Service Selection

Just curious, when is service selection/assignment this year? Is it still in the fall semester? I'm also curious about the number of pilot and nfo selectees.

It's funny there is so much stuff about selections for OCS it seems to overshadow NROTC and the Academy.

These two threads have popped up recently:

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145342
http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145413

To sum them up, DEC grads found out a few weeks ago, MAY (or Spring) grads find out this week or next. *Note this is for ROTC, not sure what the Academy is up to.

The second thread has (uncited) figures of 217 pilots and 45 NFOs from ROTC...though who knows if those are accurate or whether they're for FY09 or just Spring selection.

EDIT: Links fixed, rep for Python.

You may want to edit those links.

Didn't someone post in a thread giving the date for USNA grads?

Edit: http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showpost.php?p=489486&postcount=29

Academy Service Selection

Lately the Academy has been finding out their service selection a week or 2 before Thanksgiving. The past few years has seen about 250 go Navy Pilot and about 80 or so NFO.
Service Assignment night (pick your ship - SWOs / pick your date to report - Pilots/NFOs/Marines), is usually late Feb.

So as long as I maintain a decent GPA (2.5+ or 3.0+?), stay physically fit, and not be pilot DQ'd would I have a great shot at earning a pilot slot from USNA? I just recieved an appointment to the NAPS and am currently waiting on the USAFA.

These days you need to be a total a$$ kiss with a 3.3+.

You would probably be competitive with a 3.0 or higher but they could be using a quality spread to fill slots. I believe this year they used something which resembled a quality spread. Additionally I know for a fact that this year there were several folks who were not selected for aviation because the number who requested aviation was higher than the number of available positions.

As a pure numbers game, you have a better shot getting pilot by doing ROTC somewhere. And if you're one of those "all I want to do in the military is be a pilot" guys: you should probably go to USAFA.

Every year, there are many people who chose USNA just to be pilots who get sorely disappointed on Service Assignment Night. Most of them see it coming; some don't.

Two years ago, it was a "very complex equation, we won't bore you with details" that they used to determine a pilot score for people. It factored in CQPR, college major, prior flight time, ASTB, and probably some more stuff I don't recall. Then, the board (composed of Aviation Types on the Yard) convened and voted on each package in ascending order of that score.

As the story goes, nobody with pilot as their second choice got it. My classmate who graduated with the 2nd lowest CQPR DID get designated 1390. So, it's not ALL grades. But that really helps.

Statesman is correct. USNA sevice selected on Nov 19th. My son expects to graduate in May 09 and was selected for Navy Pilot. He is running about 3.1 QPA (GPA) but I don't know where he fell in the selected group. I do know some very (apparently) qualified Mids missed out on their choice of pilot due to the "needs of the navy". Most were "voluntold" to subs.

I would say yes (you should also do well 'professionally'). Getting a pilot slot out of USNA was pretty easy, imo. I don't know enough about ROTC or OCS to compare, but you've got a pretty darn good chance.

I'll help alleviate that rumor, pilot was my 3rd choice and I got it in 06. I can name 4 other guys who didn't have pilot as #1 and got it as well, and that's just people I know of or remember. No prior flight time, 2.6 gpa, non engineering major, good astb scores and a lot of drinking and screwing around got me where I am today. There's no way to predict, people from USNA who may be top 100 academically but middle of the class conduct wise have a hard time if it is determined the split in their rankings is too much. My favorite is the magic spots that appear after selection is done because some people don't pass medical, get kicked out, or just because a few extra spots were found. A guy from my company got a phone call the night before graduation telling him he got upgraded from nfo to pilot if he wanted it.

Simple answer: there's no way to tell, especially not this far in advance. My plebe year ('95-'96), there was a dearth of pilot spots and lots of deserving guys didn't get it. By the time I graduated, everyone who wanted pilot and was PQ'ed, got it. And this was in the pre-eye zapping era.

They don't go strictly by Order of Merit anymore (that's your academic GPA, plus conduct, PRT, a bunch of other stuff), but it plays a part. So between "needs of the Navy," no way of knowing how the DoD budget will fare under a new administration, and no telling how your Four Years By the Bay will turn out, any discussion on "your chances" of getting pilot out of Annapolis is academic.

"And if you're one of those "all I want to do in the military is be a pilot" guys: you should probably go to USAFA."

You might want to do some checking before basing your career on that; what I have heard (anecdotally, from a USNA classmate whose son is currently at USAFA) there are a fair amount of cadets who want to get pilot slots who don't.

" But I'm sure being a Commo or Missileer in the AF would be sweet...."

Yeah, if you want to work on your handicap.

(Is that a set-up line, or what?)

First, I was making a tongue-in-cheek jab at the apparent doctrinal difference between air force having "pilots who are also officers" and Navy "officers who get to fly." The OP seemed VERY focused on absolutely getting that pilot slot and flying (vice being an officer and serving), so I was trying to jab and maybe redirect his research. Too subtle. Got it.

Second, wasn't trying to imply it was a guarantee to get a pilot slot at USAFA. But, as a pure numbers game: USNA graduates ~1000 per year, with roughly 250 aviator billets. Contrast with USAFA which usually graduates just under 1000 per year, with 400-500 pilot slots. Seems like for a person who just wants to be a pilot and will go anywhere to accomplish that, it's kind of a no-brainer. (Numbers sourced from the graduation demographics info given on the admissions dept websites of the respective academies.)

The issue is not how many aviators there are in each class, the issue is the percentage of cadets/midshipmen who want to fly, and can't due to the number of available spots.

"This is exactly why I think it would be "easier" to get a pilot slot out of USNA vs. USAFA."

I agree, based on what I have heard.

When we put in our initial service selection preferences Plebe Year, 70% of my 1200 Midshipman class put NA as their #1 choice. Over 50% put it #1 in their final prefs Firstie year (I know there were even more who wanted it, but knew they weren't going to make it and put their #2 choice as #1 to have a better shot at not getting #3).

So, yes, there are people who want those other service selections, for sure. There are many more who get told to take their 2nd or 3rd choice.

What I've been told from USAFA types is that it's a major philosophical difference. It's pretty much like everyone starts out with pilot as their presumed selection, then they let medical whittle it down, which takes care of most of the overage. Grades and class rank soak up the rest. Maybe a Zoo grad can weigh in here with firsthand to back that up.

As stated earlier: the prevailing sentiment regarding getting pilot at USNA is

I guess what I'm saying is, based on what I've seen, heard, and read, if I had to make the choice again and all I cared about was flying something, I would not choose USNA.

Heard the same thing about USAFA as well. A guy I knew that went there (who was blind so being a pilot wasn't an issue for him) actually said that if you are qualified to be a pilot and don't put it as your first choice you have to explain your reasons to important people.

I met a USAFA grad a couple months ago and he considered USAFA over USNA for people who wanted to fly because there were instances where pilot slots at USAFA were not completely filled. I was told that this happened last year. But then again, pilot slots do depend on the needs of the Air Force and the availability is decreasing over time. And thanks for all this info, it really helps.

Or better yet, go Air Guard... I pledged a few ANG units for the past couple of years before I decided that I didn't want to just be a military pilot. For the most part all you do is fly for your entire military career; but it's only part time work. Hey, there is a give and take for everything.