NAVAIR Reserve Program (NRP) and DCO opportunities: AEDO & AMDO

[CaptainFlyByWire]

Fault Tree and Bam,

I haven't been on here in quite a while, so excuse the late reply. I have completed every piece of the paperwork trail possible; however, my packet is "in irons." I am presently working with AD1 Jay Ferrer, who is serving as the reserve officer program recruiter for the San Diego region. I chose this office because it had pumped a hand-full of AEDOs and AMDOs through the system over the past few years--and they have interview connections.

Apparently this San Diego office works in 'spurts,' so I just missed their last window at the time that I had contacted AD1. The last I heard from AD1 was that we will continue my application in October 2014. We'll see! In the mean time, I'm almost done with my MA in Executive Leadership and burning holes through the sky a few times every week at the ripe age of 39 (this month).

I'll post something once AD1 and I get the ball rolling again.

Cheers,

Capt. FBW

 

[Fault Tree]

Thanks FBW, I hadn't considered the possibility of using a more 'successful' recruiter from outside my local area. My OR in Puget Sound is a former Prowler ECMO and apparently very dedicated but I'm not sure how familiar she is with what they're looking for in this designator; she can't be any worse than my previous recruiter, who told me the community was only open to lateral transfers.

And I see Max already kind of answered my other questions upthread so sorry for being redundant.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Thanks FBW, I hadn't considered the possibility of using a more 'successful' recruiter from outside my local area. My OR in Puget Sound is a former Prowler ECMO and apparently very dedicated but I'm not sure how familiar she is with what they're looking for in this designator; she can't be any worse than my previous recruiter, who told me the community was only open to lateral transfers.

And I see Max already kind of answered my other questions upthread so sorry for being redundant.

Sometimes NRC sends out info with changes to what they are looking for, so they may at times say they are only picking from prior officers, this happens on the AD side as well where PAO currently only takes enlisted AD.

If you are not a prior then you would be the youngest person going into this program I have seen, AEDO recently changed their PA and if you don't have a MS in hand you will be at a significant disadvantage, AMDO wants a minimum of 5 years of experience.

Have you looked at going AD?

 

[Fault Tree]

Sometimes NRC sends out info with changes to what they are looking for, so they may at times say they are only picking from prior officers, this happens on the AD side as well where PAO currently only takes enlisted AD.

If you are not a prior then you would be the youngest person going into this program I have seen, AEDO recently changed their PA and if you don't have a MS in hand you will be at a significant disadvantage, AMDO wants a minimum of 5 years of experience.

Have you looked at going AD?

Thanks for the feedback OffRec,
The message wasn't "NRP isn't taking any non-priors right now" it was "that program does not exist/you wish it did"; like the posters upthread they weren't aware that the reserves take AEDOs directly (I should add that this wasn't from my recruiter but an attached officer they had working with them) And then they asked me if I wanted to go Active Duty
Frankly I wanted to go active duty back in college but it didn't work out back then; at this point I've invested too much in my civilian career to give it up (and the payments on my student loans and my house and my girlfriend etc.). I'm almost done with my MS, hypothetically I would get my diploma before my commission. Do they not take that into account or is it that I'll be facing off against people who have finished their degrees (plus 10 years experience) and I don't rate by comparison? They sent my resume up to the community manager and as far as I understood their comments I was good to go for submitting.

If need be I'll wait a couple years.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Thanks for the feedback OffRec,
The message wasn't "NRP isn't taking any non-priors right now" it was "that program does not exist/you wish it did"; like the posters upthread they weren't aware that the reserves take AEDOs directly (I should add that this wasn't from my recruiter but an attached officer they had working with them) And then they asked me if I wanted to go Active Duty
Frankly I wanted to go active duty back in college but it didn't work out back then; at this point I've invested too much in my civilian career to give it up (and the payments on my student loans and my house and my girlfriend etc.). I'm almost done with my MS, hypothetically I would get my diploma before my commission. Do they not take that into account or is it that I'll be facing off against people who have finished their degrees (plus 10 years experience) and I don't rate by comparison? They sent my resume up to the community manager and as far as I understood their comments I was good to go for submitting.

If need be I'll wait a couple years.

If a person meets the minimum requirements then they let them apply, it does not mean a person is competitive though and often people think one when it is the other.

They don't count chickens until they are hatched, so even though you are working on it you everyone that has a Master's would be one up on you.

I actually don't even remember seeing an AEDO picked up that wasn't a prior officer, but that is just from what I have seen.

