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Navy vs Air Force

I had ROTC scholarships for the Navy and the AF coming out of high school. I chose the Navy for three reasons. First, my eyes weren't perfect so I could only get a pilot slot in the Navy.

Second, the university I chose had an NROTC unit, but only a crosstown agreement with the AFROTC unit. There was no way I was going to pick up the difference between my private school's tuition and the state school tuition that the AF would cover (about a $20k/year difference). Also, in retrospect commuting would have been a pain. Not the biggest deal, but why do it if you don't have to.

Finally, in the event that I got NPQ'd for aviation I didn't really like the options in the AF. I much preferred the thought of going SWO or subs to riding a desk in the AF.

I am very happy I went Navy. Besides, most of our duty stations are on the coasts and I like that. Not that Vance isn't cool...
 
My reasons for Navy over Air Force:

1) Pilot Slots- At the time I was looking at ROTCs, It was the height of the early 90's drawdown. The air force was making an infinitesimal amount of pilots, while with the navy you at least had a chance.

2) Majors- The Air Force was much more restrictive on majors, they only wanted engineers and scientists. Economics was the only social science they would accept. The Navy didn't care (well- no liberal arts) but any social science was fine. Wanna fly- Poli Sci.

3) Mission- I always figured that the Navy would be the first into any action. Be careful what you wish for- this ended up being very true.

4) Back up careers- If for some reason I didn't pick up pilot or nav or NFO, I liked the Navy's career choices better than the air forces. Being a SWO looked much more appealing to me than sitting in a missile silo somewhere.


Keep in mind, the reasons above are just the reasoning of a then 17 year old kid having to choose. After 4 years of ROTC and 10 years of flying for the Navy I have found many more reasons why I 'fit' the Navy better than the air force. Still, if I lived another life, and went Air Force, I'm sure I would have a rewarding career. You can't lose with either choice.
 
Go Navy!!

I'm getting ready to graduate from the Air Force Institute of Technology in a week and then head down to flight school. Granted, I haven't experienced the fleet, but after a year with the Air Force, I know I made the right decision.

The Air Force is very corporate. They have forms and plans for everything!!! If you like knowing exactly what you can and can't do and don't enjoy peering outside of the box you are placed in, join the Air Force. The type of person in the Air Force I saw at AFIT is very different than in the Navy guys I know. Don't get me wrong the Air Force has great people, but the Air Force guys are different. I don't know how else to put it. They are just different. The Navy guys on the other hand are much more relaxed, easy-going, and fun to work with. Our life isn't just the Navy, we have other things going on. Where as with some of the Air Force guys, well that is their life. Also, unless you are an aviator, you are a second class citizen or worse in the Air Force.

In my opinion, granted I have little experience to draw on other than my year with the Air Force, the Navy is the way to go. I have had a lot of the 0-3's I go to school with tell me the same thing. I completely agree with them and I'm glad I'm heading down the path I'm on.
 
I didn't want to dress like a mailman. Oh yeah, and all that other stuff that's been said over, and over, and over......and over.
 
kmac said:
I'll debate that one on any day of the week. But I chose the Navy because I was originally going to be an NFO. I thought that a job as a FO would be much more rewarding than a Nav on a big Air Force jet (or Herc or ...). Now that I've dealt a lot with both services, I would say that the Navy produces better free-thinkers (or should I say flexible-thinkers) thanks to the culture differences between the two. Whereas the USAF has a policy in order to make sure they have a policy, the Navy tends to have a policy only when necessary (can only speak for the tailhook aviation side). Even in dealing with that policy, it seems that in the Navy the mission comes first; not the policy. In my own squadron, I would say that we go even further when the Skipper flat out said that our SOP was more of a guideline for shore stuff rather than really applying to our deployments.
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Your second sentence explains so much about you. If you had just shared that tidbit years ago :) Remember that bug thing those AF fighter guys did at the O'Club back in Osan? I had a chance to hang out with some AF F-16 and AC-130 types a few years back. Hopefully it was just that group but it wasn't good. We chose right. I'd rather be a Navy pilot flying a POS cargo plane (which I've done) than an AF fighter puke any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
 
Huggy Bear said:
2) Majors- The Air Force was much more restrictive on majors, they only wanted engineers and scientists. Economics was the only social science they would accept. The Navy didn't care (well- no liberal arts) but any social science was fine. Wanna fly- Poli Sci.
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Tough to argue with that one. I know my NROTC unit has commissioned Art History majors in the past, and I'm going to P'Cola in the fall for pilot training with a liberal arts double major. From what I hear, they're trying to send anything with a pulse to pilot right now.
 
Skippy said:
Tough to argue with that one. I know my NROTC unit has commissioned Art History majors in the past, and I'm going to P'Cola in the fall for pilot training with a liberal arts double major. From what I hear, they're trying to send anything with a pulse to pilot right now.
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Yeah, a social science IS a liberal art. :confused:
 
kmac said:
Believe it or not Bunk, but I joined before PRK was allowed.
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Yep, my vision was bad enough that the USAF said I was not able to go tac air (at the time F-111, EF-111 or F-15E) and the Navy said anything with an NFO. My idea of flying did not involve a windowless tube. Flight of the Intruder (the book, not the movie) had just come out. Applied in Jan of 1985, went to AOCS in Nov of 86, Given the chance most of us would have preferred a pilot slot but that simply wasn't an option. Worked out well for me though.
 
Huggy Bear said:
2) Majors- The Air Force was much more restrictive on majors, they only wanted engineers and scientists. Economics was the only social science they would accept. The Navy didn't care (well- no liberal arts) but any social science was fine. Wanna fly- Poli Sci.
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Dunno how it was back then, but that is not accurate gouge now. I know plenty of people that got 4 year scholarships and pilot slots out of AFROTC with majors like criminal justice and recreation & leisure studies.

However, just about every other argument against the AF in this thread is valid in my experience in it.
 
Go Navy!
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