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It doesn't get a lot of press, but javelinas are expert submariners. They offer great OPFOR for the sub-hunting bubbas.

I'd recommend the latest FAA private pilot handbook - Aero, FR&R, and Weather will more or less come from there. You should also be able to find CNAF M-3710, naval aviation's master governing document. With CAC access you might be able to go on the CNATRA website and find the NIFE FTI, but...

I didn’t, and that’s my point - the 44 and 45 are more difficult aircraft with more difficult syllabi but it’s been an absolute blast because I know what comes after. COPTR can be exclusively about learning how to fly for those students because they already know what they’re going to get.

I imagine that the stress of not knowing what comes after is probably taken away with COPTR - knowing where I was going made the T-44 and T-45 very fun even though those syllabi expected more of me as a student. Primary would’ve been an absolute blast if I wasn’t worried about grades and certain...

When I was in VT-27 the contact NATOPS brief had to be verbatim and the forms brief had to be pretty close.

They stopped selecting for C-2s at some point in 2022, or maybe even 2021. VAW-120 stopped flying them late last year IIRC. The current T-45 syllabus is a unified one for jets and E-2s, and nowhere in it are C-2s mentioned.

If we were only so-so in primary, we’re usually better pilots after doing most of the maritime syllabus and a good chunk of the jet syllabus. ;)

You’ll use the wheel for NIFE, and in primary academics (maritime academics too IIRC). Tailhook studs use JMPS and I assume helo guys just land at gas stations and pump diesel if it turns out they didn’t have the gas they needed.

The official bar to clear for all tailhook is 50 NSS; the unofficial or at least anecdotal bar for strike is 60. The common denominators among E-2 SNAs is mid-to-high 50s and had jets somewhere on the dream sheet.

After NIFE? I don't believe that I have. Pre-NIFE I had a stash job that put me in them daily. And to be technically correct here, I'm still the "S" in "SNA."

YMMV. I've been wearing my OCS-issue boot socks every day I've put on NWUs or a flight suit, and three years in they're still going strong. Bring your own, but your feet aren't going to fall off if you forget.

Location doesn't matter a ton, but where you are in the fiscal year when you select sure does. Want to improve your chances? Get a high NSS and try to game it so that you select in October. /Disclaimer, that's a joke, you can't control when you select and if you end up in jets you won't have...

What's pictured here is actually the helicopter plugging in its flux capacitor, sorry for the misunderstanding.

The frames of the adjacent seats were bent in the direction of the opening!

Looking for anything in particular, Ivan?

Let me start off with acknowledging that I know things around Kingsville aren't that bad compared to the events I refer to in the title. I know that. But me and several other guys in my class have been stuck in the last couple of TR (what replaced FAM) events for... months now. Scheds says...

I would stick to the pin-and-frog variety. Your SDBs will literally get picked over during the 8 week inspection.

My wife works in finance, I fly the orange and white. Everywhere we ever go people ask me about my job, not hers. People write books, make movies, and video games about my job, not hers (except when people in that business commit crimes). You can do both, you'll just have to do them in a certain...

I wonder if the Navy couldn’t work a seat brief and backseat T-6 ride into the NIFE syllabus, with the attached question of “Did you absolutely despise that experience? Sign here for helos.”

If helos is your last choice, then it’s a no-brainer. Shoot your shot and if you get helos anyways then you at least know you tried.

The way they're decided is that nobody, and I mean nobody, remembers what awards they got at OCS. They will not be documented meaningfully - it will not boost your career. You'll get a NAM if you save somebody from choking to death in the galley, or spend 2 calendar years in student pool because...

I like to read, and I kept up on my reading all the way through OCS - including indoc. I just kept the books locked away such that they weren't subject to inspection.

Blue Lobster is pretty good for Charlie syllabus.

Everything I've heard about the T-34 makes the T-6 a superior aircraft in all categories, no doubt. From a program perspective is where I understand it to be such a headache. I understand that at one point, the Air Force canceled a particular parts contract - and it hit Navy T-6 readiness...

When you get to primary tell your IPs all about this. They'll give you jets on the spot.

You can check the waiver you got against this guide and see if you have anything to be worried about: https://www.med.navy.mil/Navy-Medicine-Operational-Training-Command/Naval-Aerospace-Medical-Institute/Aeromedical-Reference-and-Waiver-Guide/ If you do see something on there that applies to...

