Comments on: So You Want My Job: Navy Sailor

By: steve

steve — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 01:24:42 +0000

I was on SEAL team 6…..HAHA! just kidding but there sure is a lot of that crap going around meaning frauds.I was U.S.N. 1974-1980.USS Little Rock CLG4 Geita Italy and then USS Hunley AS31 Charleston S.C.I got out HT2 and had passed the first class exam.We were a critical rate then.I would have done 30 if I could but I was seriously injured while we were on a op in Beirut Lebanon in 1979.So I got a disability rating and kept on going.I joined the International Brotherhood of Electricians and have done very well.I went to 14 foreign nations while in and went all over the eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine.My pop was a MMCS WWII,Korea,and Vietnam.The sea is in my blood and I loved the Navy not so much the military.

By: John T

John T — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:15:29 +0000

@ Jarin Udom

First of all, great article! Much thanks and appreciation to Dan Smith for his service! Second,
@ Jarin Udom: I leave for RTC early September and my rate is Information Systems Technician. Anyway, if you see this, I’d appreciate the chance to talk to you about the job…Pretty much anything you can tell me about the rate, any tips, etc.

By: Dan Smith

Dan Smith — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:20:52 +0000

Kyle and Henry,
I’m assuming both of you are junior sailors. I have mentored a few young sailors in your position, hating the Navy, thinking the Navy owes you something, thinking everyone who outranks you are morons and less intelligent than you are. Stick it out, if you have the guts to, and see what happens. If you have the manly ambition it takes to make a real career out of the Navy, then you’ll do fine. Of course, since I enjoy my career, it’s impossible for you to respect me and my feelings about it (as you suggested), but it’s more truth than you have spoken in your comment. Best wishes for your (short-lived) carer, Kyle. If you need some mentoring, hit me up and I can help you.

Dan

By: vanessa

vanessa — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:23:43 +0000

this page was really helpful for my 5 paragraph essay

By: henry

henry — Sat, 15 May 2010 19:59:27 +0000

wow, i cant agree with Kyle more! his initial diasgreements may have been offensive but his latter reasons are very righteous and true. it really is a fantasy world, u do what ur told. there’s no freedom, u live a life of pretty much a coward. despite the great camaraderie(no doubt about it), everything else is pretty much submission which isnt something we’re born to be, we’re born to be resistent. i think.

By: Lostcase

Lostcase — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 23:31:34 +0000

Thanks Dan for a wonderful q&a session.
@ Jarin Udom
Can you tell me a little bit more about your rate? I currently work in IT, with over 7 years experience, my last title was System Support Administrator for a retail company. I will be taking my ASVAB in a week, projecting to get a 80-90. I took the ASVAB ten years ago, almost signed for a Nuclear Engineer rate, but declined, wasn’t ready at that point in time. Now I feel that I am ready to take that next step. I am considering either a rate in Intelligence or Engineer, just not nuclear. Any recommendations?

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:56:54 +0000

I’m a CTI2, currently in my 5th year of a 6 year enlistment. And, whereas I’ll acknowledge that, being a CTI (linguist) and on shore duty for my entire enlistment, my experience in the Navy has been quite different from most sea-going rates, however the Navy is the Navy in every command. Thus, I must respectfully disagree with a portrayal of the Navy (and perhaps the whole of military service) as a “manly” job.

Military life is, on a whole, utterly demeaning. You must defer in all matters to those who outrank you, even if they are younger, less-experienced in your job, or plainly far more stupid and less capable than you are; your life in all aspects is at the mercy of (in general) morons. Any man with any sense of self-worth should be offended by this. A man should be able to make his own decisions, to determine what is best for himself, and to do his job as he sees fit, and if his current situation does not allow hi to do so, he should be free to change his situation. The military strips you of all self-determination.

The military is a fantasy world, where everything is handed to you: food, housing, health care, a sense of importance, just as long as you don’t mess up. It doesn’t matter what job you do, or how well you do it, all your life is taken care of. It is, in my estimation, a cowardly existence. Get out of the service, enter real life, do things for yourself, be your own man; thankfully, in a year, I’ll be able to do just that.

Again, this is just my take. I know many people who love the Navy and have made a life out of it, and perhaps that’s the best for them…I just don’t respect those people. Sorry I’m not sorry.

By: Jarin Udom

Jarin Udom — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:13:36 +0000

I did 5 years in the Navy as an Information Systems Technician (ending up as a 2nd Class Petty Officer), mostly on the USS John C Stennis (I didn’t have a problem with the Navy, it just wasn’t my lifelong career choice).

Great article, although it isn’t 100% true that you get to choose your rate. Some people come in undesignated as a Seaman, Fireman (engineering, not a fire fighter), or Airman. The recruiter will tell them that they get to roam around and try out different jobs before committing to a rate. However, from what I’ve seen that’s not generally true, and undesignated sailors seem to get shoehorned into whatever rate they get assigned to on getting to their first command.

I recommend that anyone joining the Navy should pick their rate beforehand if at all possible, even if it means signing up for an additional year of service. 4 years (or longer) is a long time when you’re in your early twenties, and working in a job you enjoy makes a huge difference.

By: Allen

Allen — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:07:50 +0000

I’m a Supply Officer on a submarine, based out of Groton CT. Submarine life is a very different one from the surface fleet but there are some similarities. Good to see one of our first classes giving a good perspective on what it means to serve.

By: Matt P.

Matt P. — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:39:37 +0000

I’m one of Dan’s shipmates, I’m actually reading this in his living room.

I’ve got to say, I agree with Christopher, if you want to be in the Navy, you have to decide that you want it. I’ve been in for a lot less time than Dan, just 3 years, but this job is something altogether different. The sacrifices one makes can only be justified by the pride the uniform gives you. I’ve given up a lot of my own personal freedoms and rights so that you can enjoy them.

We don’t do this job for your thanks, we don’t do this job to march in a parade or get a discount at random stores (though that last one is pretty cool). We do this job so that you can wake up everyday and live the American Dream, whatever that means to you.

I don’t know if I’m a lifer just yet (said “life-er”, meaning a sailor bound for 20+ years of service), but for the time being I’m enjoying it. Right now my rate is Quartermaster, as mentioned earlier I work in Navigation. But if you join as one job and decide later on that you’d prefer to do something else, it is possible to change your job later on, as I want to work in the medical field, I’m “crossrating” to Hospital Corpsman.