Phrogs Phorever

[1rotorhead]

Otto, get your training like a professional aviator and quit your public whining. It's unbecoming of an officer and shows no understanding of where the community is going or what the Navy needs us to do.

Exactly!

 

[BACONATOR]

I'm curious about that too. I was a HAC and then made Level III (I think that's the order it went in), but that was a long time ago when the unified ACTC syllabus was coming online. I thought everybody did their Level III stuff before their designation, now. Otto, do you know if that's a squadron specific thing or just how HSC does it?



I can't speak for this company, but I know other PMC companies have a "substantial" recovery plan for its employees should they have the above issue.

I'm out of the mix a bit, but LVL III for HSC is not one unifying warfare qual like it was in HSM. Based on det/squadron needs, there are different qual requirements. The syllabus has multiple different warfare quals: ASU, PR, SOF, etc. Not sure of the specific T&R metrics the fleet is using, but as an example, if you're going on a USNS det with no armed helos, then you'd only get trained in SOF to cover HVBSS, etc. It's a way to train guys to a needed baseline but not waste flight hours on unnecessary quals/areas.

How people are designated varies from squadron to squadron (or did a few years ago, not sure if it still does). You could be a HAC and not a LVL III. That meant you could still take guys to the boat for DLQs, vertrep, do a PMC flight, do planeguard, etc. Since a lot of the syllabus is geared towards form flights, it makes sense. Based on timing, performance, etc you could have guys who didn't get LVL III yet could still deploy. If the balloon went up, they'd be relegated to CP. For awhile my old squadron required LVL III before HAC, but then the CO changed and guys got to make HAC before LVL III. The idea was you could make a guy a HAC at 500hrs and he could do all the "HC" missions, get A time towards the FCP qual and then worry about ACTC when the squadron had the bandwidth to train him.

Otto, get your training like a professional aviator and quit your public whining. It's unbecoming of an officer and shows no understanding of where the community is going or what the Navy needs us to do.

I don't know if it's a squadron thing or HSC thing, but HAC is a BIG push (from our front office). LVL III is definitely an afterthought (although required for HAC det, of course). You usually don't do much in the way of LVL III before you make HAC (I did 3 LVL III flights as a 2P on det, but in quals that I didn't need for my future HAC det...awesome).

In our squadron, specifically, if we didn't qualify HACs without LVL III, we'd be in a WORLD of hurt, as we have the homeguard requirement for a 24/7 SAR duty, so we NEED non-qual HACs to stand SAR duty ALL the time, and maybe that contributes to why we make HACs so early compared with other communities and even the seawall HSC squadrons, but we can't do it any other way. If you take longer than 15 months to make HAC or fail a HAC board.... it's not good. In any event, I'll be a LVL III HAC about <=2 months after I passed my HAC board.

I'm out of the mix a bit, but LVL III for HSC is not one unifying warfare qual like it was in HSM. Based on det/squadron needs, there are different qual requirements. The syllabus has multiple different warfare quals: ASU, PR, SOF, etc. Not sure of the specific T&R metrics the fleet is using, but as an example, if you're going on a USNS det with no armed helos, then you'd only get trained in SOF to cover HVBSS, etc. It's a way to train guys to a needed baseline but not waste flight hours on unnecessary quals/areas.

How people are designated varies from squadron to squadron (or did a few years ago, not sure if it still does). You could be a HAC and not a LVL III. That meant you could still take guys to the boat for DLQs, vertrep, do a PMC flight, do planeguard, etc. Since a lot of the syllabus is geared towards form flights, it makes sense. Based on timing, performance, etc you could have guys who didn't get LVL III yet could still deploy. If the balloon went up, they'd be relegated to CP. For awhile my old squadron required LVL III before HAC, but then the CO changed and guys got to make HAC before LVL III. The idea was you could make a guy a HAC at 500hrs and he could do all the "HC" missions, get A time towards the FCP qual and then worry about ACTC when the squadron had the bandwidth to train him.

Otto, get your training like a professional aviator and quit your public whining. It's unbecoming of an officer and shows no understanding of where the community is going or what the Navy needs us to do.

Yeah, Pags. I'm fully aware I'm not "qualified" enough to talk yet. When I was an applicant, it was "Get commissioned... then talk!". Then when I was in flight school, it was "Get wings, then talk!". After wings it was "Make HAC, then talk!". Now that I'm a HAC, it's "Get qualified, then talk!". So I'm fully expecting another delay after my 2 more flights and a checkride to make LVL III. After that, what comes next? Make DH? Make Skipper? When exactly can I voice an opinion? Just tell me "never" and at least we'll all be honest here. It's not as if I've been "scraping by". I've jumped every hurdle with relative ease, so whatever "swiss-cheese model" that should have caught a "reject" like me has either failed miserably, or you've been dead-wrong about my lack of ability all along.... what say you?

