Posted on Apr 23, 2017
PO1 Electrician's Mate
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LT (Other / Not listed)
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He is authorized a one-time uniform allowance after he is commissioned, but he will have to fork over the money upfront to buy his Officer uniforms prior to commissioning.
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CPT Lawrence Cable
CPT Lawrence Cable
7 y
The regs I see say he gets it on acceptance. "Special Initial Clothing Allowance – Eligibility Criteria. Enlisted personnel will be furnished a Special Initial Clothing Allowance only under the following circumstances:
1.Upon selection and acceptance for specified officer-training programs."
I've not seen the Navy get in a hurry about stuff like this, so your comment may be accurate in execution.
In the Army, you would have had all your special issue/reissue by the first day of OCS.
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PO1 Electrician's Mate
PO1 (Join to see)
7 y
Does he arrive at his comissioning ceremony with the new uniform?
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LT (Other / Not listed)
LT (Join to see)
7 y
My answer came from a prior PO1 who made LDO. It's your buddy's commissioning ceremony. He can make it as formal or informal as he desires. If he chooses to have a formal ceremony then yes, he best be in the appropriate Officer uniform. The rank insignias I.E. shoulder boards or collar devices should be left off until just before he takes the oath of office during his commissioning ceremony.
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LTC Stephen C.
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PO1 (Join to see), I'm not up on Navy customs, but when I was commissioned from OCS, I went to the commissioning ceremony in an officer's uniform, without gold bars. After taking the oath of office, gold bars were pinned and I was good to go. Think about this. Where are you going to put gold bars on an enlisted Navy uniform?
Tradition in the Army is to give a silver dollar to the first non commissioned officer that salutes you. If that's done in the Navy, how would the it look saluting someone in an enlisted uniform in those circumstances?
I would buy the uniform myself if necessary and make sure I was in the proper uniform after taking the oath and the gold bars.
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PO1 Electrician's Mate
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My LPO was selected as an LDO. He is a Petty Officer First Class. The question is because of the difference in uniforms, does he commission in his Ensign uniform? Most Ceremonies involve adding the shoulder piece, however E-6 uniforms are very different. After asking every Mustang we know, not one of them can answer the question.
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CDR Terry Boles
CDR Terry Boles
7 y
PO2 Kavan Shrum
My commissioning was a bit of a mental quagmire as well, what to do! I was a Navy PO1 commissioning to Air Force 2ND LT and obviously I did not any AF uniforms. I very much wanted to be in uniform before my shipmates and friends as I took the oath of office. AF medical-legal-chaplain are direct commissions prior to attending Commissioned Officers Training (COT), as opposed to Basic Officers Training (BOT) where they are commissioned at graduation of BOT. As awkward as it was I took my oath of office in my Navy whites. I had an Air Force officer to administer the oath, it just happened to be my wife. So the event went off fine, and was most memorable for me since it was the last time I wore an enlisted uniform.

I hope your friend has a long and rewarding commissioned career.
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ENS Administration (General)
ENS (Join to see)
>1 y
I was in a similar boat when I commissioned. Also had several other mustangs deal with this. The easiest answer is commissioning in an officer uniform minus rank insignia (or if doing SDBs minus cover).

I personally did my ceremony in Khakis and was pinned my bars and cover during that ceremony. First salute and all followed after I was wearing all officer devices and insignia. I’ve seen and know of many others doing similar things. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need anything.
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