The vast majority of Navy deployments are at sea on Naval ships and submarines. I'm often asked what Navy job one should select, if they don't want to deploy to sea. The answer is, if you don't want to deploy on ships or submarines, don't join the Navy. The larger ships (such as aircraft carriers) are small cities, with more than 5,000 sailors aboard. They use pretty much every job there is. There are cooks aboard. There are medical personnel aboard. There are communication and computer specialists aboard. There are finance, administrative, and law clerks aboard. There is pretty much every single Navy job aboard. If you join the Navy, you're going to spend some time deployed at sea. There's no way around it. Of course, some ratings (jobs) spend more time deployed at sea than others. Examples would be aircrew and aircraft maintenance, sonar technicians, boatsman mates, ect. You may want to see the article, Life Aboard a Navy Ship.
Most Sailors are assigned to ships or submarines for three year periods, followed by three years of shore duty. That does not mean they will be deployed to sea for the entire three years that they are assigned to a ship or submarine. The ships and subs also spend a significant amount of time docked at their home port. Most ships deploy to sea duty for months at a time (usually for six months, but up to nine months). Then they return to their home port for four or five months (during which time there will be several one or two week cruises for training purposes).
Just because you're on shore duty assignment, doesn't mean you won't get deployed. The Navy taps (both volunteers and non-volunteers) about 10,000 Sailors per yearr for Individual Augmentee Duty. Those selected work outside of their regular Navy job, and are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan (usually for 12 months) to assist the Army and Marine Corps with combat missions and patrols.
Want to read more about the pros and cons of choosing the Navy?
- Recruiting Environment
- Enlistment Incentives
- Job Opportunities
- Basic Training
- Assignment Opportunities
- Quality of Life
- Promotion Opportunities
- Educational Opportunities
- Enlisted Commissioning Programs
Interested in the pros and cons of the other military branches?
