USMC Selecting Aviation type and Aircraft?

[[Liu] Marxman224]

I'm a youngin so I got a lot of questions. One of the average Fighter jet guys. I asked my friend who's going into the Air Force how selecting your plane goes, and he just said that Academy guys go first, then the top performers in the group, and so forth. Of course it's all based on need and availability I know. I just needed someone to confirm.

 

[Randy Daytona]

1) Needs of the Corps.
2) Your grades.
3) What you want.

Academy, ROTC, OCS has nothing to do with it.

Remember that the Corps has much more rotary/tilt-rotor than fixed wing (someone else here can give you the percentages).

 

[[Liu] Marxman224]

Thank you Sir.

 

[[Liu] Marxman224]

How's it like for the Navy? Is it the same? Should I post a new thread in the Navy section?

 

[HAL Pilot]

Same

 

[[Liu] Marxman224]

1) Needs of the Corps.
2) Your grades.
3) What you want.

Academy, ROTC, OCS has nothing to do with it.

Remember that the Corps has much more rotary/tilt-rotor than fixed wing (someone else here can give you the percentages).

When you say grades, are you talking about the ASVAB? Or IFS/API tests? Or are you talking about literal school grades?

 

[Randy Daytona]

The flight grades in you get in Primary determine if you get jets, props, tilt-rotor or helo. I can not remember if API grades still matter.

 

[Uncle Fester]

The flight grades in you get in Primary determine if you get jets, props, tilt-rotor or helo. I can not remember if API grades still matter.

They do, but it's a miniscule percentage of your NSS.

 

[[Liu] Marxman224]

They do, but it's a miniscule percentage of your NSS.

Sorry, I'm 14, what's an NSS?

 

[Brett327]

Something you won't have to worry about for 8-10 years.

 

[Piposterous]

Sorry, I'm 14, what's an NSS?

NSS is Navy Standard Score... It's how they rank you against your peers at the end of primary & advanced.

 

[zippy]

Sorry, I'm 14, what's an NSS?

It's a bell curve of scores.

 

[Randy Daytona]

NSS is a bell curve type of grading system - how many standard deviations are you from the mean. It uses - if I remember correctly - the scores of the last 200 students.

These are the rotary / tilt-rotor squadrons you can go to. The active duty units are based at Camp Lejeune, NC; Miramar and Camp Pendleton CA, Hawaii and Okinawa.

Credit for the poster goes to a good magazine / website called Heliops.