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Outdoorsman/SERE and Weapons Training

aprilmarikko

New Member
Do Naval Aviators have the opportunity to get SERE training and small arms training? This is a big reason I was weighing infantry against aviation. How about other courses with less obvious aviation relevance, like dive or free fall?
 
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Meyerkord

Well-Known Member
pilot
SERE - yes
Small arms - yes

Not sure about the others. I’m sure if you could successfully convince your command that you needed it they might let you.

Please don’t base a career in aviation vs infantry around these trainings. You’ll spend a microscopic amount of time actually doing them
 
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Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
Friend, you can’t imagine two more entirely different worlds. Infantry is dirty, hard, direct and highly kinetic. As an infantry officer you will work with a wild mix of some of the best and worse people America has to offer - and often they will sometimes be the same person. I mean some serious grotesque dumbasses and some remarkably smart people.

As a naval aviator you’ll be a highly skilled technical expert. Yes, you will command sailors (and probably find a mix of idiots and patriots, just at a different percentage) but the “leadership” aspects are very different (this is not to disparage naval aviators, their skills are necessarily focused elsewhere).

In the infantry you’ll spend most of your time maintaining infantry focused gear.
In naval aviation you’ll spend most of your time maintaining aircraft and aviation associated gear.

Infantry training is not really focused heavily on weapons use per se but maneuver so the weapons can be used. Put broadly, enlisted guys shoot, officers get them there. On my last combat tour (about 330 days in country total) I went on at least one foot patrol a day, often more (my diary count is 625 patrols ranging from as little as an hour to two days) but only fired my rifle a handful of times.

I can’t comment on the combat naval aviation side since I haven’t so much as spit out of a tactical aircraft cockpit - but I can tell you when we needed air support they laid iron on target at a wonderfully accurate rate (and our TAC was a stud).

If you want to try to combine both, become an army W.O. pilot and work hard to get into the 160th SOAR. Even conventional army pilots sleep in the field, shoot for the record twice a year (I don’t think the navy does that) and have an opportunity to smell the dirt. In the end, however, you are talking about two very, very different worlds, so choose carefully.
 
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Swanee

Cereal Killer
pilot
None
Contributor
Do Naval Aviators have the opportunity to get SERE training and small arms training? This is a big reason I was weighing infantry against aviation. How about other courses with less obvious aviation relevance, like dive or free fall?
You could try the USMC route, where every 2nd Lt goes through The Basic School first.

Dive and Jump school though... Why would you risk getting hurt and potentially losing your medical clearance to fly over a something that you think would be cool but would never ever use again?

Also- don't forget that the military has a tendency to suck the fun out of EVERYTHING.

If you want to learn how to scuba dive or sky dive, do it as a civilian where it will be fun.
 

Brett327

Well-Known Member
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Do Naval Aviators have the opportunity to get SERE training and small arms training? This is a big reason I was weighing infantry against aviation. How about other courses with less obvious aviation relevance, like dive or free fall?
Didn’t you just start a thread about being NPQ for back issues?
 
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