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<p>I certainly hope so. I have always thought that all Naval officers out of the Academy should be engineering majors. The Marines are indeed the ones that will immediately benefit from history, foreign affairs, and languages. On board ship or in a squadron these majors don’t help one iota. With that said, I sure would hate to be part of a wardroom of all engineers. While anyone can fathom the rudiments of the inner workings of a ship or an aircraft, I feel that a technical degree will help some. However, where it really helps is on shore duty. Early on, first shore duty is usually an operational billet or training billet supporting the fleet. However, as one becomes more senior, the need to develop a subspecialty exists. The operations and training billets diminish. Personnel and procurement become more prominent. Night school MBA grads handle the personnel billets. Procurement involves working in NavAir, NavSea, or NavSub with civilian engineers and contractors with new platforms, weapons systems, and modifications of both. An engineering degree is paramount. As an aside, in tac air, first tour, the best of the best will have two choices, Top Gun or TPS. Guess what if number one is a poly sci major and takes the single Top Gun slot and you are a foreign language major. The odds are slim and none that you will get TPS. You have just blown a great career path.</p>
<p>As itlstallion points out there is PG training. The Navy now has mandatory junior officer and senior officer war college courses. This is where one will prepare for the staff billets on the junior level and to think globally on the senior level. </p>
<p>An engineering degree will never hurt one or limit one’s possibilities in the fleet but will definitely give one many more options throughout their career.</p>