Conflicting information on joining the Navy enlisted or OCS?
I am joining the Navy but not sure which side of either OCS or Enlisted. I’m currently waiting for a waiver and have asked questions from different people about Navy life. But many people keep saying OCS because I have a masters degree in Psychology.
Let me get some info from both enlisted and officer sides.
1. What is the big difference between enlisted vs. officer?
I know the pay and there will be separate areas on a ship for each group. But why not enlist 1st then later become an officer later?
2. My choice is intelligence, submarine, aircraft carrier, or if I join officer surface warfare officer. Why is enlistment so bad?
3. Yes I hold an Associates, Bachelors, and Masters degree. They all focus on social sciences such as Psychology, leadership, business, and counseling. Would you suggest OCS? If so why?
Please provide information because I am getting conflicting views and ideas all the time from both sides. Thank you.
I was AF, not Navy, so this advice is coming from an off angle. Certain things are generally true across all services. One of them is that once they have you, they like to keep you in the same job. It is much easier to become an officer in one shot, through OCS (or whatever other service), than it is to enlist and then get selected for OCS later. Changing jobs or status otherwise is not as easy as going in as an officer in one shot.
Yes, the money is significantly better on the officer side than the enlisted side, and don’t think that isn’t meaningful. Not only the base pay, but your allowances for housing and other special pays tend to be higher, which adds up quickly. As an enlisted troop you’ll be expected to live in a dormitory on base for at least the first several years of your career (assuming you don’t have a family, and if you do–why do you wish to support them on a Seaman’s salary?); as a newly minted Ensign you’ll be free to find housing where it suits you, you won’t have anyone coming round to inspect your quarters, you basically have a much freer existence. That’s not be discounted.
From my experience working with and managing enlisted troops when I was an officer, the main reason I would suggest OCS over enlistment is the quality of work you’ll be asked to do. The jobs assigned to junior enlisted troops are menial to say the least, and even for mid-grade enlisted troops the responsibilities and challenges available to you in your work are not going to be as great as what junior and mid-level officers will get. You’ve been through master’s level schooling in counseling, leadership, business? You’re probably going to find yourself bored and put out by the level of work you’ll have as an enlisted troop; there’s not much opportunity for leadership or creativity until you’ve served for a fair piece of time.
Enlisted troops deal with a lot of aggravation, because they have very little power to change anything, and don’t get paid very well for it. Many of the same jobs you’d like to do on the enlisted side, you can do as an officer but with more responsibility, more scope for creativity, and more opportunity to actually affect the way things are done. To me OCS would be far the better option.
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