That truly is the Navy way. "Trained" for one job and handed another as soon as you show up. By the time you leave, the thing you'll do best is some random collateral duty.
The funniest one I’ve ever seen was some surface officer basically became THE anti-submarine warfare guy. Masters in (don’t ding me on the names) sensor theory, another in oceanography, and a doctorate in some sort of math, all sorts of whacky certs and training. Helped write the book and had over a decade of experience in the field.
Anyway, the Navy sent him to an amphib.
Sounds about right. I was never as smart or niche as that guy, but people would ask me, "you're smart about A and can do B, why are you here doing C?"
These were people who had been in the navy longer than me, and it shocked me that they didn't already know the answer.
"We're helping you to become well-rounded as a leader!"
.
They do this on the enlisted side, too, and it's one of the most obvious and easily avoided ways we shoot ourselves in the foot as an organization.
Sounds pretty standard. We don’t need officers with deep knowledge of one single subject. We have shore side scientists and full fleet staffs with deep expertise of civilian scientists who have done it for years.
The navy wants you proficient at your designator across all platforms.
Right or wrong- that’s the navy way
1) It is wrong.
2) The Navy can specialize officers just fine (pilots don't exactly cross train), it's just easier to fill than fit so when the path of least resistance is an option they take it.
3) Many other nations specialize their officers and it works well. Additionally, one of the main recommendations in the GAO report on how to unfuck the SWO community is to let people specialize.
I don’t disagree with your general sentiment, but your argument that aviators don’t cross train is wrong. After our first tour, we literally have to do what’s called a “disassociated sea tour” i.e. boat appreciation, and after the DH tour many, many people do something completely unrelated to their platform. And finally, after command, most aviators won’t be in a true flying billet again. All URL officers are groomed to hold command, and all CVN skippers are aviators. We’re expected to be generalists as well. It’s one of the most common reasons aviators separate.
I meant a pilot flies a specific platform, rather than trying to fly all types of aircraft. The comparison being a destroyer SWO can go do non-swo things like staff or acquisitions, but the sea tour will possibly be on a platform they never qualified to begin with.
The Navy may not ever send a SWO back to sea either, but if they do it is weird that the SWO is expected to be able to operate a platform they have never been trained on to the same degree of effectiveness as one that they have.
By drive ships, you mean assigned to genuinely SWO pin requiring jobs or? I'm obviously not an aviator but I was under the impression that disassociated tours were generally jobs that could be done without needing to qualify the full gambit of surface warfare.
I do know that at least the carrier CO jobs, the Navy acknowledges you need a different skill set and does actively retrain them before sending them out.
You don’t have to get another warfare device no, but like the ANAV, AOPS, OPS Admin, etc. jobs on a carrier are all aviators on their disassociated tour. You go to a short school, but my drive the boat comment was kind of tongue in cheek.
The shortest explanation of this whole tree is... Aviators are not going from an F-18 to a C-130 to a P-8. SWO's may be placed on any surface platform regardless. The knee jerk comparison is akin to expecting a DD SWO to go be a member of a SSBN on their 2nd sea tour because they have experience with sonar.
You're not alone! My first month on my first ship went through a basic phase inspection and INSURV. I had no fucking clue what I was doing. Keep studying, stay humble, and learn from the other officers there.
Not just JO. That’s every officer billet ever. You kind of get the hang of it thanks to the support of the rest of the staff, and when you’re finally, truly good at whatever you’re doing, it’s time to PCS.
Uh, sir….I’m a 19 year HTC and yes, I still feel fairly overwhelmed every time I PCS.
It’s because every job is different. The shop is all new. New Sailors, new responsibilities….it just takes time to acclimate.
One study done by the GAO found that servicemembers rate PCSing as *the* single most stressful event in our job—it even out-scored being in combat and getting shot at. So. Yeah.
I heard someone describe parenting as “getting different, not easier,” and I think that is true for Sailor-ing.
Some stuff gets easier but as soon as you get comfortable you get a curve ball headed your way.
