.I need advice- I'd like to be a Navy EOD Officer

[AWOP]

To start off, I know Navy EOD is not special warfare even though this is posted in the special warfare sub-forum. I couldn't find another area to post this, so I figured I'd post it here.

I just graduated high school, and over the course of the last few months I have slowly began to develop an interest in joining the military. I want to become a Navy EOD officer, but I need advice on how to get there. I've taken enough credits in high school to be on route to graduate college in 3 years, and I'd like to major in chemical engineering. At this point I can either join NROTC and try to get advanced standing or a 2 year scholarship, or I can apply to OCS after graduating. Problem is that (from what I have read), the only people accepted to become EOD officers through OCS are prior enlisted. Which leaves NROTC, but where my real concern lies is that if I join NROTC, there's no guarantee I would get picked up for EOD. In fact, considering my major is chemical engineering, I think it would be likely that the Navy would utilize me as a nuke and draft me there despite my desires. What I'm trying to say here is that I find interest in EOD, but I can't see myself enjoying a career as a nuke or SWO.

If anyone is curious, my PST is below (I learned CSS a month ago)
Swim time: 10:25
Push-ups: 63
Curl-ups: 100
Pull-ups: 13
Run time: 8:30
I know I have a lot of work to do for my PST, but I also have 3 years to improve these scores.

Long story short, would my attempt be futile if I joined NROTC to become a Navy EOD officer? I also know that there is the route of just going in as enlisted. I'd still want to finish my college degree before I would enlist, but I feel that this is a bit of a step back after going through college just to enlist.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Here's some advice.

Post your intro before you post in the forum again.

Then read the thread titled, “A Protocol Primer for ShadowSpear” at the top of the Introductions Forum.

- locked -

Thread will be unlocked after your intro.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Re-opened

 

[Teufel]

Why do you want to be a Navy EOD officer? The answer to that question will likely illuminate your way forward.

 

[Marauder06]

EOD is at the top of my list “things I thought would be cool to do but never got a chance” list. I get get appeal of EOD. But why in the Navy? Why in the military at all for that matter?

 

[Grunt]

Some serious questions for you:

1. How bad do you want to be an officer?
2. How long are you willing to be in the Navy until you get your shot at EOD as an officer - if you still choose that route?
3. How bad do you really want to be in the Navy and what is the true purpose of your wanting to be there? Is it to be EOD, or and officer, or to serve your country?

Sometimes, the military has a way of doing with you what they want for the good of the Navy or whatever other branch you choose. That is a serious consideration to be worked through before joining.

Regardless of the outcome of your decision, I wish you the best success!

 

[Scubadew]

Navy EOD is most certainly Special Warfare.

 

[Teufel]

Navy EOD is most certainly Special Warfare.

It’s naval special operations. Unless it’s changed recently NSW is made up of SEALs and SWCCs. Navy divers and EOD fall under Naval special operations but will attach to NSW units.

 

[Scubadew]

It’s naval special operations. Unless it’s changed recently NSW is made up of SEALs and SWCCs. Navy divers and EOD fall under Naval special operations but will attach to NSW units.

That is a better description, Sir.

 

[Teufel]

Sorry, I’m an advanced warfare grad. I carefully slice words for their meaning.

 

[Marauder06]

Sorry, I’m an advanced warfare grad. I carefully slice words for their meaning.

Words, and doctrine, are important.

 

[AWOP]

Why do you want to be a Navy EOD officer? The answer to that question will likely illuminate your way forward.

So I think deep down my desire to join the military is to do something with my life that is challenging, memorable, and that gives back to others each and every single day. Navy EOD is a spec ops unit, I don't want to join just to be an operator, I want to join to have something that is challenging. I've read the limited knowledge out there about Navy EOD school, and from what I can tell it's extremely challenging both academically and physically. All my life I was set on being a chemical engineer for the rest of my life, but I want to try something different and see how it goes. I want to put myself through experiences in life so that I don't go through with regrets at the end. For giving back to others, dealing with explosives is a win win for everyone- less american soldiers dead and less civilians dead. I want to have the opportunity to serve my country, serve soldiers, and to help innocent civilians.

EOD is at the top of my list “things I thought would be cool to do but never got a chance” list. I get get appeal of EOD. But why in the Navy? Why in the military at all for that matter?

Navy because it's the most challenging branch- and also quite possibly the most exciting- they have the hardest, longest, and most in depth training out of all the other branches. I never really thought about EOD outside of the military, but I'd assume it's a very different experience. I also would assume that civilian bomb squads would take employees directly from the military.

