DBM
Well-Known Member
Well, I fortunately made it through NIFE and completed physio yesterday. It's been a process; definitely the hardest thing I've done so far, but I'm very grateful to have made it. I don't have much to say other than just a few pieces of advice. I don't know how it will be for the rest of flight training but currently in NIFE, they will kick you out if you give them the opportunity to do so, in any single phase you go through (from the PRT all the way to the flying phase). There's very little room for error, especially if you're Navy or Coast Guard (2 pinksheets for Navy and 3 for Marines), so show up with your very best.
1. Make sure you're still in shape for the PRT; you'll only get 2 chances to pass and if you can't, you'll get kicked out. I've lost 2 friends to the PRT. When you get down to Pensacola, don't spend all your time running indoors or on a treadmill; do some of your running outside, especially if you're not used to the Florida environment.
2. Try your best to prepare for water survival. I spent A LOT of time in here and was close to getting the boot. I've also lost a couple of friends to water survival as well. Don't be alarmed; the vast majority of people pass without getting sent to remedial (like 88%), and those that do get sent to remedial almost always pass as well. If you're a decent swimmer and can tread water and float on your face, you should be fine. Nonetheless, I recommend getting some reps in with treading water and floating (so 2-minute tread followed by a 5-minute float on your face), just so you're not experiencing it for the first time in water survival. You can even increase the duration of your tread and float as you progress. The key is to stay calm and relax; it's easier said than done when you have more gear added to you and your float time increases, but be assured that you won't drown. There are swim instructors in the water with you at all times, and the pool is no more than 12 feet deep (so if the average person were to touch the bottom of the pool, it would be no more than a 6-7 feet swim back up). For the majority of folks, this may be the easiest thing you do in NIFE, so don't stress much about it.
3. Lock in and grind academics for 3 weeks. It goes by pretty quickly and soon you'll have your Flight Suit Friday but you have to pass academics first. It's not hard necessarily, but you can be studying for 3 different subjects at any point during those 3 weeks, with 2 test in one week. So it's a whole lot of managing your time and being flexible. I recommend studying a bit while waiting to class up, just to make your life easier. That's what I did, and I didn't mind academics much, except for the weather exam (screw that one lol). Some folks didn't study until they actually classed up and also did fine. It's going to be stressful, I won't lie, but if you can hang on for about 3 weeks and give it your all, you'll make it.
4. Don't let off the gas pedal in the flight phase. I personally found this phase to be the easiest; the work/study load went down drastically, and I was mostly chair flying/using the sims and making sure I could "flow" through the high work maneuvers, traffic patterns, etc. This phase should take realistically 2 weeks but can be longer because of bad weather. I recommend chair flying/using the sims (go figure) since that's how you'll be able to flow through the different maneuvers and traffic patterns quickly, so then you can mostly focus on flying the aircraft. If you follow the MCG, then you should be fine. I lost 2 friends to the flight phase, but their circumstances seemed to be rare. Other than that, I don't have much to say, this phase was pretty straightforward.
5. Physio is short but fun. It'll include things such as the parachute drag, hypoxia training, ejection seat training, and even some additional pool training/helo dunker. It's not possible to get a pinksheet in this phase (based on what they told us), so if you happen to roll for any of the events, don't stress. Physio should take about 5 working days to complete.
Current wait time for Primary is looking to be 5-6 months for Whiting (TW5), 9 months for Corpus (TW4), and 3-4 months for NFO's (TW6), so I probably won't start until January or February. I hope this is somewhat helpful; let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help.
1. Make sure you're still in shape for the PRT; you'll only get 2 chances to pass and if you can't, you'll get kicked out. I've lost 2 friends to the PRT. When you get down to Pensacola, don't spend all your time running indoors or on a treadmill; do some of your running outside, especially if you're not used to the Florida environment.
2. Try your best to prepare for water survival. I spent A LOT of time in here and was close to getting the boot. I've also lost a couple of friends to water survival as well. Don't be alarmed; the vast majority of people pass without getting sent to remedial (like 88%), and those that do get sent to remedial almost always pass as well. If you're a decent swimmer and can tread water and float on your face, you should be fine. Nonetheless, I recommend getting some reps in with treading water and floating (so 2-minute tread followed by a 5-minute float on your face), just so you're not experiencing it for the first time in water survival. You can even increase the duration of your tread and float as you progress. The key is to stay calm and relax; it's easier said than done when you have more gear added to you and your float time increases, but be assured that you won't drown. There are swim instructors in the water with you at all times, and the pool is no more than 12 feet deep (so if the average person were to touch the bottom of the pool, it would be no more than a 6-7 feet swim back up). For the majority of folks, this may be the easiest thing you do in NIFE, so don't stress much about it.
3. Lock in and grind academics for 3 weeks. It goes by pretty quickly and soon you'll have your Flight Suit Friday but you have to pass academics first. It's not hard necessarily, but you can be studying for 3 different subjects at any point during those 3 weeks, with 2 test in one week. So it's a whole lot of managing your time and being flexible. I recommend studying a bit while waiting to class up, just to make your life easier. That's what I did, and I didn't mind academics much, except for the weather exam (screw that one lol). Some folks didn't study until they actually classed up and also did fine. It's going to be stressful, I won't lie, but if you can hang on for about 3 weeks and give it your all, you'll make it.
4. Don't let off the gas pedal in the flight phase. I personally found this phase to be the easiest; the work/study load went down drastically, and I was mostly chair flying/using the sims and making sure I could "flow" through the high work maneuvers, traffic patterns, etc. This phase should take realistically 2 weeks but can be longer because of bad weather. I recommend chair flying/using the sims (go figure) since that's how you'll be able to flow through the different maneuvers and traffic patterns quickly, so then you can mostly focus on flying the aircraft. If you follow the MCG, then you should be fine. I lost 2 friends to the flight phase, but their circumstances seemed to be rare. Other than that, I don't have much to say, this phase was pretty straightforward.
5. Physio is short but fun. It'll include things such as the parachute drag, hypoxia training, ejection seat training, and even some additional pool training/helo dunker. It's not possible to get a pinksheet in this phase (based on what they told us), so if you happen to roll for any of the events, don't stress. Physio should take about 5 working days to complete.
Current wait time for Primary is looking to be 5-6 months for Whiting (TW5), 9 months for Corpus (TW4), and 3-4 months for NFO's (TW6), so I probably won't start until January or February. I hope this is somewhat helpful; let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to help.
