AVO warrant program and more

[FlyingGator]

Good afternoon (or morning for those in Yokosuka) ,

I am interested in becoming an AVO warrant officer, and I’ve been building my package, but i have so many unanswered questions. I have read the PA, Facts sheet etc… and just like usual, big navy leaves an element of surprise for every program they release. I’m going to list some questions, and if you could be ever so kind, and bless me with some answers I’d be forever greatful.

1. Where is drone school at? Do drone pilots train at Pcola or is there somewhere else?

2. I’ve heard that Sea duties will be with an MQ-25 squadron and shore duties will be with an MQ-4C squadron. Is this true? I know people in the MQ-4C airframe and currently it is run by pilots, where would an AVO fit in the picture?

3. I was a MIDN, but other than that I don’t have any military experience. How competitive is this program? I have my degree in drone systems engineering and many LORs from active officers. Do I stand a chance?

4. My skipper said “I’ll put it in my own handwriting” does this mean he will hand write my LOR? I’ve never heard of a handwritten LOR. Would this stand out more for the board? Do I ask him for a handwritten one?

5. Will AVO operators earn the traditional set of wings or will there be a different warfare pin?

6. How much does gpa matter vs Asvab and other things? I have a decent gpa but it’s a stem degree and I have a pretty good asvab.

7. Aside from the PA, Fact sheet, and video from OCM is there anymore literature about the program?

8. If there is any drone personnel on here, can we message so I can ask questions with more detail and back context so I don’t have to put my life story on a forum of all these people? ?

Thanks for reading my shit if you made it this far!

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

There's a few posts/forums that you can find a good chunk of your responses...

Your question about handwritting a LOR... why not just ask him what that means?

Finally, I would reach out to a local officer recruiter in terms of how competitive you may be...

Good afternoon (or morning for those in Yokosuka) ,

I am interested in becoming an AVO warrant officer, and I’ve been building my package, but i have so many unanswered questions. I have read the PA, Facts sheet etc… and just like usual, big navy leaves an element of surprise for every program they release. I’m going to list some questions, and if you could be ever so kind, and bless me with some answers I’d be forever greatful.

1. Where is drone school at? Do drone pilots train at Pcola or is there somewhere else?

2. I’ve heard that Sea duties will be with an MQ-25 squadron and shore duties will be with an MQ-4C squadron. Is this true? I know people in the MQ-4C airframe and currently it is run by pilots, where would an AVO fit in the picture?

3. I was a MIDN, but other than that I don’t have any military experience. How competitive is this program? I have my degree in drone systems engineering and many LORs from active officers. Do I stand a chance?

4. My skipper said “I’ll put it in my own handwriting” does this mean he will hand write my LOR? I’ve never heard of a handwritten LOR. Would this stand out more for the board? Do I ask him for a handwritten one?

5. Will AVO operators earn the traditional set of wings or will there be a different warfare pin?

6. How much does gpa matter vs Asvab and other things? I have a decent gpa but it’s a stem degree and I have a pretty good asvab.

7. Aside from the PA, Fact sheet, and video from OCM is there anymore literature about the program?

8. If there is any drone personnel on here, can we message so I can ask questions with more detail and back context so I don’t have to put my life story on a forum of all these people? ?

Thanks for reading my shit if you made it this far!

 

[IKE]

I'll answer only what I know (or pretend to).

2. Extremely unlikely. Mastering a whole new mission set is generally harder than learning a new airframe. Stingray and Triton have different mission sets and are run by totally different communities (Stingray is COMACCLOGWING with E-2s and deploys with Air Wings on CVNs; Triton is MPRF with P-8s and "deploys" from/to shore sites). It's unlikely AVOs will flow regularly between those communities. The whole idea is to create corporate knowledge (at a cost less than that of a commissioned O).

4. Most LORs I've seen for TPS, lat transfer, etc. are at best hand-signed. I've seen my current Skipper make a handwritten one-liner on the typed LOR for his #1 pick - that really stood out. I'd say a handwritten LOR definitely shows a Skipper's sincerity; just make sure it's legible.

 

[FlyingGator]

There's a few posts/forums that you can find a good chunk of your responses...

I made my account like 30 minutes ago, still trying to navigate the site ?

 

[FlyingGator]

I'll answer only what I know (or pretend to).

2. Extremely unlikely. Mastering a whole new mission set is generally harder than learning a new airframe. Stingray and Triton have different mission sets and are run by totally different communities (Stingray is COMACCLOGWING with E-2s and deploys with Air Wings on CVNs; Triton is MPRF with P-8s and "deploys" from/to shore sites). It's unlikely AVOs will flow regularly between those communities. The whole idea is to create corporate knowledge (at a cost less than that of a commissioned O).

4. Most LORs I've seen for TPS, lat transfer, etc. are at best hand-signed. I've seen my current Skipper make a handwritten one-liner on the typed LOR for his #1 pick - that really stood out. I'd say a handwritten LOR definitely shows a Skipper's sincerity; just make sure it's legible.

