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Old 10-21-2015, 09:56 AM   #10
KaLinux
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jabONE View Post
I hope everything works out for you. If I were in your position I would take ET and pick up E-5 then try to convert over in a couple years. Cyber is growing and will be a huge part of the Navy's future. Sorry you have had to wait so long to get what you want with no luck. I actually am one of those E-3s converting over that your talking about. You know what they say, "Choose your rate, choose your fate." I came into the Navy 4 years ago wanting to be a Nuke but duse to politics I did not get it and I am thankful for that now. After getting denied Nuke, I wanted to be a CTN as my recruiter was a CTM and had talked to me about the CTN path. Well it was not available at MEPS and instead of pushing harder for it, I settled for HM. Fast forward 4 years later and I am an E-3 with no NJPs or any trouble at all for that matter and I have scored fairly well on my advancement exams. Because HM advancement is so tough, I have ended up missing E-4 by just a few points the last 4 cycles. I am fortunate enough that I got the opportunity to convert to something I have wanted to do for the last 4 years ago. Don't get me wrong, HM is a great rate with a very honorable history but it just isn't and never was for me. Sincerely though, this may be the opportunity you get at coming back into the Navy so I would jump on it and try a conversion later. I wish you the best of luck and maybe we will see each other out in the fleet sometime.
Wow, your story sounds similar to mine. The thing is, I was fortunate to experience many different faces of the Navy but I was hindered throughout my tenure. I came in as a PNSN which then became PS. Advancement to PS3 was between 0.3% to 7% for my first 6 exams. During that time I was stationed on CV-67 working as a temporary MA. I was an MA for 16 months then went to the next ship working as a PS. While on this ship the Navy wanted to try and transition PSs to shore duty, PCSing most of us off the ship. This didn't work out so they PCS us back to the ship right before cruise. Due to the crappy advancement, I chose the most open rate at the time...AE (FTS). I go to P-Cola, then PCS'd up to NAS JRB Willow Grow. Made E-4 first time up. While in WG, we find out that they're finally gonna shut the base down. Base gets shut down and I PCS'd down to NAS Jax. While here, advancement to AE2 is less that 15% the entire time I was there. 8 years, 5 duty stations, 4 different rates (voluntarily worked with LS's and BM's at different commands), quals ranging from SRF-A to Helmsman. Never been to DRB (two Good Conducts), no NAMs and I've only seen one EP eval..my separation eval. So I've been very adamant about doing things a specific way my next go round. I just need to make E-5 lol. That's been my obstacle for the longest time. Sad thing is, I have until February to learn the ET bibs while also studying for computer networking certifications out here. Whereas, had I been able to go CTN, I would just have to brush up on a couple languages because I'm literally getting my bachelors in Computing and Security and already have a well rounded knowledge base in this particular realm.

Sorry for the bio lol.
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