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Navy helo community....what's the latest news?

I would stay HS also, especially with the Block III coming down the line. I enjoyed ASW as much as the next guy but it will be nice to have fewer mission areas. One of the issues with ASW was that the training did not carry over to our other mission areas.
 
Ben, I think it's a tough question for some to answer (namely for those that didn't "fully" enjoy their community). If I could do it over w/ with the experience I have now, I'd go HSC, but I'm glad I picked HSL and did what I did. I valued the experience (and locale) but want to move onto something else....

I think I mentioned this to you before when we met w/ John.
 
HSL has a real love/hate relationship w/ it's JO's. Take everything you hear w/ a grain a salt. There's lots of reasons why different guys say they disliked the community, but there's lots of reasons to enjoy it. A lot of the problems seem to stem from some front office/DH issues, but w/ the DH screen now, that may help. But again, these are issues that happen in other communities, as well.

I had a talk w/ a HSC buddy of mine recently about his take on his community. All-in-all, it's a pretty good place to be right now (money, mission, etc), but he was fed up w/ the constant Master Plan switches that were going on, so the grass can always be greener.
 
As a one time HC -46 guy, I would warn against listening to any of us old HC -46 guys talk about HSC. HSC is already a different animal, and getting more so.
 
hsc is becoming a different animal, slowly. A lot of the old school HC bubbas are fighting the shift towards a more tactical based mission. A lot of the guys in that community went HC/HSC because it has a rep of being laid back and easy going. They don't like having to focus more on tactics.
As an HS guy, I'm partial to carrier aviation. HS squadrons seem to have a tighter wardroom, mostly due to the small size of it. HSL and HSC is det based and have huge wardrooms. Those two things tend create a different atmosphere.
 
1rotorhead said:
hsc is becoming a different animal, slowly. A lot of the old school HC bubbas are fighting the shift towards a more tactical based mission. A lot of the guys in that community went HC/HSC because it has a rep of being laid back and easy going. They don't like having to focus more on tactics.
As an HS guy, I'm partial to carrier aviation. HS squadrons seem to have a tighter wardroom, mostly due to the small size of it. HSL and HSC is det based and have huge wardrooms. Those two things tend create a different atmosphere.
Click to expand...

I think this is an accurate assessment. HC was their own worse enemy and making a mission area exclusively around logistics and VERTREP was a huge mistake and a terrible waste of assets IMHO.
 
Chuck -- absolutely concur. Unfortunately, ex-HC types in the leadership are still fighting the changes because they are stuck in the past.
 
Don't take my comment that the HSC community was very much changed compared to what we old -46 guys experienced as an endorsement of what HSC now is or what it is heading for. Different isn't necessarily good or bad, sometimes it is just different. One thing I will offer to folks in advanced is that I chose to leave rather than stay HSC - despite having a lot of checks in the box. Were the old-school slackers and cowboys better or worse to be around than what they have now? PM me and I will give you my opinion.
 
Come on now, that's not fair, Bert. You can't tease us w/ details... ;)
 
Not being a tease brother, but just realistic that the days I grew up in are gone and my experiences frankly aren't that applicable to anybody starting out.

I totally understand where hscs is coming from in his comments. I think if he had a little more perspective on those (us) -46 dinosaurs he might reconsider some of his opinions, but I certainly don't feel insulted because there are some kernels of truth in it (and besides, if you didn't ever look for that "running rubber dog $hit out of hong kong" job they threatened Maverick with then you obviously don't see the same allure in the old HC lifestyle).

Dislike of where my community was heading wasn't my only reason for bailing - it was damn convenient personally and while the decision had plenty of risk it has paid off tenfold and I might even get promoted again, despite violating one of the cardinal rules of aviation career paths. Watching my old community desperately try to ape HS to prove our tactical coolness only made the decision easier.
 
I don't think that the HSC squadrons are doing too bad with moving to the tactical side from a flying standpoint. They have been hampered by senior leadership imposing unrealistic training rules (no flight below 500' agl) and by protecting their own ricebowls. The community would have done better to simply copy the HS (sans ASW) tactical programs and bring more HS guys over to the HSC side. After many years of pain, we are finally seeing things change.
 
That assumes, of course, that HS was the be all and end all of tactical training.
 
I am not saying that HS is the second coming of tacticalness -- the HC side of the house went with their own program, rather than a NSAWC sanctioned syllabus. As a result, they are now having to have their Level 2-3 folks do additional flights to keep their quals. That would not have happened had they just stuck with what was already in place.
 
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