Some serious questions for you:

1. How bad do you want to be an officer?
2. How long are you willing to be in the Navy until you get your shot at EOD as an officer - if you still choose that route?
3. How bad do you really want to be in the Navy and what is the true purpose of your wanting to be there? Is it to be EOD, or and officer, or to serve your country?

Sometimes, the military has a way of doing with you what they want for the good of the Navy or whatever other branch you choose. That is a serious consideration to be worked through before joining.

Regardless of the outcome of your decision, I wish you the best success!

To answer 1 and 2, the more and more I think about it, becoming an officer is something that I could go without. How I've been looking at it is that if I have a degree, it would be beneficial to commission as an officer. What I would really want from being an officer is the opportunity to lead others, but the rest of the job like the money, respect, rank, etc, I don't really care about. I would want to be an officer for the ability to lead others, and at the very least just because I have the degree so I might as well. For 3, I sort of explained it in my first paragraph. Please tell me if these reasons are immature, and thank you for the wishes.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

but I feel that this is a bit of a step back after going through college just to enlist.

I don't want to join just to be an operator, I want to join to have something that is challenging.

Navy because it's the most challenging branch-... they have the hardest, longest, and most in depth training out of all the other branches.

 

[AWOP]

Is what I'm saying foolish? If so, can you explain why?

 

[AWP]

Is what I'm saying foolish? If so, can you explain why?

You equate being enlisted to being a "step back" from being an officer. I won't speak for anyone else here, but as an NCO turned O, your statement is insulting. It insults every single member of the armed forces.

You don't want to "just" be an operator, you want a challenge. Umm.... how do you know being an operator isn't a challenge or that being an O is more of a challenge? Again, you're insulting people through your ignorance. You are ignorant because you have how many days in uniform?

Wait a minute! According to you the Navy is the most challenging branch! Again, you base your opinions on what experience?

You don't know what you don't know, and you don't know a helluva lot. You just graduated high school, but have already figured out where you'll be in 6 years? Mad props to you for that level of worldliness and understanding.

 

[Marauder06]

So I think deep down my desire to join the military is to do something with my life that is challenging, memorable, and that gives back to others each and every single day. Navy EOD is a spec ops unit, I don't want to join just to be an operator, I want to join to have something that is challenging. I've read the limited knowledge out there about Navy EOD school, and from what I can tell it's extremely challenging both academically and physically. All my life I was set on being a chemical engineer for the rest of my life, but I want to try something different and see how it goes. I want to put myself through experiences in life so that I don't go through with regrets at the end. For giving back to others, dealing with explosives is a win win for everyone- less american soldiers dead and less civilians dead. I want to have the opportunity to serve my country, serve soldiers, and to help innocent civilians.

Navy because it's the most challenging branch- and also quite possibly the most exciting- they have the hardest, longest, and most in depth training out of all the other branches. I never really thought about EOD outside of the military, but I'd assume it's a very different experience. I also would assume that civilian bomb squads would take employees directly from the military.

To answer 1 and 2, the more and more I think about it, becoming an officer is something that I could go without. How I've been looking at it is that if I have a degree, it would be beneficial to commission as an officer. What I would really want from being an officer is the opportunity to lead others, but the rest of the job like the money, respect, rank, etc, I don't really care about. I would want to be an officer for the ability to lead others, and at the very least just because I have the degree so I might as well. For 3, I sort of explained it in my first paragraph. Please tell me if these reasons are immature, and thank you for the wishes.

I can see how someone could make the argument that the Navy is the most challenging branch of service. I just don't see how someone like you can.

If you want to do the most challenging thing in the military right now, go cyber. It's brand new, it's super important, and no one knows WTF they're doing.

If you want to be "hands on," then career officer is not the way to go. A little after you make O3 in many (but not all) officer jobs, you move out of that and into supervision. If you want to do EOD all day, every day, then you probably need to enlist. Or, go into law enforcement or private contracting.

If you don't care about the money, the prestige and respect of being an officer what else is there? "Leadership?" LOL. Noncommissioned Officers do most of the direct, day-to-day leadership in the military. Officers are still leaders, but at a different level. Officers' focus tends to be up and out. NCOs do down and in. If you want to be doing hands on tech work, and direct leadership, in the long run you probably don't want to go the "O" route.

That said, I love being an officer. I get paid a lot, fewer people get to tell me what to do, and I get to think "big picture," which is what I'm good at. It's important to know your strengths and limitations before deciding what route to go int the military. Officers and NCOs fulfill complementary, but very different, roles in our Armed Services, and the skills are not necessarily transferable. In fact, it's hard to go from one to another successfully, like AWP did. I do OK as an officer but I'd be a shitty NCO. I lack the self-discipline, the attention to detail, and the patience with junior officers that are all mainstays of our NCO Corps.