Thanks for your response,

Do you think it would be reasonable to ask my captain if he would be willing to write a handwritten LOR , or will I be looked at like I’m pushing the boundaries.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

4. Most LORs I've seen for TPS, lat transfer, etc. are at best hand-signed. I've seen my current Skipper make a handwritten one-liner on the typed LOR for his #1 pick - that really stood out. I'd say a handwritten LOR definitely shows a Skipper's sincerity; just make sure it's legible.

That's what I was thinking. The actual letter is typed but there's a handwritten sentence or two backing the letter.

 

[taxi1]

4. My skipper said “I’ll put it in my own handwriting” does this mean he will hand write my LOR? I’ve never heard of a handwritten LOR. Would this stand out more for the board? Do I ask him for a handwritten one?

I’m guessing what he means is, I’ll take whatever ghostwritten fodder was provided and actually make it look like I wrote it. In short, rewrite it in my voice.

That’d be a good thing if true.

 

[IKE]

Thanks for your response,

Do you think it would be reasonable to ask my captain if he would be willing to write a handwritten LOR , or will I be looked at like I’m pushing the boundaries.

I wouldn't ask for that.

 

[BigIron]

Most LORs are digitally signed now. What is probable is the typed out letter with digital signature with maybe a hand written note at the note at the bottom stating “PO2 is a Great American and is a must select!!!” Or something personal saying candidate is good and I actually read this LOR.

 

[BigIron]

Good afternoon (or morning for those in Yokosuka) ,

I am interested in becoming an AVO warrant officer, and I’ve been building my package, but i have so many unanswered questions. I have read the PA, Facts sheet etc… and just like usual, big navy leaves an element of surprise for every program they release. I’m going to list some questions, and if you could be ever so kind, and bless me with some answers I’d be forever greatful.

1. Where is drone school at? Do drone pilots train at Pcola or is there somewhere else?

2. I’ve heard that Sea duties will be with an MQ-25 squadron and shore duties will be with an MQ-4C squadron. Is this true? I know people in the MQ-4C airframe and currently it is run by pilots, where would an AVO fit in the picture?

3. I was a MIDN, but other than that I don’t have any military experience. How competitive is this program? I have my degree in drone systems engineering and many LORs from active officers. Do I stand a chance?

4. My skipper said “I’ll put it in my own handwriting” does this mean he will hand write my LOR? I’ve never heard of a handwritten LOR. Would this stand out more for the board? Do I ask him for a handwritten one?

5. Will AVO operators earn the traditional set of wings or will there be a different warfare pin?

6. How much does gpa matter vs Asvab and other things? I have a decent gpa but it’s a stem degree and I have a pretty good asvab.

7. Aside from the PA, Fact sheet, and video from OCM is there anymore literature about the program?

8. If there is any drone personnel on here, can we message so I can ask questions with more detail and back context so I don’t have to put my life story on a forum of all these people? ?

Thanks for reading my shit if you made it this far!

A friendly point: Avoid calling anything a drone. They are unmanned air systems (system denotes air vehicle as well as ground control system) or remotely piloted systems.

 

[Tycho_Brohe]

I think "drone" is fine as a colloquial term. We were never really adverse averse to it in Triton, at least from what I saw. But for more professional settings, we typically used "UAS," or "UA" when speaking specifically about the aircraft.

OP, feel free to hit me up with questions about MQ-4, though a) I'm not going to know much about flying warrants there specifically, because I was either left out of the loop on that or because the path just doesn't exist yet, and b) I'm in the middle of a move so I might not respond right away. Triton FRS is in Jacksonville under VP-30.

 

[taxi1]

A friendly point: Avoid calling anything a drone. They are unmanned air systems (system denotes air vehicle as well as ground control system) or remotely piloted systems.

In the civilian FAA world they’ve gone full “drone” terminology except where “UAS” appears in the law. It avoids the unmanned/unpersonned etc., discussion, and also the UAS/UAV thing. The drone is the vehicle.

 

[FlyingGator]

thanks for your responses! ill message you Tycho.

 

[wink]

In the civilian FAA world they’ve gone full “drone” terminology except where “UAS” appears in the law. It avoids the unmanned/unpersonned etc., discussion, and also the UAS/UAV thing. The drone is the vehicle.

UAS/UAV is defined, used and required knowledge on the written for a Remote Pilot Certificate. It is true though, the FAA is pretty lose about the use of "drone." If nothing else it was a surrender to the recreational community.

 

[Swanee]

In the civilian FAA world they’ve gone full “drone” terminology except where “UAS” appears in the law. It avoids the unmanned/unpersonned etc., discussion, and also the UAS/UAV thing. The drone is the vehicle.

My civilian company has a partnership on a couple of projects with the human interaction with automation lab at Duke- they (the folks at Duke, not my company) insist on calling airplanes either Occupied or Unoccupied in order to remove gendered pronouns ?.