Hello everyone I'm a non-rate and have my name on the IS a-school list but my XPO brought to my attention the fact that OS is growing and critical. I really wanted an opportunity to try some afloat billets which most likely won't happen with IS anytime in the near future.
My main question that I was hoping maybe some of you who lateralled over would be able to help me with: what does each job typically do? I know OS usually involves a lot of watchstanding and radar but that's really all I know about it.
Unfortunately being at a small boat station I don't have any OS/IS nearby to ask. My XPO is trying to see if I can go basically "jobshadow" at some point but that's always iffy.
Any information to help me make a decision would be helpful!
SN Wakefield, my first question would be what small boat station are you at? I will send you some info via email on each rate. There are underway billets for IS now on the NSC's. More to come availble in the future I am sure.
I am also a non-rate, looking for some IS information. Can someone let me know what an IS typically does? Maybe not the textbook answer, but an answer based on personal experiences. IS rate looks interesting, but with it being new, I havent been able to find much information about it. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Originally posted by SU2006: If you plan on staying in CG for 20 go OS. If you plan on getting out go IS. Advancement is better for OS; jobs on the outside are better for IS.
Not sure that I agree with that. IS2 and OS2 are both on the ORL, and not like the IS rating has been around long enough to determine any trends regarding advancement. We're less than a year old for goodness sake! Actually percentage wise the IS rating had larger billet growth in FY2009 than OS.
Stay for 20 if you want to, stay for 4 if you want to. Do something you like while you're here. If that's IS, OS, FS. or MK...go have some fun.
IS is a small rating! Historically most small ratings have slow advancement. IT, HS, AST, AET, AMT, PA, FS are all smaller ratings and all slow advancement. Just judging by the facts, IS will more than likely have slow advancemet compared to OS.
Originally posted by SU2006: IS is a small rating! Historically most small ratings have slow advancement. IT, HS, AST, AET, AMT, PA, FS are all smaller ratings and all slow advancement. Just judging by the facts, IS will more than likely have slow advancemet compared to OS.
Not to get in a pi--ing match here, but I would like to know what "facts" you are going by. I'm not saying you are incorrect, just defend your statement with cited facts please.
Go to the monthly advancements portion of PSC's website and read through 5 months and see how many E-6 and E-7's they make in those ratings. Try and find a PA1 whose made it in 4yrs.
The bottom line, SN Wakefield, is afloat and advancement are going to be difficult no matter which rate you choose. There are still OS' scrambling to get Seatime so they can advance, and IS does have sea going billets though it is not required to advance. If you are a hard charger, you will do well. You should do whatever you are interested in, if you are into SAR, knowing what's going on, rubbing elbows and giving having your opinins heard by decision makers and policy writers, go OS. If you want to make a difference on a national level, knowing what others could not know, rubbing elbows with people in every agency in the Intel Community, go IS. Your XPO can only so much, your self-motivation and initiative are what is going to get you far.Take it from me, I made PO1 with only 2 years, 9 months of Time in Service. Good Luck
Originally posted by SU2006: IS is a small rating! Historically most small ratings have slow advancement. IT, HS, AST, AET, AMT, PA, FS are all smaller ratings and all slow advancement. Just judging by the facts, IS will more than likely have slow advancemet compared to OS.
Here is where you lost that arguement: AMT is the 4th largest rating in the CG, right behind OS. FS is 8th, AET 9th, to stay in the top half size wise, all above 1000. IT and HS are both about 700. AST at 352, IS at 283 and PA at 78 are 'small'.
As to your reply, about 'how many they make' that is irrelevant unless you compare it to the population of the grade to which advancing in those ratings. For instance, making 132 BM1s is 'slower' advancement than making 8 IS1s. Those numbers would fill slightly less than 10% of the BM1 billets and slightly more than 10% of the IS1 billets.
When you take away surges of advancements due to billet growths, most ratings are very close in the 'numbers' they advance.
Right now I would call the lack of advancement as an IS incorrect. Maybe in a few years it will get locked up as small rates tend to do more than large rates. However for now I do not believe that this is happening currently because the IS rating is one of the fastest growing rate's at the moment. For example when the rating stood up we had 37 Chiefs. 5 new E-7 billets were created for 2009 and right now the cut for advancement to E-7 next year is at 11. That is not including the number of E-6 and below billets created just the E-7's. That is almost 14 percent rate growth. Out of the 37 or so IS1's taking the service wide for advancement to E-7 that is 30 percent of them getting above the cut for ISC before the year even begins. I have not compared it to OS but I would guess that we are comparable in percentages of people making it to the next highest pay grade. bottom line is that you should not look at raw numbers but the percentages they represent for comparison.
Now in the future this might change. Depending on how "happy" people are in the rating there may be periods where there is a large time between retirments after the growth levels out. I would expect that the downturn in the economy might assist with this as well as more people stay in for the security blanket of a military paycheck. however, this will eventually be corrected down the road when a large group retires at the same time and the rating is wide open for a while. This happened in the late 90's early 2000's with the RD rating.
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I'm a non-rate and have my name on the IS a-school list but my XPO brought to my attention the fact that OS is growing and critical. I really wanted an opportunity to try some afloat billets which most likely won't happen with IS anytime in the near future.