If you contact Bam Bam on here he could give you insight on AMDO as he is one now and he could give you better info on who has been picked up, I believe generally it is prior service though.

 

[maxsonic]

If a person meets the minimum requirements then they let them apply, it does not mean a person is competitive though and often people think one when it is the other.

They don't count chickens until they are hatched, so even though you are working on it you everyone that has a Master's would be one up on you.

I actually don't even remember seeing an AEDO picked up that wasn't a prior officer, but that is just from what I have seen.

If you contact Bam Bam on here he could give you insight on AMDO as he is one now and he could give you better info on who has been picked up, I believe generally it is prior service though.

When I was picked up back in 1989 as an AEDO in the NRP, I did not have prior service, and did not have Masters Degree. I did have a BSAE, was taking coursework towards a MSAE, and was able to demonstrate a very strong knowledge of Naval Aviation and more importantly, NAVAIR - at the time, I had a NAVAIR civilian employment position as an Aerospace Engineer supporting the F/A-18 at Naval Aviation Depot North Island (added plus, BzB had already taught me much about Naval Aviation!). Times change, however, and from what I gather the candidates applying for AEDO and AMDO Direct Commissions now have very strong qualifications, including MS degrees. For AEDO Candidates, a technical Master's Degree will probably be needed to be competitive with other qualified candidates, especially those with prior Enlisted service. I wouldn't let lack of a MS degree keep you from applying, though, especially if you have strong engineering skills and experience and are employed in an engineering position by a contractor supporting DoD weapon systems. Those skills and experience are needed for the weapon system acquisition and sustainment work that is done by NAVAIR.

MAX

 

[maxsonic]

Hi Captain FBW and all,
Maybe MaxSonic or someone else can help me understand what duty as an ensign in NRP will involve? It's a small community and there's really not much specific information out there on what kind of work a new AEDO does right off the bat. The officer in this video seems to have had particularly interesting duty assignments so far; is her experience typical or is she the exception where the rest of the community is marooned in cube farms? I'm kind of trying to get away from a 100% office environment since that's what I do for my day job.

Thanks for any information you can give me!

See attached, pages 24-25

 

[exNavyOffRec]

When I was picked up back in 1989 as an AEDO in the NRP, I did not have prior service, and did not have Masters Degree. I did have a BSAE, was taking coursework towards a MSAE, and was able to demonstrate a very strong knowledge of Naval Aviation and more importantly, NAVAIR - at the time, I had a NAVAIR civilian employment position as an Aerospace Engineer supporting the F/A-18 at Naval Aviation Depot North Island (added plus, BzB had already taught me much about Naval Aviation!). Times change, however, and from what I gather the candidates applying for AEDO and AMDO Direct Commissions now have very strong qualifications, including MS degrees. For AEDO Candidates, a technical Master's Degree will probably be needed to be competitive with other qualified candidates, especially those with prior Enlisted service. I wouldn't let lack of a MS degree keep you from applying, though, especially if you have strong engineering skills and experience and are employed in an engineering position by a contractor supporting DoD weapon systems. Those skills and experience are needed for the weapon system acquisition and sustainment work that is done by NAVAIR.

MAX

It is interesting how things change over the years, I worked with a few Intel officers who I thought were quite sharp, but they themselves said looking at people getting accepted and the ones getting denied that they themselves would not be picked up given how the requirements had changed.

 

[Bam Bam]

If a person meets the minimum requirements then they let them apply, it does not mean a person is competitive though and often people think one when it is the other.

They don't count chickens until they are hatched, so even though you are working on it you everyone that has a Master's would be one up on you.

I actually don't even remember seeing an AEDO picked up that wasn't a prior officer, but that is just from what I have seen.

If you contact Bam Bam on here he could give you insight on AMDO as he is one now and he could give you better info on who has been picked up, I believe generally it is prior service though.

I would be glad to help. I know a couple of new AEDO DCO’s. The last three that were picked up were not prior service. They are a mix of male and female and their ages range from 30-40. I don’t believe that they all have their master degrees completed but I do know that they all have significant industry and or NAVAIR civil service experience.

 

[Fault Tree]

I would be glad to help. I know a couple of new AEDO DCO’s. The last three that were picked up were not prior service. They are a mix of male and female and their ages range from 30-40. I don’t believe that they all have their master degrees completed but I do know that they all have significant industry and or NAVAIR civil service experience.

