Welcome and good luck!!
hey all, i'm new on here and just saw a few posts so far...i'm wondering more specifically about NFO training.
i know some of the other pilot flight school post will be true for this as well. my boyfriend has a report date to pensacola of 6/22 (after graduating USNA). any ideas from you who are there now/have been there recently about what things are like, such as the wait time, the possibility of getting jets, pensacola places to live, etc.?
any and all advice is welcomed
Welcome to the insanity of Naval aviation!!
It has been a 10+ year ride for us and I have loved every minute of it as a wife. Even when my guy was flying in Iraq it was still an amazing experience for both him and me.
Anyhooooo as far as the whole selection process goes... you already got the best advice going. Good grades on academics and flights is key and the rest of the selection process is weilded by the hand of god *lol*
As far as places to live, we bought a place over in Coral Creek which is about 1.5 miles out the back gate on Blue Angel Parkway. It was great because the traffic going in the main gate can be a real bi*ch in the morning and the training commands are actually closer to the back gate than the front one anyway. So if you look in the BAPkwy area or out on Perdido Key or Sorrento Road area life with a boyfriend with long hours will be much nicer.
**Avoid the apartments in front of the Coral Creek Subdivision as they are section 8 and there were always problems in the middle of the night which was hard on the guys who had to be up in the early AM for classes. Do not be afraid to buy something in that area either, the turn over for property is pretty good. We had our house sold two months before we were even supposed to leave so it is a safe bet if you buy there of all places in Florida. Check on militaryspot.com and there should be houses on there owned by FSC's listed that you can consider.
Also, get to know the more senior ladies in the OSC once you get there, they will be able to give you some good ideas about where to find work. I taught school at West Pensacola HS and it was pretty good employment and I got my certs pretty quickly too.
However, do yourself a favor and don't ever offer an employer the fact that your SO is in the flight program otherwise you will have a hard time finding work that is remotely gratifying.
Just don't expect to get paid scale for anything you do in that area because it is well known that it is the most under paid county in all of Florida for most jobs. However, if you have ever waited tables they are about the only people in P'cola that make an butt load of money esp if you are good at it.
~OleMissF18Wife
