GoNavy
New York, NY
Male, 28
I went to Yale NROTC and received a commission as a Navy SWO (ship officer). I didn't renew my service after the required years. I wanted to move on to make a civilian life for myself but not a day goes by that I don't miss the Navy.
My first sea assignment was a DDG (destroyer) on which I was a division officer overseeing more than 20 sailors. Then for shore duty I was an instructor at SWOS. For my final year I returned to a new ship as a division officer.
Yes when a ship goes on longer deployments, it will stop at various ports of call. We'd get some free time, but there was always a crew onboard to deal with any emergencies. We basically had to follow the laws of the country, and the general rules of the Navy/military. If you wouldn't do it at home, you wouldn't do it in a different country.
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When you graduate from NROTC, you have three initial options: Navy, Marines, Nursing
When you choose Navy, there's anyother set of options, including:
-Surface Warfare-operating ships (what I did)
-Submarine Warfare-operating submarines
-Two aviation options (one is pilots, the other is for other jobs with aviation)
-Special Warfare (SEAL's etc)
After someone chooses Surface Warfare, they then have the option of ships. Yes, I could have requested an aircraft carrier, cruiser, frigate, amphibious ship, etc. (Not a subarmine.) I requested a destroyer because there is a crew of 250-300 which is much more personal and engaging than a 3000-6000 crew aircraft carrier.
Hope this helped! If it didn't let me know.
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Hey Sammy,
Actually, according to a survey, only 43.8% of the military ID's as republican. That's down from 56% in 2005.
Still, there are far more Republicans than Democrats. The same survey says that 9.7% ID's as Democrat, so obviously the rest are independent or refused to answer.
I did kind of know some other Democrats. My first wardroom (which is physically the officer's dining room/lounge but also refers to the officers on a ship) didn't have many outspoken people on either side. I'd say of the 25-30 officers in my wardroom, 4 would say they were democrat and about 15 would say Republican. I didn't see much of a difference as far as how much they spoke their views, but I'm sure many other groups could not say the same. Of course I'm only talking about officers not enlisted. Enlisted tends to be a bit more Democrat, although they are still fairly conservative.
Ask again if there's anything I could've explained better!
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Hey there. Great question. I'd say about 1 in 50 guys I've lead truly wanted out. Most were tired/bored/fed up with the lifestyle. Not usually new guys.
Being openly gay is allowed in the military now. But before it was this way, (Don't Ask, Don't Tell):
1) You'd be dishonorably discharged. This means no benefits, and you can't get another government job.
2) If you were not gay (you lied), and they found out, you could be put in prison for lying.
But of course now it's okay to be gay in the military, so this doesn't apply. I'd say it's better now than before, but many would disagree.
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It depends on two things: Ship size and the type of training.
Smaller ships (and submarines) have more cross-training. For example, in the Coast Guard, some small cutters do not have a designated medic onboard. In this case, someone who has another job will be the cutter's EMT who can treat a casualty until more advanced care arrives.
Subs definitely deserve their own paragraph. Submariners must be qualified in every aspect of the sub. Damge control, engineering, etc. They have the most intense cross training.
As far as the type of training, certain things will be introduced to everyone, while other things are left to specialists. Damage control (flood/fire fighting) is taught to everyone, not just those who are designated as damage controlmen. Weapons maintnence probably won't be.
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Going through officer training I was in a unit with not a whole lot of other people. Some were women, but of those who were, most were interested in nursing, Surface Warfare, and aviation. (Submarine and special ops are the other options but they don't allow women, yet). Someone who enlisted might have more expereince with women who wanted to be SEALs. Sorry about that. Overall I'd guess that women would rather prove themselves first in other less selective combat units, because they've just been allowed to do that not too long ago.
If women want to prove themselves (which I know they can) they need to work their way from less selective to more prestigious units. If a bunch of women went through SEAL training and failed, it wouldn't look too great to the rest of the military.
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The US Navy is the best. Not really debatable at all. China's and Russia's army and air force are powerful, but their Navies can not compare to the United States Navy.
Just some background on the US before I talk about other navies:
-The US has 10 active aircraft carriers currently (all supercarriers). This power alone outdoes any other entire Navy.
I could say more, but that's about all you need.
But as far as other navies:
UK and France: Both have fairly strong navies. They are capable of a lot, but they probably rank at 4 and 5.
Russia and China: These are the runners-up to the US Navy. Again, no one comes close to the US Navy, but China and Russia have powerful navies that could be worthy opponents of the US Navy. That said, the US Navy would take them out eventually if they had to, it just wouldn't be super easy. Russia and China are the 2nd and 3rd most powerful navies (in no particular order).
Honorable mensions: Japan, India, Italy, maybe South Korea.
Any other navy than the ones listed above could probably be taken out in less than 24 hours by the US Navy.
If anything was not clear, please let me know and I'd be happy to answer any follow up questions.
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