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Navy or MC Aviation?

Sonog

Well-Known Member
pilot
I was wondering if it is possible/ethical to apply for sna and a marine aviation contract at the same time, and take the first one you're accepted to. I passed the astb with the marine corps ( oar: 47, 5, 9, 6) and I'm thinking about contacting a navy recruiter to do both processes simultaneously. Is this a wise move? Am I obligated to inform the two recruiters?

In my limited experiences with Marine OSOs, 1 out of 2 of them were cool with me applying to the Navy simultaneously. I imagine it would be universal for it to be a mixed bag amongst the Marine officer recruiters. With Marine OCS in some ways more competitive than Navy OCS (for post college dudes), it makes sense that some of the OSOs wanting your full 100% commitment while you apply. I don't know if you can fully keep it in the dark since both programs would try to send you to MEPs and there could possibly be some redundancy and conflict in going through twice in a short period (any officer recruiters know of the legitimacy of this?)

My first OSO said its definitely not allowed when I asked if I could apply to both programs. I moved to a different area and got a new OSO and he said "absolutely man, since there's no guarantees pursue every opportunity that you can". I ended up getting selected to the Navy first and here I am loving my job.
 

Bjlasc01

Member
Wow, that is exciting! I graduated with a 3.1 gpa. Is a PQ a letter of recommendation?

I had almost the exact same GPA and very similar ASTB scores during this past Feb Board, and I received an SNA slot.

Don't neglect the other parts of the app obviously, but those stats alone are not going to keep you from getting where you want to be.
 

RHINOWSO

"Yeah, we are going to need to see that one again"
None
If you have any doubts, Navy or USAF should be your choice. I did a Marine summer program, and while I enjoyed it a lot and could have gone USMC, it was easy to see that Navy was the better fit for me.
 

Tobe

Member
I had almost the exact same GPA and very similar ASTB scores during this past Feb Board, and I received an SNA slot.

Don't neglect the other parts of the app obviously, but those stats alone are not going to keep you from getting where you want to be.

That's awesome and congratulations on being selected. One thing that is a little scary is that the Navy flight physical takes place at ocs and the Marines do theirs before contracting. I broke my collarbone two years ago and I imagine they x-ray your chest during the physical. It healed and I was cleared by my doctor. Could this be a problem? At this point I'm just having nightmares about little things that could go wrong in the process.
 

Bjlasc01

Member
Have you not gone to MEPS yet? The doctor doing your evaluation there will have all your medical records and should be able to give you a good idea whether or not that injury will disqualify you.
 

croakerfish

Well-Known Member
pilot
That's awesome and congratulations on being selected. One thing that is a little scary is that the Navy flight physical takes place at ocs and the Marines do theirs before contracting. I broke my collarbone two years ago and I imagine they x-ray your chest during the physical. It healed and I was cleared by my doctor. Could this be a problem? At this point I'm just having nightmares about little things that could go wrong in the process.

Actually Navy is now doing flight physicals prior to OCS. At least, I know a guy currently putting a package together who just did his flight physical so n=1 I guess.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Actually Navy is now doing flight physicals prior to OCS. At least, I know a guy currently putting a package together who just did his flight physical so n=1 I guess.

AD applicants have always had to get a local flight physical, they still get the NAMI Whammy including my old boss, and a guy I worked with, both were told no issues by the local flight physical but NAMI said "nope".
 

croakerfish

Well-Known Member
pilot
AD applicants have always had to get a local flight physical, they still get the NAMI Whammy including my old boss, and a guy I worked with, both were told no issues by the local flight physical but NAMI said "nope".

This guy is non-prior though. Maybe it's the local NRD pushing it?
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
This guy is non-prior though. Maybe it's the local NRD pushing it?

could be, but unless he goes to Pensacola pretty much a waste of time.

I have seen guys told they were getting a "flight physical" but what was really happening is they had a normal physical but were told they were "cleared for aviation programs"
 

MIDNJAC

is clara ship
pilot
Marine first, pilot second.

While "true" I wish this notion would go away. While "Navy" vs "Marine first", the best skipper I ever had told all of us JO's the day we became Divo's that "if I ever see your divo job taking precedence over your flying performance/prep/etc I will not be happy". That little bit of guidance made a giant difference in my life, my later career, and left no doubts about what was important. I think every officer should be able to write an eval or some other admin like that, but it should never be at the expense of your ability to do you actual job, which we should never think is anything other than using your airplane as a weapon.
 

Swanee

Cereal Killer
pilot
None
Contributor
While "true" I wish this notion would go away. While "Navy" vs "Marine first", the best skipper I ever had told all of us JO's the day we became Divo's that "if I ever see your divo job taking precedence over your flying performance/prep/etc I will not be happy". That little bit of guidance made a giant difference in my life, my later career, and left no doubts about what was important. I think every officer should be able to write an eval or some other admin like that, but it should never be at the expense of your ability to do you actual job, which we should never think is anything other than using your airplane as a weapon.

That's the cultural difference. It won't go away in the Marine Corps. As an Officer of Marines I know my role, and my abilities as a UAV Mission Commander (or as Hornet Pilot in my previous life) are only as good as my ability to ensure my Marines can put the UAV in the right place at the right time. They can't do that if I don't ensure that they are trained, equipped, fed, sheltered, paid, promoted, held accountable, etc... You can be the greatest stick in the world, but if you suck as an officer you're not going to be able to support the PFC on the ground with his bayonet in the bad guys throat because your squadron won't be able to put an airplane in the air for you to fly.
 
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