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Just FTR, any CFI should be willing to sign off quals for military aviators. I've heard of guys having issues getting their military equivalency ratings because the FSDO wouldn't sign them off and it's crap. It's written right there in the FAR/AIM for all to see.

Governor's Gate FTW! Drive can be a little long (20-30mins) but it's totally worth it to NOT live in Milton.

Basically, does the idea of living on a boat for months at a time sound thrilling to you? Or does the possibility of living the desert and eating MREs for breakfast, lunch and dinner sound better? Both have some very cool things about them. Both have some very shitty things about them. If you'd...

Isn't that sort of the meaning of the word 'terrorism'?

I think I counted around 6. Lots of people from the GHWB deployment were on there.

Oh I definitely agree. Dubai was much nicer. Our liberty policies were ridiculous in Dubai though and that sorta ruined it for us.

Bahrain was pierced when we were there. But yeah, those cab drivers sucked. Getting suits there was pretty awesome though.

You will be issued glasses to wear while flying. Contacts are an option too but I believe you have to wear them for 30 days before you can start wearing them while you fly.

Yes the 20/40 rule applies to LASIK participants. The rules get more lax after you wing. There is more to it than that 20/40 number though. The SPHERE and CYLINDER numbers matter as per the NAMI waiver guide so find that section (search this site) and take it with you to your appointment.

Agreed. I'm not sure where the negative bias about station SAR comes from but it would seem like the guys who are bagging legit recues left and right should be getting tagged to be O-4s and pass their experience on to the rest of the community.

Yeah I think that having a letter from an O-6 or Admiral is great thing if they genuinely know you and can vouch for you but that's pretty rare. The important part is having LORs from people who you've worked for, volunteered for, or other legitimate associations and that's understated. Who...

Disclaimer: Yeah I was joking. I don't want that to be misconstrued.

I'm not saying everyone should do that. But like insanebikerboy said, guys who did a vertrep Det and then got picked up for NSAWC do not an overnight tactics expert make. And if we have people with experience then they should be heavily recruited into those positions. The ones without it should...

I think you answered your own question. Insanebikerboys post pretty much reinforces what I was getting at. Furthermore, this isn't a tactics/WTI bashing. It's a lack of direction in the HSC community bashing and that vision/direction is, in other words, "what exactly do you do here?" Which is...

Like I said, I'd still try if I was in that position. At least I could say I tried.

I'm pretty sure "Extenuating Circumstance" = is your dad an O-6 or have stars on his shoulder? ;)

MEDEVAC would give you a little related insight into the PR/SOF MEDEVAC/CASEVAC roles. The other branches don't do business the way we do (units tend to be specialized since they sort of have that luxury) so it would be difficult to get the 'all-encompassing' exchange tour but getting a slice of...

The 160th to fly the Army DAP 60s? Or maybe do some MEDEVAC with the normal Army 60 guys or fly little birds? Just a thought. Exchange tours aren't a bad thing. Maybe we could send our WTIs before or after they get their patch.

That's rather unfortunate. That being said, if it were me, I'd still submit my package to every single board that I could let them deny me every single time that they felt necessary. At least I would've tried and gotten my denial in writing rather than allow rumor and pessimism to make me give up.

What he said. I HIGHLY recommend making friends with the SWO (sr watch officer) and controlling your destiny. Volunteer and pick your duties early and rack up your duty counter early because those last 4 months or so of cruise is NOT a time when you want to be doubling up on duty during port calls.

There's something to be said for investing in your pilots too. Training is all good and well but having 1) actually fired the weapons numerous times and 2) perhaps actually having fired them at bad guys is where you go from book knowledge to real knowledge of how to employ them. What good is a...

Agreed. But the key word in your sentence was 'developed'. They weren't tactical experts on 6 DEC 41. They were JOs (and young enlisted back then) who had to learn fast because shit got real, real quick. For that matter, most of them had flight training that more or less was equal to that of a...

PROs: PPL (shows initiative and will help with ASTB), Good GPA + Associates (if you finish it), Prior Service, (INSERT GOOD ASTB SCORE HERE...STUDY FOR IT!!!!) CONS: DUI (obviously), Tattoos (not too bad as long as they're not super visible in a short sleeve uniform), GPA (Some might view...

I think you misinterpret what I'm getting at. I don't have a problem with synthetic training or trying to get the best out of limited resources. I realize all too well what those guys are trying to do. I'm arguing the merits of what they're pushing as the "standard" in our community and the...

I think people are trying to draw this "Apaches and Cobras" parallel/comparison with the Sierra WAY too much. No. We are DEFINITELY NOT Apaches or Cobras. I think we should be drawing the parallel between the H60 and newer Marine Hueys. After all, that IS what the 60 was designed to replace for...

