I'll be winging tomorrow and it took me 5.5 months. There were guys in my check-in class that took as little as 4 months, 3 weeks. If you're getting to South Field anytime soon don't expect that. We got through fast due to unseasonably great weather and a Wing push to get 2 weeks ahead for hurricane season. 18 is actually more like 4+ weeks ahead right now, which brings us to the next problem, the forever problem, money. So many people, so far ahead means that money/flight time is running out for the fiscal year. If we (hopefully) don't have any major weather delays, there will be, and already is to some extent, a slowdown in flight time. 4 day fly weeks, IPs doing doubles instead of triples, etc.
Latest rumor control on NVGs was they currently have the bare minimum of instructors to accomplish the mission, but they could. They prefer to have a few more before starting. 57's are currently getting upgraded to be NVG compatable, but again, we have enough for bare minimum not any level of comfort. If you start in FY07, and are Navy, there is a better chance you could do the training. If you're coming sooner, don't bet on it.