Updated pipeline flow?

[Unforgiven33]

So I have been reading non stop about the aviation pipeline but most of the information is from 2010-2012. My particular details are I am a prior, go to OCS May 18th, have wife and kid. So here's the chain of events I have gathered and tried to piece together.

1.) Ship to OCS / and Graduate

2.)Ship to NAS Pensacola with Unaccompanied Orders for IFS and API.
- the choice to move my family is ours but we have to foot the bill until we get PCS orders?
- if we do move early though, we can later still get the money for a PCS move after API?
- do married guys still have to go to the BOQ and get the letter of no vacancy? if they have room do we have to live there?

3.) Sit in A Pool waiting for API
- this is the time where I get the prerequisites done like physicals, fittings, and IFS?
- unsure of current wait times?
- Do you get your PPL in IFS?

4.)Finish API
- not sure where I go from here? is it platform based? or will all married guys go to Whiting? Who goes where?

5.)Go to Primary, which sounds like married guys stay and go to Whiting, which leads me to believe Primary is not platform based?
- locations for primary are Pensacola, Whiting, and Corpus?

Thanks for any help. Just trying to get it all straight.

 

[WEGL12]

So I have been reading non stop about the aviation pipeline but most of the information is from 2010-2012. My particular details are I am a prior, go to OCS May 18th, have wife and kid. So here's the chain of events I have gathered and tried to piece together.

1.) Ship to OCS / and Graduate

2.)Ship to NAS Pensacola with Unaccompanied Orders for IFS and API.
- the choice to move my family is ours but we have to foot the bill until we get PCS orders?
- if we do move early though, we can later still get the money for a PCS move after API?
- do married guys still have to go to the BOQ and get the letter of no vacancy? if they have room do we have to live there?

3.) Sit in A Pool waiting for API
- this is the time where I get the prerequisites done like physicals, fittings, and IFS?
- unsure of current wait times?
- Do you get your PPL in IFS?

4.)Finish API
- not sure where I go from here? is it platform based? or will all married guys go to Whiting? Who goes where?

5.)Go to Primary, which sounds like married guys stay and go to Whiting, which leads me to believe Primary is not platform based?
- locations for primary are Pensacola, Whiting, and Corpus?

Thanks for any help. Just trying to get it all straight.

I am sure all of this can be found somewhere on the forum but just to give you an update on the wait times and process on the married side of things:

- Since you are married your orders will be TAD with follow on orders to Milton (PCS). At least this is how mine are. You won't receive any relocation pay/ move allowance until you check into primary. However you can do advance travel and atleast get around $900 for your travel from Newport to Pensacola. You will receive it around graduation from OCS and in my case I used it to move my wife to Pensacola.
-You will get your orders stamped to receive BAH the first day you check in. But there is no issue with getting BAH if you are planning to live off base.
-During the first two-three weeks you will have a NAMI physical, fittings, anthro, and leadership class.
-People seem to be classing up around 1-3 months right now but expect that to change. I waited close to 6 months for IFS while people checking in January waited 6 weeks. It changes constantly, especially with NROTC and Academy grads coming up. Enjoy A-pool it's basically a paid vacation.
-IFS is 11.5-13 hours of flight time and one solo that's it. I will say that while IFS is easy, don't take it lightly. I never had heard of people struggling with IFS before getting here but 5 people from my OCS class are out of the program because of poor performance in IFS.
-Primary is at Whiting and Corpus for SNA. You should go to Whiting if you are married. Right now I heard Whiting is a little backed up. Which location/squadron you go to for primary is not directly related to which platform you are going to get. It should be a level playing field at that point.

This is all based off my experience so far. I should start API this week so my information is limited but this is the way it has gone for myself and several others that are married from my OCS class. Hope this answers most of your questions.

 

[Unforgiven33]

6 months waiting for API? That's quite awhile, but yes being a prior I understand the value of enjoying the waiting time! Is Corpus or Whiting decided by needs and how backed up the schools are? With generally they keep married guys in Whiting so that we don't have to move again? This is why people recommend to live closer to Whiting so that once API is done, you are all ready set?

I noticed some talk about how they moved family before / during API, and then later got their money for their PCS move to Primary even thought they had all ready moved? I remember having to have stuff dated for your planned move date, so how is this working out? PSD actually have a way to do this or is there just some system manipulation?