One thing I try to ensure I never, ever do is disparage the enlisted or NCO ranks like you did in your post. I have a job because of them. I am where I am today because of them. They are the strength of our military and without them, the Officers' Corps, and our entire defense enterprise, is nothing.

Just a couple of things to think about.

 

[AWOP]

You equate being enlisted to being a "step back" from being an officer. I won't speak for anyone else here, but as an NCO turned O, your statement is insulting. It insults every single member of the armed forces.

You don't want to "just" be an operator, you want a challenge. Umm.... how do you know being an operator isn't a challenge or that being an O is more of a challenge? Again, you're insulting people through your ignorance. You are ignorant because you have how many days in uniform?

Wait a minute! According to you the Navy is the most challenging branch! Again, you base your opinions on what experience?

You don't know what you don't know, and you don't know a helluva lot. You just graduated high school, but have already figured out where you'll be in 6 years? Mad props to you for that level of worldliness and understanding.

1. I'd like to apologize to anyone I would have insulted through calling an enlisted soldier less than an officer. That was not my intention, and I did not mean it to come out in a way that is offensive to our hard working military service members whether enlisted or officers. What I was attempting to say is that you can enlist with or without a degree, but only commission with a degree. So getting a degree and then enlisting seems as if you're not using your degree.
2. I think we had a bit of a miscommunication. Very specifically for this "You don't want to "just" be an operator, you want a challenge.". This is not what I meant in the slightest. What I was trying to say here is that I want to do special operations for the challenge. Don't get me wrong, I understand that special operations is extremely challenging, and I even if I go through and make it to EOD school, there's a high chance I won't make it. No disrespect to all the operators on this forum who have worked tirelessly to get to where they are today. What I meant by my statement is that I don't want to become an operator for a title, I want to because of the thrill of the challenge. I hope this explains what I'm saying better. Along with this, I was referring to the fact that Naval EOD school is the hardest of all the branches, NOT the navy itself. I'm not one to compare branches, as you've pointed out, I have no military experience. All I know is that Naval EOD school is longer, more challenging, and more in depth than the rest of the branches.
3. Finally, I know I'm ignorant, that's why I joined this forum. I want to know more about the careers of the people who actually know it all. I understand I don't know anything about anything. I just don't want to go through my life blind.

Again, I apologize for anyone I've offended throughout my last few posts. That was not my intention.

 

[AWOP]

I can see how someone could make the argument that the Navy is the most challenging branch of service. I just don't see how someone like you can.

If you want to do the most challenging thing in the military right now, go cyber. It's brand new, it's super important, and no one knows WTF they're doing.

If you want to be "hands on," then career officer is not the way to go. A little after you make O3 in many (but not all) officer jobs, you move out of that and into supervision. If you want to do EOD all day, every day, then you probably need to enlist. Or, go into law enforcement or private contracting.

If you don't care about the money, the prestige and respect of being an officer what else is there? "Leadership?" LOL. Noncommissioned Officers do most of the direct, day-to-day leadership in the military. Officers are still leaders, but at a different level. Officers' focus tends to be up and out. NCOs do down and in. If you want to be doing hands on tech work, and direct leadership, in the long run you probably don't want to go the "O" route.

That said, I love being an officer. I get paid a lot, fewer people get to tell me what to do, and I get to think "big picture," which is what I'm good at. It's important to know your strengths and limitations before deciding what route to go int the military. Officers and NCOs fulfill complementary, but very different, roles in our Armed Services, and the skills are not necessarily transferable. In fact, it's hard to go from one to another successfully, like AWP did. I do OK as an officer but I'd be a shitty NCO. I lack the self-discipline, the attention to detail, and the patience with junior officers that are all mainstays of our NCO Corps.

One thing I try to ensure I never, ever do is disparage the enlisted or NCO ranks like you did in your post. I have a job because of them. I am where I am today because of them. They are the strength of our military and without them, the Officers' Corps, and our entire defense enterprise, is nothing.

Just a couple of things to think about.

Thank you so much for the information. I will say it again, I apologize for insulting the enlisted. That was not my intention.

Your advice gives me a lot to chew on, and makes me really start to consider if going enlisted could be the correct path for me.

 

[Teufel]

I think he meant Navy is the most challenging branch for EOD, which is probably accurate because of all the underwater stuff they have to deal with.

 

[AWOP]

I think he meant Navy is the most challenging branch for EOD, which is probably accurate because of all the underwater stuff they have to deal with.

Yes this is exactly what I meant.