Are there any EA-18 Growler slots for NFO's out of 86 in the near future, rumor is there is not. My wife is an EP3 NFO, obviously I would like to live with her, not to mention she's freaking out about me living in Lemoore for 3yrs while she's stationed in Whidbey. Any insight would be great, I know its a long shot. Thanks.
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Are there any EA-18 Growler slots for NFO's out of 86?
- Thread starter coldwater
- Start date
Really? Freaking out? What did she think was going to happen when she married another aviator? Even if you're lucky and get stationed in Whidbey, you had both better prepare yourselves for long periods apart - years apart. There's no guarantee of colocation. Welcome to the fleet.
Brett
phrogpilot73
Well-Known Member
Truth. There's a reason I'm no longer on active duty...
^ what he said. I saw my wife for about five weeks during our first year of marriage - and we were lucky. We knew what we were getting into, we knew that year was gonna suck, and we knew that complaining about a choice we made was not going to make it better or garner any sympathy. In the six years since then we've spent a lot of time away from each other - but the key was setting reasonable expectations and understanding the environment we put ourselve in. It was the right decision - right woman, glad I married her. She's out now (SELRES). The key was expectation management and knowing what we were getting into. You didn't ask, but it sounds like it might be time to have a chat with the Mrs...
You need to make yourself open to the idea of Bs or Gs (if its not too late) to maximize your chances of heading to Whidbey.
I appreciate your feed back guys, I can assure you she is a very down to earth woman with a good head on her shoulders. Like I said she is also in the Navy and I married her as much as she married me (another aviator). I would be more concerned if she were not upset. We were just hoping for the best as far a being stationed together. Wouldn't you?
Hopefully there's a spot and hopefully you'll get it. But be prepared not to. You and your wife need to talk about how the next few years (at least until you are both done with your initial commitments) are going to look- and not just deployment/det/workup cycles. Apparently she is already into her first sea tour, you still have some of flight school and all of the FRS before you start yours. She is going to roll to shore duty well before you do- what options are going to be available? The detailers tell the average person to start talking orders about 12 months out- you guys need to be thinking a lot further ahead than that and be looking at options if you are going to try to stay colocated.
(We're both P-3 pilots- our PRDs are nowhere near each other right now)
(We're both P-3 pilots- our PRDs are nowhere near each other right now)
I guess it's too late for you guys to have chosen the same platform? I would imagine it ebbs and flows like everything else in the Navy dealing with selection. As far as Growlers go, a guy in my winging class thought he had it all the way till a couple weeks before winging, then they asked him to make another selection because they didn't have room for him in Growler land. YMMV
I had a JO in my last fleet squadron who was married to another helo pilot (finished HT's about the same time). The Detailers set them up so one was on shore duty and one was on sea duty right out the of the HT's. When the husband was finishing up his first sea duty and looking for shore orders, his wife was rolling from shore duty to sea duty.
They tried to co-locate to San Diego but then they got greedy.... LSS, he resigned his wings.
The morale of my story is that talking to your detailer may get you a sea/shore rotation like my old squadron mate got. Maybe not, but there is precedent for it.
While there are lots of Growler slots out of VT-86, most of it will depend on luck and timing (like most of your Naval career). Your best guaranteed way to get Whidbey Island is to go Prowlers. There may be a chance it could work out that you get Growlers, but you'll need to convince the VT-86 P&P officer that not only do you have a bona-fide need but also that you are the BEST candidate for the job.
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