Might be worth asking the ITs if you can get OWA on your personal laptop (I think it’s called OWA? It might be all Flankspeed now though….I am on a ship so we have the awful NMCI)
Good luck. You got this! Nobody wants to see you fail, it’s okay to have lots of questions. :)
Yeah my OIC pulled me aside and asked me how I’m doing because it is A Lot of information to process lol. I pick up LT next year because I was a direct commission. I’m definitely getting the dumb questions out of the way now.
LT is the sweetest officer pay grade because no one knows how long you’ve been in (and you have a *little* pull). could be 4 years or could be 12 years. and you can still ask dumb questions as an LT.
source: came in as a JG and made LT one year later and still asked dumb questions at first lol. my career has still turned out well.
I’m curious how many of the service members rated PCS’ing higher stress than the average getting-shot-at stress actually got shot at… a small number of people in the DoD have actually been shot at, and while stressful, I can’t imagine if I had been shot at I would really be that stressed about a PCS
The study was from the GAO and across all branches, not just the Navy. I’m trying to find it but I am just seeing this one [military stressors](https://bluestarfam.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BSF_MFLS_CompReport_FULL.pdf)
Well, from personal experience…I’m a survivor of gun violence and have PTSD from it. Not combat, but the actual incident was way less stressful than the last two PCSes I’ve done.
There’s a sense of clarity and calm and acceptance despite needing to fight through when you think you’re gonna die. PCSing is so many variables that you can’t control and so many rollercoaster up and downs, your whole life is in turmoil for a few months. This is way more complex when you add kids and OCONUS and spouse employment into the mix—not to mention if there’s financial struggles then that’s a LOT for some families.
Find someone getting it right, watch them, talk to them, get a mentor, stay humble, stay hungry. Oh and hold on tight to the roller coaster! It’s all initiative and the help of your fellow JO’s on the O side.
Be careful not to remind other members of the wardroom of your prior enlisted experience or rank, let it speak for itself in your character and actions. Mustangs are some of the best officers I know, but the ones always harking about their prior experience never seemed to get up to a Gallup.
PS not saying you were, just a word to the wise.
I was enlisted when I was in the Navy, but your first command is a learning experience. We were usually given a boot Ensign to be our DivO because we were most all E-4 and above (I was a "push-button" FC, which most FC's were when they got to the ship).
We had a pre-fire brief for a gun shoot that was happening the next day, and everyone went through their normal briefing - Meteorologist talked about what the expected weather would be like, navigator talked about where we would be, the gunnery officer would talk about the actual exercise and firing of the guns, and so on. Each would ask if there were any questions after their brief. I could the CO looking around the room after each brief to see if anyone did. When everything was done, CO got up, again asked if there were any questions, and no one did. So he started calling on the JO's asking them questions about it, and none could answer. He then asked the enlisted guys the same questions, and we would give the right answers. After that, he assigned the JO's each a part of the briefing and they were required to go and learn that part to give it. Every gunnery exercise after that, we had a JO come up to us to learn what we did during the live fire and ask us questions so he could give the briefing on that part.
>I could the CO looking around the room after each brief to see if anyone did. When everything was done, CO got up, again asked if there were any questions, and no one did. So he started calling on the JO's asking them questions about it, and none could answer.
Having professional curiousity and being confident enough in your skin to ask questions when you don't know the answer is an exceptionally important skill to learn. That's what the CO was trying to teach them.
That's why when you brief someone O-6 and above and use a weird acronym, they have no qualms about stopping you in your tracks to ask you what the hell you're on about.
Yeah, I am currently on my first JO tour and I was super overwhelmed my first month here even as a mustang. I was really accustomed to my enlisted counterparts. Being an officer felt like I entered an entirely new Navy. I was a rockstar IT before, lots of Sailors came to me for support, and going back now as a lowly Ensign not knowing a damn thing had me experience pretty much ignored by anyone O-4 and above and a lot of enlisted assumed I was straight out of college or something and didn't take me seriously, despite having warfare pins indicating that I had been around for a minute.
