<p>Seniors get ship assignments</p>
<p>Published in the Annapolis Capital:</p>
<p>
[quote]
For four years they have waited.</p>
<p>For four years they have trained, and studied, and prepared.</p>
<p>And now all 1,032 seniors at the Naval Academy know exactly where they will be heading after graduation....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Wow. So they now pick SWO and then their ships on separate occaisions? That's a new twist...</p>
<p>I understand USMA does similar thing in separating the selection of first assigned location from area of service ... infantry, armour, MP, etc. Is theirs a long-standing practice or recent like USNA appears to be.</p>
<p>I use "recent" out of respect for our youthful resident war horses, GA & Z boy</p>
<p><waves his="" gnarly="" fist="" defiantly="" while="" leaning="" on="" walker=""></waves></p>
<p>I'lls get you, yous young whippersnapper! </p>
<p>Where's my Geritol, eh?</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>From what I understand, many of the ships being selected send a rep with ball caps etc to give to the Mids as soon as they've made their selection. The past couple of years it's been done in Memorial Hall...large boards on easels with the names of the homeports and ships, as the future SWO's number is called, they go up to the board and take off the ship of their choice. It seemed like most ships had multiple slots.</p>
<p>Just to give you the BTDT perspective:</p>
<p>In our case, we went down to Smoke Hall. Sure enough, there was a huge board with magnetic plaquards on it. Each plaquard had a ship's name on it, and they were organized by home port. Many ships had more than one billet available (mine had two).</p>
<p>If you got there too late (Order of Merit), and there were no more billets in your desired home port, or if a desired class of ship was gone, or a particular ship was gone, you were SOL. In my day, the first ships to go where the Navy hydrofoils down in Key West, followed by the then-brand-new ARLEIGH BURKE.</p>
<p>Each Mid would walk up, pull a plaquard down, and walk over to a table where the detailers prepared the paperwork. Once the paperwork was signed, we each got a ships picture (signed by the CO of the ship), a ballcap, and a brochure/booklet on the ship. We were congratulated and led back into the hall.</p>
<p>In most cases the Mids celebrated. In others (like mine), we went back to our rooms, turned off the overheads, and sat there hating life. Sometimes we did it in groups. STUDY, PEOPLE! :mad:</p>
<p>At any rate, a few days or weeks later you would receive a letter from the CO of the ship you selected advising you of what billet you would be filling upon arrival. In my case it was Communications Officer. Shortly thereafter, we got our orders to SWOS and to whatever follow-on schools were needed.</p>
<p>Presto-chango, and that was it. We graduated and arrived at SWOS on our designated dates. I remember having some choice as to when to begin SWOS, but I DON'T remember when or how that choice was made. It was while still at USNA, though.</p>
<p>I imagine this all works in a somewhat similar fashion today, with minor changes.</p>