I appreciate the help.

 

[Pags]

Once you have written orders with a permanent duty station you should be able to move your family regardless of stops en route. If the orders are cut then the money has already been alloted to move your family to NAS Whiting.

 

[ea6bflyr]

https://www.cnatra.navy.mil/training_pilot.htm

 

[WEGL12]

6 months waiting for API? That's quite awhile, but yes being a prior I understand the value of enjoying the waiting time! Is Corpus or Whiting decided by needs and how backed up the schools are? With generally they keep married guys in Whiting so that we don't have to move again? This is why people recommend to live closer to Whiting so that once API is done, you are all ready set?

I noticed some talk about how they moved family before / during API, and then later got their money for their PCS move to Primary even thought they had all ready moved? I remember having to have stuff dated for your planned move date, so how is this working out? PSD actually have a way to do this or is there just some system manipulation?

I appreciate the help.

Yes I waited 6 months to start IFS. Most from my OCS class waited 4-5 months. Just depends on how backed up IFS gets due to weather and etc. I can only comment from my knowledge of people I know being married/single. But all married SNA guys in my class had follow on orders to Whiting. Single guys were pretty much told they were going Whiting/Corpus. I was just saying I have heard Milton is backed up so that may cause more people to go to Corpus. I recommend living close to Pensacola until you finish API then move closer to Milton. When I first got down here, I lived close to Whiting because I expected to be done with API within three months of checking in. After driving an hour to base and an hour back home everyday, I wouldn't recommend it because you have no idea how long you will be waiting to start. That's just my advice.

I really don't understand the moving situation. I went to PSD and they said I would be repaid for my moving expenses once I checked into primary. Buddy of mine that is also married just got his pay for moving about two weeks after starting primary. But what Pags said make more sense but we were told we wouldn't receive the moving money before starting primary. But remember I am just another stupid Ensign so I probably screwed up paperwork/asked wrong questions and PSD just decided to screw with us.

 

[Pags]

You should be able to request advances for DLA, etc. But you won't get the final money, accounting, etc, until you close out your orders when you check in to TAW-5.

But, if you have PCS orders you should be able to ship your HHGs. For instance, if I had orders from NAS X to NAS Y with an intermediate stop for training in between then as soon as those orders are cut I can arrange my HHG shipment to NAS Y. I won't get final money until I check in to NAS Y, but the HHG move money is different from POV mileage, DITY/PPM move money, travel money, TLA, etc.

When I mention HHGs I mean a government procured move and not a DITY/PPM. If you decide to do it yourself you won't get the money until you close out your orders upon reporting to your ultimate duty station.

 

[Tycho_Brohe]

I got advance travel from OCS to P'cola, and I was told it was not authorized for the move from P'cola to Whiting/Corpus. They also sent it (travel money from P'Cola to Corpus) as a US Treasury check instead of using Direct Deposit, which was weird.

I was also told at OCS that I couldn't get DLA until I got to P'cola, was told at P'cola I wouldn't get it until Corpus, and was told at Corpus that I wouldn't get it here either so stop asking. But they did give us a PCS with HHG from P'cola to Whiting/Corpus.

 

[WEGL12]

When I mention HHGs I mean a government procured move and not a DITY/PPM. If you decide to do it yourself you won't get the money until you close out your orders upon reporting to your ultimate duty station.

That clears it up, everyone I talked to did it themselves and just had receipts and weight tickets. Didn't know it differed depending on which method you decided to use for moving. Thanks for the explanation on how PCS moves work. Never really understood the process that well.

 

[WEGL12]

I got advance travel from OCS to P'cola, and I was told it was not authorized for the move from P'cola to Whiting/Corpus. They also sent it (travel money from P'Cola to Corpus) as a US Treasury check instead of using Direct Deposit, which was weird.

I was also told at OCS that I couldn't get DLA until I got to P'cola, was told at P'cola I wouldn't get it until Corpus, and was told at Corpus that I wouldn't get it here either so stop asking. But they did give us a PCS with HHG from P'cola to Whiting/Corpus.