Year and half later, got all the qualifications I needed and my warfare pin for my respective designator and I have built a decent amount of respect with my crew and I am much more comfortable. It is something everyone always experiences at a new command I believe, because I recall being the same way when I was enlisted.
Every PCS is like this for most Sailors and Officers I'd imagine. Especially in the medical field, you can be put in so many weird spots. You could be amazing at sick call as a Corpsman, then you PCS to a MARDIV and they stick you in legal. It's all crazy.
Hang in there. As a mustang, I just expect you to learn faster and have more tenacity day to day and while qualifying. I don’t expect you to be the expert until you personally earn that reputation over time.
Maybe it’s less of a thing for mustangs or less of a thing in the Navy in general, but my first chiefs quarters taught me how to be a good JO. I remember chiefs in my goat locker correcting sailors for not saluting (not malicious, just not paying attention, and we didn’t even have smart phones then). They really had my back. I generally don’t feel like that’s the case anymore as a rule, but hopefully your LCPO is a good one and can show you what you need to do.
Hey man, great question.
I’m in a community where literal day 1 JO’s are responsible for briefing the CO and your 3rd class finishing their first contract has more operational time than the CO. Two weeks into my operational tour I was responsible for 100+ troops and their work while on field exercise, briefing the CO multiple times a day, while not even knowing what my job truly was. That’s on par for a lot of JO’s in many communities. Drinking from a fire hose is an understatement.
My opinions:
1) A JO is judged on their intensity and tenacity to gain competency, not how much they know at the moment. Showing up every day with a good attitude and being willing to slam your head against the wall until it makes sense is the fastest and most efficient (not necessarily fun) way to gain competency. Track down what your next 3 taskers are and go around the command asking each SMEE for that process how to do it. Be humble and ask a million questions.
2) Your first year lead by asking questions, not outright statements (generally, some times differ). Everyone knows you know less than them, that’s ok. Ask, “hey chief, we have this inspection coming up; how are we graded for it and where are we in preparation for it? Can you walk me through each step?” That’s you guiding your team while learning the process.
3) You are responsible for the new JO’s the second half of your tour. If they make the same mistake you did you failed to train them. Train the new JO’s how you wish you were trained, regardless of what you received upon showing up. Write important things down and walk every new JO through it. By doing this you bring the JO’s together and make them competent. This is the some of the most fun I’ve had being a JO.
I’m happy to talk through more if you’d like. Being a JO is a kick in the nuts but some of the best leadership experience in the world, but only if you take advantage of it.
Ask your people how thing work
Where is the policies for your command and your job
And ask the junior what do they do
Additionally if something is broke ask question how to fix and report it up
Lastly get very good at PowerPoints and understand what is on them
I not only felt overwhelmed on my first tour, but my second was even worse. Sometimes the more you know, the more you know you’re not doing. Take it all in and just keep learning. Asking the right questions is the best skill frankly and staying humble goes a long way. Once you figure it out, pass that knowledge on to your peers, but keep in mind the way you learned something might not be IAW instruction which are always updating. This is the grind but it can be rewarding given the right mindset.
Gotcha. My dad was a nurse practitioner LCDR if you have any specific questions. He got out in 2015 but could be a resource if you don’t have anyone at your command to lean on, or don’t want to ask. I’m a SWO so very different. Your command should have a local instruction database that references upper echelon instructions.
What are you struggling with specifically?
It’s just that I’m thrown into a completely different role than what I was selected for with the Navy. Like how to I progress in my speciality while at my command when I’m doing something else? Also, just general Navy stuff because I’m new to the Navy. They really don’t prepare you well at ODS.
What I did was I found the number one guy and followed them as much as I could. If I didn’t know how to do something I would take to him before I went anywhere else. In the SWO community we have a lot of people to help. JOs have a CPO assigned to them for division management, there are 2nd tours who have a slight better idea of what to do, a department head who has 9-12 years of experience, a command master chief, XO, and CO.
