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Transition to FTS

Ken_gone_flying

"I live vicariously through myself."
pilot
Contributor
Anyone seen someone jump to FTS post their DH tour? I ask because I want to stay flying throughout my 20 and then transition to the airlines. Staying Active Duty 1310 VFA post-DH in a flying billet is not easy nor guaranteed. Without being current at the end of 20, I can kiss airlines goodbye.

Even if you are senior to O-4 with 3 years time in grade the instruction says you can still apply if they have availabilities in your year group.
 

Ringer

New Member
pilot
I would assume that if I pick up O5 in FTS that I would have the same issue as if I stayed active, right? That I would have to soak up a sea tour as an O5?

Also, if you retire at 20 from FTS, do you get your retirement immediately or is it like retiring from the reserves where you have to wait?
 

armada1651

Hey intern, get me a Campari!
pilot
I would assume that if I pick up O5 in FTS that I would have the same issue as if I stayed active, right? That I would have to soak up a sea tour as an O5?

Also, if you retire at 20 from FTS, do you get your retirement immediately or is it like retiring from the reserves where you have to wait?

FTS sea tour? Is there such a thing? FTS non-flying staff tour would be pretty likely I think. It would be a normal active duty retirement at 20 though.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Also, if you retire at 20 from FTS, do you get your retirement immediately or is it like retiring from the reserves where you have to wait?

FTS = Active Duty = Active Duty retirement.
 

Ringer

New Member
pilot
Separate question. If I hop over as a post-DH O4 with an EP, what are the chances on making O5? Do they consider Active duty fitreps for that? I am being told I have to do a 2nd DH tour in FTS.
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
Separate question. If I hop over as a post-DH O4 with an EP, what are the chances on making O5? Do they consider Active duty fitreps for that? I am being told I have to do a 2nd DH tour in FTS.
Yes, they do consider all of your active duty fitreps for FTS. Making O5 on AZ looks is actually possible with FTS (unlike active duty).

You might just go straight from active duty DH to be a NOSC CO (one of my friends did exactly that a few years ago and he made O5) or a staff job. One way or the other, if you want that 20 year retirement then big Navy is going to make you do at least one tour doing something grownupish in return ("heavy lifting" in new standard Millingtonese). Very few of the FTS O5 flying jobs are something other than squadron CO/XO, and to get to those then you also have to do something grownupish along the way. On the other hand, terminal O-4 twilight tours as an extra DH or extra body at a wing are common...
 

Ringer

New Member
pilot
Apparently I am an oddball case, wanting to transition after an operational DH tour. As soon as I transition I have to do an FTS DH tour. And my screen board for O5 would be during the middle of that tour. So, the question is do I make O5 from my EP operational DH fitrep while in the middle of an FTS DH tour?
 

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
Take it for what it's worth--just some guy on the internet--but if you're in a back to back DH tour and you're up for the board, that's not as competitive as being in a proper post-DH billet.

It used to be a lot easier in FTS to just fly until you hit 20. Fortunately that impression still persists on the active duty side, causing much jealousy and envy, but it's an illusion. About ten years ago when they came out with a career path that looked suspiciously similar to the active duty career path. It's still possible to fly more, but that ebbs and flows based on supply and demand in the flying billets.
 

Ringer

New Member
pilot
Jim123, I appreciate the insight and opinion. Tough decision to make and little time to decide with the deadline in a couple of weeks. Very tempting to leave Lemoore finally and take the family back to Texas or somewhere not CA. And it appears this would be the only shot at FTS as more senior war groups to mine arent eligible.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
Jim123, I appreciate the insight and opinion. Tough decision to make and little time to decide with the deadline in a couple of weeks. Very tempting to leave Lemoore finally and take the family back to Texas or somewhere not CA. And it appears this would be the only shot at FTS as more senior war groups to mine arent eligible.

I'd argue you're barely eligible, although eligible (assuming you've looked at the YG matrix). But as Jim has said, don't do this because you think you'll keep flying. Plan on a staff or NOSC CO tour sooner rather than later. That said, you can always apply and if accepted, turn it down. But there are a lot of other applicants right now, so even if you did so, coming from a DH tour, you're just not as competitive ("junior most qualified") as everyone else applying.
 

BACONATOR

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
I'd argue you're barely eligible, although eligible (assuming you've looked at the YG matrix). But as Jim has said, don't do this because you think you'll keep flying. Plan on a staff or NOSC CO tour sooner rather than later. That said, you can always apply and if accepted, turn it down. But there are a lot of other applicants right now, so even if you did so, coming from a DH tour, you're just not as competitive ("junior most qualified") as everyone else applying.

This is purely speculative, so take this with a grain of salt, but...

On the spring board last year (and I think the spring boards in general), they tend to select fewer folks, and those they select are often O-4s... at least last spring, they selected a handful of O-4s. So the "junior-most-qualified" statement is kind of BS in that context. That being said, your best odds (statistically, as well as manifestly) are to apply to multiple boards, at least one spring and one fall. I know my buddy took 3 tries to get accepted and I took 2.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
It can certainly vary. On the Fall board for the HSM side, one was a select and one was an O-3. Also, coming in as a Post-DH doesn't mean that FTS doesn't still want you to do a DH tour (to learn Reserve Management, etc). So if you're doing back-to-back DH tours, it doesn't really help your board chances for O-5 (if that's something you care about) and it's not as exciting a prospect for the FTS community since you're fairly stagnate in the man-power arena.

No matter the rank, if you're not rushing a squadron as well as applying a lot (like you said), you're doing it wrong.
 

Chachi

Active Member
pilot
Contributor
How does an FTS DH tour compare to an active duty one? Do they all hate their life too?
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
No. Parts are going to suck, as with all Navy jobs, but you're no longer part of the AC circus herd, so life tends to be a little more reality-based.
 
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