I just got out of the Navy in May of 09' after five years. I am now going to school to major in Aviation Technology and well, if the civilian flying doesn't work out when I graduate. I would rather go back in as a Naval flight officer, not to mention I just miss that military environment. Only problem is...not for me, but the Navy is my age. By the time a graduate in 2013 I will be 32 years old! I heard there are waivers and what not, but realistically speaking what are my chances really? Not to toot my own horn, but I am also a healthy individual who still exercises regularly like I was still in the military. If anyone has any information as to what my chances would be I would really appreciate it. I just don't want to pursue something that is not gonna work. Thanks for your time.
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What are my chances of becoming a Naval Aviator in my thirties?
- Thread starter aocharlie
- Start date
The age limit for NFO is 31...that's with waivers for prior military experience. You can probably get in as an intel officer or similar.
https://www.sta-21.navy.mil/options.html has all of the age restrictions for each of the warfare programs. I'm pretty sure that they are the same no matter what accession program you're with.
https://www.sta-21.navy.mil/options.html has all of the age restrictions for each of the warfare programs. I'm pretty sure that they are the same no matter what accession program you're with.
You could try to cram college into 3 years or less.
millerjd
Stayin' alive
I got a full on accredited Bachelors in Science done in 2.6 years. Trimesters with shortened breaks. Was not easy, and wasn't online. Sort of missed out on the college experience, but that's what I did. :sleep_125
That's also my sentiment. Cram that trash into a tiny time frame. Change majors if you have to. 21 hours per semester and no summers off.
And look at the Army flying WO program.
And look at the Army flying WO program.
The school I am going to is accelerated(we spend 4 weeks per class) and I got about 15 credits transfered from classes I got in the Navy and a previous community college I went to before joining the Navy. So I have a semester already knocked off. I am going to talk to my education advisor and see what my options are. The 2013 is what I am supposed to graduate in, but I am sure I can knock some time down. Definitely will look into it! Thanks guys!
There is a prior enlisted guy here at TBS who got his bachelor in less than a year via some online school...
Edit: That's an "I heard it from a guy who knows the guy" BTW.
Edit: That's an "I heard it from a guy who knows the guy" BTW.
Just a caution here; we see lots of prior-enlisted studs come through who picked up their paper from one of the "get a degree for my commission" schools. We know which schools those are and we keep an eye out, because it's not uncommon for them to hit an academic wall pretty fast. Online schools and degree farms just just don't seem to be very good preparation for the intense studying the Program requires. If anyone chooses that route, I'd strongly recc at least auditing classes at a buildings-and-everything school before showing up for API.
Clux4
Banned
I have no dog in this fight but I got to ask you what might be missing when a guy gets his degree from an accelerated program. I have not been to API but from what I hear, it is more of cramming stuff than anything else. If you were never used to that in college, then API will be big trouble.
What exactly is the average student getting from the Classroom environment that is so essential to success at API.
This would actually be a good study for anyone going through NPS.
Because, places like excelsior college use pretty much all of the smart transcript credits. It's no, or little, actual classes, not onlne, not traditional. They essentially use life experience and determine the amount of credits for it nhence when someone uses that place for a degree the classroom environment, especially firehose classroom, it creates a very difficult challenge.
Doesn't IW have people on airplanes?
It's more that, as far as we can figure, it's just too long out of a classroom environment for some guys to adjust. Dudes who've been out in the Fleet have also been out of school for a while, and the go-at-your-own-pace online programs and the like don't help adjust back to a schoolhouse regimen. School skills atrophy. It's hard enough for a lot of kids fresh out of college to get into the eat-sleep-fly-study-repeat routine.
I wouldn't say API or the VT's are 'cramming' per se. Cramming is just learning something long enough to get it down on the test book, which is a different skill than what you need for the Program. Yeah, there's plenty of stuff you can brain-dump after API, but the material is only part of what we're trying to teach. The Program requires learning how to learn and retain a lot of esoteric material quickly and then use it under stress, and we're trying to help the studs learn how to do that. It means a shitload of time in the books, at least at first, until you find a more efficient rhythm that works for you personally.
I wouldn't say API or the VT's are 'cramming' per se. Cramming is just learning something long enough to get it down on the test book, which is a different skill than what you need for the Program. Yeah, there's plenty of stuff you can brain-dump after API, but the material is only part of what we're trying to teach. The Program requires learning how to learn and retain a lot of esoteric material quickly and then use it under stress, and we're trying to help the studs learn how to do that. It means a shitload of time in the books, at least at first, until you find a more efficient rhythm that works for you personally.
I saw a bit of this at OCS. A few (very few) of the prior enlisted guys talked about how hard the academics were and this was supposedly because each week-long course would really take a semester in a ROTC program. I just figured they got their degrees out of a crackerjack box. (Besides, don't a lot of colleges don't even count ROTC military science courses towards your GPA?) Anyway...
I gotta give someone kudos when they earn a degree and work at the same time, but "life experience equivalent credit" and academia are two different animals. The "firehose classroom" is a lot like academia and only a little bit like life experience. A few flight school courses might be easy for some but on a whole, from start to finish, flight school academics are no joke.
Any degree will get you in the door, but when you walk through the door just make sure you do it with your eyes open.