aviatorwannb
New Member
I'm currently a few days from raising my right hand for NFO, with an OCS start date not far from that.
I originally applied for Pilot and NFO, and was incredibly fortunate to be selected for both. I immediately accepted Pilot (I wanted to be a Navy Pilot since I was a kid), however when I took the vision test after being selected, my eyesight had slipped to 20/50 and I was DQ'd. (I had taken the original physical more than a year earlier.)
I was a little more than disappointed when that happened, but I figured being a Naval Flight Officer was still a fantastic career, and assumed I'd quickly get over my disappointment of not being a pilot. I thought about declining the NFO slot, getting PRK surgery and reapplying, but after researching that option the future prospects of getting selected again would be slim. So I accepted Naval Flight Officer, and started preparing for that course.
However, now I'm a few days away from raising my right hand, and I'm having doubts. Mentally, I know this is a great opportunity, and I'm incredibly fortunate to be in this position. But something in my gut isn't sitting right.
In particular, two things keep resonating in my head. (Please excuse the terminology; I'm just trying to best represent what was said.) One thing is that every active pilot I talked to said that they wouldn't have settled for NFO. And one NFO I talked to specifically said that if I took the NFO slot, I'd be settling, and that "sometimes it's better to never get what you want than it is to settle."
I know that in order to embrace being an NFO, I need to separate myself from wanting to be a Pilot. But I still cringe a little bit inside when I think about the fact I'll never be a Pilot.
I have about 100 hours flying single engine, which I know is a relatively minor amount. But it was enough to create a love for flying.
I want to be a great NFO, and I know I need to shake the desire to be a pilot in order to do that. And if anyone has any advice on how to do that, I'd be forever appreciative.
Thank you
I originally applied for Pilot and NFO, and was incredibly fortunate to be selected for both. I immediately accepted Pilot (I wanted to be a Navy Pilot since I was a kid), however when I took the vision test after being selected, my eyesight had slipped to 20/50 and I was DQ'd. (I had taken the original physical more than a year earlier.)
I was a little more than disappointed when that happened, but I figured being a Naval Flight Officer was still a fantastic career, and assumed I'd quickly get over my disappointment of not being a pilot. I thought about declining the NFO slot, getting PRK surgery and reapplying, but after researching that option the future prospects of getting selected again would be slim. So I accepted Naval Flight Officer, and started preparing for that course.
However, now I'm a few days away from raising my right hand, and I'm having doubts. Mentally, I know this is a great opportunity, and I'm incredibly fortunate to be in this position. But something in my gut isn't sitting right.
In particular, two things keep resonating in my head. (Please excuse the terminology; I'm just trying to best represent what was said.) One thing is that every active pilot I talked to said that they wouldn't have settled for NFO. And one NFO I talked to specifically said that if I took the NFO slot, I'd be settling, and that "sometimes it's better to never get what you want than it is to settle."
I know that in order to embrace being an NFO, I need to separate myself from wanting to be a Pilot. But I still cringe a little bit inside when I think about the fact I'll never be a Pilot.
I have about 100 hours flying single engine, which I know is a relatively minor amount. But it was enough to create a love for flying.
I want to be a great NFO, and I know I need to shake the desire to be a pilot in order to do that. And if anyone has any advice on how to do that, I'd be forever appreciative.
Thank you
