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Naval Aviation and Watches

webmaster

The Grass is Greener!
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
This thread title is so damn misleading. I keep hoping to find pictures of the latest watches. Where are the Rolex, Breitlings and Omegas for the love of god?!?!?!

Even more surprising that @mad dog hasnt derailed the thread with a hooters/Metallica/Dunkin/omega/moonwatch/bromance post!? What is this site coming to?!?!
 

Pags

N/A
pilot
This thread title is so damn misleading. I keep hoping to find pictures of the latest watches. Where are the Rolex, Breitlings and Omegas for the love of god?!?!?!

Even more surprising that @mad dog hasnt derailed the thread with a hooters/Metallica/Dunkin/omega/moonwatch/bromance post!? What is this site coming to?!?!
IMG_5263.JPG
No Rolex or Breitling, but there's an Omega and a few others.
 

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
This thread title is so damn misleading. I keep hoping to find pictures of the latest watches. Where are the Rolex, Breitlings and Omegas for the love of god?!?!?!

Even more surprising that @mad dog hasnt derailed the thread with a hooters/Metallica/Dunkin/omega/moonwatch/bromance post!? What is this site coming to?!?!
Where are yours?

You're an airline pilot with the kids out of college. You should be sporting a few (besides the X-33) by now.
 

JWL

Member
So, during a disassociated sea tour, an aviator is at sea, but as the name of the tour implies, is not associated with a flying squadron? Does such an aviator learn to be a shipdriver during this tour? If so, why don't they get a SWO pin in an addition to wings? And, if they are not flying during this time (2 years?) don't their flying abilities suffer? After all, as with any endeavor in life, one must continue to practice it in order to get better at it, or to at least remain proficient in it.
 

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
So, during a disassociated sea tour, an aviator is at sea, but as the name of the tour implies, is not associated with a flying squadron? Does such an aviator learn to be a shipdriver during this tour? If so, why don't they get a SWO pin in an addition to wings? And, if they are not flying during this time (2 years?) don't their flying abilities suffer? After all, as with any endeavor in life, one must continue to practice it in order to get better at it, or to at least remain proficient in it.

"Yes."

In all seriousness, it's just part of the deal. There's plenty of arguments on both sides that have been discussed on this forum quite extensively which I'm sure you can search for, but it doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon and is an entrenched part of a Naval Officer's career who has chosen to be an Aviator as his specialty. There are some politics that have happened such that said pilots do not earn a SWO pin; there are also plenty of jobs that are part of the ship's company that do not involve actually driving the ship: shooters, air transfer officers, safety officers, guys who work in tower ("boss" / "mini-boss"), etc.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
So, during a disassociated sea tour, an aviator is at sea, but as the name of the tour implies, is not associated with a flying squadron? Does such an aviator learn to be a shipdriver during this tour? If so, why don't they get a SWO pin in an addition to wings? And, if they are not flying during this time (2 years?) don't their flying abilities suffer? After all, as with any endeavor in life, one must continue to practice it in order to get better at it, or to at least remain proficient in it.

A dissasoc tour is 1) deployable and 2) not part of a squadron. Not necessarily a ship's company tour, and not necessarily non-flying. There are disassoc billets - CAG staff, for example - where you're expected to fly. There are others where you can very easily arrange to keep flying, depending on your relationship with the squadrons. On one of my cruises, the admiral's loop was an E-2 guy with a good rep and he liked to fly, so we were happy to have him on our flight sked. And there are still others that are forward-deployed but ashore somewhere, like Bahrain or Japan.

In any case, even if you don't fly at all during your tour, there are refresher training tracks to get you back up to speed when you return to a flying unit. It's normal and expected and not a big deal.
 

JWL

Member
Interesting. I assume there are also other tours such a ROTC/USNA instructor, graduate student, staff aide, etc. where the aviator may not fly at all for 2 to 3 years? Despite refresher training, do such aviators typically fly on their own in a civilian venue? I realize it's not the same as flying in a military environment, but I am bit surprised than aviator can go without flying for years and then jump back and become a squadron xo/co.

Is one exception is where a shore tour involves being a flight instructor? There must surely be plenty of flying in such a tour.
 

JWL

Member
"Yes."

In all seriousness, it's just part of the deal. There's plenty of arguments on both sides that have been discussed on this forum quite extensively which I'm sure you can search for, but it doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon and is an entrenched part of a Naval Officer's career who has chosen to be an Aviator as his specialty. There are some politics that have happened such that said pilots do not earn a SWO pin; there are also plenty of jobs that are part of the ship's company that do not involve actually driving the ship: shooters, air transfer officers, safety officers, guys who work in tower ("boss" / "mini-boss"), etc.
So, perhaps with Air Force, their pilots fly throughout their careers unless it's a staff/academy/ROTC/grad student tour?

Where do Marine aviators fall in this since they most certainly (I am assuming here) would not stand watch or be groomed to command a carrier? Since they are infantrymen first, do Marine pilots get rotated to infantry units and therefore do not fly during such tours?
 

Swanee

Cereal Killer
pilot
None
Contributor
So, perhaps with Air Force, their pilots fly throughout their careers unless it's a staff/academy/ROTC/grad student tour?

Where do Marine aviators fall in this since they most certainly (I am assuming here) would not stand watch or be groomed to command a carrier? Since they are infantrymen first, do Marine pilots get rotated to infantry units and therefore do not fly during such tours?

There are plenty of B Billets for Marine Aviators. Some are with the Division. For instance, you may be sent to be a Forward Air Controller ( The USMC still calls winged aviators who are JTACs FACs), or a Battalion Air Officer. Other guys go to be flight school instructors, or FRS IPs, some go fly with the adversary squadrons, Some get stuck on MEU staffs, some go to strange places like the MCIOC in Quantico, or go to work in other HQ support offices (NAVAIR, Safety Center, 5 sided fun house), some do back to back fleet tours, some go to places like VMX-1 or MAWTS-1. There are a very few who might be sent to places like TBS and OCS. Some go do a tour as a Marine Officer Instructor at a Navy ROTC unit.

A lot of what happens really depends on timing and how well you can work the bro network.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Interesting. I assume there are also other tours such a ROTC/USNA instructor, graduate student, staff aide, etc. where the aviator may not fly at all for 2 to 3 years? Despite refresher training, do such aviators typically fly on their own in a civilian venue? I realize it's not the same as flying in a military environment, but I am bit surprised than aviator can go without flying for years and then jump back and become a squadron xo/co.

Is one exception is where a shore tour involves being a flight instructor? There must surely be plenty of flying in such a tour.

There's a lot more to it than that. There's a career sequence and the Navy is pretty welded into it.

FY-17-Aviation-Career-Path.jpg
 

Randy Daytona

Cold War Relic
pilot
Super Moderator
There's a lot more to it than that. There's a career sequence and the Navy is pretty welded into it.

FY-17-Aviation-Career-Path.jpg

The only thing to add is that as a reservist, you will want to punch as many of the same tickets as above but the timeline goes out the window.
 

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
This thread title is so damn misleading. I keep hoping to find pictures of the latest watches. Where are the Rolex, Breitlings and Omegas for the love of god?!?!?!

Even more surprising that @mad dog hasnt derailed the thread with a hooters/Metallica/Dunkin/omega/moonwatch/bromance post!? What is this site coming to?!?!

You're absolutely right. I could "stand more watches" in this thread :D. Here's my latest:
X33 Face.jpg

And an oldie, but always a goodie:

Moon Face.JPG
 
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