AKA "The Batwings"

Also, I'd like to add that no community is perfect. I'm sure HSM has its problems too. They are just more visibly (notice I did NOT say 'better integrated') integrated into the CV/DESRON team whereas HSC plays with the hornets more. During workups, our HSM squadron came out to Fallon and, with...

HSC has problems, major problems, that need to be addressed. It has a desperate need for an 'identity' as discussed in the earlier posts. Half of the community thinks that we're some kind of half-assed extension of the 160th and the other half couldn't give less of a shit about tactics and only...

I don't think the F/H route is even an option anymore for HT guys. Could be wrong about that though.

They came by to do mine at 0730 after I got off PM SDO and I told them to GTFO and come back later. I wasn't having that crap after an 18 hour (most of which was at night) day.

SD gets more because they have the Sierra and the Romeo RAG there. East coast splits the Sierra/Romeo RAGS between Norfolk and Jax. Guam guys have been going through Norfolk recently.

San Diego, Jax, Norfolk. Choose wisely my friend.

That's a little close for comfort. My eyes are almost the exact same way. Except my right is the one that hovers around 1.00 CYL. The tests they'll do on your initial flight physical at OCS are MUCH more thorough and difficult than the normal ones at the optometrist. I wouldn't be surprised if...

The food situation needs to change. Immediately. It's unhealthy and disgusting. Plain and simple.

Be advised, apartment complexes in Norfolk are, for the most part, sketchy. If you're wanting to live close to base, then a condo set-up or house is usually the best option. It shouldn't be too hard to find an aviator willing to sublet a room around here.

This may be funny, but I have heard of people doing this and living on the campgrounds at Little Creek.

Boat food was $10.50 a day if I remember correctly. The price actually went up before we left for deployment. But yeah, to echo everyone else here, do NOT live on the boat. BOQ or something? MAYBE. If I were you, I'd just geo-bach it up and get a place out in town with someone else. No-fuck...

An article I read said 50NM range for the V-22 with a "full payload." I thought that has to be wrong. Pretty funny misprint.

So can a helo but we can't do running takeoffs/landings on the boat.

This is the part that I heavily question. Will it still have a 10k capability when it's 120 degrees in the NAG or anything even close to it?

...and then become CAG? ;)

So is Big Navy going to start transitioning helo dudes over with C-2 guys to set up a V-2 community like the marines did? 4000 is within reason with a stripped down Sierra (no AUX tank or EWS wings and minimum fuel on board). 5000 would even possible but extremely sporty (read: probably not...

I wish I could triple-like this part. The leadership that I've dealt with in HSC that came from an HC background has been great. They get 'it' and they have largely been huge on the mindset of "Let the JOs do it. They're not gonna learn any other way."

It's not hate. I love my job. I'm just saying the things that 200 other JOs in my community say every day. Kind of goes back to the whole CRM concept. Senior pilots (O4s and O5s) love to talk about how junior pilots "need to be more assertive and communicate more" but then their egos get hurt...

To be clear, I feel like operational HSC squadrons SHOULD be the "major leagues" but our leadership continually pushes us back down to AAA because 'you're not ready for that yet, son' as a cover tactic for their CYA which has resulted in our leadership (o-4s and o-5s) having never done anything...

Well they better get used to using the 'run of the mill CVN squadron' or whatever because 84 and 85 are supposed to be going away pretty soon. Yeah that catch-22 is EXTREMELY aggravating. How am I supposed to build a rapport with a SOF unit or the grunts (which is, let's face it, where helos...

Your post is dead on. 95% of our flights around the boat were plane guard or log runs even though we logged them as SSC/SCAR (which wasn't completely bogus but pretty much consisted of us going "yep...that group 3 is still group 3 and it's still going like 5knots towards 'who the fuck...

Eh, I would say it's an HSM/HSL issue also from what I've seen. We push tactical capability in my squadron pretty heavily (not necessarily uniformly across the community though). I think the latter is something that CANNOT be overstated. Not actually executing the missions = tactical retards...

The community is sort of divided. It's two different life styles. The HS/carrier mindset and then the HS/expeditionary peeps. The differences in two squadrons based on their CV or EXP duties are pretty apparent. The "HS lifestyle" does suck compared to the guys in Bahrain getting $130/day of per...

I'm gonna have to disagree with you. We're overmanned and underfunded and underflown as it is. Yet, somehow, we're also overworked. Funny how that works, isn't it? When I can't focus on flying because "..there is paperwork to be done (or whatever)" then that's a problem. I'm all about being a...