1. NEEDS OF THE NAVY. Say it over and over until, you have memorized it. Very few guys I commissioned with went the full 20 years in the community they chose.
1a. USNR. If you are willing to leave active duty for the reserves to make your 20 or 30, you probably can. The Navy cannot plan beyond 3-4 years, plus the world is changing so fast that no one can plan very far ahead. When I was on active duty there was no career path for NFOs; they couldn't hold command and very few made it past O-3. In fact, in my first squadron, no NFO made LCDR or CDR in three years, but almost every pilot did. It was a real two-tier system. I left active duty and went into the Reserves. Best decision I ever made. After I landed in the reserves, (1) Congress changed the law to allow NFOs to command; (2) the Mission Commander position was created (yeah, I’m an old fart); and (3) P-3s were exactly the right place to be at the right time. Wound up flying for 17 out of 21 years. That is impossible on active duty.
2. P-3 --> MMA. In the past 18 months the Navy has grounded 40% of its
P-3 fleet for corrosion and wing fatigue problems. The MMA will not come online until 2012-2014 with one squadron plus the RAG. That means a lot of P-3 flying left, then a transition to the MMA for those who are still flying 10-15 years from now (i.e. The Reserves).
3. EARLY RELEASE. The Navy is gonna need MPA for a long time. The guys in the fleet now will tell you that recently they’ve been spending their time overland doing stuff we never did when I was humping the Pacific. We did 90% ASW and 10% other. They have been doing the reverse, and now the Navy is scrambling to recreate the ASW expertise we had and was not recreated after we retired – the new generation diesel-electric subs are a big threat to today’s littoral warfare. For my money, VP is no more likely to downsize than any other Navy aviation community except VR. The Navy is growing VR to meet logistics needs, and in fact, just changed one VP squadron to VR, flying C-130s (no NFOs, unfortunately).
4. DEPT HEAD. The world is not fair. There are more O-4s than billets. This issue is more one of squadron structure than particular community. Again, you want DH, go Reserves.
4a. USN vs. USNR. The Navy is perhaps the best service for keeping parity. Every job on active duty is mirrored in the Reserves, plus you get to fly until they pry your hands off the knobs and drag your screaming ass off the plane when you make O-5 and you lose your flying billet (unless you are 2 on 20 to make CO/XO). Then plan on several years in the VTU drilling for no pay/no fly but making that 20+ for retirement. Plus it’s still the Navy.
5. OVERMANNING. The bottom of the current cycle, plus the effect of the Iraq War sucking-up all the O2. The Navy never promises you anything other than trying to best use you. We all joined to fly. But after you make LT, the Navy starts expecting more management/leadership and less flying. If there are IPs dragging-ass around your squadron, pissing and whining about not having enough flight hours, they are of marginal use to the command. With the big recent cut in the P-3 inventory there are bound to be too many people for a while. Use the opportunity to become a better O; then, in 7-8 years you’ll look a lot better to that Dept Head Board.
Some other time we can discuss undermanning: being the only NFO on a P-3 flying 100 hrs/month for six months.
6. SEE (1).
Ip568
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