Limited Duty Officer
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A Limited Duty Officer (LDO) is an officer in the United States Navy or Marine Corps who was selected for commissioning based on his skill and expertise, and is not required to have a bachelor's degree. They are used in situations where it is desirable to have an officer with strong, specific deckplate-level technical knowledge.
In the U.S. Navy LDOs and Chief Warrant Officers (CWOs), are former enlisted technicians (petty officers or chiefs). They are experts and leaders in the technical specialty enlisted rates from which they came.
First Class Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers with less than 16 years of service are eligible for the LDO program, while chiefs with 16 or more years of service, senior and master chiefs usually are selected in the CWO program. However CWO's can, and do, move into the LDO program but do so as a lieutenant, junior grade. This is because CWO's rank "with but after" ensigns.
LDOs are technical officer managers; CWOs are technical officer specialists. While the scope of a CWO's authority does not change much as one advances from CWO2-CWO5. An LDO's scope of authority broadens and increases as one promotes to lieutenant, junior grade, lieutenant, lieutenant commander, commander... etc.
The term "Limited Duty" refers not to an LDO's authority, but rather the LDO's career progression and restrictions. LDO careers are similar to those of restricted line officers. A former machinist mate on a nuclear submarine LDO career assignments will be limited to nuclear submarine repair/maintenance officer billets. The main difference between the two is that restricted line officers obtained their designation through their educational background, such as advanced degrees in engineering, with a theory based background while LDO's knowledge comes from more practical, hands-on experience. Typically, an LDO will first be assigned as a division officer, progressing to department head and other technical assignments of increasing responsibility as they advance in rank.
Historically an LDO, prior to World War II, could only advance as far as lieutenant. Later an LDO could be promoted to commander. In the 1990s the ceiling in most communities was raised to captain, and in some cases, LDOs in a few communities could conceivably rise to rear admiral (lower half).
Unlike their Unrestricted Line Officer (URL) brethren, most LDOs cannot aspire to command a major warship or auxiliary vessel, although for a select few in the right communities this is now a possibility.
Unlike Warrant Officers or Staff Officers, an LDO wears the Unrestricted Line Star insignia. Other than a difference in age, one would not be able to tell the difference between a URL and an LDO, with the exception of the LDO wearing ribbons and warfare insignia earned as an enlisted. Thus, the wearing of the navy's Good Conduct Medal or an Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist (ESWS) pin, if the LDO has not yet earned his Surface Warfare Officer pin, could be a give away. However, even this could be misleading, since not all prior enlisted are LDOs or Warrants.
LDO/CWO motto is "sursum ab ordine" which means "up from the ranks" to underline a distinction between them and officers commissioned directly from college.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Word document with list of LDO and CWO jobs in the US Navy
- Specialty insignia of Staff LDOs and CWOs
