The time is drawing near for me to cast the butterbars aside with a hearty “Adieu!” and move on to bigger and better things. More accurately, move on to silver things of the same size and shape.
I’ve recently had a bit of a shopping spree at the NEX uniform shop. I’m already set for shoulder boards, but I needed to fill out the rest of the set. I have enough NWU blouses set aside to finish off my ENS days, but the rest are already with the tailors, along with my SDB and SDW jackets. I have all my shiny new LTJG bling and a brand new LTJG 8-point cover which never had to roll around in the SUYA compliments of OCS.
Then the announcement came: Fall uniform swap is upon us; SDB inspection next week.
Wait. My SDBs are at the tailors. Having an extra piece of gold lacing attached to each sleeve. An extra piece of gold lacing I won’t be entitled to wear until just after the inspection.
Crud.
Fortunately, this announcement came the day after I’d dropped off the jacket, so I only had to awkwardly explain the situation to the uniform shop ladies and ask for my jacket back instead of having to pay double with a rush fee to have the lace removed and the oak leaves moved back down AND having to pay YET AGAIN after the inspection to have it all moved back. Probably would have had to buy another package of lace.
I still felt rather silly. “Sorry, Seachop, but denied! No JG for you just yet.”
*Sigh* It kind of took the wind out of my sails (oh snap) and has put a cramp on my wetting down plans, morale-wise. Though really, I do need to get on that; I only have a few weeks left to figure out when/where/who to feed and water on my dime. Hopefully I won’t end up being that silly LTJG who waits a month before wetting down, though I guess that’s still better than not doing one at all.
Promotions are slower than in my day. Standard for the move to jg was 18 months and the mother’s friend Lori was promoted to jg after only 8 months. But, I remained an Ensign the entire time I was in medical school but then jumped straight to Lt. bypassing jg. If I had not been in the Navy as a medical student, I would have started as a Lt. It all seems to depend on what is needed and when it is needed. With the contraction of numbers in uniform, Cdrs and Captains are not in demand so retirements at 20 years will will likely be at the rank of Commander and not Captain; hense, slower promotions.
I’m definitely not a fan of the 2-year ENS gig. The pin helps a little; I can’t really be confused for a freshly commissioned officer anymore. As a JG, for all the casual observer can tell, I could be anything from ENS Upper Half to almost a full LT.
Congrats! Looking forward to future LTJG Seachop entries.
Trust me, so am I
then again I’m biased…