I recently selected P-3's out of Vance. I wanted jets but that didn't pan out as I'd hoped. Because the other two Vance threads are closed out I wanted to start one for people who've recently been there and done that to share their experiences with others. Please be objective though and don't use this as an opportunity to whine, or bash the Air Force but try to be objective to really help guys get a better idea of what to expect. I hope this helps someone similar to how I've had people help me.
Here's my response to an email from someone planning on going to Vance but not sure what to expect:
Well, you will be on the flightline[ at work] for most likely 12 hours a day. You'll fly for 1.5 hours on days when the weather is decent. That will probably be the highlight of your day. Then you'll have to deal with being in the flightroom for the rest of the time. There will be many times when you'll think, "wow, i could sure use an hour at the gym to refresh my mind, then hit the books later. But they probably won't let you do that b/c it is the Air Force.
No, it was not all bad. I really enjoyed the flying, enjoyed the students in my flight, and even enjoyed SOME of the instructors. What I did not like was the fact that your options leaving Vance, basically your NSS score, may be very relative to what flight you end up in/ how well your instructors know how to grade Navy students to accurately reflect their proficieny at flying.
I flew well at Vance, above average. And that's being objective about myself and not trying to make myself sound good or anything like that. Unfortunately, I was subjected to a flight that graded very hard. My NSS was a 33. That is an absurdly low score at Whiting or Corpus. And I knew that was not an accurate reflection of how well I flew. One of the top guys in my flight of students was a Marine and his NSS was only a 43. When I asked instructors if they knew why his score was so low, they said "No, i thought he was going to have something like a 60."
Meanwhile, I watched guys in our sister flight get high 60's and 70's for their NSS scores. They got Jets. And based on the stories I heard, these guys were good but I don't think they were nearly that much, if even better than some of the maritime students in my flight. I think, repeat, "I think" a lot of it just had to do with what flight I was assigned to. I seriously doubt most Student Naval Aviators would have hit a 50 NSS had they been in my flight. And I'll always feel confident that I would have hit/exceeded 50 if I'd been in a different flight, under a different set of flight leadership.
So my point is this. If you go to Vance, there may be factors that affect how you are reflected on paper that are wholey out of your control. I went there, worked my butt of, performed above average, and due factors way out of my control was represented on paper as a guy who barely knew what he was doing.
Guys I knew in other flights went to Vance, worked their butts off, performed above average, and that was represented if not inflated on paper. Again, some of how they were represented was probably due to having instructors that understood how to make sure their maritime guys are represented accurately according to their abilities. The students under that leadership worked and performed just as well as others who did well but had instructors who knew how to keep options open for them.
My advice, if you go to Vance:
1. Have fun, because you will be flying the T-6
and it's a neat experience. You will be ahead of
your Whiting/Corpus compadres in terms of
exposure and experience.
2. Enjoy your classmates. You'll be around these
other students all day everyday and you'll
probably form lifelong friendships.
3. Feel very fortunate to be a Student Naval
Aviator. There are a lot of good people who
would make great squadronmates, would look
out for the enlisted serving beneath them, and
would represent the military very well in the
high visibility world of Naval Aviation. These
people just had that weird medical condition
that changed the path they original envisioned
they were supposed to take.
4. Understand that factors out of your control can
play a big part in what your choices are.
Whether it comes down to you having the
instructors that grade harder than the others
and make you look silly at the end of the
program, or the Navy just has few if any spots
for the community you wanted to go into,
there are a lot of seemingly weird things that
can, alter the course you originally
envisioned for yourself.
5. Work hard and don't let the possibility that you
don't see your dream come to fruition as you'd
envisioned it stop you from giving 110% each
day in everything you do. After all, on one
hand, things went different than I thought they
would for reasons I'd never envisioned. On the
other hand, I knew guys who things worked out
EXACTLY how they thought they would. You
never know what is in store until you play your
hand. I'd always much rather play and risk a
little loss than not sit at the table.
If I had to do it all again, knowing what I know now would I have still gone to Vance? Probably so. I'm 24, single, and have had an interest in aviation all my life. 6-8 months working my butt off in a stressful environment was challenging but for me, again i say FOR ME, I never thought it was too overwelhming. Afterall, prior to my selection 9 of the previous 12 or so people got Jets. I believe thats about the number I was told by the Skipper, but don't hold me to that.
