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1,001 questions about the ASTB (post your scores & ask your questions here!)

jtbrogan3 said:
Get in the books and lock in and you can 100% do it man. First attempt was 50 5/5/5 for me and just pulled a 61 8/7/7 a few years out of school with a non technical degree. If I can do it you def can
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I have swapped recruiters due to the first one moving commands. I just got off the phone with my current one and we discussed what the plan will be going forward with my second attempt and what the process will look like but it has raised some questions for me.

1. They are trying to get me to go to MEPS and take my second attempt at the same time but with my previous recruiter I just went to a recruiting office and took it in an office room. I was under the impression MEPS would come after I submitted my packet to the board. Due to this I feel a little uneasy about the push to send me to MEPS and take the test there too all at the same time.

2. They said the NAMI physical would happen after OCS but I thought it happened after the board selection and before you ship out for OCS. Why would they send you through OCS just to be disqualified for pilot or nfo after the time they invested in you up to that point? Basically I thought all the medical was out of the way and you were cleared for SNA/SNFO before being shipped off so that after OCS you would report straight to flight school. It just seems odd to me but I could just be overthinking it. I plan on retaking in September so I will most likely have to submit a packet for the board next year if all goes to plan.

Basically, I thought I knew how the process worked decently and now I am a little confused, uneasy, and just offput on some of the answers I received. Also, they said they didn't know what happened if I get through OCS and then fail the NAMI. Almost like I would have to go find another job in the Navy and have to serve the commitment which seemed weird to me because I thought if you were medically disqualified or failed out of OCS or flight school that was the end of the line unless you wanted to do something different other than fly. One last thing is they said the commitment was 4 years but I thought it was 8.

If anyone that has been through the process could clear some of these questions up I have and just help me understand it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
gman14 said:
I have swapped recruiters due to the first one moving commands. I just got off the phone with my current one and we discussed what the plan will be going forward with my second attempt and what the process will look like but it has raised some questions for me.

1. They are trying to get me to go to MEPS and take my second attempt at the same time but with my previous recruiter I just went to a recruiting office and took it in an office room. I was under the impression MEPS would come after I submitted my packet to the board. Due to this I feel a little uneasy about the push to send me to MEPS and take the test there too all at the same time.

2. They said the NAMI physical would happen after OCS but I thought it happened after the board selection and before you ship out for OCS. Why would they send you through OCS just to be disqualified for pilot or nfo after the time they invested in you up to that point? Basically I thought all the medical was out of the way and you were cleared for SNA/SNFO before being shipped off so that after OCS you would report straight to flight school. It just seems odd to me but I could just be overthinking it. I plan on retaking in September so I will most likely have to submit a packet for the board next year if all goes to plan.

Basically, I thought I knew how the process worked decently and now I am a little confused, uneasy, and just offput on some of the answers I received. Also, they said they didn't know what happened if I get through OCS and then fail the NAMI. Almost like I would have to go find another job in the Navy and have to serve the commitment which seemed weird to me because I thought if you were medically disqualified or failed out of OCS or flight school that was the end of the line unless you wanted to do something different other than fly. One last thing is they said the commitment was 4 years but I thought it was 8.

If anyone that has been through the process could clear some of these questions up I have and just help me understand it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
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I can only speak to a few of your questions but yes from what I know, you need to go to MEPS because it is part of your package. When I went through the process I decided to do them on separate days because I wanted to be absolutely locked in for the ASTB and not even have to think about MEPS.

NAMI is in Pensacola so your flight physical wouldn't be until after you graduate from OCS.

Also I know for a fact that the service commitment length for pilot is 8 years after you earn your wings.
 
FormerRecruitingGuru said:
More important question: When you asked your new recruiter these set of questions, what did they say?