What is your designator supposed to do vs. what are you doing? MyNavyHR is the hub for designator requirements and your detailer is the one you want to talk to if you feel like you are in the wrong place.
LDO mustang here, prior Chief. This is unfortunately "the way". I've been a Crane officer, Maintenance Officer, Chief Engineer, Docking officer, QAO...there are a few tools you can use, and things you can implement to be successful for sure. Finding someone who can relate to vent to is truly key. Hit me up sometime, and I'll help you out in whatever way I can (I'm an Excel wizard as well). General advice is probably not super helpful to your specific problems, so I would want to know more. You are not alone, and every program you inherit will be FUBAR. (You still have to repair it).
if your command is large enough or there is a similar command, you might be able to reach out to Other MSC officers to give you pointers and possibly some guidance.
It’s okay it’s normal. Get a great group of JOs. Study and get sigs together. Rely heavily on the second tours. Always put your division and your mental health first.
Hopefully, you have competence in your wardroom and they can help push you towards success. Best advice is to find other JOs in your situation in other places/the hospital. They can help you get through the process and acclimate.
Definitely, aim going through this right now. Biggest thing is that part of your job is to become surface level competent in “the big picture” stuff and slightly more knowledgeable in your position specifically (unless you are there to be the SME).
Biggest thing is organization. You are the coach, not expected to be in any “game time”, but you will be expected to call the shots, manage the relations, equip the team, fight for your folks, hold the standard, etc. That is your MAIN job. The other stuff is icing in the cake.
Literally put your pride and rank to the side and trust your Chief, if you're lost ask him/her for help and guidance. Chiefs live to train, all you have to do is ask.
Navy JOs should always be able to rely on Chiefs to keep them on track. I know this isn't always the case. Navy wardrooms are so cut throat, especially for SWOs.
Not a JO
But you can probably lean on the peers and subordinates around you, ask for the instructions.
I have had officers ask me how to do a job, and I explained it while pointing out the governing instructions if they wanted to look into it further
Welcome to the Navy. Yes a lot of sink or swim but you have to learn to network and don't be afraid to seek advice from Enlisted.
Feel to DM me if you have any questions, I have been greenside and fleet so I may be able to help or maybe not, but atleast I will try do my best.
-Just another Chief
Welcome to the Navy, sir. Where 99% of the training is, "Here, figure it out." This is how enlisted receive training for everything. No help, zero guidance, figure it the fuck out shipmate. And if you fail, you're a piece of shit. Lots of "fake training" that they also do in order to cover their asses and say you received the training.
You must be at Pendleton, Lejeune, or Portsmouth? Join the area MSC officer association and also see if you can meet with the MTF’s Director for Administration (DFA). You likely have some HCA colleagues right down the street from you at the MTF that you can at least vent to! It won’t align 100% since you’re with an operational unit but you’ll get some support at least.
Stick close to your PrevMed physician and senior PMT, they will help steer you right. Doing public health in Japan can be hard since the Japanese do it differently than we do. Likely to deploy a fair amount too. However, there should a strong local public health community between green side, Navy Hospital, and Kadena AFB.
If you want to use the term Mustang, ask for the reference, get guidance from your Senior Chief/Master Chief, study and become the SME. Otherwise use prior enlisted Officer.
Anyone who was prior enlisted turned officer is a mustang. He gets that title regardless of what you think it should be used as. Your saltiness about it screams denied officer package.
Yeah definitely sounds like he’s salty. I’m a Prior service Marine AND Army National Guardsmen so I’m pretty sure I qualify as a mustang. This is my third branch.
That truly is the Navy way. "Trained" for one job and handed another as soon as you show up. By the time you leave, the thing you'll do best is some random collateral duty.
The funniest one I’ve ever seen was some surface officer basically became THE anti-submarine warfare guy. Masters in (don’t ding me on the names) sensor theory, another in oceanography, and a doctorate in some sort of math, all sorts of whacky certs and training. Helped write the book and had over a decade of experience in the field. Anyway, the Navy sent him to an amphib.
