Going to IOC before Flight School

[vick]

Funny... I'm looking forward to my FAC tour, yet had (and still have) no desire to attend IOC.

And sorry, I don't buy into the belief that attending IOC makes you a "more well rounded Marine officer." I promise, as an aviator, you will understand the overall employment of the MAGTF and battle space far better than the average grunt will. People seem to understand the battle space below them a lot better than the one above them.

See, blanket statements are fun for everyone.

My FAC tour was the best tour of my time in the Corps, largely because we had a highly successful deployment. After wasting 8 months of my life on a MEU, actually doing something was rewarding.

Squeeze, don't underestimate what you don't know. You'll learn more about CAS from your FAC tour than from your time in the fleet thus far. I'm not talking about how to simply run a 9-line, you'll learn about the mechanics behind true combined arms and realize how much work it takes to make the MAGTF concept work. But that's also why the Marine Corps is so good at it - all the joint pubs in the world still leave the Army/AF well short of the MC in that expertise.

 

[squeeze]

My FAC tour was the best tour of my time in the Corps, largely because we had a highly successful deployment. After wasting 8 months of my life on a MEU, actually doing something was rewarding.

Squeeze, don't underestimate what you don't know. You'll learn more about CAS from your FAC tour than from your time in the fleet thus far. I'm not talking about how to simply run a 9-line, you'll learn about the mechanics behind true combined arms and realize how much work it takes to make the MAGTF concept work. But that's also why the Marine Corps is so good at it - all the joint pubs in the world still leave the Army/AF well short of the MC in that expertise.

Oh, I'm sure of that and it should be pretty interesting. I just meant that as an aviator, you are often privy to working with more outside agencies and involved with larger pieces of the operation than a comparably-ranked grunt, and therefore, often have a better understanding of how things fit together big-picture wise (because you have to).

Obviously, there are volumes of infantry-related knowledge that a grunt knows that an aviator doesn't, but when it comes down to it, an aviator likely understands the grunt's job far better than the grunt understands the aviator's job. It's not a dig on anyone.

 

[pourts]

I promise, as an aviator, you will understand the overall employment of the MAGTF and battle space far better than the average grunt will. People seem to understand the battle space below them a lot better than the one above them.

Not gonna ague that statement, but you can't be serious that some extra time at IOC won't make you a better officer. Its not the only thing, but its one of many.

Edit: posted that before reading your second post, which clarified things

 

[Clux4]

Not gonna ague that statement, but you can't be serious that some extra time at IOC won't make you a better officer. Its not the only thing, but its one of many.

Edit: posted that before reading your second post, which clarified things

IOC will only improve tactics and that is all. Some of them still have Marines loosing weapons, know very little about officership, cannot complete a CMR, get lost en-route back to the FOB, call fire on the Regimental POS. Do you want me to go on?
Here is my point, tactics is great and all but there is more to been a Marine Corps Officer than that. Stop drinking the cool-aid for a second, wipe you lips too

 

[skidkid]

Another thing to consider is that most company commanders have completed resident PME (EWS or similar Army school). Their academic warfighting knowledge is somewhat ahead of an Aviator who did the box of books and stayed in the cockpit. At the Operational level the grunt is probably a little ahead. At the tactical "who can I call to address this situation" level the Aviators are a bit ahead.

Platform and experience also play a huge role. A FAC with a FAC(A) background will probably (hopefully) be more adept at fire support than the company commander he is supporting but guess what, that is your f@cking job work fire support so he can fight his company.
The above is a huge generalization and changes often.

 

[MightyMax56]

This may be a stupid question but how does a FAC tour work when there isnt a war going on, because from what I have been reading here I get the understanding that you do it for the sole purpose of deploying into a warzone or on a MEU?

 

[skidkid]

There are always Aviators at an Infantry battalion. In "peacetime" is ebbs to one AirO when not deployed or working up but within about 6 months of deploying 3 Aviators will show up.
It is not for the sole purpose of deploying. Scheduling and executing CAS and Assault support training is much easier for all involved when done by a guy with wings on his chest.