What is Expected of a Warfare Officer?

As the title suggests....

I'm at uni, third year, plan on attending some form of officer academy in Jan 2010 - choices inculde Sandhurst and RTR/AAC route, or my preferred option of BRNC and FAA/Warfare officer.

Now I know what I will be doing in the Army - being a TA ocdt. FAA pilot I'm also researching, but when it comes to the duties of a Warfare Officer on a ship, i'm pretty clueless, and was wondering if anyone could give me an outline of what they get up to?

(one other question, sort of linked, will they ever participate in boarding actions or is that left solely to RM?)

 

Quote "I'm pretty clueless", suspect you will be my DO in due course.

 

Warfare officers dont do boardings shipmate. Usually Young seaman officers been carried by a SNCO

 

Warfare Officers, when employed in the boarding officer role, as the name implies, carry out boardings.

 

sea time & loads of it (not much use for anything else really !) :thumright:

 

Oooh you old sparker dinosaur!!!!! Seaman Officers were renamed Warfare Officers years ago.

For the OP - Boarding Officer on FF/DD are volunteers and can be from any branch. It's generally recommended that they are not junior Warfare Officers as this will inevitably take them away from the bridge watchbill. Usually if a ship is deployed in a region where it will be expected to carry out regular boardings it will have an RM detachment embarked who will board and secure a vessel. Once it has been secured the Ship's own boarding team then carry out the search and document checks etc.

Fishery protection boardings are a different scenario and Warfare Officers may find themselves being trained as Sea Fisheries Officers by MAFF or DEFRA or whatever they're called

 

That is true the Warfare Officers carry out boardings. The Skipper, XO and Guns are the officers that do the boardings with an ABO which is usually a YO if any one board, the Coxswain, Writer or Steward.

 

You'll be among friends then, and with people of equal intelligence.
:cyclopsani:

 

Warfare Lts like to be referred to as Lt OMs.

What do they do? As little as they can truly get away with then talk up the fact that they are really busy doing those four hours on the bridge each day. Must be hard.

Personally I couldn't do watch keeping. I genuinely couldn't afford the time off.

SF

 

You'd be expected to fit in with the rest of the dabbers in the wardroom, snooty and pompus will get you a long way.

 

During an NGS, have the procedural BR open at your ops desk, read it out word for word, line by line on command comms for everyone to hear. As soon as “Foul Blind†is called, go back to the beginning of the BR procedures….. repeat about 5 times.

After 5 attempts, shout “For fcuks sake†on command comms and start again, publicly berate the OOW for not being exactly on the gunline and start from the BR again.

Once Command approval is given shout “45 engage†and complete NGS. On completion, confirm to the ships company that you are indeed a complete and utter tool, by having a brass plaque, with “GUNS†engraved on it, stuck to your cabin door.

During an ADEX publicly berate the MD for switching SeaWolf to auto to engage 8 simultaneous inbound tracks (splash all 8), ignore advice from WE Dept about the impossibility of engaging said tracks manually. On the repeat raid, MD manually splashes 4 tracks, tell the MD “If he can’t take the heat get out of the kitchenâ€.

On completion of draft, take your insufferable arrogance with you (and your fcuking plaque) get appointed to FOST and result, you get to transfer all your “skills†to your peers.

 

I know him lol

 

Quality, straight from the PWO's training manual

 

Are you trying to say that you are currently an officer cadet in the TA? Or are you OTC? Also, warfare and aircrew are two very different specialisations - you should think about which you one you want to pursue, and why. AOSB are slightly more lenient than AIB in that if you pass, you go to Sandhurst, and you can go (within the age limits) whenever you want. An AIB pass does not guarantee you entry to Dartmouth, the senior service (particularly at this time) can be picky with both the officers and to some extent the ratings it reruits. This is because, many people, like yourself, are opting against the army for fear of getting their legs blown off in afghan/iraq and are opting for the RN instead.
If daddy was an army officer, I would sugest going to AOSB, you will not flunk it if you are of "good breeding". AIB is competency based however, so if you are sh*te you will not pass.

 

Ocdt in the TA - third year of uni, was OTC for my first, rapidly got fed up with it. 'Daddy's' a civilian engineer - in fact the last person in my family who was in the military was my Grandfather (REME, Cpl). Its all off my own back and (apparent) ability, and I very much doubt AIB is harder - I have several friends here at university that have done both - different, more mentally challenging than physically, but no harder overall is the consensus. Also, i'm fairly sure that if some of them can pass, I can.

My choice's between Army and the RN has nothing whatsoever to do with not wanting my 'legs blown off' and I resent that accusation, frankly, - i'd just rather fly, and I'd rather do it with the Navy as I think there is a greater breadth of choice in what and where it is possible. I've discounted the RAF, as my (albeit limited) experience with that service hasn't impressed me much, whereas the RN has very much so, as has, obviously, the Army.

I want to go FAA, and that is what I will persue as my main effort, but as the careers officer pointed out, it won't hurt putting down Warfare officer as a second choice as it's always good to keep my options open.

And as you probably know, the flying aptitude tests come before AIB, so i'll know beforehand which career path i'll want to take, no?

Leading me back to why I asked the above question - I'd like to know more about the Warfare officers job, from people actually in the service as opposed to a glossy pamphlet handed to me by a recruiter.

*unclamps teeth*

 

oooh - we wouldn't want to spoil the surprise............

 

Awwww go on, please! Pretty pretty please?

At least continue with the young officer bashing, its amusing at least. Far as I can tell, YO's seem to be the same the world over, regardless of country or service. Clueless (makes me so proud)

 

Pls see PMs in your account..

 

Something must have gone wrong at some stage then, because I disagree with your last statement through many years of experience. :thumright:

No matter what, a rating or an officer some sh*te still gets through the filter and enters the RN.