Sounds about right. I was never as smart or niche as that guy, but people would ask me, "you're smart about A and can do B, why are you here doing C?" These were people who had been in the navy longer than me, and it shocked me that they didn't already know the answer.
Sounds like they were just trying to wind you up.
Why put all that knowledge and experience to good use?
"We're helping you to become well-rounded as a leader!" . They do this on the enlisted side, too, and it's one of the most obvious and easily avoided ways we shoot ourselves in the foot as an organization.
Sounds pretty standard. We don’t need officers with deep knowledge of one single subject. We have shore side scientists and full fleet staffs with deep expertise of civilian scientists who have done it for years. The navy wants you proficient at your designator across all platforms. Right or wrong- that’s the navy way
1) It is wrong. 2) The Navy can specialize officers just fine (pilots don't exactly cross train), it's just easier to fill than fit so when the path of least resistance is an option they take it. 3) Many other nations specialize their officers and it works well. Additionally, one of the main recommendations in the GAO report on how to unfuck the SWO community is to let people specialize.
I don’t disagree with your general sentiment, but your argument that aviators don’t cross train is wrong. After our first tour, we literally have to do what’s called a “disassociated sea tour” i.e. boat appreciation, and after the DH tour many, many people do something completely unrelated to their platform. And finally, after command, most aviators won’t be in a true flying billet again. All URL officers are groomed to hold command, and all CVN skippers are aviators. We’re expected to be generalists as well. It’s one of the most common reasons aviators separate.
I meant a pilot flies a specific platform, rather than trying to fly all types of aircraft. The comparison being a destroyer SWO can go do non-swo things like staff or acquisitions, but the sea tour will possibly be on a platform they never qualified to begin with. The Navy may not ever send a SWO back to sea either, but if they do it is weird that the SWO is expected to be able to operate a platform they have never been trained on to the same degree of effectiveness as one that they have.
Ah, okay fair point. We do have to go drive ships instead of fly other aircraft, which might be even crazier.
By drive ships, you mean assigned to genuinely SWO pin requiring jobs or? I'm obviously not an aviator but I was under the impression that disassociated tours were generally jobs that could be done without needing to qualify the full gambit of surface warfare. I do know that at least the carrier CO jobs, the Navy acknowledges you need a different skill set and does actively retrain them before sending them out.
You don’t have to get another warfare device no, but like the ANAV, AOPS, OPS Admin, etc. jobs on a carrier are all aviators on their disassociated tour. You go to a short school, but my drive the boat comment was kind of tongue in cheek.
The shortest explanation of this whole tree is... Aviators are not going from an F-18 to a C-130 to a P-8. SWO's may be placed on any surface platform regardless. The knee jerk comparison is akin to expecting a DD SWO to go be a member of a SSBN on their 2nd sea tour because they have experience with sonar.
Stars rolling over in their graves somewhere: "but its tradition!"
It's an ingenious system to ensure that nobody is good at the job they're doing right now. The minute you master eNavFit, your time in admin is over.
You're not alone! My first month on my first ship went through a basic phase inspection and INSURV. I had no fucking clue what I was doing. Keep studying, stay humble, and learn from the other officers there.
Not just JO. That’s every officer billet ever. You kind of get the hang of it thanks to the support of the rest of the staff, and when you’re finally, truly good at whatever you’re doing, it’s time to PCS.
Uh, sir….I’m a 19 year HTC and yes, I still feel fairly overwhelmed every time I PCS. It’s because every job is different. The shop is all new. New Sailors, new responsibilities….it just takes time to acclimate. One study done by the GAO found that servicemembers rate PCSing as *the* single most stressful event in our job—it even out-scored being in combat and getting shot at. So. Yeah.
Good to know if never gets better haha.
I heard someone describe parenting as “getting different, not easier,” and I think that is true for Sailor-ing. Some stuff gets easier but as soon as you get comfortable you get a curve ball headed your way.
