Career Possibilities — Service Selection
A career as a Naval Officer offers challenges not often enjoyed by new college graduates. Even before commissioning, a midshipman is given a set of unique experiences during summer cruises. The summation of these experiences helps the soon-to-be commissioned officer to decide on a specific warfare community within the Navy to make their career. Approximately six to nine months before graduation, midshipmen supply the Navy with a list of ranked preferences. According to the midshipman's overall performance and ranking (both academic and military), and the needs of the Navy, assignments to warfare communities are made. The following career areas are available to an officer commissioned from Georgia Tech NROTC:
- Naval Aviator
- Naval Flight Officer
- Surface Warfare Officer
- Submarine Officer
- Special Warfare (SEALs)
- Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD)
- Marine Corps
- Nurse Corps
(only at Georgia State University)
You are also provided the opportunity very early in your career to change specialties and pursue other specific careers in the Navy. Keep in mind that the Navy operates in a rapidly changing world and the focus of NROTC training is to prepare officers for service in a man-of-war. The number of appointments to the above designators changes with each fiscal quarter of the year. Selection for the choice duty communities is very competitive.
Service Commitments
The basic commitment for a midshipman accepting a commission as an officer out of NROTC is four years active duty and four years inactive duty. Acceptance of certain career designations requires longer active duty commitments. Pilots, for example, are obligated to seven or eight years after they receive their wings. Winging usually takes around two years; therefore, Navy pilots are essentially required to provide nine to ten years of active duty service. The nuclear power programs also incur longer active duty obligations.