cgross220
Member
Hey everyone,
First off I wanted to say thanks to everyone who's posted and commented on here. As someone that's wanted to become a fighter pilot all my life, I've looked over this site for years and taken in invaluable information that has undoubtedly aided in my process this far and I'm sure will continue to do so.
Now a bit to my current situation and my question. I'm 25, about to graduate with a BS in Industrial Technology from my school's college of engineering, 3.94 GPA, Honor Society, President's list, Dean's list, etc. I am, however, graduating a bit later than most as after one year in school when I was 18/19, I made pretty poor grades and simply wasn't mature enough for school at the time so spent the past few years working as a firefighter (including two years deployed overseas as a civilian contractor/firefighter and EMT) before returning to online classes full time while continuing working as a firefighter. When adding in my poor grades from that year (only a couple of classes transferred) my GPA is just north of 3.5. I also have my private pilot's license, but only have ~70 hours currently (though I just joined a flying club and am hoping to boost that significantly in the coming months). I finally began the process of applying for flight slots with my Navy recruiter recently, and took my ASTB yesterday. I studied hard and almost couldn't believe it but I ended up with a 9/9/9. My recruiter seemed very confident after seeing those scores and essentially said that unless anything crazy pops up I should have no problem getting a slot and scheduled me for MEPS on Monday 2/8.
Now that's where a bit of the issue comes in, as my vision doesn't meet the 20/40 uncorrected requirement. I had always been told to hold off on Lasik, as "the military will pay for that", but as I have now learned that does not apply to the Navy if you are an SNA candidate. My recruiter still wants me to go to MEPS, just to get their word, but I'm now banking on that 6 month waiting period after the surgery until I can officially submit my packet.
Am I correct in my understanding of the vision requirements? I meet the 20/100 requirement of a Class 1 physical, but my interpretation of what I've read is that SNA has stricter requirements to get accepted. Is there anything else I should be worried about that would keep me from getting a slot? What else can I be doing in these next 6 months to eliminate any further concerns of me getting a slot? I understand there's a large element of "who's the competition?" and "what are the Navy's demands?" but I want to give myself the best shot possible.
Thanks again for everyone active on here, y'all have been a huge help. And thanks in advance for the responses
Caleb
First off I wanted to say thanks to everyone who's posted and commented on here. As someone that's wanted to become a fighter pilot all my life, I've looked over this site for years and taken in invaluable information that has undoubtedly aided in my process this far and I'm sure will continue to do so.
Now a bit to my current situation and my question. I'm 25, about to graduate with a BS in Industrial Technology from my school's college of engineering, 3.94 GPA, Honor Society, President's list, Dean's list, etc. I am, however, graduating a bit later than most as after one year in school when I was 18/19, I made pretty poor grades and simply wasn't mature enough for school at the time so spent the past few years working as a firefighter (including two years deployed overseas as a civilian contractor/firefighter and EMT) before returning to online classes full time while continuing working as a firefighter. When adding in my poor grades from that year (only a couple of classes transferred) my GPA is just north of 3.5. I also have my private pilot's license, but only have ~70 hours currently (though I just joined a flying club and am hoping to boost that significantly in the coming months). I finally began the process of applying for flight slots with my Navy recruiter recently, and took my ASTB yesterday. I studied hard and almost couldn't believe it but I ended up with a 9/9/9. My recruiter seemed very confident after seeing those scores and essentially said that unless anything crazy pops up I should have no problem getting a slot and scheduled me for MEPS on Monday 2/8.
Now that's where a bit of the issue comes in, as my vision doesn't meet the 20/40 uncorrected requirement. I had always been told to hold off on Lasik, as "the military will pay for that", but as I have now learned that does not apply to the Navy if you are an SNA candidate. My recruiter still wants me to go to MEPS, just to get their word, but I'm now banking on that 6 month waiting period after the surgery until I can officially submit my packet.
Am I correct in my understanding of the vision requirements? I meet the 20/100 requirement of a Class 1 physical, but my interpretation of what I've read is that SNA has stricter requirements to get accepted. Is there anything else I should be worried about that would keep me from getting a slot? What else can I be doing in these next 6 months to eliminate any further concerns of me getting a slot? I understand there's a large element of "who's the competition?" and "what are the Navy's demands?" but I want to give myself the best shot possible.
Thanks again for everyone active on here, y'all have been a huge help. And thanks in advance for the responses
Caleb