Thanks a lot for the info, MaxSonic, Bam Bam and OffRec, this helps a lot. I'll press on with the application even though it seems like I'm on the low side in the experience department. If nothing else it will be good practice for the next time!

 

[Speermw]

What's going on everyone! I am new to the forum and have browsed through it and have gotten tons of useful information. So thank you to all that have asked questions and those that have answered them. I am currently trying to put together a Reserve AEDO package and was wondering if anyone had any connections with an AEDO o-4 and above that I could schedule a phone interview with. I have exhausted all of my connections up here at NAS Lemoore and it seems AEDOs are pretty rare. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[PenguinGal]

If you are anywhere near Lemoore, then you are in the (relative) vicinity of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey. This is where the vast, VAST majority of EDO (both EDO and AEDO) officers go at some point. You might try reaching out to systems engineering program officer.

 

[Bam Bam]

What's going on everyone! I am new to the forum and have browsed through it and have gotten tons of useful information. So thank you to all that have asked questions and those that have answered them. I am currently trying to put together a Reserve AEDO package and was wondering if anyone had any connections with an AEDO o-4 and above that I could schedule a phone interview with. I have exhausted all of my connections up here at NAS Lemoore and it seems AEDOs are pretty rare. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Speermw,

Welcome to the site! I am currently a reserve AMDO. The best way for you to arrange an 0-4+ AEDO/AMDO interview is to contact your OR or the NRP manager. They can find someone in your area to conduct the interview. I recently asked my CAPT to conduct an interview for a prospective AMDO and he told me that the NRP manager told him not to conduct the interview unless they scheduled it for him.

If you have any questions about the program please feel free to ask me any questions that you may have. You can PM me or ask on the forum.

By the way, what was your rate when you were enlisted? What degree did you complete?

Good luck with your application, it’s a great community!

Bam

 

[Speermw]

Bam Bam,
I was an AM from 2002-2008 then did contract maintenance for the navy from 2008-2010. My degree is in Criminal Justice (wanted to be a cop). My original goal was to come back active duty, but all the AMDO boards have been cancelled. So I submitted for different active duty programs (Supply-denied age waiver, Intel- awating board). Now I am trying to go the reserve route in case the intel baord fails me. My final step is to get interviews and I just completed one with an O-4 AMDO out of NAS Lemoore. Then my OR tells me that the cut the qoouta for AMDO and now feels my best route would be to try AEDO. It is very difficult trying to find an AEDO. Time is really not on my side at this point.

 

[Bam Bam]

Bam Bam,
I was an AM from 2002-2008 then did contract maintenance for the navy from 2008-2010. My degree is in Criminal Justice (wanted to be a cop). My original goal was to come back active duty, but all the AMDO boards have been cancelled. So I submitted for different active duty programs (Supply-denied age waiver, Intel- awating board). Now I am trying to go the reserve route in case the intel baord fails me. My final step is to get interviews and I just completed one with an O-4 AMDO out of NAS Lemoore. Then my OR tells me that the cut the qoouta for AMDO and now feels my best route would be to try AEDO. It is very difficult trying to find an AEDO. Time is really not on my side at this point.

Speermw,

Can’t you apply for AMDO and AEDO in the same package? I believe that you can but check to make sure. It sounds like your background would fit best in the AMDO world. In all actuality, a lot of the billets in the NRP are interchangeable between AEDO’s and AMDO’s. They are not all that way but my unit in particular has a few more AEDO’s than AMDO’s and we all do the same work. I think it would be different if you were in a squadron because I would imagine that more of those billets would be for AMDO’s.

I also wanted to go back active duty and I was recently selected for the FTS program. If you really want to go active duty then continue to apply for AD until you get pick up or age out. The FTS program is a great opportunity but the community is WAY smaller than our AD counterparts. If you age out or decide to just go the reserve route then you could also apply for FTS in the future. It is a competitive program and I was not selected on my first try but I’m proof that it is possible if you keep improving your package and credentials.

I know that there are AEDO’s that drill out of NOSC Ventura County in Port Hueneme, CA and a bunch of them at China Lake. One of my good buddies is an AEDO that travels to NOSC Ventura. There is also an FTS AMDO that is at Point Mugu.

Let me know if I can help you. I don’t know many people on the left coast but I will help if I can. The AMDO/AEDO program manager should be able to find someone to interview you. They had a CAPT drive three hours to meet me for an interview. I wanted to drive and meet him but they wanted him to come to me.

Good luck and let me know how things are progressing.


Bam