ARGGHH! Going to Vance

[danthaman]

I just found out today I'm going to Vance. It is not exactly what I was hoping for. Is there anyone that recently went there, or that is going there now that can tell me it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, or should I slit my wrists now? I am kind of excited about flying the T-6, but I am not about the mando study periods and 12 hour days, or living in enid oklahoma.

I'm also wondering how track selection works for those who go to Vance. Will I track select for helos or fixed wing when I return from Vance and will the Marine Corps use my Vance class ranking to determine where I go? Thanks for the help.

 

[wrk]

Well, if you get helos out of Vance, you can look forward to everyone in the HTs telling you you're going to fail, over and over, that's always fun. The good news is that you'll finish primary much quicker than anyone going to Corpus or Whiting.

 

[Gatordev]

There's a couple of Vance threads that actually have some current and useful info for the first few pages before degenerating into stupidity. Recommend you look those over. The short of it is that you will select out of Vance and then go to where ever you need to for Advanced (Corpus, Meridian/K-Ville, or Whiting).

As for this thread, I fear it's days are numbered.

 

[llnick2001]

Vance was pretty annoying, but it isn’t' worth getting bent out of shape about. Most people get most annoyed with the 12 hr thing and the way they do their EP training. At least those were my biggest complaints. The 12 hr thing wouldn't be bad if you had to stay and work, but the fact that it is like study hall (and not a good study hall) is kind of lame. You get to know the guys in your class pretty well, so that's good (as long as they're cool). As far as selection goes, you will get an nss just like a navy base and that's all that matters. The T-6 is awesome so try and focus on the good I guess. If you have more specific questions feel free to PM me. Oh, and second the thing about Helo advanced. People seemed scared for me when they found out where I went to primary.

 

[Lawman]

I just found out today I'm going to Vance. It is not exactly what I was hoping for.

Might have had something to do with that F-15 in your avatar. Thats bad JuJu you know.

 

[illinijoe05]

The good news is that you'll finish primary much quicker than anyone going to Corpus or Whiting.

Completely false. You will know what date you will finish primary when you check into vance. It may not be quicker than whiting or corpus. My buddy finished api one week before me and went to vance. We selected together and thats with me having a two week admin hold during primary at whiting. Another kid started primary at vt2 a week after me and was done in 4 months. No prior flight time either, full sylabus.

 

[T37Driver]

Seriously, people really need to get over this "VANCE" deal....You joined to work hard and you will do exactly that....It will pay off, you'll have great training and you will be well prepared for advanced upon graduation.

Good luck, have a positive outlook and it's going to be a great experience. I enjoyed every day of training at Vance and I'm sure you'll be fine....

 

[larbear]

I just found out today I'm going to Vance. It is not exactly what I was hoping for. Is there anyone that recently went there, or that is going there now that can tell me it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, or should I slit my wrists now? I am kind of excited about flying the T-6, but I am not about the mando study periods and 12 hour days, or living in enid oklahoma.

I'm also wondering how track selection works for those who go to Vance. Will I track select for helos or fixed wing when I return from Vance and will the Marine Corps use my Vance class ranking to determine where I go? Thanks for the help.

 

[danthaman]

So why is getting helos out of vance so bad?

thanks larbear...that makes me feel a lot better, lol

 

[wrk]

Completely false. You will know what date you will finish primary when you check into vance. It may not be quicker than whiting or corpus. My buddy finished api one week before me and went to vance. We selected together and thats with me having a two week admin hold during primary at whiting. Another kid started primary at vt2 a week after me and was done in 4 months. No prior flight time either, full sylabus.

Okay, excuse me, IN GENERAL, you will finish quicker. Everyone I've ever talked to who has been to vance, that's about 5 people that I can think of, have finished much quicker than anyone I know who has been through primary in the last year. I'm sorry that my empirical evidence differs from yours.

 

[wrk]

So why is getting helos out of vance so bad?

thanks larbear...that makes me feel a lot better, lol

It's not bad, it's just that the people in my class were told about 15 times during check-in that they were going to have a hard time. There's a difference between how the AF and the Navy conduct their flight training and it sometimes takes the guys from vance a little bit to get used to it. The same thing happens to a lot of the AF guys in VT-35, but it's not that big of a deal, they just make a big deal out of it.

 

[illinijoe05]

Okay, excuse me, IN GENERAL, you will finish quicker. Everyone I've ever talked to who has been to vance, that's about 5 people that I can think of, have finished much quicker than anyone I know who has been through primary in the last year. I'm sorry that my empirical evidence differs from yours.

Dude the bottom line is its jsut not true that vance goes quicker in general it is a myth propagated by API student controll to get kids to volunteer to go. It depends on how long your class up wait is at the wing you check into. And at whiting if you get put in vt3 or not. there is a lot of "slop" built into vances sylabus to make sure everyone finishes on there graduation date. At whiting as long as your not chronically cancelled (or in vt3) there is no reason why you cant make it through in 4-5 months. Also there is good weather in the spring in pcola, which accelerates things, you get done before summer storm season get here.

 

[wrk]

Dude the bottom line is its jsut not true that vance goes quicker in general it is a myth propagated by API student controll to get kids to volunteer to go. It depends on how long your class up wait is at the wing you check into. And at whiting if you get put in vt3 or not. there is a lot of "slop" built into vances sylabus to make sure everyone finishes on there graduation date. At whiting as long as your not chronically cancelled (or in vt3) there is no reason why you cant make it through in 4-5 months. Also there is good weather in the spring in pcola, which accelerates things, you get done before summer storm season get here.

Neither of us has any hard facts. Sure, in theory you should be able to go through quickly in either place, however in my limited amount of experience, I have never met anyone who has gone through primary in less than 6 months. Maybe things have changed since I selected back in March.

 

[MasterBates]

4 month. Not uncommon for "accelerarted" studs, post 9/11 but Pre-Ivan

 

[e6bflyer]

Tool
vance sucks. PERIOD.
There are some goods, you just have to dig.

I second that. It's like passing a kidney stone. Just bear down and take the pain. Before you know it, it will be all over and it will feel so good after it is done.

And please don't post on this thread in 4 months and tell us how great it is, because you are just lying to yourself.

At least you get to fly the T-6!

Enjoy.