unfortunately, I can't give the answers as to how many degrees are completed. I know that many of the folks I work with are getting college courses completed all the time. We are lucky in that we- the navy- have longer periods of time at home than the army, God bless them, and even underway we often have college instructors to teach some lower level stuff. Even the service schools I have been to are good for a few college credits, and my rank is also good for credit. Of course, most of the degrees will be completed while the sailor is on shore duty. The fact remains, however, that the services are seriously pushing their people toward degrees, which is a HUGE quality of life issue. In fact, they support many unconventional methods for college credit- home study, on-line courses, weekend courses, etc. It is quite an exciting time to be on active duty and get to watch, firsthand, how these things affect our way of doing business.

Also, while we are on the subject of an all volunteer force, one must consider the fact that our living conditions have improved by leaps and bounds. The barracks that our single sailors live in are top notch- a lesson we finally learned from the Air force (lol)- in fact, they look like efficiency apartments. Our facilities are getting better every year- we actually have a state- of- the- art gymn on board this ship! We have a weight room, and several cardio- type gymns available- on board the ship!!

I'll try to find some numbers on re-enlistments: first and subsequent. I have 15 years in and am about to re-up for the last five. The navy has recently instituted a program called 'Perform To Serve.' This program is for first termers to be given the opportunity to change rates so that they can better make rank. (Some jobs are way overmanned and their advancement suffers as a result.) So, no, we don't have people beating a path to the recruiter, but we are most assuredly in a position to be selective in our hiring practices. I would definitely say that the days of "Join the service or go to jail" are over. And, believe it or not, their are quite a few "rich kids" in the service.

 

darn fatal errors!!

 

Thank you for your devoted service, and Semper Fi my Navy Brother. Good to see folks like you still out there.

Dan Q

 

Well said Dan. And thank you for the info Stu.