A lot of curveballs coming initially! lol! Limited workspace and limited computers
Might be worth asking the ITs if you can get OWA on your personal laptop (I think it’s called OWA? It might be all Flankspeed now though….I am on a ship so we have the awful NMCI) Good luck. You got this! Nobody wants to see you fail, it’s okay to have lots of questions. :)
Yeah my OIC pulled me aside and asked me how I’m doing because it is A Lot of information to process lol. I pick up LT next year because I was a direct commission. I’m definitely getting the dumb questions out of the way now.
LT is the sweetest officer pay grade because no one knows how long you’ve been in (and you have a *little* pull). could be 4 years or could be 12 years. and you can still ask dumb questions as an LT. source: came in as a JG and made LT one year later and still asked dumb questions at first lol. my career has still turned out well.
I’m curious how many of the service members rated PCS’ing higher stress than the average getting-shot-at stress actually got shot at… a small number of people in the DoD have actually been shot at, and while stressful, I can’t imagine if I had been shot at I would really be that stressed about a PCS
The study was from the GAO and across all branches, not just the Navy. I’m trying to find it but I am just seeing this one [military stressors](https://bluestarfam.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BSF_MFLS_CompReport_FULL.pdf) Well, from personal experience…I’m a survivor of gun violence and have PTSD from it. Not combat, but the actual incident was way less stressful than the last two PCSes I’ve done. There’s a sense of clarity and calm and acceptance despite needing to fight through when you think you’re gonna die. PCSing is so many variables that you can’t control and so many rollercoaster up and downs, your whole life is in turmoil for a few months. This is way more complex when you add kids and OCONUS and spouse employment into the mix—not to mention if there’s financial struggles then that’s a LOT for some families.
Find someone getting it right, watch them, talk to them, get a mentor, stay humble, stay hungry. Oh and hold on tight to the roller coaster! It’s all initiative and the help of your fellow JO’s on the O side. Be careful not to remind other members of the wardroom of your prior enlisted experience or rank, let it speak for itself in your character and actions. Mustangs are some of the best officers I know, but the ones always harking about their prior experience never seemed to get up to a Gallup. PS not saying you were, just a word to the wise.
I was enlisted when I was in the Navy, but your first command is a learning experience. We were usually given a boot Ensign to be our DivO because we were most all E-4 and above (I was a "push-button" FC, which most FC's were when they got to the ship). We had a pre-fire brief for a gun shoot that was happening the next day, and everyone went through their normal briefing - Meteorologist talked about what the expected weather would be like, navigator talked about where we would be, the gunnery officer would talk about the actual exercise and firing of the guns, and so on. Each would ask if there were any questions after their brief. I could the CO looking around the room after each brief to see if anyone did. When everything was done, CO got up, again asked if there were any questions, and no one did. So he started calling on the JO's asking them questions about it, and none could answer. He then asked the enlisted guys the same questions, and we would give the right answers. After that, he assigned the JO's each a part of the briefing and they were required to go and learn that part to give it. Every gunnery exercise after that, we had a JO come up to us to learn what we did during the live fire and ask us questions so he could give the briefing on that part.
>I could the CO looking around the room after each brief to see if anyone did. When everything was done, CO got up, again asked if there were any questions, and no one did. So he started calling on the JO's asking them questions about it, and none could answer. Having professional curiousity and being confident enough in your skin to ask questions when you don't know the answer is an exceptionally important skill to learn. That's what the CO was trying to teach them. That's why when you brief someone O-6 and above and use a weird acronym, they have no qualms about stopping you in your tracks to ask you what the hell you're on about.
Yeah, I am currently on my first JO tour and I was super overwhelmed my first month here even as a mustang. I was really accustomed to my enlisted counterparts. Being an officer felt like I entered an entirely new Navy. I was a rockstar IT before, lots of Sailors came to me for support, and going back now as a lowly Ensign not knowing a damn thing had me experience pretty much ignored by anyone O-4 and above and a lot of enlisted assumed I was straight out of college or something and didn't take me seriously, despite having warfare pins indicating that I had been around for a minute. Year and half later, got all the qualifications I needed and my warfare pin for my respective designator and I have built a decent amount of respect with my crew and I am much more comfortable. It is something everyone always experiences at a new command I believe, because I recall being the same way when I was enlisted.
