Please help with a couple questions...

[Palmer]

Hello everyone -

I am seriously looking into enlisting as a Navy pilot. I have a couple questions, however, which remain unanswered (and I would like to get a second opinion other than my Recruitment Officer.)

1. What percentage of Navy pilots who pass through primary actually end up flying fighter jets? I know this varies based on the needs of the Navy - but is there a general range that stays consistent? 5-15%? 20-40%?

2. Is there ANY way that I can possibly find out whether or not I physically can fit into a fighter cockpit prior to enlisting? I am not talking about height and weight, but about the other measurements they take at a later date. I have rather broad shoulders and a fairly large physique. Although I know there is no guarantee that I will be able to fly fighters if I do enlist, I may have second thoughts about enlisting if I knew there was NO chance that I would get fighters.

Thanks a ton for any help you can give...

- Palmer

 

[E6286]

I think you need to do your research. How old are you anyway if I may ask? You cannot "enlist" to become a pilot, you have to be commissioned as an officer and selected. Also, to be comissioned you need a 4 year Bachelor's degree.

 

[ghost_ttu]

E6:

You forgot to mention having a little bit of luck...

 

[Palmer]

Sorry about the semantics, hehe.

I meant that I am seriously looking at pursuing a pilot position in the Navy - I thought enlist was the proper term to use.

I am 24 yrs old and graduated from college with a 4.0 cumulative GPA with degrees in Psychology and English. The Navy recruiter I spoke with said that he could practically guarantee that I would be chosen for a pilot slot if I passed the other tests ok, given my grades in college.

Soooooo...my two questions above are simply an attempt to find out what my REAL chances of flying a fighter are, if I were to continue pursuing this route.

Thanks

- Palmer

 

[jrklr]

palmer:
your GPA is as competive as it gets, but you have to remember that NOTHING is guaranteed in the service. As far as the jet odds go, it depends on your performance in primary flight training, which is the first 6 months. If you better than everyone else, you'll get your pick. From what I here I'd say about 20% of SNA's get a jet slot, rough estimate, but it all depends what slots are available at the time. But I stongly advice you not to join the Navy if the only thing you want to do is fly jets and worry about odds. Some of the best advice I've heard on this board is that you are an officer first, and to consider whether you'll like it if you don't fly jets or even fly at all. As far as the physical stuff, your physical at MEPS should tell you everything, there is a height measured when your sitting down and I think it's like no greater then 38 inches or something, but I'd look it up, it's somewhere on the net, I've seen it. As far as size goes, there's also a body fat test and I'm assuming that's covered in your physical as well. best of luck to you

 

[marti]

I just wanted to put in my two cents worth and then I will shut up. Jrklr has just touched on a subject that I think some of the people that view this site should really consider. If joining the Navy just to fly jets is your only motive for submitting a package then I suggest you don't do it. I hear of so many people who join the military (either enlisted or officer) for the wrong reasons, and they are not that hard to find. Just talk to some E-nothing that joined the Navy to be a Seal, only to DOR during BUDs and now he's a deck seaman (I don't mean that being a deck Seaman is bad, only that it wasn't at all what the individual wanted to do). Then there are the officers that wind up doing the same whether it be aviation or some other field. Nothing in the Navy, or any of the branches is unobtainable. If you want to Fly jets I say go for it, but when your standing in the hanger bay staring at an F-18, and you are flying an SH-53 don't feel like you got the short end of the stick. Anything can happen to you during your Navy career. Remember, you are a Naval officer first and foremost. Don't come in with the misconception that you will get P-3s and/or just never go to the boat. You will be a Naval officer there will be times when you will go to sea, and there will be times when you go to sea to do something other than fly. You will spend months at a time away from your family and it will suck. There will be times when you need to be home and they will expect you to deploy. This is the lifestyle that you are accepting when you take your commission, and though I have never been a Naval Aviator I know that when I'm floating in the Persian Gulf about to hit Jebel Ali for the third time not even my rank and designation will make that not suck.

I am not trying to be negative here at all. I really just want people to know that what they are hoping to accomplish here is more than a jet slot. There is more to being a member of the Navy and Marine Corps, and you will be expected to be more than just a pilot.
For those of you that have continued to read this far I can reassure you of many things. The Navy is what you make of it from day one, and I promise you that if you decide to serve in any way at all you will see and do things that will make all of your accomplishment up to that moment small in comparison. You will visit places you have only read about in books, and you will make some of the best friends you will ever have.
Oh, and did I mention you will spend alot of time at sea?
There, I feel better.

 

[Dave Shutter]

I've been amazed at the stories I've heard from experienced Aviators since coming to P-cola. You'll learn lot more about the different communities and what their day to day is like then you could ever read about in Janes. I haven't even gotten in a plane yet but my perception about this line of work has completely changed since joining. Something I sometimes hear is about the hard charger coming to Primary hell bent on jets, but after six months of Primary learns that military aviation isn't what it looks like on the Discovery channel and ends up very happily selecting something completely different. In API you'll have instructors from all different communites and the stories and experiences they have can be real eye openers.

 

[Palmer]

Thanks a lot guys - I read everyone's posts thoroughly and really appreciate all the input. It is nice to know that the measurements they take prior to signing up are legit for all their aircraft and not just some of the larger planes.

Also, I agree with many of the comments about joining the Navy with the right attitude. For myself, I have always wanted to fly - plain and simple. And I would rather fly serving my country in the Navy, than flying commercial/corporate. At the same time, I would rather fly commercial/corporate than to be a seaman and not fly at all. This being said, jets have always been my fascination, and I just wanted an idea of how many pilots go jets.

Thanks again -

- Palmer

 

[Ironnads]

Check out the navy OCS website. It has PRT in's and out's. Also, Chad Hennings, who was a defensive lineman for the Dallas Cowboys up until last year, was an F-16 fighter pilot in the chairforce. He's a pretty big dude and I would think that the Navy measurements wouldn't be that much different, but I'm just guessing. I was measured at the recruiting station here in Dallas the same day that I took the ATSB. This was the only time that I was measured. All I did at Meps was get naked and dance around followed by pissing in front of a dude and giving blood. They also run you through a 2 minute vision check and a hearing test. These few little tests cost me 8 1/2 hours of my life that I will never get back. Take something to read.

Travis Alexander

 

[Jeff]

Let me throw my two cents in here now, there is nothing wrong with joining the military with the hopes of getting jets. Had I been told I could not fly jets before I commissioned I probably would not have accepted my commission. But by the same token you have to realize even though you are qualified most Navy pilots dont fly jets. For me it was all about getting jets and following a dream, and the consequences had I not gotten jets were fly in a different platform or serve as a Naval Officer for four years. Any way I looked at it it was a win win for me. So follow your dream but realize that needs of the Navy and your obligations as an officer come before you being a pilot.

To try and answer your orig. Quest. Palmer:

1. Break down of the Navy's pilots
Jets ~20 - 30 %
Props ~15 - 20 %
TACAMO ~20 a year
Helos Everyone Else

These figures were told to us when we graduated primary

2. You will find out when you have your flight physical after
you get accepted and sign. I am not sure how they are doing
it now but when I went through they sent me to Pcola for my
physical right after I selected. For others they got it at OCS.
Either way you know before you accept your commission.

 

[ghost_ttu]

Vallion,

Are you saying that you witnessed a Helo driver go from Helo to Hornet? My recruiter said he went from Helo to Props, but I figured Helo to Jets would be pretty much unheard of.