So I shed my butterbar

Now introducing... LTJG!!
Been too long since my last post, but some things have happened since then... some personal, which I will address in a later blog entry, and some professional. Professionally I've now been in the Active Duty Navy for about 2 months now and I'm fully engrossed in the Navy Aviation Supply Systems. One thing that did happen to me was a promotion!

When I entered the Navy I was a DCO (Direct Commission Officer) and there's a whole process behind that. In a nutshell I spent over 2 years putting together letters of recommendation, interviewing with senior active duty officers, going through medical checks and taking tests. When all that was said and done my 'package' went before a board of Supply Corps Officers. I don't know what happens at these boards, and unless you are selected as a member of them you probably never will, but someone there thought me worthy of being an officer. Here's where two very important dates come into play: Date of Rank and Oath of Office.

Date of Rank: When the board selects you, there are other steps along the way before you can be commissioned into the Navy. First your approved package goes onto a 'roll list' where congress then has to approve you as well. Next you are approved by the President, or so they tell me, I don't think that he actually ever saw my name, but hey - if he did then I find that rather cool. Anyway there's probably nitty gritty that I'm missing, but that's the high level process that you go through. Mind you this is different than Active Duty and really only applies to the Navy Reserve DCO program, so other officers out there may have a completely different experience than mine.

From this point I received a phone call telling me that I was approved and that I was going to commissioned in the Navy Reserve - here's where the Date of Rank comes into play. I'm not 100% sure, but pretty close that once approved by the Executive level for a commission that becomes your Date of Rank. This date is very important on multiple levels since it determines who is senior and who is junior among similar pay grades. It also dictates when you are promoted, which for those interested in pay raises becomes very important! :) More on this later...

Commissioning Date
This, AKA the date on your Oath of Office, kinda confused me at first since I thought it was the date that I was officially in the Navy. Well it was, and it wasn't, and there's differences between the day you take your Oath of Office and the day you may be promoted. My Date of Rank is 30 JUN 06, and the day I took my Oath of Office was 25 JUL 06. Yeah, it takes about a month for the papers to go from the approval stage, to the recruiter so he can swear you in - and the strange thing is that I was one of the faster ones.

The gist here is that while I wasn't sworn into the Navy until 25 JUL 06, I still get promoted on the 30th of JUNE. So on the 30th of JUNE I went from ENS to LTJG.

From ENS to JG
There are some massive differences between enlisted sailors and officers in the Navy when it comes to promotion. E-3 (Seaman or Airman) to E-7 (Chief Petty Officer) have to take an exam, pass it, then go before a board and be selected for promotion. That is a bit different in the officer ranks - 01 (ENS) to 03 (LT) are automatic, at 04 (LCDR) you then have to be boarded in order to be promoted. The rule of thumb is, and this is really over simplifying it, just don't screw up and you'll make LT. Does this minimize the rank of LT as an officer? Some people have told me so, but then again its a very difficult to be selected as an officer to begin with. Making CPO, now that's a different story, lots of respect to those who make CPO in the Navy!

Now I am a LTJG, or ENS (Upper Half), as some may like to call it. What this means is I get a little more pay. Essentially I'm out of that nice cushy situation where everyone knows I've been in the Navy a while, I'm by no means a seasoned veteran, but I'm definitely not brand new... so some of the naive excuses I could have used for the last 2 years don't carry as much weight now!

Look for some more posts to come about work, and also some personal stuff :)