Free time (hobbies) outside of work

[lusos]

Hey guys/gals,


I am currently waiting on the next SNA/NFO board and I'm getting down to the more personal aspects of the Navy.

I understand that while at deployment, personal hobbies and family time are zero at best. However, would it be stupid to expect being able to maintain my personal hobbies when stationed here stateside? I am very big into auto racing and I do track days once a month, along with working on the car in the evenings to prep for these races. I also enjoy going to car shows/races as a spectator 1-2 times per month. Would it be stupid to expect to be able to keep up with this hobby once my schedule levels out after I get done with all of my OCS/flight school stuff?

I have a coworker who is a retired CW3 with Army aviation and he claims that pilots get a significant amount of "rest time" after flights in the Army. However, I have also spoken with pilots who have said the exact opposite and claim that they barely have time to exercise in the morning before running to work. So overall I'm trying to see if the attitude is somewhere in the middle or if it's really just that hard to maintain hobbies while serving active duty.


Also, how accessible are the Hobby Shops on base? I've heard mixed reviews on using them and I'm curious if they are [generally] well equipped for working on cars, doing woodworking, etc.


Thanks!

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

What did your recruiter say when you asked these questions?

As for hobby shops, it depends on the base. Some are big that do have them and some medium/smaller bases that don't.

 

[Pags]

When you're not at work your time is yours.

 

[MIDNJAC]

If I had a dollar for every time I left work in a rush just to get home to sleep for an early morning brief right on the edge of being a legal 8 hours away (or whatever the SOP decided was 3710 mins), I would have several free coffees. There are also many days where you have tons of time between getting home and having to be there the next day. The problem is that all those days are unpredictable, and known only about 8-12 hrs before the fact. Weekends are normally free-ish, unless you decide you need to come in, but the week is a crap shoot. Putting a sniv in SHARP (which you will learn about if you end up doing this) is like an automatic spotlight between the schedule and you in the skeds O's eye. You might have not ever been needed, but as soon as you sniv, you will literally be the most important person on the schedule that next day. Shiny thing syndrome.

 

[Max the Mad Russian]

What about cars? Here the pilots are not keen on the cars to the same degree that USN aviators are - even today one can see an old Soviet "Volga" cars (derivative from Swedish Volvo of 1970s) on a parkings along the Air Force bases, a rusty lumbering "redneck's tank". The Russian submariners are the substituting people for that. In a submarine bases one can easily find the Porsches of all thinkable models, those in restyling, with a nickel-chrome features, even if the snow around is as thick as the legs long. Being the most paid in Russian military, our bubbleheads are the avid owners of a rare sportcars and a motorcycles (both sport and choppers) as well. They joke that they're missing for the time when the Soviet submarines could be on 45 knots while submerged, roaring on the whole ocean, screwing the secrecy up, 'cause that've been very fun. Nowadays the roar of the engine of a vehicle or a bike is all that remains for them;-)

 

[squorch2]

When you're not at work your time is yours.

Until it's not - depending on the org's culture, you can be called in for anything.

 

[Pags]

Until it's not - depending on the org's culture, you can be called in for anything.

But before you get called in, you can do pretty much whatever you want. Other than a mishap I can't think of anytime I actually had to drop everything I was doing and run in to work. even if the org has you work on the weekend you usually know in advance.