Aced the ASTB, what next?

[exNavyOffRec]

Sorry for my ignorance but what is N3M?

The medical arm of NRC, they review any change in status once you have a MEPS physical, they also are the ones that give the PQ letter, MEPS doesn't make the call on being medically cleared, N3M does.

 

[cgross220]

The medical arm of NRC, they review any change in status once you have a MEPS physical, they also are the ones that give the PQ letter, MEPS doesn't make the call on being medically cleared, N3M does.

Oh good to know. Is going to MEPS prior to getting PRK going to make the process more difficult at all?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Oh good to know. Is going to MEPS prior to getting PRK going to make the process more difficult at all?

I would say it would make it easier, if you do it before then you would need to submit the documents to MEPS prior to going, wait for them to read them, then wait to get scheduled, if you go to MEPS before you avoid that and the surgery docs get sent to Navy Medical and it is much easier.

 

[cgross220]

I would say it would make it easier, if you do it before then you would need to submit the documents to MEPS prior to going, wait for them to read them, then wait to get scheduled, if you go to MEPS before you avoid that and the surgery docs get sent to Navy Medical and it is much easier.

Ah, that makes sense, I appreciate all the info. I had a fair bit of an idea about keeping all the surgery paperwork and whatnot but it's good to get more insight into the process and what the next few steps will look like. Thanks for all the help.

On a side note, I've begun to look a bit about preparing for flight school itself; I've heard getting an IFR rating can help with AF Phase 1, does the same go for Primary training in the Navy? Is an IFR rating something I should look at prior to leaving for OCS?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Ah, that makes sense, I appreciate all the info. I had a fair bit of an idea about keeping all the surgery paperwork and whatnot but it's good to get more insight into the process and what the next few steps will look like. Thanks for all the help.

On a side note, I've begun to look a bit about preparing for flight school itself; I've heard getting an IFR rating can help with AF Phase 1, does the same go for Primary training in the Navy? Is an IFR rating something I should look at prior to leaving for OCS?

The USN will teach you all you need to know, if you want to take a flight in a small aircraft to make sure you aren't a person that gets airsick in a small plane then go for it.

 

[nugget81]

Is an IFR rating something I should look at prior to leaving for OCS?

Honestly, the answer is that it depends (you’ll hear that a lot in your career). A significant amount of the Navy primary syllabus is Basic Instruments and Radio Instruments (BIs/RIs). If you have quality training in IFR procedures, then you will just need to learn how to do it the Navy way. Doesn’t matter if it’s 180 degrees out from what you learned before, you must do it the way the Navy instructors are telling you to.

If you’re easily adaptable and open to criticism, you’ll be fine. If that’s not in your personality (be honest with yourself), or if the training you received while getting your IFR ticket was subpar, you’re going to have some bad habits to unlearn. That can be even more difficult than starting from scratch.

So like I said, it depends. Personally, I had my civilian ratings and licenses prior to coming into the Navy, and Primary was fun and not very stressful for me (Advanced and the FRS were much harder). But I went to a quality Part 141 aviation school and got a bachelors in aviation (which is worthless outside of flying). YMMV.

As for the vision piece, I also failed the eye exam at MEPS despite having a FAA first class medical and no corrective lenses at the time. Paying for PRK out of pocket was the best $5k I could have possibly spent on myself as I was investing into my own future. It delayed my entrance into the Navy by 5 months, but here we are 16 years later and I have zero regrets about spending that money.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

 

[jpham89]

Honestly, the answer is that it depends (you’ll hear that a lot in your career). A significant amount of the Navy primary syllabus is Basic Instruments and Radio Instruments (BIs/RIs). If you have quality training in IFR procedures, then you will just need to learn how to do it the Navy way. Doesn’t matter if it’s 180 degrees out from what you learned before, you must do it the way the Navy instructors are telling you to.

