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Question on Grad School

Bottom line is: the absolute FIRST milestone in your career where the non-standard timing will be any kind of factor is at the Aviation Department Head Screen Board. Next time it'll be a factor is the O-5 selection board, then the Command Screen Board.

If you don't plan on sticking around that long, then it's a non-issue. Any advice proffered now will be useless 10 years from now when you have reached that point. IAs are making "traditional career milestones" a bit of a gray area, anyway.

Big gold stars like getting selected for these type of programs get put on your official career bio, non-standard career timing does not. Turning it down b/c of the timing is cutting off your nose to spite your face. Personally, I wouldn't pass it up.
 
Scoob makes a good point: if the OP isn't going to do 20 then he really shouldn't pass this up (remember, those guys getting a Master's on their first shore tour are potentially extending their commitment). I do think we will be out of the IA business by the time the OP would potentially get one, but that is far enough down the road that there is no need to sweat it yet.

MB has a really good point as well (even if he didn't mean to): if the idea works for you don't worry about how Big Navy will look at it. A lot of times on this board it seems that younger folks (and, unfortunately, some people that are senior enough to have learned better) think that NPC is managing their careers to benefit the member. I can't stress this enough: that is NOT their job! Like most of us, the folks in Millington are good guys and won't screw you just for kicks. But neither will they piss away their requirements just to make you happy/promoted/etc. If a particular set of orders can help you while it meets their requirements then they are glad for the happy by-product, but if it comes down to you or the Navy (more commonly you or your community) then you will lose every time.

MB's example is a perfect case. He filled a hole in that community that allows them to create a C-2/E-2 pilot in his year group where they were missing one before. The fact that he was happy to be that guy is incidental as far as the Navy is concerned. If he parlays it into becoming the first COD-guy CNO then NPC will claim they saw it coming from the beginning (and we will all play his SSN as LOTTO numbers...). If his career crashes and burns they won't even give it a second thought.
 
So what about going to new community with 2 years of NOB?
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If he parlays it into becoming the first COD-guy CNO then NPC will claim they saw it coming from the beginning (and we will all play his SSN as LOTTO numbers...). If his career crashes and burns they won't even give it a second thought.
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I just hope he makes Aviation Greens the uniform of the day when he's CNO...and fixes the damn O-clubs.
 
I know a guy that went through this program and had an issue with one of his fitreps. Because his timing was a little off, he had his first fitrep in a competitive command that happened to be his last fitrep as an 03. As you would expect he was used as fodder to keep the skippers average down. He promoted to 04 but wasn't sure about the long term effects. He ended up leaving the command early and still didn't have time for a two year boat tour.
 
bert said:
I do think we will be out of the IA business by the time the OP would potentially get one...
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So do I, in fact, by that time it'll probably be the Army augmenting us in the blue water battle against China & N. Korea.:D

The point is that most of his contemporaries will have done an IA, which will have jacked-up their regular career progression paths, thus putting everyone in an equally gray state of limbo where boards will be looking to select left-handed midget tossers w/ an MA in Ancient Chinese Secret.
 
where boards will be looking to select left-handed midget tossers w/ an MA in Ancient Chinese Secret
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Well that is just plain wrong. Anybody can see that in today's highly challenging, joint environment we will need officers that can toss midgets with either hand.
 
For comparison's sake, I did the IGEP program for a year at NPS and I'm actually ahead of some of the guys I commissioned with (read: they've still yet to wing).
 
insanebikerboy said:
For comparison's sake, I did the IGEP program for a year at NPS and I'm actually ahead of some of the guys I commissioned with (read: they've still yet to wing).
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Yeah, but being a helo guy, I'm pretty sure you have different wickets than jet guys due to time to wing and RAG time.

The way I see it is, if my bad timing manages to fuck some sort of career milestone, then I'm glad I paid myself first with a masters degree in something I wanted and got to spend a year in Monterey.
 
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