sTUPID qUESTIONS aBOUT ocs

[exNavyOffRec]

Hey all, I’m back. I’m cleared from all my stuff and good to go. Though I’ve been wondering what to do regarding aviator vs flight officer (AEDO being my 3rd choice). Being an aviator would be nice because you’d be flying the craft. But from what I’ve read, around 50% of the naval Air Force is heli’s- which in unsure about. I’m a fixed wing guy. My recruiter said that it might be better to put flight officer as my first choice because they’ll likely pick me up and get me moving faster. Flight officer sounds good because I’m a very technical guy and my engineering experience could come in handy. The job sounds cool, I could transfer to pilot if I really wanted, and they’re more for fixed wing.

I wanted to hear what you all thought

The transferring from NFO to Pilot has been brought up before, and yes there is a chance, there is a chance for just about everything in life, but you need to hope everything lines up just right.

You should put the designator down you are wanting to do for your career, the other thing is your FOFAR is a 5 which is the minimum those aren't great odds, you have better odds with SNA as your PFAR is 7.

 

[Destry]

What is in processing week or (P- week)?

 

[waterandwind15]

I have gotten a lot of conflicting answers to this question, but what happens after graduating OCS? Do you go back home and wait until you get orders? Will I head straight to Pensacola and wait until I start NAMI/flight school? I know there has often been a long wait between ocs and flight school but I have also seen that it can start right away. I am just trying to get an idea of the possible timelines.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

I have gotten a lot of conflicting answers to this question, but what happens after graduating OCS? Do you go back home and wait until you get orders? Will I head straight to Pensacola and wait until I start NAMI/flight school? I know there has often been a long wait between ocs and flight school but I have also seen that it can start right away. I am just trying to get an idea of the possible timelines.

Just like as the varying answers say, it depends.

 

[elariosa95]

I have gotten a lot of conflicting answers to this question, but what happens after graduating OCS? Do you go back home and wait until you get orders? Will I head straight to Pensacola and wait until I start NAMI/flight school? I know there has often been a long wait between ocs and flight school but I have also seen that it can start right away. I am just trying to get an idea of the possible timelines.

Before you graduate, you will need to be cleared by NAMI for your designator. Once you're good medically, you *should* get your orders by graduation. In the event that you still aren't cleared medically or you don't get your orders by graduation, you will be in student pool until both those things happen.

Edit: because I felt this needed to be included, going to student pool means you will have to stay in King Hall on base until you're allowed to leave. If you think you'll have an extended stay in student pool, you can take leave. My stay in student pool after graduation only lasted the weekend because I got my orders the night of graduation and no one was there to process me out until the next week.

Your orders will essentially tell you that you need to check into NASP as quick as you can. Once you get checked in, you find a place to live, get moved in, and have a drink or two bc the wait for flight school to start is several months as of right now if you're an SNA. SNFOs have a shorter wait, but I've seen that it's still about a month or two for them.

For both SNAs and SNFOs, there are a few pre-requisites you have to complete before you can start training. Because the wait is a few months long, you'll have plenty of time to get those done.

 

[elariosa95]

What is in processing week or (P- week)?

You'll be doing a bunch of paperwork and getting familiar with the training environment. They'll go over a lot of the basics of OCS and the expectations they require of you while in training. Even though you're not officially in your indoc phase yet, you'll still want to be on your best behavior bc staff are always watching

 

[elariosa95]

Hey all, I’m back. I’m cleared from all my stuff and good to go. Though I’ve been wondering what to do regarding aviator vs flight officer (AEDO being my 3rd choice). Being an aviator would be nice because you’d be flying the craft. But from what I’ve read, around 50% of the naval Air Force is heli’s- which in unsure about. I’m a fixed wing guy. My recruiter said that it might be better to put flight officer as my first choice because they’ll likely pick me up and get me moving faster. Flight officer sounds good because I’m a very technical guy and my engineering experience could come in handy. The job sounds cool, I could transfer to pilot if I really wanted, and they’re more for fixed wing.

I wanted to hear what you all thought

A few people have chimed in on this, but I'll give my $0.02 as well:

1) Yes, statistically speaking, you are more likely to fly helo's than fixed wing if you go SNA. That being said, being a Navy pilot is a job that few people get to say they've done, and every pilot I've talked to has fallen in love with their platform, regardless of whether or not it was their first choice.

