career petty officers. The board also wants tomake sure the peers of these petty officers havethe same requirements.The U.S. Navy supports its members per-sonally and professionally. If a member becomesill, the Navy provides care; if the member becomesdisabled, the Navy provides help through variousprograms. If you seek improved professional andmilitary skills through higher studies, the Navywill support your ambition.INCENTIVE EDUCATIONALSPECIAL-DUTY PROGRAMSAs we go along in this chapter, wediscussing the following topics:• Planning your career• Career opportunities• Incentive programs• Educational programs• Special-duty programsPLANNING YOUR CAREERwill beMany of us spend the greater part of our livesdoing something that does not bring out our bestqualities or give us the greatest satisfaction. Weoften start our careers in jobs we think we willenjoy. We then discover that job isn’t what wereally want. For example, a boy builds modelairplanes as a hobby. When the boy becomes anadult, his interest in airplanes influences him tobecome a pilot. To his shock, he may thendiscover that his heart isn’t in machines but in themanagement of people. Another example wouldbe a woman who volunteers as a Mess Manage-ment Specialist, only because she did that type ofwork in her father’s restaurant. However, hermain interest in life has been reading and writing;therefore, she wishes she had sought a naval careeras a Journalist.These examples show that finding the righttype of work is mainly a problem of search-ing, self-examination, personal decision, andopportunity. Finding the most suitable job is nota matter of How do I look to someone else? Itis a matter of What do I know about myself?What kind of work do I like best? What kind ofwork can I do with the greatest ease? Whatvocational study would I like to pursue becauseit provides me satisfaction? What talent did I haveas a child but put aside because of the pressuresof current responsibilities? What job was appeal-ing, but I lacked either the chance or the courageto try my hand at it? These are clues to the typesof jobs you should seek.Unlike your civilian counterpart, your dailyroutine changes periodically. The variety ofassignments in the Navy are ever-expanding. Youmay not like a job, but if you perform it faith-fully, next time you may get an assignment youlike better.After enlisting in the Navy, your duty is tostrive to better yourself, move ahead, grow moreknowledgeable,become better qualified. Youcan request duty that you believe will further youradvancement. If you work hard, do a good job,and are ambitious, your seniors will try to approveyour request. In few other organizations areseniors so ready to encourage a willing junior.This opportunity to change jobs is an advan-tage belonging to all sailors in the U.S. Navy.Civilians regard a person who moves from job tojob as an unstable drifter. In the Navy, the abilityto adjust from job to job and duty assignmentto duty assignment is a desirable trait. Your abilityto adjust to new situations provides you withgreater all-around qualifications and variedexperiences.CAREER OPPORTUNITIESTo help you develop professionally, the Navyprovides you with many opportunities. Some ofthem are shown below:Incentive programsEducational programsSpecial-duty assignments, programs, andprojectsCommissioned officer programsNaval Reserve programsIncentive ProgramsWhy does a person reenlist in the Navy?Chances are if you asked 10 career Navy peoplethis question, you’d get 10 different answers.You’d get similar results if you asked 10 civilianswhy they stayed in a career with a particularcompany.4-7
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