GOLD! [Archive] - NavySEALs.com Forums

SPEARS

04-06-2006, 08:02 AM

I have a quick question for any SWCC members and would like above all opinions on the subject, for I have yet to get an answer.

Why are there currently no officers in SWCC and why do you have to go threw BUD/s to become an officer in the USN special operations community? Also do you think that there will ever be officers in SWCC and when that time comes will the SWCC trident be Gold?? Also how far off do u see this happening if at all?

Thank you sincerely,
SPEARS

Kinnikinik

04-12-2006, 03:51 PM

SPEARS,

Thanks for hanging with me. I finally got some time to answer questions.

First off, good thread here (sorry for the offsite link) http://www.socnetcentral.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-36540.html

You seem to have a vested interest in this question. To tell you the truth, I do too. During a recent trip to San Diego I talked to some people about it and here are the reasons I was able to gather.

1. Congress only gives a certain number of officer slots per year. Creating more officer slots (or rebilleting SEAL billets for SWCC) would take an act of Congress (pun intended).

2. The SWCC community is too small to support their own Officer corps. Without certain landmark billets open to officers, career progression will be extremely limited.

3. There are already 1110 Billeted officers at the SWCC Teams (not so much anymore) who are SWO and (for argument's sake) it is a career killer.

4. Warrant Officers are a good step towards having SWCC Officers. As SWCC numbers increase, look for LDO's and then finally SWCC officers.

So, there you are, those are the arguements.

What needs to happen so that SWCC can become Unrestricted Line Officers with a SWCC speciality?

Primarily, you need to demonstrate a career path that takes you to the Flag Officer ranks. There also needs to be a shown desire from the community that this should happen. I believe there is, but it is hard to get the message to the people who can make the changes.

Part 2 of this will be my solution since a Chief once told me, never bring problems to me unless you have a solution.

I will cover:

Where will the bodies and career critical billets come from?

Why does SWCC need officers?

How do you build this? Where do you get the initial crop and what qualifications do they need? (This is a special problem)

What is the backlash between the SWCC and the SEAL community and how can you minimize this? Are the problems worth the effort?

I welcome all input from around the community in this discussion. One thing to note, I will not allow this to decend into a flame war about SWCC vs. SEALs, or allow whining. If you want to do that, go somewhere else. I am looking for constructive criticism and intelligent conversation about this. Trolls will be killed on sight.