Was flying for the Navy/Marines worth it?

[zippy]

At the end of your commitment for flying for the Navy/Marines, do you think it was worth it?

What were some of the other career paths you considered?

What was the peak experience of your career?

Right now I am a premed who has a good shot of getting into med school. But I think I would always regret it if I didn't go for a pilot slot and try to fly for the military.

Flying/ squadron life yes, the non-flying stuff, not nearly as much.

JO aircraft commander deployment, some flights involving events making headlines on CNN, teaching the next generation of aviators in the VTs...

You can always go to medschool after. I know several people who have after getting out of the military.

 

[Pags]

Any number of former aviators leave after serving their country and go on to get professional degrees to include law and medicine. If you get out at ~35 after your initial commitment that still gives you 30yrs until retirement; which is plenty of time to have a meaningful law or medical career.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Everybody touched on the work hours, standard military/bullshit etc. I'll say my worst days have come from the death of friends. If you stay long enough you'll know someone.

The highs are so high because the lows are so goddamn low.

This is wisdom. You can't replace lost friends, but friends can be lost in the world outside of Naval Aviation, too. I take some small comfort in knowing that the friends who aren't here wouldn't want me to quit on this now, and lived their lives to the fullest doing something they believed made a real difference in the world.

 

[mad dog]

...T-34 solo and PA solos...

Oh, boy...I hear you regarding PA solos in VT-2...I was having a really cool time on my initial PA solo [YAY]...then I got lost [BOO]...somehow I got unlost and found my way back to Whiting [YAY]...then some VT-2 IPs wanted to give me an observed down for getting lost [BOO]...but they didn't [YAY]. It was an emotional roller coaster.

 

[zippy]

Oh, boy...I hear you regarding PA solos in VT-2...I was having a really cool time on my initial PA solo [YAY]...then I got lost [BOO]...somehow I got unlost and found my way back to Whiting [YAY]...then some VT-2 IPs wanted to give me an observed down for getting lost [BOO]...but they didn't [YAY]. It was an emotional roller coaster.

What do you mean you missed the chicken coop? And didn't take the left at the red barn and fly for bend in the river near the bridge on the right hand side...

GPS was the thing to ever happen to whiting course rules. I found the best way to learn them as a new IP, since we hardly flew them in the IUT, was to plug them into the GPS and make the student recite them for you so you could figure out what the hell you were supposed to be looking for.

And the HONE equation is dumb...

 

[Gatordev]

I just pointed the airplane where the TACAN needle said and I always seemed to get there.

The HONE equation made a lot more sense when all of the fields were open...at least to me. What was dumb were Saufley Course Rules.

 

[RobLyman]

I have a favorite story I tell about why I am doing what I do instead of a more lucrative job.

Those who learn about my past careers as a naval aviator and software developer usually ask me why I, at age 42 years old, would leave a steady job, take a 30% cut in pay and subject myself to deployments. My answer goes like this:

On the Monday after a drill weekend my coworkers in the cube farm would gather around my desk to hear about what I had done that weekend. They listened in disbelief about my tales of flying, actually flying, not in, but driving a Blackhawk around under NVGs, about landing in LZs, practicing emergency procedures, going places to get gas and dinner, etc...I could, and often did waste half the morning talking about it.

NEVER once did anyone at drill ask me what I coded that week or what it was like to work in a cube farm.

There you have it!

PS: For the record, I occasionally ask myself that question above.
PSS: I still deploy at the age of 52!

 

[Jim123]

So what IS it like to code at the cube farm?

 

[mad dog]

...What was the peak experience of your career?

Dad smacking on the blood wings 03JUN88 at NAS Whiting Field. Mom (lower left in the pic) was not too happy regarding the blood winging evolution...but she got over it.

 

[desertflyer]

My question is, did flying in Naval Aviation kill your love for aviation as a whole? It seems like a lot of pilots get flat burned out on flying, and have no desire to do it anymore once they get out.

 

[Randy Daytona]

My question is, did flying in Naval Aviation kill your love for aviation as a whole? It seems like a lot of pilots get flat burned out on flying, and have no desire to do it anymore once they get out.