2) I can't make your application choice for you, but I'll share what my thought process was. I specifically told my recruiter that I didn't think I would be 100% happy if I put in for SNFO as well as SNA. He understood my decision and only put SNA on my application. Basically, if there is even an inkling of doubt in your mind that you don't want to do the job you're applying for, then don't waste your time mulling it over.

3) Like others have said, transferring to pilot from NFO is possible, but you'd need to be crazy lucky. I don't have too much info on that but I've heard it's a very small number of people throughout the entire fleet who get selected every year.

 

[Mouselovr]

Hey all, I’m back. I’m cleared from all my stuff and good to go. Though I’ve been wondering what to do regarding aviator vs flight officer (AEDO being my 3rd choice). Being an aviator would be nice because you’d be flying the craft. But from what I’ve read, around 50% of the naval Air Force is heli’s- which in unsure about. I’m a fixed wing guy. My recruiter said that it might be better to put flight officer as my first choice because they’ll likely pick me up and get me moving faster. Flight officer sounds good because I’m a very technical guy and my engineering experience could come in handy. The job sounds cool, I could transfer to pilot if I really wanted, and they’re more for fixed wing.

I wanted to hear what you all thought

Think closer to 60%.... and you don't get much say.
If you're coming in with flight time, you do have a leg up, but its still largely needs of the navy and the random week you fall in for selection.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

1) Yes, statistically speaking, you are more likely to fly helo's than fixed wing if you go SNA. That being said, being a Navy pilot is a job that few people get to say they've done, and every pilot I've talked to has fallen in love with their platform, regardless of whether or not it was their first choice.

Another point @Tyr is while the USAF has more fixed wing a very large amount of those are the cargo type.

Getting into the USAF as a pilot via OTS is not easy at all, they prioritize their pilot spots to USAFA then to AFROTC and what is left goes to OTS.

 

[fearedengineer]

is the NAMI physical at the start of OCS or the end? Is it possible to do it before OCS? I only live an hour away from Newport, RI. I have a job right now and it would suck to sacrifice everything to go into OCS only to find out I get the NAMI Whammy. I would be in real bad position if I do get DQ because of that. I have a couple of things to worry about I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years back and had medication but stopped 4 years ago, I got cleared by MEPS and they told me no problem. I didn't even need a waiver for it. But I read NAMI does things differently and people can get DQ because of that. Second, my vision is 20/20 on my left but 20/40 on my right, and that only borderline passing. Thinking of getting Lasik soon.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Is it possible to do it before OCS?

No.

 

[johnpauljones1776]

Words

Listen, everyone has to take this jump including the academy folk. The only people that have a leg up in this department are the prior enlisted aircrew who have gone through the NAMI medical process already. There are 30+ year olds that check into ocs that probably feel more on edge about the whole process than you do and pass with flying colors. This is just another one of those risks you have to take with joining the military if you want those wings of gold. If you are confident in your health, go for that commission!

 

[Mouselovr]

is the NAMI physical at the start of OCS or the end? Is it possible to do it before OCS? I only live an hour away from Newport, RI. I have a job right now and it would suck to sacrifice everything to go into OCS only to find out I get the NAMI Whammy. I would be in real bad position if I do get DQ because of that. I have a couple of things to worry about I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years back and had medication but stopped 4 years ago, I got cleared by MEPS and they told me no problem. I didn't even need a waiver for it. But I read NAMI does things differently and people can get DQ because of that. Second, my vision is 20/20 on my left but 20/40 on my right, and that only borderline passing. Thinking of getting Lasik soon.

Can't do the physical beforehand unless you go marine option for OCS while double-dipping with Navy OCS recruiters.....
If you get lasik before OCS, it will be a paperwork headache.
If you clear NAMI, you can get lasik super easy after OCS.

I had multiple friends get corrective surgery after Pensacola check-in.
The flight physical is done on like day 3 of check in, and they'll DQ you that same day if your eyes aren't good enough.

 

[waterandwind15]

I saw in another thread that MEPS resets after 2 years. If I was to be DQed from MEPS would I be able to go through MEPS again in 2 years or would I be DQed for life? I have seen in the past you are DQed for life but I am unsure.

 

[brs334]

How’s the check in process for OCS working right now? Checking in this weekend and I know the OCS website says Monday between 0800 and 1200. However orders say check in is between 1600 Saturday and NLT 1600 Monday. Im flying in Saturday night and I’m not sure I want to be pulling up in the middle of the night to check in.