Your chances are....(penalty box for those who can't help asking about their chances)

[SemperGumbi]

To piggy back on the yoda-eske comments of FLY USMC and Harrier Dude....

You gotta have both to some degree. You always hear about the "Marine first, Officer second, Pilot third" mentality. But there are actually some pretty darn miserable pilots out there because they bought into all that a little too much. Guys who really wanted to be a Marine ground pounder but thought, "Hey, even as a pilot I am a Marine First!" are often fairly bitter. Can't speak to that on the helo or C-130 side, but in jet land it is out there for sure.

I think people who endure TBS and OCS because they want to be a pilot might do a lot better than people who endure being a pilot because they want to be a Marine.

 

[invertedflyer]

To piggy-back on fine statements like "total package" and "yoda-eske" ..

First off I'm still waiting to go to TBS. But my 2c must include the fact that the Navy doesn't have TBS, and that fact sets Marine officers apart. Many Marine Pilots are going to end up FACs and will be serving with an infantry unit if thats the case. I do, however, think its ok to come in wanting to be a pilot, as long as you want to be a Marine just as much. Being good at one makes you even better at the other.

 

[theblakeness]

Can't blame him. The closer a person is to OCS (both Navy and Marine types), the more of a koolaide mustache they have.....yut.

fuck yeah they do. Its the only thing that keeps them motivated to get through it.

I know next to nothing about the Navy side of the house or its OCS program so Im not going to comment on that, but when I went through USMC OCS, the people that stated in their autobiographies that they are there because they really want to be a pilot generally got fucked with pretty hard for the duration. So regardless, dont say that if you go there.

 

[SemperGumbi]

We had a guy (and I bet all the guys in my OCS and/or TBS class know who he is) who had a conversation like this:

DI "Candidate *****, why did you join the Marine Corps!!!!!???!??!?!?!"
Candidate ***** "Because the Navy didn't have any pilot slots left."

He was then sent to a board. Every week. For the rest of OCS. Made it through, though. Our company CO was a '46 driver, so I think he got a little kick out of the whole ordeal.

 

[Ufoz8mycow]

DI "Candidate *****, why did you join the Marine Corps!!!!!???!??!?!?!"
Candidate ***** "Because the Navy didn't have any pilot slots left."

LOL!!!

Even the Forrest Gump response "To do whatever you tell me to, Drill SGT" would have probably been better than that. Hilarious.

 

[jooman360]

switching jobs

I talked to a 24 year retired navy vet and he said it is hard to switch jobs unless there is a shortage. I thought that switching jobs was very common. Lets say I was a supply officer or NFO and i tried to switch to intel before my commitment was up. How difficult is that compared to switching after the commitment? I thought it would be easier than getting the positon from the start because you would be competing with a lot of poeple who have never served.

 

[bert]

http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives...nel Classification and Designation/1210.5.pdf

http://buperscd.technology.navy.mil/bup_updt/508/milpers/1212-010.htm

http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/853559BF-C48A-410F-8B39-D705AFB8540C/0/NAV08072.txt

Read and enjoy!

 

[BACONATOR]

I'm sure it's possible. I've heard of some aviators (2nd and 3rd hand gouge) who switched to JAG and Medical Corps after their commitments(I met one former RIO turned Doc...actually by "met" I mean he did my opthalmologic exam).

I was thinking about switching to the JAG Corps after my aviation commitment. But that was mainly so I could Bang Catherine Bell.

 

[zab1001]

I talked to a 24 year retired navy vet and he said it is hard to switch jobs unless there is a shortage. I thought that switching jobs was very common. Lets say I was a supply officer or NFO and i tried to switch to intel before my commitment was up. How difficult is that compared to switching after the commitment? I thought it would be easier than getting the positon from the start because you would be competing with a lot of poeple who have never served.

If you owe time to a particular community, the odds of switching are slim. It happens rarely.

 

[phrogdriver]

I talked to a 24 year retired navy vet and he said it is hard to switch jobs unless there is a shortage. I thought that switching jobs was very common. Lets say I was a supply officer or NFO and i tried to switch to intel before my commitment was up. How difficult is that compared to switching after the commitment? I thought it would be easier than getting the positon from the start because you would be competing with a lot of poeple who have never served.

Switching jobs as an enlisted member is not that difficult. However, your acquaintance is right. There has to be a shortage in the field you're going to and an excess in your own. Generally these moves occur when resigning for another enlistment. These moves are not difficult to do--the Marine (in the cases I'm familiar with) goes to his "career planner" (a recruiter whose job is to recruit people to stay in) and asks what's available, then he puts in the paperwork, it gets approved/rejected and whamo! it's off to a new school They're also easier to accomplish as a junior Marine/Sailor than for a more senior one.

For officers, things are a LOT more complicated. There are certain established programs, e.g. the Marines have two programs wherein officers from any MOS can apply to go to law school and then to join Harm Raab in getting blueballs from Catherine Bell.

For most others, switching is more difficult, and will generally occur, as was mentioned before, after the obligated term of service expires. The officer would coordinate with his monitor (or detailer in the Navy), the guy who does assignments. That guy would then look for what fields are available. On the officer side, this may take a LOT of pain, and lobbying/fellatiating the powers-that-be.

You wouldn't be competing with people off the street. Remember that by the time one would be eligible to switch jobs, he has probably advanced in rank. Because the military has a pyramid-shaped structure, a given field only needs so many of each rank, and that number decreases as one goes higher. So only fields that had too many quit in a certain peer group (in the middle of that pyramid) are likely to have vacancies. The guy off the street is competing for a spot at the wide bottom of the pyramid with other guys off the street.

Of course, aviation in particular is voluntary duty. You can walk in the front office any day and say you don't want to fly anymore. And then...you can expect to pull duty every single day until someone figures out what to do with your worthless ass.

 

[irontri]

to join Harm Raab in getting blueballs from Catherine Bell.

fellatiating the powers-that-be.

Yikes...maybe Catherine's not worth it.

 

[Thisguy]

http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives...nel Classification and Designation/1210.5.pdf

http://buperscd.technology.navy.mil/bup_updt/508/milpers/1212-010.htm

http://www.npc.navy.mil/NR/rdonlyres/853559BF-C48A-410F-8B39-D705AFB8540C/0/NAV08072.txt

Read and enjoy!

That pretty much sums it up. Bare minimum for lat xfer generally is 2 years after commissioning (I transferred around that time before my commitment was up).

However, any community that invested significant time in training you (i.e. Pilot, NFO, Nuke) is going to make you serve your commitment before you think of switching designators.

AMDO sent me to a powerpoint/pdf school in Milton, FL for 10 weeks, so they didn't have such a hard time letting me go after a little over 2 years.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Yikes...maybe Catherine's not worth it.

That is blasphemy

 

[jooman360]

what if i got an underage

I just turned my application in for the July 15 deadline, and I have a clean record and everything and I have not drank since I have been interested in applying. I was just wondering since my application just got what would happend if I got caught drinking underage.

 

[Spekkio]

If you don't plan on breaking the law, why are you asking this question?

If you are planning on breaking the law, I wouldn't recommend it. Especially not for drug or alcohol abuse.