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I ^ civilian friend recently asked me if What the Navy considers to be a ^cnior” officer. Although I told him ' realized that I was none too clear lo when in a career an officer does become senior. So I developed this self-diagnostic test for anyone else who may be similarly puzzled. To take the test, evaluate yourself in each category and record the results. The totals
should give you a fair idea of where you stand.
Commander Barry is the commanding officer of the USS David R. Ray (DD-971). '
| Senior Officers | Middle Grade Officers | Junior Officers |
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| Senior Officers | Middle Grade Officers | Junior Officers | |
^ms of Address | Call junior officers “son.” | Call junior officers by their first names. | Call other junior officers by the nicknames they earned while on liberty. |
|
| Bridges | Always see them when they tour ships. | Are allowed to sit while on them. | Know which windshield wipers work. | |
Base Housing | Live there. | Remain on waiting lists for it. | Have no desire to live on base. | |||||||
Base Parking | Are driven in official cars and are unconcerned with parking. | Get reserved parking spaces. | Get parking tickets. | Eating | Eat by themselves. | Eat with others, but get served first. | Never stop eating. | |||
Micro computers | Have government-purchased computers that someone else dusts for them. | Have government- purchased computers that they dust themselves. | Buy their own computers and actually use them. | |||||||
^cks | Sleep in beds. Have separate sofas for daytime use. | Sleep in berths that convert into day sofas. | Don’t have sofas. Always in the rack. | |||||||
Letters | Dictate intelligent, witty ones to expert stenographers. | Write boring ones in longhand. | Would rather deploy to the Indian Ocean than write one. | |||||||
h?Und-P(nvered "ones | Recognize them when they see them. | Remember how to make up a set. | Frequently have sore ears. | |||||||
‘^hip’s <du,e | Don’t know what it will be. | Don’t know what it will be, but believe that senior officers do. | Enjoy starting rumors about it. | Arriving | Get bonged aboard ship. | Worry about when to bong. | Have a hard time taking it seriously. | |||
Movies | Always enjoy a good John Wayne flick. | Stop by for popcorn and go back to work. | Are needed to operate the projector. | |||||||
‘"oas | Have them and write memos that are read and acted upon. | Have them and write memos that are read and ignored. | Have ideas, but that fact is largely irrelevant. | |||||||
Briefcases | Someone carries theirs for them. | Carry their own. | Carry tennis rackets instead. | |||||||
physical '.""ess ri'ning | Write messages about the importance of physical fitness. | Worry about injuring themselves while taking the test. | Take the test and then go work out. | |||||||
Gossip | Gossip about other senior officers. | Feel privileged to overhear gossip about senior officers. | Couldn’t care less. | |||||||
C»tTee | Someone pours it for them, using a clean cup and saucer. | Have pitchers delivered to their staterooms and use mugs that they rinse out weekly. | Walk to the wardroom to get it and use mugs they wash annually, just before the deratting inspection. | Liberty | Tell sea stories about good times they used to have on liberty. | Listen politely to the senior officers’ stories while secretly wishing they could go off and have a good time. | Go off and have a good time. | |||
Jic"ler Vstems | Don’t worry about them. | Add action items to them. | Fear them. | Accountability | Hold others accountable. | Get held accountable. | Foul up, and watch others get held accountable. |
Citings / June 1988
47