Interesting. It's hard to perceive the big picture as a student because everything is new to me, but just how close to a Fleet aviator does the training command get us? Is the FRS just polish or is it just as intense with firehose learning as Intermediate and Advanced? For Jets, P8s, and Helos respectively I'm just curious.
As someone currently in the super hornet RAG, I'd say the training command is just getting your foot in the door proving you have the capacity to learn/perform in the RAG and beyond. The "fire hose" does not stop after the training command, if anything there is far more information you need to digest from numerous different sources in the RAG rather than having everything in one FTI. The fundamentals of joining/rejoining, landing, etc are always there and you're able to think about them less as time goes on so you're able to focus more on tactics. Not to mention working a radar, MIDS, a FLIR amongst other sensors is never introduced in the training command.
For the jet world, different universes. The training commands will get you a foundation for admin/Tacadmin, and a little bombing/BFM theory. The Rag will be an entirely different beast, with much more new information related to systems and tactics, in a higher performing aircraft. The tactics themselves are sophisticated enough to make the Rag a different beast than the training command. Apples and oranges to a very high level.
That said, the material learned in the training command is invaluable, but the rag is definitely not a “polish.”
Most people don't remember their winging speaker. Mine was the CO of HSC-7 at the time and I very vividly remember he told us he left his speech on the airliner accidentally as he was practicing it... and that the major line he wanted to get across to us was "Congrats, earning those wings is a big deal. It's the happiest day of my memory - don't tell my wife that - but I want you to understand, all they really mean is 'you are now tall enough to ride the big roller coaster.' Go off, do great things in grey aircraft, but realize there's a ton more work ahead of you. You've proven to us you know how to study and know the basics of flying."
I remember sitting there like "fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccckkkkkkk why did my instructors tell me the FRS is the best time?"
The reality is the FRS still has the same firehose effect. You (should) spend relatively little time on how to not kill yourself, almost no time on how to get around, and a lot more time learning how to turn your aircraft into a weapon and in the case of a helicopter, a rescue vehicle. Naval Aviation Magazine broke down FRS time by flight hour across all models and I think most of them were about a 70/30 split on tactics vs. NATOPS, with HSC being the closest to 50/50 at the time, although that has changed significantly since that article.
Basically: it's like flight school but your instructors will treat you more like a peer (you're still not but they'll pretend until they need to fail you) and the expectations are higher.