 

[Gatordev]

I'm not commenting on how HSC does it as a whole. Whatever works for the community. But...

In our squadron, specifically, if we didn't qualify HACs without LVL III, we'd be in a WORLD of hurt, as we have the homeguard requirement for a 24/7 SAR duty, so we NEED non-qual HACs to stand SAR duty ALL the time, and maybe that contributes to why we make HACs so early compared with other communities and even the seawall HSC squadrons, but we can't do it any other way.

Sorry, not buying it. It might take a period of adjustment to get the pig through the snake, but having to stand SAR duty all the time has no bearing on whether someone is qual'ed or not. Getting people quals relies on two main things: available assets (planes or sims) and people to sign them off.

 

[1rotorhead]

I'm not commenting on how HSC does it as a whole. Whatever works for the community. But...



Sorry, not buying it. It might take a period of adjustment to get the pig through the snake, but having to stand SAR duty all the time has no bearing on whether someone is qual'ed or not. Getting people quals relies on two main things: available assets (planes or sims) and people to sign them off.

And the willingness to qualify your personnel. Some squadrons seem more motivated to do so than others.

 

[squorch2]

When exactly can I voice an opinion?

You're fully qualified to talk about OCS. or API. or Primary, Advanced, the 60S FRS, or even 2P. Shit that you have actually done. Where you encounter issues are when you run your mouth about stuff that you, literally, aren't qualified to talk about. Whenever you make the next gate, you automatically "up your game" to one level beyond that.

In conclusion, speak to what you know - not just the JOPA bitch du jour - and you won't chafe people so much. Hell, people might actually like you.

 

[squorch2]

And the willingness to qualify your personnel. Some squadrons seem more motivated to do so than others.

Bears repeating. I've had skippers that bought into SWTP and ones that didn't, with subsequent effects on qualification rates in the squadron. Seems to be a holdover amongst a subset of old HC bubbas.

 

[Gatordev]

And the willingness to qualify your personnel. Some squadrons seem more motivated to do so than others.

That's a good point. I don't know, but I have a feeling that's a little more of an issue among the HSC community (discounting the standard HAC-buts that are in all communities).

 

[Pags]

Yeah, Pags. I'm fully aware I'm not "qualified" enough to talk yet. When I was an applicant, it was "Get commissioned... then talk!". Then when I was in flight school, it was "Get wings, then talk!". After wings it was "Make HAC, then talk!". Now that I'm a HAC, it's "Get qualified, then talk!". So I'm fully expecting another delay after my 2 more flights and a checkride to make LVL III. After that, what comes next? Make DH? Make Skipper? When exactly can I voice an opinion? Just tell me "never" and at least we'll all be honest here. It's not as if I've been "scraping by". I've jumped every hurdle with relative ease, so whatever "swiss-cheese model" that should have caught a "reject" like me has either failed miserably, or you've been dead-wrong about my lack of ability all along.... what say you?

Public post reconsidered and moved to PM.

 

[Puddlz]

Anyone talk to DynCorp yet?

 

[phrogpilot73]

Saw this photo on the USMC's facebook page, couldn't find it on Marines.mil and facebook wouldn't let me cut and paste the description. But it was something like this: "Sexiest bird ever, blah, blah, blah, Yuma, AZ, blah, blah, blah released"

 

[KBayDog]

^Great, except for the Yuma part.

 

[phrogpilot73]

The more I hear about the DynCorp gig, the more my thoughts turn to "the money ain't worth it."

 

[squeeze]

The more I hear about the DynCorp gig, the more my thoughts turn to "the money ain't worth it."

Concur. As someone who just spent 10 of the last 17 months in Afghanistan, you'd have to pay me a whole lot more than $300K to spend a year there. Flying or no flying.

 

[HeyJoe]

Faster than a speeding flare

Well, not quite, but that's OK....

 

[Sapper!]

Well, not quite, but that's OK....

Sorry got a good laugh out of that. Sadly that chopper is the fastest the army has to offer.....ouch there. Poor OH-58s have a hell of a time "escorting" it around in country.

Speaking of flares or chaff, I'm not sure which is which. Got a strange display of those things from two birds landing when some asshole in our patrol left the EWO on trying to truck it over to chow and drove close to the fueling area. Pissed off crew chiefs I'm guessing.