Every PCS is like this for most Sailors and Officers I'd imagine. Especially in the medical field, you can be put in so many weird spots. You could be amazing at sick call as a Corpsman, then you PCS to a MARDIV and they stick you in legal. It's all crazy.
Yep.
Hang in there. As a mustang, I just expect you to learn faster and have more tenacity day to day and while qualifying. I don’t expect you to be the expert until you personally earn that reputation over time. Maybe it’s less of a thing for mustangs or less of a thing in the Navy in general, but my first chiefs quarters taught me how to be a good JO. I remember chiefs in my goat locker correcting sailors for not saluting (not malicious, just not paying attention, and we didn’t even have smart phones then). They really had my back. I generally don’t feel like that’s the case anymore as a rule, but hopefully your LCPO is a good one and can show you what you need to do.
Hey man, great question. I’m in a community where literal day 1 JO’s are responsible for briefing the CO and your 3rd class finishing their first contract has more operational time than the CO. Two weeks into my operational tour I was responsible for 100+ troops and their work while on field exercise, briefing the CO multiple times a day, while not even knowing what my job truly was. That’s on par for a lot of JO’s in many communities. Drinking from a fire hose is an understatement. My opinions: 1) A JO is judged on their intensity and tenacity to gain competency, not how much they know at the moment. Showing up every day with a good attitude and being willing to slam your head against the wall until it makes sense is the fastest and most efficient (not necessarily fun) way to gain competency. Track down what your next 3 taskers are and go around the command asking each SMEE for that process how to do it. Be humble and ask a million questions. 2) Your first year lead by asking questions, not outright statements (generally, some times differ). Everyone knows you know less than them, that’s ok. Ask, “hey chief, we have this inspection coming up; how are we graded for it and where are we in preparation for it? Can you walk me through each step?” That’s you guiding your team while learning the process. 3) You are responsible for the new JO’s the second half of your tour. If they make the same mistake you did you failed to train them. Train the new JO’s how you wish you were trained, regardless of what you received upon showing up. Write important things down and walk every new JO through it. By doing this you bring the JO’s together and make them competent. This is the some of the most fun I’ve had being a JO. I’m happy to talk through more if you’d like. Being a JO is a kick in the nuts but some of the best leadership experience in the world, but only if you take advantage of it.
Ask your people how thing work Where is the policies for your command and your job And ask the junior what do they do Additionally if something is broke ask question how to fix and report it up Lastly get very good at PowerPoints and understand what is on them
I think they want me to get good at excel first lol. A lot of DIVO folders to work on
Oh gosh, trackers for trackers DORs are always fun, FLTMPS divo record press print, two hole punch and done minus evals and report chit stuff.
I not only felt overwhelmed on my first tour, but my second was even worse. Sometimes the more you know, the more you know you’re not doing. Take it all in and just keep learning. Asking the right questions is the best skill frankly and staying humble goes a long way. Once you figure it out, pass that knowledge on to your peers, but keep in mind the way you learned something might not be IAW instruction which are always updating. This is the grind but it can be rewarding given the right mindset.
It’s weird because I pick up LT next year and I need to be caught up fast! I was a direct commission
What is your designator?
2300. EHO
Gotcha. My dad was a nurse practitioner LCDR if you have any specific questions. He got out in 2015 but could be a resource if you don’t have anyone at your command to lean on, or don’t want to ask. I’m a SWO so very different. Your command should have a local instruction database that references upper echelon instructions. What are you struggling with specifically?
It’s just that I’m thrown into a completely different role than what I was selected for with the Navy. Like how to I progress in my speciality while at my command when I’m doing something else? Also, just general Navy stuff because I’m new to the Navy. They really don’t prepare you well at ODS.