There is always a steady level of NAMI whammies at OCS with a smaller but still existent number to follow at Pensacola, always owing to two factors: 1.) They are specifically looking to thin the herd. The Navy is short on O-4s in the fleet, not O-1s in flight school. 2.) They will conduct...

No-BOGS was more complicated than that, and I’m not sure how much of that is supposed to be discussed in this setting. But the answer is no, it did not, because it is also more complicated than that.

That looks like a good idea, sir. Counterpoint: let’s fly the wings off the T-45s so congress can force-feed us the T-7 like they did the T-6.

Think small thoughts!

It’s even easier than that. It’s essentially the newest version of the TC-12.

In T-44 land there is serious discussion about the replacement because the replacement is on the way - and even then only one squadron is getting it to start with, and there didn’t seem to be a firm plan on what the syllabi for it would look like. In T-45 land there is no discussion (that...

Probably crashed in White Sands circa 1976 and the wreckage inspired Have Blue

I'd hardly call that a cross country - but even being an SNA in Kingsville, I can see why they'd love it for RI flights. Sits right off of a J route and has 12000 and 10000 foot runways with ILS approaches to all of them. The only solo SNA cross country events I'm aware of are the T-44 "brolo"...

Nah dude. NASC is gonna give you your anthro measurements and that’s pretty much it. If it’s a difference of an inch or two, a couple ejection seat rides from the T-6 would probably do the trick - but I do not recommend this in terms of convincing CNATRA to select you for jets.

A dude I did NIFE and primary with absolutely rocked the whole program but anthro’d out of jets, specifically for not being able to fit in the T-45 - he would fit in a Hornet or F-35. If you like pulling Gs you can always go back and be a primary IP, they’re almost exclusively helo and maritime...

You'll have gaps between stages of training - take leave, take trips, make memories. Try to make a couple of hours pf time for your spouse during the week - even if that's a movie or a board game, just something. Make sure they know you get your schedule 24 hours at a time and that the schedule...

If nobody who knows better replies: find Marines ahead of you who can tell you which MATSG will be most permissive. Count on NASC (the command that owns NIFE) saying no.

Expect NASC to be absolute assholes about granting leave - even if you're in the pool, even to get married. Ask me how I know about that one. All of the primary squadrons and TWs would probably let you take leave to do that, especially in between syllabi. Can't speak for the MATSG's - they...

Individual mileage always varies man. You’ll finish when you finish. The T-6 is a stupid fun airplane to fly, soak up every minute of it.

Having obviously not seen the ones that didn't make the cut, the ones that are actually getting implemented in the VTs have been pretty good. I wasn't in Avenger but found the VR T-6 sleds very useful for learning course rules and practicing form procedures, the AR T-44 checklist trainer was...

I certainly won't try to talk over exNavyOffRed here; I only know from my own experiences that SNAs tend to have a little more plot armor with NAMI after they've completed some flight training as opposed to before accession. Before accession it seems like they'll eliminate anyone for anything...

You’ll get more flexibility out of the Navy once you’re actually commissioned, and especially once they’ve started spending money on you. I’ve met more than a couple retreads in flight school - they consistently crush the program.

I pitched teaching instruments in NIFE to save T-6 money/time in my primary debrief and just got laughed at.

Nice try, primary IP of Christmas Past. This is covered by AVEFAME and the FIH.

Pros versus Cons. ROTC: No student loans, but the Navy tells you what job you'll have. OCS: Navy doesn't pay for college, you really do choose your job. Lots to consider.

I had PRK in my right eye in 2014, left eye in 2018, and commissioned as an SNA through OCS in 2021. I have no waivers and have now done two long forms and two short forms.

Bad gouge. I had PRK with ideal results and some optometrists can tell without asking.

I had to disclose a bunch of stuff up front on accession, commissioning, and again for NAMI and NASIS. Including PRK. I didn’t end up requiring a single waiver and they gave me a clearance without issue. The best time to have said something was initially, the next best time would be now.

I'm glad I did primary in Corpus and am looking forward to E-2s, but man. After essentially exploring the entire state of Texas I realize the wasted opportunity in not seeing more of the Gulf when I was in Pensacola.