Life after the RAG

[JFoga97862]

Did the prerequisite search, but came up with no answer to what life is like after the Hornet RAG. I'm currently knee deep as an RP and wondering if the "atmosphere" of the RAG is anything like the fleet sqdns. If you've been through it you probably know what I'm talking about. Thanks.

 

[HooverPilot]

Hornet guys eating the young again, 'eh? It will get better after the RAG, it will always get better after the RAG.

 

[Yoss]

Biggest difference is that life after the RAG will be far busier - enjoy the RP gig while it lasts.

 

[Schnugg]

You'll do more in a fleet squadron as you'll also have a ground job.

The joke is your flying job should never be less than 51% of your time.

Maintaining proficiency in your platform and doing well at your ground job can and will eat up a lot of your time.

 

[HeyJoe]

Did the prerequisite search, but came up with no answer to what life is like after the Hornet RAG. I'm currently knee deep as an RP and wondering if the "atmosphere" of the RAG is anything like the fleet sqdns. If you've been through it you probably know what I'm talking about. Thanks.

In the heyday of the Clubs, you used to get a great window into life in the squadrons because the club was such a mixing pot after hours or even at lunch. In fact, the squadrons were always on the prowl for RPs and checked you out at the club. As the club thread alludes, those days seemed to have gone by the wayside. That said, I spent yesterday afternoon in an Oceana Hornet squadron spaces and the atmosphere was professional and upbeat with folks talking about their "toys" in the air and at home.

 

[cosmania]

I also felt a better "family" community in my fleet squadron vice the RAG. The RAG was good, but the squadron can't eat you up if they want to get a benefit from you being there. You're almost a 'pledge' in the RAG and get initiated to full brotherhood in the fleet squadron.

 

[Huggy Bear]

Hornet guys eating the young again, 'eh? It will get better after the RAG, it will always get better after the RAG.

7 years in the hornet community and I never saw us eat our young. That was the Tomcat community. RPs and RRIOs were to be seen and not heard at VF-101, from what my tomcat buds have said.

To answer the OP question, like gets much busier but better after the FRS. The flying gets much much better in the fleet. It's so nice to fly and not have some jackass grade you . I'll never forget my first time, within my first week in the fleet, the skipper said, hey, you want to take a jet. No lead, no wingman, no gradesheets, no syllabus, no missison. Just me and a plane out to dick around. I really missed that after I left my fleet tour.

You'll still have plenty of challenging flights in the fleet, and many where you will have to do some homework. But by and large the pace of learning slows way down compared to the FRS.

Some advice. If you were like me and most guys, a fleet squadron will be the first professional job you have ever really had. Just remember its not about you anymore. You have probably been a student all of your life, and college students can be some of the most self-involved folks on the planet, but you aren't any longer. Now it is your turn to give back. Sounds simple enough, but I've seen that lost on some nuggets.

 

[Yoss]

On a sidenote, what happened to the Oceana Club? It used to be the one reliable destination for action on a friday night. Did a road show into there a few weeks ago and the crickets were deafening. The bartender said it has been that way for a few years. Not like it compared to the prime years of naval aviation (of which I've only heard stories), but in the early 2000s it was a pretty good party. Even after 9/11 civilians could get an on base pass to attend the club - that kept the talent quotient pretty high. Now you have to cab out to Hot Tuna.

 

[Huggy Bear]

Take it somewhere else thread jacker.

 

[Yoss]

Take it easy huggy, it's a relevant inquiry. If the club - and club culture -is dead then young RPs don't have that venue to get a feel for fleet culture and people - and vice versa.

There is no club scene at Cherry Pt, so RPs don't get much interaction with fleet folks until they get down the street. Likewise, squadrons don't have any idea about the people they are getting without making a few phone calls.

 

[Huggy Bear]

Take it easy huggy, it's a relevant inquiry.

Did you not see the ?

Just do your best in the RAG. The club is nice, but you don't need it. Fleet bubbas are going to call their friends at the rag to ask about so and so all the time, club or not. Just don't be a one way, work hard, and be the guy who helps out your classmates.

 

[HeyJoe]

On a sidenote, what happened to the Oceana Club?

1. See other thread on Clubs. Easy answer: zero tolerance for DUI/crackdown and PC preaching against excess drinking stifled the club.

2. I was invited to join CVW-8 staff farewell their LSO yesterday at Oceana OClub after his last Hornet flight. Great time, but at 1630, we were ONLY folks in the club on a Wednesday night. Bartender says she stays awhile but has to close if she doesn't get a crowd (more than 10 folks). Sad, sad pale shadow of the heyday when Wednesday nights were rock 'em sock 'em on Wednesdays and Fridays.

 

[A4sForever]

Personal experience??

The RAG = you were still a "protected" species ... i.e., still a STUD, for better or for worse with all it entailed. Someone was always/usually "there" to guide and channel your efforts. You KNEW what was expected of you -- fly the next syllabus hop -- and what you had to do to succeed and possibly even excel. It was a piece of cake -- just a little bit "bigger" cake than anything you had previously eaten ... life was still "easy".

The Squadron = now you were a "real" person -- a functioning member of a tried and tested team -- only problem was ... you were "new" and there was usually no one there to hold your hand and tell you/show you "what to do". You were given a ground job -- in which you had no experience and usually with no/minimal "turn-over" ... but you were expected to understand and function in said job.

And the squadron flying?? You were the "new" guy ... inexperienced and tentative while being dumped into the middle of a bunch of experienced veterans ... if you don't "do enough" and and carry your weight for the team you get branded as someone who needs watching, when in fact it's not your fault as you know nothing at present. You try to impress and do "too much" and the reverse sets in -- you are marked as a "know-it-all" and someone who bears watching so he won't hurt himself and/or break an airplane.

You were always expected to hold up your end of the mission in the squadron, even though no one expected "too much" of you in the early stages. It takes time to establish yourself -- hopefully you will have that time without stepping into too many "piles" and making very many mistakes.

The "pressure" is always on while you're a Nugget. You're ALWAYS "graded", even though there's no "grade sheet". And who's that enlisted guy standing in the hatch with a request chit in his hand ... ??? What's HE want??? What's THAT all about ... ???

*Sigh* Ahhhh .... wish I was a STUD again ... life was good.

 

[Brett327]

I've heard several stories of the SH RAG (122) treating their studs like shit, even the CAT II and IV guys.

Brett

 

[FMRAM]

Brett is heading back to the RAG because he slipped through the cracks the first time.