Surface Warfare

Surface Warfare Officer - How to Best Prepare to be a SWO

How to Best Prepare Yourself for SWO

Be Curious: Talk to SWOs on the Yard, find mentors to provide career advice, ask questions and remain engaged over summer trainings, and look for opportunities to discuss professional knowledge with those senior and junior in rank.
Engage with the Community: Attend SWO events at USNA including SWOcials and join clubs like Surface Navy Association or Yard Patrol Craft Squadron.
Test your Leadership: The SWO community uniquely allows junior officers the fastest pipeline to leading Sailors as a Division Officer. Prepare yourself for this responsibility through leadership positions at USNA. Whether the position is through a sports team, club, company or at the Brigade Level, they all teach valuable time management, communication, and problem solving skills.
Be Brilliant in the Basics: Work hard as a Midshipman and achieve a minimum of a satisfactory rating in every mission area: moral, mental, and physical. Competitive scores on the PRT, higher grades, and positive company rankings contribute to a higher likelihood of receiving your desired service assignment of SWO.

Homeport, Platform, Ship Schedule Briefs: SWO Selects have the oppurtunity to attend various briefs which will enable them to make an informed decision at Ship Selection Night.
SWO Community Dinner: Directly before Ship Selection occurs, SWO Selects are able to converse with qualified SWOs ranging from Shore Tour Lieutenants to Post Command Captains to discuss last minute platform and homeport choices and receive additional advice and recommendations.
Ship Selection Night: This event allows SWO Selects to choose their desired platform and homeport based on overall order of merit. This is the only opportunity for soon-to-be officers to select their first duty station in their careers! Once they have chosen their ship, many Midshipmen will get the opportunity to meet their future leadership.

SWO Practicum: All SWO Selects will take the SWO Practicum course during the Spring Semester where they will learn the basics of what is means to be a SWO. This information will signifiantly prepare all students for what's to come during BDOC and OOD Phase I!
PERS-41: The mission of PERS-41 is to provide military members the opportunity to manage their careers through personal military goals, a guideline for the response to fleet needs, as well as matching talent to tasks within each job description. During SWO Practicum, SWO Selects will provide information for orders promulgation which will be given to PERS-41 who will then issue orders in a rolling timeline. Follow PERS-41 on social media (Facebook & Instagram) to see the latest in community updates!