If something doesn’t make sense from them or they didn’t respond, follow up with them.
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When I pushed about the NAMI and OCS they pretty much said they could not answer on what the outcomes or my options would be if I failed the flight physical. Their only job is to get me accepted into OCS. In terms of the taking my second attempt and going through MEPS at the same time they were just really pushy on it but I think I am going to tell them I rather take the test at a local office/testing location and then get a MEPS date when I secure scores im comfortable with. I don't want to have to divert some of my energy and focus away from my lifetime test attempts when I dont have to. When I tried bringing up the 8 year obligation they just insisted basically that it was 4 years for enlisted and officers no matter what job/designator you were applying for.

Hope this information helps. Thank you for the response
 
gman14 said:
1. I was under the impression MEPS would come after I submitted my packet to the board. Due to this I feel a little uneasy about the push to send me to MEPS and take the test there too all at the same time.
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MEPS comes before because they need to know if you're qualified for basic entry into the military + preliminary SNA minimums.
gman14 said:
2. They said the NAMI physical would happen after OCS but I thought it happened after the board selection and before you ship out for OCS.
Click to expand...
For Navy, the initial flight physical is done at the start of OCS.
For MC, its done before OCS.
mc9803 said:
NAMI is in Pensacola so your flight physical wouldn't be until after you graduate from OCS.
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Semi-correct. NAMI, the organization, is in Pensacola. However, you do your initial flight physical at/pre OCS (see above).

Assuming you clear the initial flight physical, you'll get orders to Pensacola to start NIFE. Shortly after check in, you'll go to NAMI and do a significantly shorter med check and they send you on your way. After that, its annual flight physicals which are a fraction compared to the initial one.
gman14 said:
Why would they send you through OCS just to be disqualified for pilot or nfo after the time they invested in you up to that point?
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This actually happens all the time. Its cheaper for the Navy to not do a bunch of flight physicals and process them beforehand.
gman14 said:
They didn't know what happened if I get through OCS and then fail the NAMI. Almost like I would have to go find another job in the Navy and have to serve the commitment which seemed weird to me because I thought if you were medically disqualified or failed out of OCS or flight school that was the end of the line unless you wanted to do something different other than fly.
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There's a decent amount of information on the forum for this if you start digging. In short, before you commission, you have the flexibility to quit (DOR) and cleanly leave the military. Or you ask to redesignate (change jobs) to whatever is available at the time/ community wants you.

Once you commission, you've functionally accepted the 4-year contract. If you dig deep around the forum, you'll see there have been administrations where if you left flight school for any reason, they'd separate you from military, even when someone wanted to stay. This ebbs and flows. During my timeframe, everyone was retained and given a new job even if they actively wanted separation (with one extreme exception that involved JAGs/commodore).
gman14 said:
One last thing is they said the commitment was 4 years but I thought it was 8.
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Officer contracts are 4 years. The moment you earn your wings, that contract turns into 8 starting from the day you wing. If you leave flight school after commissioning but before you wing, you'll almost certainly owe the 4.
____________________________________________________________

As for taking the test physically at MEPS, I'd push back see if you can take it on a separate day. It's been many years for me, but I remember both days were very tiring in their own way.
 
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Mouselovr said:
MEPS comes before because they need to know if you're qualified for basic entry into the military + preliminary SNA minimums.

For Navy, the initial flight physical is done at the start of OCS.
For MC, its done before OCS.

Semi-correct. NAMI, the organization, is in Pensacola. However, you do your initial flight physical at/pre OCS (see above).

Assuming you clear the initial flight physical, you'll get orders to Pensacola to start NIFE. Shortly after check in, you'll go to NAMI and do a significantly shorter med check and they send you on your way. After that, its annual flight physicals which are a fraction compared to the initial one.

This actually happens all the time. Its cheaper for the Navy to not do a bunch of flight physicals and process them beforehand.

There's a decent amount of information on the forum for this if you start digging. In short, before you commission, you have the flexibility to quit (DOR) and cleanly leave the military. Or you ask to redesignate (change jobs) to whatever is available at the time/ community wants you.

Once you commission, you've functionally accepted the 4-year contract. If you dig deep around the forum, you'll see there have been administrations where if you left flight school for any reason, they'd separate you from military, even when someone wanted to stay. This ebbs and flows. During my timeframe, everyone was retained and given a new job even if they actively wanted separation (with one extreme exception that involved JAGs/commodore).

