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A decision to make

squorch2

squorch2

he will die without safety brief
pilot
Purdue said:
If you join the Navy to fly, plan on it as your career.
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Here’s the real takeaway - and it’s applicable to everyone who flies for Uncle Sam regardless of their intended 2nd careers.

OP, if you want to serve, serve.

if you want to fly jets, well, you’re there already.
 
H

Hair Warrior

Well-Known Member
Contributor
OP, why do you hate chipotle so much?
why-are-you-the-way-you-are-michael-scott-the-office-gif.gif
 
zippy

zippy

Freedom!
pilot
Contributor
chipotlehater69 said:
First, let me start this off by saying I know in the end this is my decision alone. I'm simply looking for outside perspectives for others who have traveled the road.

I got news last week I was selected for a SNA slot, shipping out January 2022. I am currently a regional First Officer accepted into United's aviate program. Projections show I can be at United by March 2022 but I'm not holding my breath. Regardless, I'll probably end up at a mainline quite early before most, and seniority is everything. 10 years is a lot of seniority to give up to fly Navy but I'm weighing my options and was hoping for some insight from those who went Navy then Commercial.

  1. How many hours did you get to fly?
  2. Did most people get the aircraft they wanted out of training?
  3. As you progressed in rank, I know flying slows down. Did this affect getting hired by a mainline? Did you have to go to a regional?
  4. What would you do in my position?
Thanks for your time.
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Absolutely STAY AWAY from active duty military in any service…
 
C

chipotlehater69

Member
Hey gents sorry for the late response. Work has been bending me ( and the rest of the pilot group for that matter) over pretty hard. Thank Christ the summer flying is over. I've done a lot of soul searching and have decided to shoot my shot with the Navy. I know if I had a chance to fly fighter jets and I turned it down for money I'll regret it for the rest of my life. I'm confident that after military flying along with a healthy amount of 121 time I won't have an issue getting picked up by a major. I am still enrolled in Aviate and even got an interview with another major in October for shits and giggles. Lets say I get a CJO from a major, get on property with a seniority number and all that jazz in December, but then leave in January to OCS and to serve for ten years. Everything I have gathered online points to me being protected under USERRA. However, there is no timeframe I must give notice to me leaving to serve. Should I just give the traditional two weeks notice? Anyone have experience with this? Thanks!

P.S. I worked at Chipotle, loved the food hated the management. Also Black Flag kicks ass.
 
HAL Pilot

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
If you get hired in December at a major and then leave in January, you better hope USERRA applies because you just shot yourself heting hired at that major. And if a future application asks for employment history past your Navy time, you can be sure they will let any employer who asks you quit right after being hired. So if you have the Navy acceptance and that is your route, you need to turn down any job offer before you start and not interview while waiting for your OCS start.

I’d talk to a lawyer who knows about USERRA and make damn sure it covers you if you plan on accepting at a major than leaving for OCS.

Be very wary of unintended consequences.
 
zipmartin

zipmartin

Never been better
pilot
Contributor
I rarely post on these types of threads because I'm one of the older guys, and as has been mentioned, the military changes rapidly. But here is a brief summary of my experience, for comparative purposes, of just how much the Navy has changed from the '70's-'90's. I was commissioned through AOCS at Pensacola in May of '76. At that time, we actually started flying T-34B's at NAS Saufley Field prior to getting commissioned. I had about 300 hours of flight time with a commercial license and instrument rating prior to reporting to Pensacola. I've been blessed in that flying has always come easily for me. I got jets out of Primary and reported to Kingsville in June of '76. 13 months later I received my wings. I did extremely well in Basic & Advanced, but all I'd ever wanted to fly was F-4's. Only one F-4 slot was awarded in all of the Navy that week, and my best friend through flight training, a Stanford grad who had far better academic grades, got that slot. I was awarded A-7's, which I hadn't even listed on my preference card. I was devastated at that time. I reported to NAS Cecil Field, FL for FRS training in Aug. of '77 and in March of '78, having finished the RAG, boarded a MAC flight to Rota to join my new fleet squadron, deployed to the Med aboard CVN-68. I was still an Ensign. I ended up thoroughly enjoying my time flying A-7's and feel that flying single seat, single engine just made me a better pilot. After that fleet tour I did an instructor tour in TA-4's in Kingsville. I got out after that tour, stayed in the Reserves instructing in Kingsviile for 9 months while I pursued the ANG, but ended up joining the TAR (FTS) program, and went to VC-12 in NAS Oceana, flying A-4's. I bounced back and forth between Oceana and NAS Dallas, flying A-4's and never leaving the cockpit until I was early-retired after 18 years of service in Aug. of '94, during the large reduction of the military services that was happening then. Since I hadn't followed the normal career path, I was passed over a couple times even though I had been hand-picked to be the Naval Reserve A-4 NATOPS Evaluator due to my high time in model. I had achieved my goal of never having a disassociated tour and stayed flying my entire career. In Aug. of '95 I started new-hire training at SWA and retired from there in Mar. of 2016. Again, this was a comparison of just how much things have changed over the years.
 
C

chipotlehater69

Member
HAL Pilot said:
If you get hired in December at a major and then leave in January, you better hope USERRA applies because you just shot yourself heting hired at that major. And if a future application asks for employment history past your Navy time, you can be sure they will let any employer who asks you quit right after being hired. So if you have the Navy acceptance and that is your route, you need to turn down any job offer before you start and not interview while waiting for your OCS start.

I’d talk to a lawyer who knows about USERRA and make damn sure it covers you if you plan on accepting at a major than leaving for OCS.

Be very wary of unintended consequences.
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Ah I didn't think about this. All I was focused on was grabbing a seniority number before leaving. I have not discussed with a lawyer yet however I'm fairly certain I am covered from what I have gathered online. You bring up a strong point of if I apply to another major, the original would probably be pretty vocal of my scheme to get a seniority number before joining the Navy. Thanks for the insight!
 
taxi1

taxi1

Well-Known Member
pilot
You should go straight to the airlines, that way you can spend the rest of your life wondering if you'd have been good enough to land a plane at night on the pitching deck of a carrier.

Extra points if you can name the artist.

32783

See a lawyer on the USERRA stuff, so you know your rights.
 
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