If I Fly A Bravo am I killing my career?

[SingDixieGoNavy]

So I have been thinking I want to fly a Bravo, but the navy is transitioning to the Romeo. Am I shooting myself in the foot to fly an old aircraft? Will I be able to transfer to the Romeo at a later date? It appears by the time I am leaving my first Duty station the Bravos will be disappearing. Will the navy see a transition to a new aircraft as a high cost low output type thing when I go back for a possible DH tour? Or will it be a "you flew bravos, learn to fly a romeo, have a good day" type of thing? Any thoughts from the folks flying HSL now would be appreciated. I just want to make sure I dont shoot myself in the foot before I even start walking.

 

[NavAir42]

Prior to your DH tour they're going to have to send you back to the RAG for refresher training. I'm not a helo guy, but I don't think it'll affect your career on iota. You'll just have to learn to use all the gadgets and gizmos on the Romeo later in life rather than earlier.

If flying an old aircraft were a career killer, the P-3 world would have been dead long ago.

 

[kejo]

I don't think so either. Remember, being a pilot is only half of what you do, and with the community expanding and changing the way it is, rocking out your ground job in a squadron that's swamped with transition can only do wonders for your fitreps.

Oh, and if you stay in you can expect to transition to the romeo eventually, without any harm. The romeo is just a supercharged bravo, so tactics are essentially the same, with the addition of the dipping sonar.

 

[Heloanjin]

No, it will make no difference for your career.

There were plenty of Lamps MKI (SH-2F) who transitioned to Lamps MKIII (60B) when all the H-2 squadrons decommisioned. Plenty of them became 60B CO's.

 

[HAL Pilot]

Flying a 60B and transitioning to a 60R latter is not going to hurt your career.

If you are equating this to a NFO to pilot or helo to fixed wing transition, they are not the same.

 

[Huggy Bear]

In the hornet world guys switch back and forth between the legacy and rhino all the time. The planes have different NATOPS quals, but in the eyes of bupers you are an FA-18 pilot, which flavor doesn't matter. I would imagine the helo community would look on the 60 the same. I would take a helo pilots word over mine if someone states differently.

 

[ChunksJR]

It appears by the time I am leaving my first Duty station the Bravos will be disappearing.

That actually works really well...that way you won't have to move furniture AND you get to go back to the RAG with a new aircraft after your shore tour.

~D

 

[HH-60H]

In the hornet world guys switch back and forth between the legacy and rhino all the time. The planes have different NATOPS quals, but in the eyes of bupers you are an FA-18 pilot, which flavor doesn't matter. I would imagine the helo community would look on the 60 the same. I would take a helo pilots word over mine if someone states differently.

It's not the same for 60s, at least not in the B/F/H world. It is possible, but there is no switching back and forth with ease. With the new HSC and HSM thing going on, it might become the way Huggy Bear explained it for Hornets, time will tell.

All that being said, it will not make a single difference in your career. When I was in my first squadron all of the DH's, CO and XO were all H-3 guys. In fact, the most senior all 60 guy was our CAG staffer. It's not like the community is going away, it's just flying a new aircraft, with a reorg.

 

[Heloanjin]

It's not the same for 60s, at least not in the B/F/H world. It is possible, but there is no switching back and forth with ease. With the new HSC and HSM thing going on, it might become the way Huggy Bear explained it for Hornets, time will tell.

I think the point made for the F-18 analogy was that if you stay in the same community (HSM to HSM) it won't matter if you flew B's or R's. The H-3 to H-60 transition being a good historical data point.

 

[Circle K]

You'll absolutely get to fly the Romeo, more affectionately known as "The Unicorn" if you want to join the world of LAMPS. If you're coming soon you actually have the potential of getting to do quite a bit of flying, since they'll still need Super JO's to build the new squadrons. In essence, Sea tour in bravos, shore tour, sea tour as a super JO in replacement of your disassociated sea tour in Romeos.

 

[kejo]

Here's solid gouge if you're interested in flying the Romeo

HSM-41 will begin training FRPs for HSM-70 (the standup east coast -60R squadron) in January...meaning that if you are selecting here in the next couple months and want romeos (and have the grades), there's a pretty good chance you'll get it. I can't tell you exactly when the spots will start opening up, but I know it's soon.

 

[MasterBates]

I would not worry about switching from Bravos to Romeos.

Its like going from dating a chubby girl to an obese one. You will get over the shame..

Seriously, I switched from Bravos to E2C2 and according to the 9 ounce heads at BUPERS, I am still competitive for LCDR and DH.. As long as I "dont fvck up".

 

[Flying Low]

I was in HC-2 for the H-3 to 60S transition. I actually flew our last H-3 out to the bone yard. The only H-3 guys that kind of got a bad deal were the ones who were just out of the rag. Some were 2P's and some weren't. They just stopped their training and sent them off to the 60S rag. So not really a bad deal. Just depends on how you look at it. I think it would suck to go through the H-3 rag, make 2p and then get sent off to start over as a CAT 1 in the 60S rag. Even some of our junior HAC's had to go back through the 60S rag to finish out their sea time.

If timing allows you to finish your entire tour then there will be no effect on your career. Really even if you can't finish out your whole sea time you will probably still be all right. Just need to get a competitive FITREP. But even that can be worded right (i.e. transferred early to 60B sundown...) Anyways, you will just roll to your shore duty like normal. Even if the 60B is gone you can stay in the squadron for a few months while you wait to transfer. I was in HC-2 for 6 months without an aircraft to fly. Just waiting to transfer.

As far as the DH thing. It won't matter. You will go back to the same community. New aircraft, but same mission. I will go back for a DH tour in the HSC community. Most of our DH's were 46 drivers. PMC is PMC man.

 

[hscs]

The HC-2 folks were a bit of an anomaly -- I think that they got screwed career wise, as they had to show up to a new squadron with a completely different a/c after being made a 2P in another a/c.

The one difference on this transition is that HC-2 was in the process of transitioning to a full time training squadron. Those transitioning could not return to their same squadron. If you happen to be at a squadron that goes to the R halfway through, you will just get the training as a whole squadron. In reality, flying the aircraft won't be that different (same engines, drivetrain, hydraulics, etc.) -- you will just have to learn how to work a new cockpit and the new toys.

 

[Flying Low]

The HC-2 folks were a bit of an anomaly -- I think that they got screwed career wise, as they had to show up to a new squadron with a completely different a/c after being made a 2P in another a/c.

The one difference on this transition is that HC-2 was in the process of transitioning to a full time training squadron. Those transitioning could not return to their same squadron. If you happen to be at a squadron that goes to the R halfway through, you will just get the training as a whole squadron. In reality, flying the aircraft won't be that different (same engines, drivetrain, hydraulics, etc.) -- you will just have to learn how to work a new cockpit and the new toys.

Some of the HC-2 guys did get to stand up HSC-22. I don't think anyone really got screwed career wise. If they showed up to a new squadron right after 2P then they only had 6-8 months on sea duty. So they had at least 2 years left on sea duty. That is plenty of time to break out on fitreps. Plus the H-3 FRD is short (3-4 months). I finished my HAC det still as a JG. So those guys were still pretty close on track for timing.