Figured this might bring you out for a comment or two
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Riverine force
- Thread starter McNamara
- Start date
Figured this might bring you out for a comment or two
Steve said it pretty well, but I should add something. I apologize for not putting this info out at the beginning of the thread, but then I didn't expect it to turn into a philosophical discussion about career paths. I was asking about the riverine force because my OIC suggested it as one possibility, and I just needed a little information. With regards to career paths and such, all of us flight-school-to-VR pilots will probably leave active duty at the end of our PRDs. That's what it said in our volunteer agreements anyway, and now it looks like the Navy will stick to that. As always, things could change, but that's what we're hearing from the wing. So if we wanted to continue in the Naval Aviation community, it would be as a SELRES with a VR squadron. Which is definitely a great deal if you like the VR lifestyle.
I'm going to make a contribution in one way or another, hopefully active duty. As I told Zab, I know several former infantry guys who are pilots now (as I understand HAL Pilot to be). I haven't heard of anyone else who wanted to make the switch in the opposite direction, as I would, but with the huge demand for infantry these days it seems to me that it should be possible. We'll see.
I'd also like to let everyone know that I do take my job quite seriously. I'm going to approach the IA tour with the same professionalism that I did in the cockpit, because it is no laughing matter. But I'm sure I'll have a little fun along the way, as we all hopefully do from time to time.
I'm going to make a contribution in one way or another, hopefully active duty. As I told Zab, I know several former infantry guys who are pilots now (as I understand HAL Pilot to be). I haven't heard of anyone else who wanted to make the switch in the opposite direction, as I would, but with the huge demand for infantry these days it seems to me that it should be possible. We'll see.
I'd also like to let everyone know that I do take my job quite seriously. I'm going to approach the IA tour with the same professionalism that I did in the cockpit, because it is no laughing matter. But I'm sure I'll have a little fun along the way, as we all hopefully do from time to time.
I didn't know this and it changes my take on things. If it's a fight to stay on active duty, then by all means apply for whatever will do that.
BTW - I was infantry in the Army Reserve. I was not active duty except for 2 or 3 months each summer to earn my college spending money. I thought it said reserve in my profile (it's fixed now).
I was ship's company on the TR during/after Desert Storm. The CO decided we needed to participate. We made up our own training - like having the MARDET teach us CBQ & fastroping. Fast and dirty - we started boarding ships after about 5 days of "training".
I ended up leading the team because I had all the right "quals". I was OOD underway, sea and anchor OOD, worked in weapons (weapons quals), had a Army infantry background, CO trusted me as he knew me really well from my bridge watches, and I was an O4 select so I was "senior enough to be in charge yet junior enough to take the blame" (as the Gun Boss put it).
I didn't volunteer, in fact no one knew we were going to have a boarding team. The Gun Boss came out of a DH meeting one morning and said "guess what I just volunteered you for...."
It did end up being an interesting assignment. A unique mixture of apprehension, boredom and fun. It was right after the shooting had stop and many of ships we boarded had Arab crews so the tension was pretty high. In fact I almost shot a guy when he suddenly picked up a machete looking meat knife to pry open a walk-in freezer door.... I also had to board a ship once that already had 2 teams on it - 1 Greek and 1 Turk. My job was to keep them from killing each other. I was sent after the merchant's Captain came up on bridge-to-bridge asking for a referee.
Today I doubt the CO would have gotten away with having a VBSS trained and deployed like we did. They've come a long way since then.
Who normally leads a VBSS? Is that a qual that you can get during a disassosiated tour or is it something you have to be specially selected for?
SWO's on smallboys. Selected for? Yes. The CO wants someone he can trust.
Concur, I doubt many aviators get to do this. I never heard of another carrier having a VBSS. My leading one was a fluke.
Our CO was once a shoe and liked to do stuff like this. He even had the harbor pilot take a seat and put the carrier against the pier to show off to a shoe CG CO friend from his SWOS days who was visiting us.
I'm not saying aviation isn't fun, or that people don't join because it you get to fly low and fast, etc. Many days I wonder how other those in other MOSs even bear their miserable existences. :icon_wink I do think, however, that there's a subtle difference between thinking, "There's a war on; I'm in the military and it's my job to be there," and "There's a war on; man it would be freakin' cool to shoot people." I'm not saying the original poster is necessarily in the second group, but based on what I've seen so far, he should at least think about his motivations before going forward.
There's a difference between careerism and taking care of yourself. Careerism is doing whatever it takes to advance your career, even at the expense of others. Taking care of yourself means realizing there's a system in place that you have to work within if you want to stay around. I didn't know that McNamara has to find a means just to stay on AD, so that does change his career prescription--I won't endeavor to give him any more assignment advice other than to talk to his detailer.
Everyone has goals. The trick is working within the system to make them happen. There is a framework to follow. Even if your goal is to retire at O-4 is some bizarre niche job like FAO, you have to give a little to get a little. If your goal is to be a CO, there are always exeptions that prove the rule, but you have to realize that it's easier to get that job if you stay on the reservation in terms of assignment choices. That's not careerism, that's just reality.
I just can't resist any longer. Steve, not sure if you've seen this, but here's my take on VBSS teams.
Usually there's two kinds of people that become VBSS team leaders (talking Os here). One is the type HAL describes. It's a qual to get and people get assigned and do their job to the best of their ability (whatever that may be). Then there's the guy that volunteers for VBSS because he gets to carry a gun, possibly detain people, and generally likes to walk around looking like a badass. Sadly, he's unaware that he aactually looks like a wedge or lever...yup, a simple tool.
Whomever you are, SWO, aviator, whatever, don't be that guy.
I don't disagree with all that. I just think the officer corps tends to be more concerned with meeting "the right" wickets and punching "the right" tickets than trying to match the officer with a billet that matches his/her skills, talents, and interests. I realize that this is and unorthadox line of thinking.
I got recommended by my DH to run the VBSS program after I was onboard for about 6 months. We really didn't have a program in place prior to that because our ship was used to doing counter drug ops. So Coast Guard did the boardings for all that. Standing up two boarding teams from scratch was a huge PITA, but interesting none the less. Most folks who want to be a boarding officer really have no idea what's involved. You're right, they only want to play GI Joe on the High Seas. They find out what is really involved and they're like, oh sh!t, what the hell did I do? Sadly, most of the O's don't realize that once they're back from a boarding, the work has only begun.
HAL and phrogdriver, I'm sorry I didn't just come out and say it in my first post. I should have figured you'd be handing out some free career advice - much like many of the guys in my squadron do whenever they have a chance. Believe it or not I do appreciate it.
In any case, I welcome an opportunity to help see my motivations and goals from an outside perspective. Cheers,
Scott
In any case, I welcome an opportunity to help see my motivations and goals from an outside perspective. Cheers,
Scott
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