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Jets v Helos
- Thread starter Ave8tor
- Start date
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
Hey I had an affinity for those cams (not the shafts)! And besides, it helps me sleep better at night knowing the difference between the beta set cam and the beta follow-up cam.
Agreed though, what's the point of "requiring" to know something when 1) you can't fix it and 2) it doesn't affect any other system if it fails? I can see a point when it comes to relating the a gripe to maintenance, but most pilots use common (and sometimes incorrect) rather than proper nomenclature anyway when writing a MAF.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but figured it most closely fit what I was looking for when I searched.
My question is jet vs helo quality of life, emphasis on family life. I am in primary and have 2 small children, possibly one more in the future. Does either community bode better than the other IRT family life? I was an airframer in Beaufort, so I know a little about F18 deployment schedules, but I have nothing to compare it to. I know my OIC spent a lot of time in the vault studying and preparing for briefs, but I don't know if he was working on a qual or if that's just an everyday occurrence for all F18 guys.
(Also, yes military life doesn't lend it self to a lot of family time, but when I am home, will I actually be home?).
My question is jet vs helo quality of life, emphasis on family life. I am in primary and have 2 small children, possibly one more in the future. Does either community bode better than the other IRT family life? I was an airframer in Beaufort, so I know a little about F18 deployment schedules, but I have nothing to compare it to. I know my OIC spent a lot of time in the vault studying and preparing for briefs, but I don't know if he was working on a qual or if that's just an everyday occurrence for all F18 guys.
(Also, yes military life doesn't lend it self to a lot of family time, but when I am home, will I actually be home?).
The question has been asked here a lot, but my .02 is that every community is going to have you gone from home a lot during sea duty. And, when you are home, you're going to be busy studying or preparing for your upgrading flights. Once you've got your quals, you'll be working in a harder ground job or flying a lot more.
Picking a community purely based on perceived time at home isn't a solid plan. Look at the flying, the mission, and the people and ask whether those interest you or not.
Picking a community purely based on perceived time at home isn't a solid plan. Look at the flying, the mission, and the people and ask whether those interest you or not.
The only helo community that's giving that "when you're home, you're home" experience is 53s right now, and that's because they're recovering from fleet wide maintence issues. Otherwise don't expect your QOL to be any better in a helo vs jet squadron.
QOL shouldn't be your deciding factor for platform selection because the differences all pretty much a wash as communities. You'll find the occasional QOL gem in each depending on where a squadron is in the cycle, or post sequester but you can't bank on those opportunities being available for you when you arrive to the fleet.
QOL shouldn't be your deciding factor for platform selection because the differences all pretty much a wash as communities. You'll find the occasional QOL gem in each depending on where a squadron is in the cycle, or post sequester but you can't bank on those opportunities being available for you when you arrive to the fleet.
Are you talking about marine jets and helo's? I'd argue that mostly UDP's (marine hornets) is a better quality of life than mostly MEU deployments (helo's and harriers).
Then again, I haven't heard many c-130 guys complaining.
Then again, I haven't heard many c-130 guys complaining.
There's no right answer to that question. You're gone a lot in helo land too. The last 12 months has been our down cycle (so to speak) and I've easily been gone 3 out of 12 months this year on dets and whatnot. Some of those are good deals but most often they are 2 or 3 week long boat dets. I've also been getting my level 3 syllabus done and have had multiple checkrides this year. We start workups in a few months and will be easily be gone 4-5 months during that time frame with all of the extra stuff we have going on right now.
Fleet squadrons are anything but 9-5. Sometimes I work 2 hours a day for a week and sometimes I work 14 hours a day for weeks on end. There will be time for family time but it won't be consistent and you'll have to be able to prioritize on the fly to make them both work.
Edit: Just realized @Rugby_Guy is a Marine. My advice is Navy centric, but not sure if it makes much difference. My Marine bros from flight school seem to be gone just as much.
Yes, definitely. UPD hornet squadrons have been getting Decommed/cadred driving up the % of squadrons that are boat deploying. Isa is no Iwakuni either. Still better than the boat, but not by much.
Yeah same here... Disregard my comment about 53s. Navy 53s are hurting- I know the Marines were flyable while the Navy's fleet was down.