There’s an SF type who once was a non-SF officer, got out, and then came back in as an enlisted man at, like, 45 years old. Became an ‘A’ Team operator and received the DSC or some other high-ranking award for snake-eating activities at the age of 47. Now THAT dude is born-again hard!1
T.
I’m good friends with his team commander (who got a SS).
What a bunch of stud warriors. If civilians really knew the jobs most of these operators carry out with seeming ease and regularity, they’d shit themselves and turn green with envy 
T.
the DT and HM rate have merged.
Use to be your IDC’s and PMT’s were taking up the bulk of the advancements due to those schools basically covering all aspects of the advancement exam. Now days, its still the IDC’s with your 8404’s catching up quickly. Being shot at scores serious points in my book. As an HM as well and having spent the first 5 years of my navy career as a grunt, I say promote the devil docs.
Us HM deep sea divers fair well too, but that is because we are smart, damn good looking and go deeper and stay longer. We have our shit-birds too, just like every other rate.
No more HYT’s. The Navy is booting people now. Fail 3 PT test and your gone. They are also doing what they are calling a “Continuation Board” in Sept. This basically boils down to: Any E-7/8/9 over 20 that is in a overmanned rate, will be looked at. They want to dump about 1200 khakis. The only exceptions are: Divers, SEALS, EOD, CMC’s with the CMC NEC, and the NUCS. Trying to drop those “retired on active duty” peeps.
Right now, the only HYT’s give nout are for SEALS and EOD types. But usally dont have to worry about them, because they all make it up to E-6 and E-6 can go 20 years.
Still as follows:
E-6 20 years
E-7 24 years
E-8 26 years
E-9 30 years
You beat me to CPO. I made it in 12.5 ( first time up) SCPO in 15.5 (second time up) and E-9 at 18, First time up. All with four captains masts as well! HOOYAH DEEP SEA!
Remember this one: “The Marine Corps already has their Few Good Men, NAVY CORPSMAN”
PS…I just went over 28 yesterday. And I think its time to go. Going to get out next year at 29. IT will actually be 29 1/2. I am still enjoying it very much, but I would rather be home with my 5 y/o (6 on monday) son. I have dreams of helping out at his school, hangin with those young MILF types. I am sure the spousal unit will dig that…
the DT and HM rate have merged.
Use to be your IDC’s and PMT’s were taking up the bulk of the advancements due to those schools basically covering all aspects of the advancement exam. Now days, its still the IDC’s with your 8404’s catching up quickly. Being shot at scores serious points in my book. As an HM as well and having spent the first 5 years of my navy career as a grunt, I say promote the devil docs.
Us HM deep sea divers fair well too, but that is because we are smart, damn good looking and go deeper and stay longer. We have our shit-birds too, just like every other rate.
You just named every one of my Corpsman NECs. I went to PMT school (8432) nearly thirty-two years ago, Recon and SOT training (8492) a couple years later and then IDC (8425) after that. Later on, instructor school at NOB Norfolk for a stint back in Portsmouth, VA training other prospective IDC students. I had my eyes firmly fixed on a commission and a middling and mediocre career as an officer (hahaha!). My plan worked great, too. Especially the mediocre officer part
All of us back then knew the way to get those advancement points and a halleluja at the Chief’s board was to be in a diver/combat frogman/IDC/green machine environment. And it’s good to see the Navy isn’t letting the FOD type sailors hang around, too. That really clogs up the downstream advancement for everybody. I spent an officer tour as Inspector-Instructor for a Marine medical battalion, and I had to boot plenty of HYT Marine E-5s. They used to look at my R.O.A.D. Navy E-5s, all of whom were able to stay for 20 back then, and get seriously ticked off. “Born again, hard” ain’t just a saying with the Green Machine, it seems.
I love the Captain’s Masts/Office Hours thing. Warms my heart to know there’s still a place in the military for young, incorrigible (but harmless) screw-ups. I had a young Corpsman with me in Desert Storm who I had previously whacked hard at company office hours. He was a frocked E-4, “borrowed” a fellow sailor’s ATM card and took out 50 bucks. We caught him, and I had him down to E-2 in a heartbeat. Yet, he earned an SS over there for an incredible act of bravery. He came back from Kuwait a new man. And has made it up to E-8, so far. Yup. I hear the “Few Good Men” thing lots of times. When I was a Corpsman, I used to tell my guys that MARINE stood for “My Ass Rides In Navy Equipment” I always wondered why they never yucked it up with me
T.
You beat me to CPO. I made it in 12.5 ( first time up) SCPO in 15.5 (second time up) and E-9 at 18, First time up. All with four captains masts as well! HOOYAH DEEP SEA!
29 1/2 Bravo!
You beat me on the captins mast I got 2 in 6yrs (1977-83).Could have been more as a BT snipe it was real easy to screw up.We would have to pop tall in front of the BT MCPO sometimes down in the hole or in front of other CPO’s in the damn goat locker. He would deal with it instead of sending one of his bilge rats above the 0-1 level.
Thanks, all. Especially the PMs. Through a friend of a friend, I connected with a retired Army SF soldier who is active in the retired special forces foundation (I forget what it’s called). He knows a bunch of Colorado SF guys (active and retired) and is helping this kid out. I have always respected SF operators … now, even more so.
If I was 20 again …
You beat me on the captins mast I got 2 in 6yrs (1977-83).Could have been more as a BT snipe it was real easy to screw up.We would have to pop tall in front of the BT MCPO sometimes down in the hole or in front of other CPO’s in the damn goat locker. He would deal with it instead of sending one of his bilge rats above the 0-1 level.
My C.C. in bootcamp at GLAKES was a BTC. Inhaled about 4 packs of smokes a day in our compartment, too. A real salty bastard. I was only ship’s company once – all the other times I was part of an amphib-type unit of one sort or another – and I always got a laugh out of when the snipes came up from the engineering spaces, blinking slowing, trying to adjust to all the bright lights and fresh air
I did a Great Lakes cruise once as the junior doc on an old Gearing Class tin can (the regular guy broke his leg falling down drunk over at the ‘E’ club and I got tagged for TAD for it). The engineers were working 24/7 just to get that propulsion plant up-and-running and staying running. We sold it to the Mexicans not long after we got it back to Newport, RI. It was a real shitbox.
T.