53's and 60's

[Sly1978]

HSC-85 I think. The spawn of HCS-5 and HC-85.

I was under the impression that OAMCM was coming to an East Coast sqadron near you sooner than Block III (first block IIIs to the west coast sometime soon as already mentioned), but I've been out of the homeguard loop for awhile.

You're right. HSC-85 is fully up and running at North Island. As for OAMCM, they keep holding it over our heads (i.e. it's still listed as "future missions") In fact, block IIs have the extra hydraulic pump for it already. Right now it just sits on top of the aircraft not attached to anything (but they still service it for some reason). Last rumors we've gotten is that HSC-25 (Guam) should be ready for the first Block III det sometime around November.

As far as the original topic of the thread...I know a few 53 pilots that are instructors at the 60S FRS right now. They seem to like both just fine. The main disadvantage to the 53s as far as I can tell, is that you will be in Norfolk and that's it. Plus, you may be forced to change aircraft at some future date for the health of your career. Two squadrons of 53s doesn't leave too much room at the top.

 

[phrogpilot73]

Yeah, and Norfolk also has a 50% chance of being a duty station if I went HSC, as well. I just wish FTS helos weren't so East Coast heavy, especially in the more northern areas. I hear D.C. got something called "snow" the other day. Wild stuff.

[THREADJACK]
Yes, they did. I told my wife that I wanted to leave to head back down to J-action-ville between 2 and 3 pm, to avoid the weather. So, at 3:30 when we're still walking around the mall I'm thinking "this is gonna suck." And it did. Ended up driving down 301 which was NOT cleared very well (I was going 40-45 mph from La Plata, MD to Bowling Green, VA), but it was better than I-95/495 which was shut down in certain areas.
[/THREADJACK]

 

[Gatordev]

Are there any reserve squadrons west coast?

HS-75 is at NAS JAX
HSL-60 is at NS Mayport but is Decom'ing, going to the HM model for reserves.

The last brief I got was that HS-75 is gone and merged w/ HSC-84 (Formerly HCS-4). That's what I was told, so don't shoot the messenger.

I hadn't heard that -60 was decomming. Going to the HM model doesn't necessarily mean it goes away, so what will emerge if there's still something that has the HM model?

 

[MasterBates]

60 will decom and there will be a "Reserve OIC" in the fleet squadrons. FTS bubbas will occasionally be CO of a fleet squadron to give them command opportunity. As it is right now, 60 is ~1/4 AD guys sent there for their 2P cruise, becasue the AD squadrons are overmmaned with 2Ps.

 

[Gatordev]

Interesting. So will all HSL squadrons get FTS guys or just one or two Mayport squadrons? What about HSM? I hate how compartmentalized all the info gets, even if it's unintentional.

 

[phrogpilot73]

I know that this is going to be a retarded question, but what is FTS?

 

[Gatordev]

TAR. Navy did a name change, but on the books it's still TAR. Reserve forces on full time active duty.

 

[phrogpilot73]

TAR. Navy did a name change, but on the books it's still TAR. Reserve forces on full time active duty.

OK, I know what a TAR is... Do they take former service guys? And, do they deploy like regular active guys??

 

[MasterBates]

Our TAR types have deployed to augment regular squadrons on a volunteer basis. We had a det recetnly with a TAR OIC.

Gator, the plan was talked about in vauge terms, but it sounds like all "expeditionary" squadrons will have one. They did not really address the HSM airwing sqadrond too much. Since my squadon (still here for another couple days) is staying "expeditionary" we will get them..

For those not so familiar with the Helo Plan, HSL and some of HS is becoming HSM. Our wings are already HSMWINGLANT/PAC along with the west coast RAG being converted to HSM-41 from HSL-41. They have 60R's already, but in limited numbers.

HSM squadrons come in two flavors:
Expeditionary- Which is busineess as usual with HSL, dets to independent small boys. This will still handle deployments where there is no big deck.

Air Wing- One squadron deploys with 12 or 14 aircraft, to the CV/L-Class and provides dets to all the small boys in the CSG/ESG. CO/XO and big DH's stay on carrier, with LCDRS/SuperJO Tour types being OICs on dets in the screen. When a bird goes into phase or heavy specials, it gets dropped off on the CV for repairs and a fresh bird is picked up. So they claim..

 

[insanebikerboy]

So a few of us were talking about this in the ready room the other day and someone said that going 53's can actually be helpful in getting things like test pilot school and/or other good deals like that. I thought that sounded kind of fishy but figured I'd ask guys more in the know? Thoughts?

 

[MasterBates]

I can't speak from the 53 side, but we have sent a few to TPS from HSL-East over my time here.

 

[BigIron]

So a few of us were talking about this in the ready room the other day and someone said that going 53's can actually be helpful in getting things like test pilot school and/or other good deals like that. I thought that sounded kind of fishy but figured I'd ask guys more in the know? Thoughts?

There is a slot for an HM pilot there and with a smaller population of Navy 53 pilots to compete with for the spot, I guess you could call your chances better.

 

[Sly1978]

Is TPS really a "good deal" for helo pilots? As far as I understood it, while helo TPS is awesome for your career post-navy, it's not that great for your Navy career since it takes you out of the pipeline. Am I wrong?

 

[MasterBates]

Our resident TP is trucking right along.. He did the NPS/TPS deal, and between NPS, TPS, and VX-1 that took the place of his Shore & Disassociated Sea tour.

 

[Gatordev]

Our TAR types have deployed to augment regular squadrons on a volunteer basis. We had a det recetnly with a TAR OIC.

Gator, the plan was talked about in vauge terms, but it sounds like all "expeditionary" squadrons will have one. They did not really address the HSM airwing sqadrond too much. Since my squadon (still here for another couple days) is staying "expeditionary" we will get them..

I've heard about him. Sounded like a great solution, afterall, it is "Full-Time" support.

OK, I know what a TAR is... Do they take former service guys? And, do they deploy like regular active guys??

They can deploy like regular guys. Seems to depend on what community. If you go VR, it's a whole other ball game. If you dig around the www.npc.navy.mil website, you might find the answer about former service guys (I don't know the answer off the top of my head). What can be done is if you join the Naval Reserve and then apply through the Reserve. You come out of a different pot of bodies. On the Navy side, you compete against others in your community AND in your YG. So a '99 HSL guy doesn't necessarily compete against a '98 HSL guy, provided there's an infinite number of slots (which there isn't, but just trying to demonstrate my point).