Joining the Navy!

The_Matelot

Joining the navy was the best thing i ever did with my life. I joined up as a rating (aircraft engineer) because im not intelligent (or spechial! Lol!) enough to join as officer. it is good, apart from our jet and carrier being scrapped so i now have to find another aircraft, and i wouldnt be looking at promotion after 3 1/2 years anywhere else! Only thing i'd be cautious of is all the cutbacks and redundancies are making waiting times hefty!

P.s zenmaster..... Your dits are !!!!!! and no one is interested

Vixstar

On the officer entry route you can join as a Warfare Officer (initially responsible for driving the ship but eventually working up to navigating or fighting the ship and from there to Command) after completing A levels - with this I believe there is an opportunity to gain a foundation degree through the Naval COllege.
As a Weapon Engineer she will have to complete an Engineering degree (although some other science based degrees are acceptable) prior to joining the Naval College. There are still a few opportunities for the Navy to give an amount of sponsorship whilst doing the degree. Weapon Engineer officers are responsible for managing the Weapons, Sensors and comms equpimnet on board. The hands on work is done by the engineering technicians.
For both routes she will have to pass an AIB.
Transferring to Officer as a rating is not guaranteed, so if she wants to be an officer and has or is likely to have the right qualifications then direct officer entry is safest.
There are also two separtae types of ratings Warfare branch and Engineering Technician. It would be best to do a bit of research into each area if she wishes to join as a rating so she makes an informed decision as transferring between branches is exceptionally tricky and even more so with the current SDSR.

Fergie76

Vixstar wrote: »

There are also two separtae types of ratings Warfare branch and Engineering Technician.

Is there???

I'm not a Warfare rating or an ET.

Vixstar

Sorry didn't put that too well - there are obviously a lot more options - what I meant was if she was interested in Weapons or Warfare then the two branches she could look at if she wished to join as a rating would be Warfare or ET. Someone earlier had seemed to imply that the two were still linked or you could cross over at some point.

Didn't mean to cause any ill feeling.