Nuke pipeline vs. NFO/Pilot pipeline

Hey guys, I'm currently a nuke ET on a sub and I'm considering being a pilot in a few years (I'm only 20 and I just showed up to the boat in June so I have a while to think about it).

I read the gouge on API (http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14323) and the description of the curriculum and exams sounds a lot like power school to me. As I was going through the pipeline (And I'm sure a lot of you prior nukes heard this too) they told us that the nuclear pipeline was one of the hardest programs around.

My question is, how do both pipelines compare, difficulty wise? Obviously the nuke pipeline required very little physical strength, but it was still pretty tough. Obviously everyone's different and anything could happen, but I've made it through the nuke pipeline. Is it safe to say I'll probably make it through the pilot program? When I was going through, there was an approx. 90% pass rate throughout the entire pipeline. What percentage of student aviators make it through and become pilots/NFOs? I've only heard rumors about those numbers...

Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

You can be the smartest, fastest thinking guy around but you also need the monkey skills too. I've seen some very bright people wash out of pilot training and it wasn't because they didn't study, they just didn't have the hands on skills it takes to fly a military aircraft.
You can spit out EP's, limits, procedures, ect all day long but the trouble for some is when they have to do that and fly a plane....

I'm sure if you can get though Nuke school you shouldn't have too much trouble in API, ground school or memorzing procedures but it's impossible to tell what kind of difficulty you'll have actually flying an airplane. For some it comes easy for others it never comes....good luck.

Go for it man. Dont worry about how hard it is or isnt going to be. Know this, if a person wants it bad enough (and are medically qualified), anyone can make it through flight school. Good luck.

I'll bet if you PM Scoober78 he could give you some insight.

Well you can always put on a life jacket and jump overboard....or maybe use a boat or life raft.....

Well if it's on the surface.........yeah my reading comprehension sucked.

Sar,
Prior nuke MM here, most of your questions have already been answered but I would second that academically, Nuke school enlisted and especially officer versions, are head and shoulders above aviation training in difficulty. Nuke school is alot more structured than aviation ground training, especially once you are past API. You will for the most part be on the big boy program.

As for attrition rates.....my personal experiences YMMV. Nuke school maybe 10%. Flight training..... 50% of my primary class, and I saw a crap load of people attrite from various portions of flight training. It is alot more common to see someone getting the boot from flight training than from nuke school.

Best of luck.....focus on the positive and bet on success not failure.

When I was kicked out of NFO flight school, I was initally told that I could redesignate to "any other officer community I wanted". After attempting to redesignate as a SNA, that was quickly amended to any officer community *except* pilot/NFO, nuke, or medical that would agree to take me.

Trust me, I'm grateful every day for the chance to continue serving, and I love the job I have now. I didn't mean to come off as bitter or not understanding why things happened the way they did. Just joking, and trying to let the OP know that there will be no post-flight school nuke school opportunities.

I was just a bit suspicious with the super sweet deal the the NUPOC guys get, that puts even the BDCPers to shame. That's when I really thought about living on a sub...

Having sat in the 4-star's chair, I can tell you that the interviews are nothing to sweat, especially if you have a good record of prior nuclear experience to back you up. In my power school class we had a LT who failed out of his flight school, and was no worse off than anyone else. One thing that hurt him though was making O4 without a dept head tour under your belt is almost impossible in the submarine community, just something to think about, in your case you may be able to squeeze in 20 before your HYT. Also, I can tell you that you are probably more capable academically than you may realize by making it through the pipeline, enlisted or EOOW. The only difference in curriculum is on the third floor, they derive the equations. Just keep in mind that as an EOOW student, you don't actually operate anything, given that, your enlisted experience should put you at an advantage. If you fail out, given the state of the nuclear officer community, I don't think it would be a stretch to send you back to a submarine.

Thanks for the good info, EM1. Though that brings up another topic that I know very little about: High Year Tenure. How does that work? If it's what I think it is, it's what says that a first class can't go past 20 years, a chief can't go past something like 22 or 24, and a senior chief can't go past 26 (I think). I have no idea what the numbers are like on the officer side.

Thanks again everyone
ET3/SS "Sarpedon"

Its a little more complicated on the officer side from what I understand. The way I've heard it, promotion to O3 is all but automatic (all fully qualified will get promoted, they did away with the board in 03 I think). For O4 it gets a little trickier as O4 through O6 are known as "Control Grades" and as such, their numbers are set by law. When you get commissioned, you will be assigned a "lineal number" and every year the officer communities will announce the senior in zone and junior in zone eligible for promotion. By looking at the navadmin, you can determine if you are below zone (being looked at for early promotion), in zone (at a point where you should get promoted) or above zone (been passed over before when you were in zone). Generally you will get two looks "below zone" before you are in zone, but a lot of that depends on the community and the numbers in the control grades. The long and short of it is that if you get passed over in zone, and subsequently above zone, you will probably get asked to resign in most cases, and at least in the submarine community, if you don't have a dept head tour in by your above zone look, getting promoted probably won't happen. As the numbers change annually, its hard to get a feel for exactly how much time you will have in before you get your above zone look, I've been told a good rule of thumb is that you can probably get away with doing about ten years on the dark side without making LCDR, before they will make you resign. Using myself as an example, I'll have 11 years in when I get commissioned (8 in now plus 3 years of school), which means that I'll need 9 more to get to 20, therefore 9 < 10, therefore I hopefully won't get forced out if I fail to make O4. Hope all this helps, if you want more specifics, I'd bet someone in your wardroom could help you more, JOs usually seem more than happy to try and explain their overly complicated advancement system. Might even kill a whole midwatch doing it

They say they work....I was always sceptical....If you get it...you get it.

We always say that they're for parents and congressmen. Nothing beats climbing into the hatch with an inspection team member, and playing with a bunch of valves you can't see through the fog on the cheap plastic window. We would have failed our TRE, if we hadn't heard they were making people do that. Good thing we got a three month work up to practice escaping every after watch I still don't think I would try using them. You gotta be in some dire straits, and if you are, why the $##$@ are you trying to leave? I guess they have to make somebody feel better...

Sorry to resurect this one, I was trying to figure out how to add a signature and accidentally put a post up here.