Selection out of Primary/Advanced

[hornsfan]

It really isn't black magic. What it is is a very tough job by someone at CNATRA who is trying to make the best decisions based on good information, but also on predictions of the future. Like a weather forcast, these predictions can be way off and they can change from day to day.

I second the above. And NSS actually is pretty transparent if you take the time to really look into how its computed (most of its explained in the MPTS).

Granted, with flight grades there will always be some subjectivity on the part of the instructor. Show up prepared, act like you care, nail the brief and that subjectivity will act in your favor. Practice in the sims as much as you can. Work hard, take care of everything that is in your control, and dont worry about the rest.

 

[BACONATOR]

I second the above. And NSS actually is pretty transparent if you take the time to really look into how its computed (most of its explained in the MPTS).

Granted, with flight grades there will always be some subjectivity on the part of the instructor. Show up prepared, act like you care, nail the brief and that subjectivity will act in your favor. Practice in the sims as much as you can. Work hard, take care of everything that is in your control, and dont worry about the rest.

I agree with everything in your post and the one above yours. EXCEPT that you both seem to think that if you are the top performer and/or do well, you'll get what you want.

Tell this to the dude who was dying to get jets/helos/whatever, had a 60+ and got his third choice. It worked out for you: congrats, but there are MANY others who didn't get what they wanted, despite their performance. But just because you're a good, qualified candidate, doesn't mean you get what you want. Sometimes stuff just isn't so cut and dry.

 

[hornsfan]

Sometimes stuff just isn't so cut and dry.

Agreed - I can only speak out of my own personal experince.

To porw0004 as a word of encouragement : A number of my friends and I all started API within a few months of one another. We all busted our butts during primary, we all selected during completely different conditions. Some during P-3 drafts, some in TH drafts and everything else in between. To a man we all got our first choice.

 

[Gatordev]

Agreed - I can only speak out of my own personal experince.

To porw0004 as a word of encouragement : A number of my friends and I all started API within a few months of one another. We all busted our butts during primary, we all selected during completely different conditions. Some during P-3 drafts, some in TH drafts and everything else in between. To a man we all got our first choice.

Well it must be true then.

For some time now, the policy for Navy/Marine studs has been that the #1 guy doesn't always get what he wants (read: TH). My info is a little dated, but based on talking to a VT(j) IP here on the board, it sounds like that's still the case. That doesn't mean it's true every week, but about a year ago-ish (actually, probably less), CNATRA put this out as policy for the time being.

Good on you all for getting what you want, but w/ the slow down of the VT(j)s, it doesn't always work. Then again, w/ the recent slowdown of the VT(p)s, it may be balancing out now.

 

[Nomar116]

Am I suppose to buy that the needs-of-the-service are recalculated every Wednesday?

I think a P'Cola meteorologist could predict a little further out than that. (EuroCup:icon_rage)

Sounds like a quality spread to me.

 

[MasterBates]

No, its that fluid.

 

[kmac]

Needs of the service don't need to be recalculated... the waiting pool for each type of training pipeline should have parity (somewhat). If the jet pipeline gets delayed, then it makes sense to send more students to helo/P-3 until those pools are at the same level of Tailhook. Therefore it's not a prediction of the "needs of the Navy" in the fleet as much as it is in training command.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Again with this question.

Once more: the Program's a big assembly line, and there just isn't the time to spend hours agonizing over where ENS Bob is going to go. Needs of the Navy and production numbers and NSS cutoffs are decided waaaaaay above your paygrade (mine, too) and have absolutely nothing to do with what you, the stud, want or "deserve".

There's no realistic way for you to game the Program, or your NSS. You're far more likely to wind up screwing yourself than pulling it off.

Do the best you can, every flight. If what you want is available that week and you make the cutoff, you'll get it. If not, you'll get something else.

If you don't get what you want, then by all means go drown your sorrows that weekend. Then sober up and execute your orders.

 

[ArkhamAsylum]

D00D, you're the first guy I've ever seen on this forum stressing about what he's gonna select. Get a grip!

 

[BACONATOR]

D00D, you're the first guy I've ever seen on this forum stressing about what he's gonna select. Get a grip!

Ya, in like a year. When he makes it through OCS, API and Primary, maybe he can come back to this thread and get something out of it.

 

[Heloanjin]

Am I suppose to buy that the needs-of-the-service are recalculated every Wednesday?

Sometimes, yes. Some weeks it changes more than every Wednesday.

Not really the needs of the fleet so much, but what each advanced pipeline needs and where they are at any given time is constantly being monitored and tweeked. The tweeks can end up being small or large.

Plus, on those occasions when the plan does not change, that doesn't mean the plan calls for the same numbers of students to select for any given pipeline each week or that the same number of students will select each week or the same percentage of selectors will have a given NSS each week.

The intracacies of the development and execution of the IPP (Integrated Production Plan) are way too complex to explain in this forum. It takes most a few years to get even a small grip on it.

Trust us when we say it is as fair as is humanly possible while still making sure the Navy gets what it needs when it needs it.

If that isn't good enough, give a hardy salute and say "Aye, aye."

If you can't do that, you shouldn't have put on the uniform and sworn an oath.

 

[Nomar116]

Interesting, thanks for the info.

It does happen to work out to be an effective quality spread.

Especially compared to what I was always told; rewarding only the #1 guy for his hard work and telling #2 he doesn't get what he wants while it works out the #11 guy down the list does. That is probably pretty unmotivating to the people following behind them.

 

[bert]

Interesting, thanks for the info.

It does happen to work out to be an effective quality spread.

Especially compared to what I was always told; rewarding only the #1 guy for his hard work and telling #2 he doesn't get what he wants while it works out the #11 guy down the list does. That is probably pretty motivating to the people following behind them to finish #1 if they don't want to end up bitching on an internet forum to a group of people that don't care.

Fixed.

 

[mmx1]

Interesting, thanks for the info.

It does happen to work out to be an effective quality spread.

Especially compared to what I was always told; rewarding only the #1 guy for his hard work and telling #2 he doesn't get what he wants while it works out the #11 guy down the list does. That is probably pretty unmotivating to the people following behind them.

So because #2 didn't get what he wanted because it was unavailable, everyone else should be unhappy too?

It is not about you.

 

[Morgan81]

That is probably pretty unmotivating to the people following behind them.

That's why they're called orders.