Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 10/7/2010

Question
 Mr. Howell, Ive been skimming through this website and you seem to be very knowledgeable on a number of subjects. Im looking for some general guidance and a step in the right direction as my situation is getting a little "out of hand" to say the least. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.
 
 I am an active duty sailor with just over 3 years service. I initially wanted to join the USMC however I did not finish high school, and have only a GED which made enlisting in the Marine Corps very difficult. I instead joined the Navy with a SWCC contract, I was also told a few things- that I would be able to choose a different rate should I not make it through the SWCC program and that my 24 month extension would be canceled for the same reason. Long story short, I fell short of completion during BCT(Basic Crewman Training) resulting in a DOR(drop on request).

 I was in the holding command for bud/s & swcc drops for several months. During which I tried to enter into two A schools Intelligence Specialist(IS) and Coreman(HM). Both times I was unsuccessful and given poor excuses by the people in charge of career reassignment as to why they couldn’t get me into said A schools. There were almost 400 people in holding at the time so I assume not everybody can get lucky. So instead of an a-school I was given a quick course on painting and sweeping(SCC) and cut orders to the fleet undesignated.

 During deployment once I had hit my one year mark I became eligible to go to an "a school" from my command which I was denied due to our department being severely undermanned. Still being enthusiastic about the military I decided to suck it up and do my time, and pick a rate if able. I then learned that my 24 month extension had never been dropped so I routed a chit to make it happen. It went up the chain of command and had to go to PSD afloat for final approval. To my surprise it was denied under the clause "Extension cancellations are only entertained at no fault of the member". I was under the assumption that this more referred to incidents where people are kicked out, not DOR'S. I looked it up in MILPERSMAN 1160-040 but it was hard to get a clear answer.

 In summary: At this point I am at a complete loss as what to do with myself or my career. I've been in for three years and I am still undesignated with no hope of picking a rate in the near future as my ship is decommissioning and we are getting no new people. I have become disgusted with myself and have lost all faith in the Navy. I just want to serve in a more traditional branch of the military, but that too seems like an impossibility now that I have another 24 month sentence of painting and sweeping ahead of me. I fear that I will stop caring completely and get kicked out, ruining my chances at another branch. Something is very wrong here, I am getting little to no help from my command and I don’t know where to turn. Thank you for your time and I hope this doesn’t come off as a long list of complaints and gripes from a disgruntled Deck monkey.  

Answer
Paul,

If you even made the cut for SWCC training you must be in incredible shape.   I envy you for that.  Training school for Boat Guys is one of the most difficult in the world.
Your being assigned as a deck ape is based upon the needs of the Navy, as I’m sure you’ve heard many times.  Those that do not complete SWCC training usually are assigned to SCC, MA, Corpsman or Culinary Specialist.  So yours was purely luck of the draw as to which of these 4 rates needed people.
I understand your frustration.   Some of the saddest, most miserable people I ever met in the Navy were deck apes.  All Undesignated Seamen complete Surface Common Core (SCC) Basic Maintenance Training.  You chip paint, clean, paint the stuff you chipped, polish brass (bright work), do general working party stuff, store loads, and generally do all the crap jobs aboard the ship.  On the other hand, some of the most motivated sailors I’ve seen came out of the deck division.  Some even made E-5 within one year of leaving deck division.

Why are you disgusted with yourself?  You’ve done nothing wrong.  You do not necessarily have a 24 month sentence of painting and sweeping ahead of you.  You may be allowed to strike for an "A" school after a certain amount of time, but I’m not surprised that your immediate chain of command drug their feet.  Why give up a good worker?  For a guy who's looking to strike out of deck, the more you are qualified for, the better you will look in front of the board.  Undesignated Seamen usually do well on these boards, and also on promotion boards, because being part of deck department means you are trained in many facets of the ship and can face anything the Navy can throw at you.

One of the benefits of being undesignated is that you are able to see what and where each job is performed and talk with individuals from most rates to learn even more about them.  Choose a rating you like and make friends with some of those guys.  They can give you some pointers and good advice.  Then you can begin the process of striking or requesting "A" school for the job of your choice (provided you qualify).
Quite often supervisors don’t feel like they can spare guys from deck to go to other divisions to pick up a rate. In that case, you can still strike out, but you do it on your own time after you've stood your deck watches for the day and completed whatever work your deck division has for you.  If you don't push yourself harder than 90% of your peers, you may very well find yourself getting out of the Navy after 4 years, still as an Undesignated Seaman.

It's important to do your best and take advantage of every situation you are in so you can continue to succeed throughout your career, whether it's in deck or not.

Remember the old expression, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”?  Become that squeaky wheel.  You can strike for an "A" school several times, so do so.

Send a short, concise, personal letter explaining your situation to the ship’s legal officer, with copies to the ship’s Master Chief (or equivalent), the ship’s chaplain, the ship’s XO, the ship’s captain, and the PSD afloat.
At the bottom of the letter indicate that you’ve sent copies to each of the others.  If after a month you get no response, send it again.  Somebody will eventually send you a reply.  Believe me it works.  As an 0-6 I’ve received many letters from an E-1and I’m duty bound to reply.  Most of the time your ship’s captain has no inkling as to what’s going on at your level.  The more he’s informed the better he can make intelligent decisions and investigate your plight.

Please don’t stop caring and don’t give up on the Navy.  Remember, being a deck ape is also being part of the NAVY TEAM, and everybody’s important.

Not everyone completes SWCC training, as you’ve seen.  Just the fact that you qualified means you have passed a tough screening, making you a competitor.  Like Olympic competitors, only few will ever medal, in fact only 3 in any one event.  Those that don't medal, have an advantage over many that are not Olympic competitors, they have learned how to focus on a goal.  As a competitor, you know how to focus on an objective.  Capitalize on these skills and you can take these skills anywhere in life and even to another assignment in another military Service.
Thanks for serving.  Please let me know how it goes for you.
Colonel H