I was told you are only eligible for DLA for your first PCS orders if you are married (not sure that applies to you). That came from PSD at OCS which told me several things I later found out weren't correct. One example was my travel pay to OCS. When I was checking out they told me I could only get my travel pay once I checked into API. When I got down here I asked PSD about it and they said I should had received it long before checking in down here.

 

[Pags]

I got advance travel from OCS to P'cola, and I was told it was not authorized for the move from P'cola to Whiting/Corpus. They also sent it (travel money from P'Cola to Corpus) as a US Treasury check instead of using Direct Deposit, which was weird.

I was also told at OCS that I couldn't get DLA until I got to P'cola, was told at P'cola I wouldn't get it until Corpus, and was told at Corpus that I wouldn't get it here either so stop asking. But they did give us a PCS with HHG from P'cola to Whiting/Corpus.

There's a difference in how orders used to be cut (and sounds like it's still the same for single guys and married guys. Married guys get PCS orders to TAW-5 with an intermediate stop at NAS Pensacola. Single guys get a different type of temporary orders to Pcola with follow on orders to their assigned primary location. I imagine this allows CNATRA to manage location loading more real time as folks matriculate from API.

The travel advance you got probably covered your full orders from OCS to TAW-4. You would get more later once you close out travel, etc at TAW-4.

Per the JFTR, DLA is not authorized for initial (and final) moves.

 

[Tycho_Brohe]

There's a difference in how orders used to be cut (and sounds like it's still the same for single guys and married guys. Married guys get PCS orders to TAW-5 with an intermediate stop at NAS Pensacola. Single guys get a different type of temporary orders to Pcola with follow on orders to their assigned primary location. I imagine this allows CNATRA to manage location loading more real time as folks matriculate from API.

The travel advance you got probably covered your full orders from OCS to TAW-4. You would get more later once you close out travel, etc at TAW-4.

Per the JFTR, DLA is not authorized for initial (and final) moves.

Gotcha, so I guess someone gave me some bad gouge about the DLA at some point.

I was told you are only eligible for DLA for your first PCS orders if you are married (not sure that applies to you). That came from PSD at OCS which told me several things I later found out weren't correct. One example was my travel pay to OCS. When I was checking out they told me I could only get my travel pay once I checked into API. When I got down here I asked PSD about it and they said I should had received it long before checking in down here.

Yeah, they gave us advance travel so I'm not sure why they didn't do the same for you. Government shutdown or budget stuff, maybe? But I did the PPM to API and to Primary, didn't rent a truck or anything. They gave me mileage and per diem for both, and for the PCS they also gave me a PPM incentive, which is basically how much money they estimate you saved them by not having them hire a moving company. And that's dependent on how much you're moving, which is why your friends needed the weight tickets. It's really convenient if you're not moving a lot of furniture, because then you don't have to wait like two weeks for all your stuff. Plus I did it in one shot so I got to pocket the per diem. Went straight to the Navy Gateway so I could get reimbursed for my stay while I found a place. It's probably a LOT easier if you're just going to Whiting.

 

[Unforgiven33]

For instance, if I had orders from NAS X to NAS Y with an intermediate stop for training in between then as soon as those orders are cut I can arrange my HHG shipment to NAS Y. I won't get final money until I check in to NAS Y, but the HHG move money is different from POV mileage, DITY/PPM move money, travel money, TLA, etc.

A lot of good stuff. Thanks for the help. I didn't realize that my orders would say my Primary school with a stop for API. I thought my orders would just say API which is where I was getting the whole move thing confused. So we can move down for API and have all our documentation but we won't see any money until we finish API and check into Primary?

 

[Pags]

Orders will read different for single and married guys due to married guys staying at TAW-5.

Because married guys have PCS orders to Pcola/TAW-5 they may let you close out your travel at NASC since your move to NAS Whiting is local and there's no cost associated with them.

You can get travel advances if you need the money, but I've never needed one.

 

[gp360]

SNAs in the last 3 graduating OCS classes were sent home for OHARP for 4-6 weeks. NFOs were given orders straight to pcola (most nfos from our class are in IFS/API already).

After checking in, about 2 months for SNAs to class up for IFS (pending physicals, fittings, etc...). After finishing IFS (around a month to complete), it seems everyone is waiting maybe a week or two to begin API. OP, you'll be down here with all the academy grads so expect the wait to be much longer.