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Why are you Leaving?

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
Leaving because despite the capability to rescue someone and semi regular practice of doing so at 10,000 feet, the Navy doesn't value this skill set. I guess it make sense because helos are clearly meant for other purposes like delivering hellfires and APKWS.

I might be off here, but if you're pulling people from tough-spots at 10k you're probably flying around the North Cascades? If that's true, I don't care what "the Navy" thinks, but there's a lot folks who think those guys have low hanging brass balls.
 

BusyBee604

St. Francis/Hugh Hefner Combo!
pilot
Super Moderator
Contributor
Whidbey SAR = awesome. They do amazing work here all the time - mostly for the community.
Samo, samo for NAS Lemoore. Much successful SAR work has been accomplished over the years involvjng hikers, hunters, climbers, skiers etc., in the nearby Sierra Nevada mountains & wilderness National Parks, many requiring difficult high altitude helo ops. Not to mention the home-based pilots rescued/treated by the NLC helo dudes.
BzB
 

insanebikerboy

Internet killed the television star
pilot
None
Contributor
I don't care what your designator or community is, there's indisputable video evidence.
Some fucking clutch work by Firewood.

The HAC in that vid, I flew with him a lot after he left Whidbey. He is a great dude and the guy was a helluva stick. It's a bummer he got out of the Navy.
 

e6bflyer

Used to Care
pilot
I am friends with a current Whidbey SAR guy and some of the stuff he does (not just for the navy, but for the local community that depends on them) is incredible. They regularly pluck guys off of mountaintops that would have otherwise died. He has been hosted in Olympia by the governor and senate and is very active in the local community with the people who he has rescued or been involved with.

That being said, station SAR is undervalued by the "war fighting" communities and is viewed as an off ramp by the helo Navy. Guess it just depends on your personal priorities, but I would personally rather save lives in the community than become a level 12 SWTI wizard or whatever the golden prize is for staying in the "gun club".
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Whidbey SAR = awesome. They do amazing work here all the time - mostly for the community.

completely agree, my buddy was an AWR up there and was able to get me a ride on one of their training missions years ago, little did I know they were using me as the person to be rescued, the coordination between the crew and how tight of an area they can drop into is amazing, the professionalism was incredible, didn't mind being hanging off the bottom of the helo flying around at all, felt completely safe.
 

jtmedli

Well-Known Member
pilot
That being said, station SAR is undervalued by the "war fighting" communities and is viewed as an off ramp by the helo Navy. Guess it just depends on your personal priorities, but I would personally rather save lives in the community than become a level 12 SWTI wizard or whatever the golden prize is for staying in the "gun club".

Agreed. I'm not sure where the negative bias about station SAR comes from but it would seem like the guys who are bagging legit recues left and right should be getting tagged to be O-4s and pass their experience on to the rest of the community.
 

nittany03

Recovering NFO. Herder of Programmers.
pilot
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Agreed. I'm not sure where the negative bias about station SAR comes from but it would seem like the guys who are bagging legit recues left and right should be getting tagged to be O-4s and pass their experience on to the rest of the community.
You! Stop applying your "logic" and "common sense." This is the Navy! :D
 

wlawr005

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Agreed. I'm not sure where the negative bias about station SAR comes from but it would seem like the guys who are bagging legit recues left and right should be getting tagged to be O-4s and pass their experience on to the rest of the community.
Nah man, shooting blanks at CONEX boxes in Ft. Knox are the real character building missions.
 

Beans

*1. Loins... GIRD
pilot
Agreed. I'm not sure where the negative bias about station SAR comes from but it would seem like the guys who are bagging legit recues left and right should be getting tagged to be O-4s and pass their experience on to the rest of the community.
This post will be read by a staff, added to an "idea box," and incinerated with all the other good ideas in that box.
 

squorch2

he will die without safety brief
pilot
Reminds me of the JOPA prank pulled on XO who was away for a couple weeks. We turned his office into "JOPA long-term storage" and filled it to the ceiling/door with boxes labeled "leave," "hopes," "dreams," "flight time," "quals," etc.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Reminds me of the JOPA prank pulled on XO who was away for a couple weeks. We turned his office into "JOPA long-term storage" and filled it to the ceiling/door with boxes labeled "leave," "hopes," "dreams," "flight time," "quals," etc.

That's the most meta prank I've ever heard.
 

AllAmerican75

FUBIJAR
None
Contributor
This is a HUGE elephant that no one is addressing (officially) and one that I know is affecting career decisions for O's & E's alike across the spectrum of designators and platforms.

This a huge factor in the Surface community, as well as the whole trust in leadership thing. My question is, is this exodus in the Aviator community relatively new or is it just reaching critical mass? We've had this going on for us SWOs for quite some time now, but I'm curious if it's for the same reasons.
 

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
This a huge factor in the Surface community, as well as the whole trust in leadership thing. My question is, is this exodus in the Aviator community relatively new or is it just reaching critical mass? We've had this going on for us SWOs for quite some time now, but I'm curious if it's for the same reasons.

I think the issue is that the SWO community has (at least for a very long time) planned to a 30% retention rate. That's what you guys have said you needed, and largely what you got. I believe the aviation community has (at least for a very long time) had much higher retention, planned to it, and is now left holding the bag. Notice I added quite a few qualifiers here because I've never worked at PERS and don't have the desire to go back and pull numbers from previous posts (sorry).
 
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