Officer contracts are 4 years. The moment you earn your wings, that contract turns into 8 starting from the day you wing. If you leave flight school after commissioning but before you wing, you'll almost certainly owe the 4.
____________________________________________________________

As for taking the test physically at MEPS, I'd push back see if you can take it on a separate day. It's been many years for me, but I remember both days were very tiring in their own way.
Click to expand...
Understood. That answers a lot of my concerns and I got my head wrapped around it much better now that you have broken it down so well. I am part of the crowd that has worries about vision because I have an astigmatism and wear glasses. Due to this I am concerned about getting medically disqualified at MEPS and more so if I get far enough down the process to take the NAMI flight physical and so when they said I wouldn't go through the flight physical stuff until after graduating OCS I got worried. Mainly because I really only have my mind set on being a pilot and don't see myself redesignating if I had to. As far as I know my vision falls within limits for the SNA requirements but I had my eye doctor measure my hyperopia and he said it was +3.00 which is the limit. So now I am stressing over that news some and how that might affect my chances. At the start of me committing to this dream I knew it might be an issue but I told myself I would go after it and if I got disqualified and I had to end the journey than so be it. Any advice on this?

Thanks for the response and taking time to answer my questions, it is greatly appreciated. I have tried to not be the guy that asked questions that are easily findable with a google search or by looking through the forum so I apologize if this is one of those.
 
gman14 said:
As far as I know my vision falls within limits for the SNA requirements but I had my eye doctor measure my hyperopia and he said it was +3.00 which is the limit. Any advice on this?
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If you’re wanting to stay aviation: DQed for SNA but qualified for NFO, that’s almost always an option.
If you want a job that doesn’t involve flying, typically, there’s lots to choose from.

You can also DOR from OCS, get corrective surgery and come back if you really want to fly.

Bring multiple hard copies of those medical records with you. You’ve already done everything you can to verify you’re qualified.
gman14 said:
I have tried to not be the guy that asked questions that are easily findable with a google search or by looking through the forum so I apologize if this is one of those.
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All good. Half the battle is a lot of the information is obscured by military acronyms and experiences change so drastically. It’s gets easier once you know what you’re even looking for.
 
Mouselovr said:
If you’re wanting to stay aviation: DQed for SNA but qualified for NFO, that’s almost always an option.
If you want a job that doesn’t involve flying, typically, there’s lots to choose from.

You can also DOR from OCS, get corrective surgery and come back if you really want to fly.

Bring multiple hard copies of those medical records with you. You’ve already done everything you can to verify you’re qualified.

All good. Half the battle is a lot of the information is obscured by military acronyms and experiences change so drastically. It’s gets easier once you know what you’re even looking for.
Click to expand...
Got it. I definitely want to stay aviation above all and I've considered the NFO route in the back of my head but I am pretty dead set on being a pilot if possible. (For all the NFO guys don't get me wrong it is still a really cool job and I do not think I would dislike it, I just really want to be the driver, haha). When I bring those copies with me to MEPS when should I hand them over and explain the vision situation? Before they start processing me? This may be a question that should be directed towards my recruiter I'm guessing.
 
gman14 said:
When I pushed about the NAMI and OCS they pretty much said they could not answer on what the outcomes or my options would be if I failed the flight physical. Their only job is to get me accepted into OCS. In terms of the taking my second attempt and going through MEPS at the same time they were just really pushy on it but I think I am going to tell them I rather take the test at a local office/testing location and then get a MEPS date when I secure scores im comfortable with. I don't want to have to divert some of my energy and focus away from my lifetime test attempts when I dont have to. When I tried bringing up the 8 year obligation they just insisted basically that it was 4 years for enlisted and officers no matter what job/designator you were applying for.

Hope this information helps. Thank you for the response
Click to expand...
What rank is your recruiter, the answers don't seem like ones that would come from a knowledgeable OR.
 
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