer.
Has anyone else taken this path? Any advice or insight into the process?
Has anyone else taken this path? Any advice or insight into the process?
Posted in these groups: 
Navy
Navy
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 7
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The typical rotation in the Navy, regardless of whether you're Officer or Enlisted, is every three years (on average). As an Officer you would most likely do your first (and probably second) tour on a ship.
As far as your being stationed in Virginia, you can request where you get stationed but ultimately it boils down to "the needs of the Navy."
Daily life as an officer - as a JO (junior officer), Ensign, your biggest concerns will be learning your job, being trained by your Chief, and working on your officer warfare qualification.
As far as your child being autistic, the Navy will try and limit the places they station you to locations that have the proper services your kid needs. I really don't know how many overseas locations will have those services, and it also depends on how severe your kid's autism is. My daughter is autistic and is non-verbal, but is otherwise high functioning. Of course, I'm not in the Navy anymore either.
Since you will be a "regular" officer and not an LDO or direct commission, you would start off as an O01 Ensign. Depending on how many years you've got as enlisted, you will be an O-1E, which is a few bucks more a month. Promotion is automatic from O-1 to O-2 to O-3 and is 2 years between ranks. You have to be a pretty big shit bag to not get promoted to O-3 Lieutenant.
As far as your being stationed in Virginia, you can request where you get stationed but ultimately it boils down to "the needs of the Navy."
Daily life as an officer - as a JO (junior officer), Ensign, your biggest concerns will be learning your job, being trained by your Chief, and working on your officer warfare qualification.
As far as your child being autistic, the Navy will try and limit the places they station you to locations that have the proper services your kid needs. I really don't know how many overseas locations will have those services, and it also depends on how severe your kid's autism is. My daughter is autistic and is non-verbal, but is otherwise high functioning. Of course, I'm not in the Navy anymore either.
Since you will be a "regular" officer and not an LDO or direct commission, you would start off as an O01 Ensign. Depending on how many years you've got as enlisted, you will be an O-1E, which is a few bucks more a month. Promotion is automatic from O-1 to O-2 to O-3 and is 2 years between ranks. You have to be a pretty big shit bag to not get promoted to O-3 Lieutenant.
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SPC Michael Baylor
My son is high functioning and verbal. Yeah I'll be an O-1E then I have about 6 years of active duty time in the army. How do the tours on ship work?
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PO1 John Miller
As Ensign, depending on what ship you go to, you would most likely be assigned to a Division Officer role. Depending on the size of the ship a division can consist of less than 20 people to more than 100 people. Divisions are the smallest work centers onboard ship, although for 3M (Maintenance and Material Management, Navy version of Army's PMCS) divisions are split into 2 or 3 work centers. Divisions are part of a Department. Each division has a Division Officer, or DIVO. Rank is usually a junior officer (01 or O2, but some larger ships have "junior" O-3's as DIVO's. I've also seen CWO's in DIVO positions). A Department is headed by a more senior officer called a Department Head, rank anywhere from O-3 to O-5 depending on the size of the ship. When I was on an Aircraft Carrier the Department Head for Supply Department was an O-5, Commander. On my last ship, an amphibious Dock Landing Ship, the Supply Officer was an O-3 Lieutenant.
As a junior Supply Corps Officer, in addition to being a DIVO another title you may have would be Assistant Supply Officer, or ASUPPO. Your Department Head will be the Supply Officer, or SUPPO.
There's also a lot of "behind the scenes" stuff that officers do that us enlsiteds don't normally see (Wardroom functions, Officer politics, things like that) that you could probably get a better answer from a Naval Officer.
LCDR (Join to see) gave you some good advice but since he's a Naval Aviator at a land based squadron I'm not sure what type of shipboard experience he has.
Hopefully a SWO (Surface Warfare Officer) or Supply Officer assigned to a ship sees this thread and can give you a better idea of how shipboard life for a JO is.
As far as what kind of ship you're assigned to, that's between you (your preferences) and your detailer. Ultimately it does depend on the needs of the Navy. I've noticed that officer rotations do tend to be a bit shorter than enlisted rotations, every 2-3 years from what I've seen. I could be wrong though.
