Whens the best time to start Primary?

[FlyinDevil]

When I checked in back in August 2005, the wait time for SNAs who were IFS complete, was 3-4 weeks..compared to those SNFOs and SNAs who were not IFS complete. I still have friends up there who are waiting to class up and they've been there since July 2005. IFS has a big factor so if you have a chance to do IFS before coming down, I'd suggest doing it anywhere other than Pensacola.

As far as Primary, I can only speak for Corpus right now (Nov 2005). There is barely any wait time for Corpus. You check in on Monday and you start ground school in two weeks (since the wing interchanges VT27 and 28).

Again, this is all for November 2005. It can all change tomorrow, next week, or next month. My suggestion: finish IFS somewhere other than Pensacola, search for gouge as you approach commissioning time, and make sure you ENJOY YOUR TIME OFF..

 

[mules83]

Why is that the academy guys find out so much sooner about selection than rotc?

this isnt helping my waiting

 

[TheBubba]

Why is that the academy guys find out so much sooner about selection than rotc?

this isnt helping my waiting

Its just one of those things that is how it is... when do ROTC guys find out?

Up until last year, it wasn't until Feb at USNA.

 

[mules83]

last year it was right before christmas, this year they are saying sometime between christmas and feb.

but for fall graduates, their selection was a couple weeks later than usual, so there is no telling when.

i think im going crazy, slowly but surely

 

[Gatordev]

It's due to how the system is set up. Academy guys have everything in house, including the pool of available jobs for everyone. So they can select when they want. ROTC guys have their stuff sent away to CNET (or whatever it's called now) where everything is computed and compared to everyone else in ROTC. Historically, you didn't find out until the last month or so. When I was going through, they moved it so that the spring/summer guys found out much earlier (Xmas or so), plus or minus a hurricane.

 

[phrogpilot73]

When I went through ye 'ole boat school, we didn't find out until late Jan/early Feb. Made the holidays painful to say the least (we had already completed interviews, final preferences, and the boards had completed their decisions...)

 

[highlyrandom]

Navy '04 found out January 28, service selection night was February 6th. From then on, everyone seemed to find out in the fall...some new line item in a fabulous new plan of Academy "greatness."

 

[Machine]

I stuck around for the summer TAD, then left in August. I'd say that was just about perfect. For me, I had friends that were also TAD after graduation, so it made sense for me to chill out in Maryland for the summer. I recommend you take a break, do something super easy for the summer (I was over in Ward Hall--uniform was polo shirt), and move out before school starts up again.

 

[TheBubba]

I stuck around for the summer TAD, then left in August. I'd say that was just about perfect. For me, I had friends that were also TAD after graduation, so it made sense for me to chill out in Maryland for the summer. I recommend you take a break, do something super easy for the summer (I was over in Ward Hall--uniform was polo shirt), and move out before school starts up again.

IT Nazi.

I did my TAD at the sailing centre. Swim trunks and a polo shirt. Great time. Left in July.

The TAD was a good way to unwind... especially coupled with the leave.

 

[Pags]

Are you going to VGEP or IGEP?

now there's a deal that's about as good as it gets...unless they send you to AFIT.

 

[TheBubba]

heh... have a buddy down here that IGEp'ed at AFIT... she liked it well enough. I would have tried to IGEP, but I was deemed too "stupid"... i think the 2.53 GPA had something to do with it...

 

[Pags]

yeah, i heard AFIT wasn't too terrible...but why go there when you could go ME at NPS in Monterey (since they sold out the AE program to the fvckin AF)?

 

[mjmiller05]

Take the first date you can!

Andy,

My fellow '05 buddies have reached this conclusion while discussing the very issue of when to come down to P'Cola for API. Flying is the most kick ass thing we have ever done in our lives and we can't imagine doing anything else.

We headed down to P'Cola in August, classed up within two weeks, and we've been rolling through the program ever since. If I had it to do all over again, I'd have picked the July date instead of the August date. I understand the temptation after 4 years of the boat school to hang out and do nothing while collecting O-1 pay for a few months. But, trust me, that gets old after two weeks.

Any day from commissioning on that you spend out of the cockpit is a day of your youth needlessly wasted. Get down here as soon as you can and get flying, it's really that good.

And, if for some unfortunate reason you do face a wait at API, better to wait while getting a tan on P'Cola Beach, then waiting while working some stupid ass job for some tool staff officer at the boat school.

Welcome to Naval Aviation!