Yes and no. Flying for the sake of flying got to be boring. Maintenance flights were always fun as you were troubleshooting - it was a puzzle. Even better was instructing - taking a nugget and getting him (or her) through flight school - especially when they had tremendous motivation to be a pilot but really, really sucked at anything aeronautical was extremely rewarding. (kind of paying it back 'cause I was in that group as a student...)

 

[Pags]

My question is, did flying in Naval Aviation kill your love for aviation as a whole? It seems like a lot of pilots get flat burned out on flying, and have no desire to do it anymore once they get out.

No, but after flying tactically and testing my desire to pay to fly a C152 to fly from A to B to pay for an FBO hamburger is pretty minimal. That and after 3 tours of being away from my family a lot (5 of 7yrs) on top of the weird hours a flight schedule imposes a 9-5 looks a whole lot more appealing. But that's just me. A friend just retired after 20yrs. He never left the cockpit and almost 50% of his career was spent in test. He went on to be a test pilot for a major aircraft manufacturer. And there are plenty of folks on here who have flown for the airlibez, CBP, contractors, etc after their time in the fleet. So, in conclusion, it's a definite maybe.

 

[xj220]

My question is, did flying in Naval Aviation kill your love for aviation as a whole? It seems like a lot of pilots get flat burned out on flying, and have no desire to do it anymore once they get out.

I think it really depends on the individual. I love being in aviation and I think that's only gotten bigger, but a lot of that was from TPS I think. Fleet flying was ok, but P-3s weren't my top choice, honestly. I had fun and enjoyed it for the most part, but don't want to go back. I know I don't want to leave the cockpit though so I have to figure out what to do next (I have my ideas).

I've heard flying best described as boredom punctuated by moments of shear terror, haha. Doing the same thing over and over gets boring, even flying. But if you can mix it up enough then it keeps it exciting and I think that's one of the reasons I enjoy test so much.

 

[wink]

Absolutely worth it on balance. Would do it again even knowing the downsides, like the old VS practise of briefing as a ready room spare, then briefing again going to the roof as a turning spare, shut down and do it again for reals, finally, something like 4-6 hours after you first put on the play clothes. Sortie rate don't ya know. Hated that. But yup. Other things made up for it. It was worth it.

 

[zippy]

My question is, did flying in Naval Aviation kill your love for aviation as a whole? It seems like a lot of pilots get flat burned out on flying, and have no desire to do it anymore once they get out.

No, not at all.

I was one of those individuals who got burnt out from flying and squadron life. I had Been working an average of 1-2 weekends a month for about 6 years between my fleet tour and my instructor tour, and for the the last tour averaged about 50hrs a month in 1.5 hour increments of students trying to kill me.

It took me about a year before I started to miss flying, and there were plenty of weekends and holidays worked for less rewarding circumstances than having to fly... my last year on Active Duty I received interest from a few companies etc. as a result of my aviation background in the Navy. Not convinced I wanted to return to a grueling work schedule without the life balance I got a taste of on my first real "shore tour" where the work load was lite and time off plentifully on a staff with a lot of civilian employees, I applied to non flying jobs that interested me but my career broadening (in the Navy's eyes) non flying tour(s) did nothing to increase my marketability in the private/ government sector.

I had considered going back to school for a JD/PHD, but I wasn't intersted enough to go back to school, again, for the second time and postpone earning income for the next 4-5 years (since my Navy exit didn't line up with starting a program right away).

In at least one instance, my being a pilot ended up counting against me for a job opportunity because the JMO type corporate management program I was looking at had their resident pilot bail about 18months into for a flying job... and they were pretty sore over the whole thing.

With major airline hiring picking up, the most employment interest I got were from companies and organization (government, regional airlines, fortune 500s and smaller companies) that were interested in my aviation experience. I was able to find a couple that offered the work/life balance I was seeking for an increase in pay, in the area of the country I wanted to live so I made the jump to one. So now I get to fly, have a decent amount of time off where I don't get bothered with work related stuff when I'm not at work, and am pretty happy with the setup overall... At least for now.