Can I get out of Shore duty easily if I wanted to go back to Sea Duty?

Question

I'm in the Navy and I just transfered to a Shore duty from a Sea command, I wanted to know if it is POSSIBLE to get out of shore duty and back out to Sea duty sooner instead of riding out the two or three years that is required before transferring. I'm looking into getting a ship that is available in NS San Diego. I only asked because I thought it would be easier to transfer to Sea Duty from a Shore Duty instead of vise-versa. If you know any manual(s) that tells me I could, it would help out a lot.

Answer 1

A lot depends on your sea/shore rotation. But who knows? Maybe your detailer has someone dying for shore duty in San Diego, and in many rates, ships are often short-handed. I'd call my detailer and ask. It's not EASY to transfer, but I'm sure it has been done.

Answer 2

There is a minimum activity tour of 2 years. If you attempt to leave now you are causing your Shore command to have a gapped billet. You can always call your detailer though and see if they can get you anything when the 2 years is up. It will be based on the needs of the Navy though, not your preference of duty location. You won't get San Diego as a hot fill either, too many people want to come here and there aren't enough billets for them all.

Another option is to tell your shore command that you'd like to submit your name for an IA billet. They can put your name down on the next tasker they receive.