I seem to be faced with two primary choices on where to take my career: Become a Navy Officer or pursue a career in Supply Chain Management.
Currently I am waiting to see if I will be accepted in late October to become a Navy Officer in one of the three fields I chose to be considered for: Information Warfare, Intelligence, and Information Professional. My application process with the U.S. Navy is pretty much complete and I may be accepted or I may not.
Officers in the Navy get paid well but there is a chance of spending very long amount of time on carriers or in submarines and working under people who are notoriously mean and considered “not bright” amongst those who work with them. I’ve read about some officers who work 7 days a week and 12 - 18 hours a day. There’s also a chance I’d have to be around 18-21 year enlistees who only chose the Navy as a last resort. I am 31.
As a back up plan, I am prepared to take the Certified Supply Chain Professional exam in order to start a career in Supply Chain Management. When it comes to Supply Chain Management, I have experience under that field to tout about at interviews because I have 5 years of experience with materials management and a year and half experience in IT. I also already have a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification, an A+ certification, and a newly obtained MBA from a fairly-reputable, AACSB certified university. People in the Supply Chain Management field typically make over $60,000 a year in the U.S. on average but the thing is, Supply Chain Management isn’t the most exciting field in the world and it doesn’t seem to have much admiration in society.
If you were in my position, which route would you choose?
And this is different from the civilian workplace how, exactly? Most Naval officers are competent professionals. At sea, everybody works long hours, as there’s really not much else to do and there’s a, you know, mission to accomplish. Enlistees and officers don’t mix, other than in a work environment. You tell them what to do; they do it. After hours, you don’t fraternize, as it’s contrary to good order and discipline.
Why not do both, and go into logistics/supply chain management in the Navy? Kind of the best of both worlds, and I’d bet military-trained logistics officers are a hot commodity in the civilian logistics world.
If you are looking for a bit more meaning and excitement in your work, supply chain management is a hugely needed skill for humanitarian aid agencies- think about all of the issues around moving humanitarian supplies around the world on short notice. You may have to move out to where these organizations are based, but in most cases I think people with your experience could expect a decent salary.
If you can get a Navy officer gig, take it. Do 20, and you can retire with income and insurance for life, even if you never hit a lick at another snake.
For some reason, a person has to be less than 29 years of age to become a Logistics Officer with the Navy. Not sure why, but there you go.
even scen,
I will strongly consider that if I am not accepted into the Navy as an officer. I do not want to spend at least 8 hours every weekday doing meaningless work. Working for a humanitarian aid agency would be right up my alley in terms of values.
Oakminster,
I am taking that into consideration. It strongly depends on the fields available to me though. Intelligence and Information Profession may be doable but I’m not sure someone can possibly be in Cryptology (Information Warfare) for 20 years because of the amount of time being spent on carriers and the 7 day, 12+ work hours. This is according to research based off of first hand experiences published on websites.
I do a lot of work with the Defense Logistics Agency (which liaises with the other services including the Navy). They realize that they are way behind commercial practices, and are leaning heavily on civilian experts to try to get modern. So I’d opine that things are the other way around.
There are lots of good jobs with defense contractors that involve the gov’t regulations. That’s an area I am weak in, so jobs like Boeing are tougher to get.
I am 31. Someone has to be under 29 to become a Logistics Officer with the Navy.
I’ve been working for a defense contractor for the last 5 years. The government regulations really aren’t a big deal to pick up on, IMO. A supervisor would clearly communicate the main points to focus in your specific position regarding Federal Acquisition Regulation and other matters.
20 year Navy enlisted retiree here. Now I work a low level management position with a large defense contractor. I find that the majority of the higher level officers I worked for over the last 20 years were much more competent than their civilian counterparts. Remember, you will have a Navy Chief assigned to you to handle all of the enlisted personnel matters, and to help you work with the enlisted.
Also, the days of the grizzled 18-20 year veteran who was given the choice the Navy or jail are long gone, especially in the fields you have chosen. Most enlisted either have or are working on their bachelor’s degree. The fields you chose all require a high clearance level, and “problem children” do not usually last that long in those fields.
At sea, you can easily work a 14-16 hour day, and do 3 hours of real work. You may have an 8 hour watch as underway OOD, and only make 10 real decisions, since the bridge crew will be a highly trained group of professionals who just need you when shit goes south. Since there is nowhere else to go, I always saw people who were “Off Duty” hanging out in their duty space.
What is your family situation? My deployments were much harder on my wife than myself. I was on a ship touring Europe or the Caribbean, on cruise control for 6 months, while my wife had to take care of all the crap that comes up in daily life.
Of course, all of this expertise comes fropm someone in the Aviation Management field, not much interaction with the spooks(Intelligence).
What Oakminster said was very right. I finished 20 years, I get a about $1700 a month in retirement, and I my medical insurance (Tricare) costs $44 a month for my whole family. An Officer (O-5) retiring today would receive aprrox $4200 per month in pension.
Not so sure you fit in the US Navy at 31 … don’t get me wrong, but not too many Navy ensigns start off at 31 most are 22 with some commanders being 31 to 33.
You might be uncomfortable with younger officers telling you what to do.
I would try your back up plan
Save your money for retirement, purchase a house on the lake go fishing enjoy life.
The US Navy would control you for the next 20 years telling you where to go and what to do. Sure the retirement pay is nice and the medical, but depending on where they send you … you might not even make it to retirement.
Submarines is a volunteer thing and you have to be nuke (nuclear trained) to qualify.
You sound a bit romantic … Good luck find a rich woman and enjoy all the benefits
I didn’t mean in the sense of being up-to-date on logistics practices, but rather leadership-trained and used to dealing with a lot more responsibility and scale than you would in a civilian job at the same age.
Go ahead and take your certification exam. Any civilian certs or diplomas help when it comes to promotion time in the Navy. You wont spend 20 on a ship doing IW. You will be expected to hold staff positions and hold some kind of command slots along the way. As well as the continuing education expected of Officers.
Like any decision, choosing the Navy isn’t permanent. Nothing says you have to stay for 20. Go in, prepare to stay the minimum and be open to staying 20 or more. Even with 3-5 years active duty as an officer, you will be much more marketable in the contractor community afterward. And you can always choose to remain in the reserves.
Thank you all for the important information I wouldn’t have thought to ask questions about.
Glazer,
I agree that going ahead and passing the CSCP exam will be beneficial either way since it covers so many areas relevant to the operations of any organization. I would go as far as to say it covers about as many topics as two graduate-level business classes based on the study guides and approximately 1,000 practice questions provided by APICS.
Dallas Jones,
Sound advice. The Logistics/Supply Chain Management field would still be around and larger than ever later on.
Psychopants,
Makes sense. If need be, joining the Navy Reserves later on seems like a very reasonable commitment.