If you haven't decided, think about it for a while, then decide. You never know what the end result will be till you get to the end. The End. hahaha.
Here's my response to an email from someone planning on going to Vance but not sure what to expect:
Well, you will be on the flightline[ at work] for most likely 12 hours a day. You'll fly for 1.5 hours on days when the weather is decent. That will probably be the highlight of your day. Then you'll have to deal with being in the flightroom for the rest of the time. There will be many times when you'll think, "wow, i could sure use an hour at the gym to refresh my mind, then hit the books later. But they probably won't let you do that b/c it is the Air Force.
No, it was not all bad. I really enjoyed the flying, enjoyed the students in my flight, and even enjoyed SOME of the instructors. What I did not like was the fact that your options leaving Vance, basically your NSS score, may be very relative to what flight you end up in/ how well your instructors know how to grade Navy students to accurately reflect their proficieny at flying.
I flew well at Vance, above average. And that's being objective about myself and not trying to make myself sound good or anything like that. Unfortunately, I was subjected to a flight that graded very hard. My NSS was a 33. That is an absurdly low score at Whiting or Corpus. And I knew that was not an accurate reflection of how well I flew. One of the top guys in my flight of students was a Marine and his NSS was only a 43. When I asked instructors if they knew why his score was so low, they said "No, i thought he was going to have something like a 60."
Meanwhile, I watched guys in our sister flight get high 60's and 70's for their NSS scores. They got Jets. And based on the stories I heard, these guys were good but I don't think they were nearly that much, if even better than some of the maritime students in my flight. I think, repeat, "I think" a lot of it just had to do with what flight I was assigned to. I seriously doubt most Student Naval Aviators would have hit a 50 NSS had they been in my flight. And I'll always feel confident that I would have hit/exceeded 50 if I'd been in a different flight, under a different set of flight leadership.
So my point is this. If you go to Vance, there may be factors that affect how you are reflected on paper that are wholey out of your control. I went there, worked my butt of, performed above average, and due factors way out of my control was represented on paper as a guy who barely knew what he was doing.
Guys I knew in other flights went to Vance, worked their butts off, performed above average, and that was represented if not inflated on paper. Again, some of how they were represented was probably due to having instructors that understood how to make sure their maritime guys are represented accurately according to their abilities. The students under that leadership worked and performed just as well as others who did well but had instructors who knew how to keep options open for them.
My advice, if you go to Vance:
1. Have fun, because you will be flying the T-6
and it's a neat experience. You will be ahead of
your Whiting/Corpus compadres in terms of
exposure and experience.
2. Enjoy your classmates. You'll be around these
other students all day everyday and you'll
probably form lifelong friendships.
3. Feel very fortunate to be a Student Naval
Aviator. There are a lot of good people who
would make great squadronmates, would look
out for the enlisted serving beneath them, and
would represent the military very well in the
high visibility world of Naval Aviation. These
people just had that weird medical condition
that changed the path they original envisioned
they were supposed to take.
4. Understand that factors out of your control can
play a big part in what your choices are.
Whether it comes down to you having the
instructors that grade harder than the others
and make you look silly at the end of the
program, or the Navy just has few if any spots
for the community you wanted to go into,
there are a lot of seemingly weird things that
can, alter the course you originally
envisioned for yourself.
5. Work hard and don't let the possibility that you
don't see your dream come to fruition as you'd
envisioned it stop you from giving 110% each
day in everything you do. After all, on one
hand, things went different than I thought they
would for reasons I'd never envisioned. On the
other hand, I knew guys who things worked out
EXACTLY how they thought they would. You
never know what is in store until you play your
hand. I'd always much rather play and risk a
little loss than not sit at the table.
If I had to do it all again, knowing what I know now would I have still gone to Vance? Probably so. I'm 24, single, and have had an interest in aviation all my life. 6-8 months working my butt off in a stressful environment was challenging but for me, again i say FOR ME, I never thought it was too overwelhming. Afterall, prior to my selection 9 of the previous 12 or so people got Jets. I believe thats about the number I was told by the Skipper, but don't hold me to that.
If you haven't decided, think about it for a while, then decide. You never know what the end result will be till you get to the end. The End. hahaha.
