Happy New Year all,
Long time lurker, first time poster but I'll get right into it.
The further I get into squadron life and fleet flying the more I start to think the "Golden Path" is not for me. For far too much of my life I have chosen the route of what outwardly seems most successful to literally everyone else... except for me. It seems like every other question I'm asked is "what are you doing after your sea tour/ are you trying to go for instructor/ etc?" to which I give the classic "I'd like to keep all my options on the table." But the truth is, there's nothing I want to do less than go back to Jax, Pensacola, or Corpus. As it is, my wardroom is full of some miserable people kind of just going through the motions at this point and I just really need some sort of goal to work towards so I don't get dragged into the cynicism and soul death I'm witnessing happening to my friends. A trusted DH told me the other day that if I really want to do something/ go somewhere specific, I should make my desires known early and often to the front office to see if they could pull some obscure cool orders for me.
Here's what I'd like to do:
Shore tour- anywhere in western/northern Europe, ideally something in the UK, ideally London/ nearby. It would be awesome if I could fly but it's not necessary. It'd be awesome if it was MPRA related, but not necessary. I'm a people person and would work well in a NATO role, worked a bit in politics here and there before. (They were not as keen on lat transfers to intel as I would have hoped for my original plan.)
Sea Tour- c'mon guys we know they're gonna stick me on USS Ship out of Norfolk
Separation- go back to school and use that way overpowered G.I. Bill to get my masters in civil engineering or an MBA from Oxford/ Cambridge/King's College/ UCL etc. I'm ok with only touching a plane for my own enjoyment on the GA side.
Reserves- will they even take me? I'll have been out of the cockpit for 4 years after leaving my first sea tour but dang TRICARE and some extra beer money is nice.
I'm happy to hear the good, the bad, the ugly! Thanks all.
Long time lurker, first time poster but I'll get right into it.
The further I get into squadron life and fleet flying the more I start to think the "Golden Path" is not for me. For far too much of my life I have chosen the route of what outwardly seems most successful to literally everyone else... except for me. It seems like every other question I'm asked is "what are you doing after your sea tour/ are you trying to go for instructor/ etc?" to which I give the classic "I'd like to keep all my options on the table." But the truth is, there's nothing I want to do less than go back to Jax, Pensacola, or Corpus. As it is, my wardroom is full of some miserable people kind of just going through the motions at this point and I just really need some sort of goal to work towards so I don't get dragged into the cynicism and soul death I'm witnessing happening to my friends. A trusted DH told me the other day that if I really want to do something/ go somewhere specific, I should make my desires known early and often to the front office to see if they could pull some obscure cool orders for me.
Here's what I'd like to do:
Shore tour- anywhere in western/northern Europe, ideally something in the UK, ideally London/ nearby. It would be awesome if I could fly but it's not necessary. It'd be awesome if it was MPRA related, but not necessary. I'm a people person and would work well in a NATO role, worked a bit in politics here and there before. (They were not as keen on lat transfers to intel as I would have hoped for my original plan.)
Sea Tour- c'mon guys we know they're gonna stick me on USS Ship out of Norfolk
Separation- go back to school and use that way overpowered G.I. Bill to get my masters in civil engineering or an MBA from Oxford/ Cambridge/King's College/ UCL etc. I'm ok with only touching a plane for my own enjoyment on the GA side.
Reserves- will they even take me? I'll have been out of the cockpit for 4 years after leaving my first sea tour but dang TRICARE and some extra beer money is nice.
I'm happy to hear the good, the bad, the ugly! Thanks all.