As a junior Supply Corps Officer, in addition to being a DIVO another title you may have would be Assistant Supply Officer, or ASUPPO. Your Department Head will be the Supply Officer, or SUPPO.
There's also a lot of "behind the scenes" stuff that officers do that us enlsiteds don't normally see (Wardroom functions, Officer politics, things like that) that you could probably get a better answer from a Naval Officer.
LCDR (Join to see) gave you some good advice but since he's a Naval Aviator at a land based squadron I'm not sure what type of shipboard experience he has.
Hopefully a SWO (Surface Warfare Officer) or Supply Officer assigned to a ship sees this thread and can give you a better idea of how shipboard life for a JO is.
As far as what kind of ship you're assigned to, that's between you (your preferences) and your detailer. Ultimately it does depend on the needs of the Navy. I've noticed that officer rotations do tend to be a bit shorter than enlisted rotations, every 2-3 years from what I've seen. I could be wrong though.
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1.) 0-1 to 0-2 is two years from date of commissioning... Regardless of time in grade/service. Basically, you have to have a heart-beat in order for this promotion. Promotions, beyond, are based upon a.) performance, and b.) needs of your MOS (how many in your same rank/rating are staying in or getting out). Based upon 15 years ago, Only LDO's and "Direct Commissionees" get to skip 0-1. LDO's, if they still exist, are "Limited Duty Officers" --Basically technical experts, generally E-6 & above. Direct Commissionees are almost exclusively Doctors & Dentists... folks that can't be sourced through traditional recruiting lines. If you're a Army SPC now, you'll start out as an O-1. However, your pay grade will be 0-1E --little more pay for your previous service.
2.) Accompanied v/ Un-Accompanied Tour: Depends on the "needs of the Navy."
3.) With current DoD budget projections, I'd forecast that you'll be "homesteaded" --serving a little longer at each station/base (but, moving within commands) at that station/base.
4.) Mustangs, generally, make pretty good officers. Among other reasons, you already know you don't have to hit yourself with a hammer to know it will hurt. You'll have a good understanding of the impact upon your subordinates when issuing orders.
5.) Finally, I applaud your desire to secure a commission. To this, best of luck to you!
2.) Accompanied v/ Un-Accompanied Tour: Depends on the "needs of the Navy."
3.) With current DoD budget projections, I'd forecast that you'll be "homesteaded" --serving a little longer at each station/base (but, moving within commands) at that station/base.
4.) Mustangs, generally, make pretty good officers. Among other reasons, you already know you don't have to hit yourself with a hammer to know it will hurt. You'll have a good understanding of the impact upon your subordinates when issuing orders.
5.) Finally, I applaud your desire to secure a commission. To this, best of luck to you!
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Staying in Virginia and getting help with your family needs shouldn't be a problem; Norfolk is huge and the Navy is usually very good at taking care of family concerns. I'm not sure what would be available for an overseas station, because I fly a land-based aircraft out of Oklahoma. Most Chiefs who go LDO start as O-2s, but I think transfers from other services start at O-1. That is just a casual observation, though, so I don't have any data to back that up. Promotions are almost always 2 years from ENS to LTJG, 2 years LTJG to LT, and 8 from LT to LCDR. I hope some of that was helpful.
I would try to tell you about daily life, but both my time enlisted and my officer community have been odd cases that don't reflect the rest of the Navy very accurately.
I would try to tell you about daily life, but both my time enlisted and my officer community have been odd cases that don't reflect the rest of the Navy very accurately.
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LCDR (Join to see)
It's actually the E-6B. Command/control and nuclear deterrence missions. Oklahoma was chosen, I assume, because it's pretty central within the US and we can operate over either ocean within a pretty short time period without having a need for two bases and extra aircraft.
That's my assumption as to why we're at Tinker, anyway. For all I know it could've been some odd financial motive between services.
That's my assumption as to why we're at Tinker, anyway. For all I know it could've been some odd financial motive between services.
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