Lord knows I wouldn't have wanted the NY Times sitting in on my CQ brief.In my opinion I think they're placing a lot of undue stress on the poor girl. Job is hard enough as it is.
It's news if you're from the part of America where you and your friends and family don't traditionally dream about flying a jet with "U.S. Navy" painted on the side.Why is this news?
For the jet community, wings are expected a little over 2 years into the pipeline.
3 years to get wings is not a crazy long time in the jet community.
It took me nearly 2 years to finish the FRS.
The length of time it takes the Navy to "make a pilot" has always had me amazed. But these numbers seem longer than I thought.
Are you saying that it could potentially take five years from the start of pilot training until done with the FRS?
The length of time it takes the Navy to "make a pilot" has always had me amazed. But these numbers seem longer than I thought.
Are you saying that it could potentially take five years from the start of pilot training until done with the FRS?
I hope at some point they (Navy AND media) let her fade into the fleet and get to just be a normal JO, not a poster girl. You only get to do that once per life, and there's times it's stressful enough for anyone. I can't imagine having to be a nugget with Public Affairs constantly up my ass to boot.It's news if you're from the part of America where you and your friends and family don't traditionally dream about flying a jet with "U.S. Navy" painted on the side.
I'm good with it. Maybe not 100% good with it, but our country isn't 100% perfect either- never has been and never will. But overall I'm good with her story and the publicity.
when I was going through, it wasn't uncommon for folks to spend 6-8 months in the "pool" waiting to actually start training
Thanks, Python.Search around the site using the search function. Here's some short answers:
1) Female and minority pilots are fully integrated. The jet doesn't care about your chromosomes or skin color. You are qualified or you're not.
2) Time to train depends on community. For the jet community, wings are expected a little over 2 years into the pipeline. This can vary depending on jet health, weather, personal factors, etc. 3 years to get wings is not a crazy long time in the jet community. For the tactical jet world, wings are earned after flying the T-45 jet (which itself comes after Primary training in the T-6 turboprop).
3) After wings, you go to the FRS, which is a squadron where you learn to fly your fleet aircraft. That syllabus should be 9-10 months, but is subject to the same issues and variables described above. It took me nearly 2 years to finish the FRS.
4) "Fully fledged" is subjective. Do you mean finish the FRS syllabus and hit the fleet? Do you mean earn your major qualifications in the aircraft (this occurs in more syllabi in the fleet, rather than in the FRS)? It is more nuanced.
5) Students with only a private pilot license may or may not have any advantage. Usually the answer is no. Students who have more advanced certificates and ratings (particularly instrument ratings) generally do have an advantage, so long as they have a good attitude. That applies only to Primary training, and the playing field is level in subsequent phases of training.
Again, use the search function for these general questions. Also, anecdotally I hear LTjg Swegle is an outstanding officer and a talented pilot. I wish her luck in her career.