NAVY Initial Flight Screening (IFS)

[FLYNAVY20]

Thanks for all the info. I have another quick question. I searched and tried to piecemeal an answer together to no avail.

When I start IFS, where should we live (w/ wife) to set ourselves up to make the least amount of moves??

Ie; Milton, in-between NASP and Whitting Field.

 

[SynixMan]

Search around. Most folks live in North Pensacola to split the difference, or sell their souls and live in Milton/Pace.

 

[croakerfish]

Thanks for all the info. I have another quick question. I searched and tried to piecemeal an answer together to no avail.

When I start IFS, where should we live (w/ wife) to set ourselves up to make the least amount of moves??

Ie; Milton, in-between NASP and Whitting Field.

Me and my wife are going down there tomorrow to check out a few places before I go to OCS. I'll let you know what looks good.

 

[FLYNAVY20]

Me and my wife are going down there tomorrow to check out a few places before I go to OCS. I'll let you know what looks good.

Right on, I'd appreciate that. Do you live close to Pcola? I wish I could do that, but unfortunately I live in Boise Idaho.

 

[eas7888]

I look at it like this. . .You'll spend a couple weeks doing IFS, and 6 weeks doing API. You'll be at Primary for about 6 months. My wife and I chose to live basically right outside the gate at Whiting, and it's saved a ton on fuel costs. We go to Pensacola about once or twice a month, so it's no big deal.

North Pensacola, Ferry Pass, and Pace aren't bad options. If you want any kind of a social life, however, I would recommend steering clear of Milton. With a 17 month old kid, I'm lucky if I get to have a night out with the wife once every couple of months. Also, keep in mind, you're going to have some early morning briefs (0530) and some late night flights. A long drive may not always be the greatest idea at those times. Just my $.05

 

[croakerfish]

Right on, I'd appreciate that. Do you live close to Pcola? I wish I could do that, but unfortunately I live in Boise Idaho.

Yeah I'm about 6 hours north, but I grew up about an hour away. I'm focusing on the northeast part of Pensacola, right around UWF.

 

[FLYNAVY20]

right around UWF.

UWF??

 

[KBayDog]

Also, keep in mind, you're going to have some early morning briefs (0530) and some late night flights.

That's a late brief, my friend.

OP (and SNAs everywhere): If you're going to be at Whiting, I'd suggest selling your soul and living somewhere in Milton or Pace, or at the very furthest, NE Pensacola near UWF. You're entering the "meat" of your training, and need to devote your energy to studying and getting ahead. Time spent on a 45+ minute commute (each way) because you want to live near Seville or the beach is time that you're not studying. When you wake up at 02-something to drive up for that 0500 brief, you'll be dragging ass all day and your performance will suffer. The IPs will have no sympathy for you, as it was your decision to live somewhere that didn't set you up for success.

As you know, the Navy and Marine Corps aren't really hurting for pilots right now. You don't want to make it easy for them to figure out who should stay and who should go based on missed opportunities to excel...opportunities missed because you're dodging Panhandle drivers (and Panhandle Panhandlers!) instead of studying.

Am I suggesting that you don't go down to the bars and blow off some steam on the weekends? Hell no. You've got to have some balance in your life, and you've got to get your mind off of school every once in a while. However, it should be the exception - not the norm. You're being paid good money to drink from the CNATRA firehose - not drink Irish Wakes.

My $.02, which adjusted for inflation from when I was in flight school, is still surprisingly $.02. ($.02 when I enlisted, though, is now $.03...)

 

[Uncle Fester]

What KBay said. Your sked at API is very predictable and published in advance, and neither it nor IFS last very long. Primary, on the other hand, is 6-ish months, and features a lot of unpredictably early mornings and late nights. Getting a call at 0630 that you have a 0700 brief on a day you thought you had off is not unusual. And btw, you don't show up at brief time - you'll be expected to have all your preflight planning done (wx, notams, etc) before the brief. Adding a 45+ min commute just to enjoy your (minimal) recreation time more is just voluntarily exacerbating the pain.

Or go with the MB plan and live the Cousin Eddy lifestyle in an RV.

 

[wlawr005]

I live in Pace. Schools are great for the kids, commute is awesome, wife is bored as hell. I know some single folks who live in downtown P-cola and suck it up to enjoy the nightlife. I also have married friends w/o kids who live in North Pcola (around 9 Mile) so they aren't far from nice restaurants and Cordova Mall.

We enjoy Pace for the most part, but the most exciting thing going here is Wal-Mart and Ruby Tuesday's (although the Blackwater Bistro in Milton is awesome). I recommend talking with your wife and understanding her tolerance for boredom, it's at least 30-45 minutes to the beach, mall, and downtown from Pace.

 

[FLYNAVY20]

If I was a bachelor I'd live in a lean-to outside the front gate...

If my wife finds a job somewhere near Pensacola while I'm at API, can I plead with them to send me to Whiting instead of Corpus or Vance for primary?

 

[SynixMan]

Married guys usuall get sent to Whiting. Usually.

 

[wlawr005]

If you're married and don't get sent to Whiting you're part of the .001% Plan on Whiting...you will know for sure when you get your orders to API, they'll come with a set of follow on orders to Whiting.

Tell your wife to start looking for a job NOW...my wife is a nurse and has been trying to get hired for ~5 months. Career type jobs are few and far between down here, especially if they find out you are a flight student.

 

[FLYNAVY20]

Tell your wife to start looking for a job NOW...my wife is a nurse and has been trying to get hired for ~5 months. Career type jobs are few and far between down here, especially if they find out you are a flight student.

Good gouge, thanks. I can't believe it's taken your wife 5 months to find a job as a nurse! That's insane. I can't imagine what it's like for other wives who aren't in a field like nursing that seems to be in demand. My wife is in the same field (X-ray tech). I hope it doesn't take that long for her to find a job or things could get a little strained on the home front.

 

[AJB37]

I lived in Perdido Key during API and IFS. It took about 15 minutes to get to the API building. After API I moved up to Milton, so if you don't mind moving again that is what I would do. I don't know how it works for the Navy, but Marines didn't know where we were going for primary until about a week before we started API, it would suck to drive down from Milton for API and end up going to Corpus...