If you’re easily adaptable and open to criticism, you’ll be fine. If that’s not in your personality (be honest with yourself), or if the training you received while getting your IFR ticket was subpar, you’re going to have some bad habits to unlearn. That can be even more difficult than starting from scratch.

So like I said, it depends. Personally, I had my civilian ratings and licenses prior to coming into the Navy, and Primary was fun and not very stressful for me (Advanced and the FRS were much harder). But I went to a quality Part 141 aviation school and got a bachelors in aviation (which is worthless outside of flying). YMMV.

As for the vision piece, I also failed the eye exam at MEPS despite having a FAA first class medical and no corrective lenses at the time. Paying for PRK out of pocket was the best $5k I could have possibly spent on myself as I was investing into my own future. It delayed my entrance into the Navy by 5 months, but here we are 16 years later and I have zero regrets about spending that money.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

Just a follow up to this but does the Navy get you FAA certified (PPL and IR) or do they just give you the backs (get you to solo and then move on, basics of IR)?

 

[cgross220]

Honestly, the answer is that it depends (you’ll hear that a lot in your career). A significant amount of the Navy primary syllabus is Basic Instruments and Radio Instruments (BIs/RIs). If you have quality training in IFR procedures, then you will just need to learn how to do it the Navy way. Doesn’t matter if it’s 180 degrees out from what you learned before, you must do it the way the Navy instructors are telling you to.

If you’re easily adaptable and open to criticism, you’ll be fine. If that’s not in your personality (be honest with yourself), or if the training you received while getting your IFR ticket was subpar, you’re going to have some bad habits to unlearn. That can be even more difficult than starting from scratch.

So like I said, it depends. Personally, I had my civilian ratings and licenses prior to coming into the Navy, and Primary was fun and not very stressful for me (Advanced and the FRS were much harder). But I went to a quality Part 141 aviation school and got a bachelors in aviation (which is worthless outside of flying). YMMV.

As for the vision piece, I also failed the eye exam at MEPS despite having a FAA first class medical and no corrective lenses at the time. Paying for PRK out of pocket was the best $5k I could have possibly spent on myself as I was investing into my own future. It delayed my entrance into the Navy by 5 months, but here we are 16 years later and I have zero regrets about spending that money.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

No doubts about spending the money on PRK, this is what I've always wanted to do so I have no doubts that it's worth the investment. My biggest focus at this point is setting myself up for the most success in Primary so I can track fighters--flying hornets has been my dream for longer than I can remember. I did my PPL at Part 141, but have zero IFR experience. I do like the idea of having that leg up in primary though, I may start King or Sporty's IFR ground school to get the basics and look for a 141 school to finish up with later. Any other things I can do now to help with Primary?

 

[exNavyOffRec]

No doubts about spending the money on PRK, this is what I've always wanted to do so I have no doubts that it's worth the investment. My biggest focus at this point is setting myself up for the most success in Primary so I can track fighters--flying hornets has been my dream for longer than I can remember. I did my PPL at Part 141, but have zero IFR experience. I do like the idea of having that leg up in primary though, I may start King or Sporty's IFR ground school to get the basics and look for a 141 school to finish up with later. Any other things I can do now to help with Primary?

What you get to fly is often luck of the draw, just because you do the best doesn't mean you will get to fly "fighters", there could be no spots in your group, I believe it was said that they no longer give "fighters" to the top people in the class, and then other platforms in groups as you go down the list, poke around and ask the guys that just received their selections to see what is going on now.

 

[wiseguy04]

Just a follow up to this but does the Navy get you FAA certified (PPL and IR) or do they just give you the backs (get you to solo and then move on, basics of IR)?

You’ll get certified under the Navy, but it doesn’t carry over to the FAA. it’s just a check in the block during training.

However, once winged, you can take the FAA equivalency test out in town (multiple-choice test) and they’ll give you a Commercial rating (which includes IR) based on your platform (i.e. multi-engine, single-engine, helo, etc).