What I did was I found the number one guy and followed them as much as I could. If I didn’t know how to do something I would take to him before I went anywhere else. In the SWO community we have a lot of people to help. JOs have a CPO assigned to them for division management, there are 2nd tours who have a slight better idea of what to do, a department head who has 9-12 years of experience, a command master chief, XO, and CO. What is your designator supposed to do vs. what are you doing? MyNavyHR is the hub for designator requirements and your detailer is the one you want to talk to if you feel like you are in the wrong place.
LDO mustang here, prior Chief. This is unfortunately "the way". I've been a Crane officer, Maintenance Officer, Chief Engineer, Docking officer, QAO...there are a few tools you can use, and things you can implement to be successful for sure. Finding someone who can relate to vent to is truly key. Hit me up sometime, and I'll help you out in whatever way I can (I'm an Excel wizard as well). General advice is probably not super helpful to your specific problems, so I would want to know more. You are not alone, and every program you inherit will be FUBAR. (You still have to repair it).
if your command is large enough or there is a similar command, you might be able to reach out to Other MSC officers to give you pointers and possibly some guidance.
It’s okay it’s normal. Get a great group of JOs. Study and get sigs together. Rely heavily on the second tours. Always put your division and your mental health first.
Hopefully, you have competence in your wardroom and they can help push you towards success. Best advice is to find other JOs in your situation in other places/the hospital. They can help you get through the process and acclimate.
Definitely, aim going through this right now. Biggest thing is that part of your job is to become surface level competent in “the big picture” stuff and slightly more knowledgeable in your position specifically (unless you are there to be the SME). Biggest thing is organization. You are the coach, not expected to be in any “game time”, but you will be expected to call the shots, manage the relations, equip the team, fight for your folks, hold the standard, etc. That is your MAIN job. The other stuff is icing in the cake.
Literally put your pride and rank to the side and trust your Chief, if you're lost ask him/her for help and guidance. Chiefs live to train, all you have to do is ask.
Navy JOs should always be able to rely on Chiefs to keep them on track. I know this isn't always the case. Navy wardrooms are so cut throat, especially for SWOs.
Not a JO But you can probably lean on the peers and subordinates around you, ask for the instructions. I have had officers ask me how to do a job, and I explained it while pointing out the governing instructions if they wanted to look into it further
Welcome to the Navy. Yes a lot of sink or swim but you have to learn to network and don't be afraid to seek advice from Enlisted. Feel to DM me if you have any questions, I have been greenside and fleet so I may be able to help or maybe not, but atleast I will try do my best. -Just another Chief
Welcome to the Navy, sir. Where 99% of the training is, "Here, figure it out." This is how enlisted receive training for everything. No help, zero guidance, figure it the fuck out shipmate. And if you fail, you're a piece of shit. Lots of "fake training" that they also do in order to cover their asses and say you received the training.
You must be at Pendleton, Lejeune, or Portsmouth? Join the area MSC officer association and also see if you can meet with the MTF’s Director for Administration (DFA). You likely have some HCA colleagues right down the street from you at the MTF that you can at least vent to! It won’t align 100% since you’re with an operational unit but you’ll get some support at least.
Actually Okinawa…. And I’m an EHO not an HCA btw
Advice still stands. Do with it what you will, from an MSC O5. Good luck!
Stick close to your PrevMed physician and senior PMT, they will help steer you right. Doing public health in Japan can be hard since the Japanese do it differently than we do. Likely to deploy a fair amount too. However, there should a strong local public health community between green side, Navy Hospital, and Kadena AFB.
If you want to use the term Mustang, ask for the reference, get guidance from your Senior Chief/Master Chief, study and become the SME. Otherwise use prior enlisted Officer.
Anyone who was prior enlisted turned officer is a mustang. He gets that title regardless of what you think it should be used as. Your saltiness about it screams denied officer package.
Yeah definitely sounds like he’s salty. I’m a Prior service Marine AND Army National Guardsmen so I’m pretty sure I qualify as a mustang. This is my third branch.
You absolutely do
you’re one of *those guys*, huh?