Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Plans for the future....
I've been fielding the question "so what are you doing next?" a lot lately so I figured I'd update the blog with my tentative schedule. I emphasize tentative because nothing is certain in the Marine Corps, or the military as a whole for that matter. I could do things faster or slower depending on weather (active hurricane season predicted), number of students waiting to start, and needs of the Marine Corps. It's all subject to change, but the plus side is that no matter if I'm flying two sorties a day or chillin on the beach, I get paid the same! Gotta love government work.
June 9 - Graduation from The Basic School; no more humping, field exercises, or dealing with the leadership "styles" of my peers. Hoo fucking ray!
June 13 - Start IFS (Initial Flight Screening) This is a program recently started by the Corps in which student naval aviators (me) without a private pilot's license go to civilian schools in order to gain experience before starting the Navy school in Pensacola. In no more than 60days I will go through ground school, attain 25 flight hours, and do a cross-country solo. That does not mean across the US, it just means that I will have to navigate the route myself instead of using predesignated flight routes.
August - Head to Pensacola! Sandy beaches and blue skies here I come!
???? - Start API. Aviation Pre-Flight Indoctrination is a six week course in which they test you to see if you have what it takes to survive flight school. We take a bunch of written exams, they try to drown us several times in the pool, and we get a stamp on the book. This is in question marks because I don't know when I'll start it. The rumors abound and they vary from us starting immediately to us not starting until November. I'll just do what I've got to do now and worry about that later.
? + 6wks - Start Primary. This is the first phase of flight school which every Naval Aviator attends regardless of their platform (helocopter, jet, cargo) It is 27 wks long and can be done in Pensacola, FL, Corpus Christi, TX, or Vance, OK. It is our grades in Primary which determine what we fly. They produce a list of available slots (20 F-18, 34 CH-53, etc.) and you get to pick in order of your class standing. Graduate #1 and the world is your oyster. Graduate last and you'll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong. (Kudos to those who recognized the Top Gun refrence)
? + 33wks - Stard Intermediate/Advanced. This is where you learn how to fly helocopters, jets, cargo aircraft, or tilt rotor aircraft (Osprey). Can be in Pensacola, Corpus Christi, or Meridian, MS.
? + ? - RAG Squadron. Replacement Air Group. This is where a newly trained pilot hangs out and trains until there is a spot open for him/her in a combat squadron. You are flying F-18s, Harriers, Cobras, etc at this point, but you are not yet ready to be deployed.
About two years from now - Assigned to my first combat squadron. Likely assigned collateral duty as the Substance Abuse Control Officer (you watch people pee in a cup) because that's what they do to new guys; give them shitty collateral duties. Hell, I don't care as long as I'm out of school and flying the real thing. At this point I am ready to deploy and a fully trained Naval Aviator. Long jourey, but certainly worth it all.
BTW, the dream is Flying the F-18A out of Mirimar, CA. I just have a need for speed and the F-18 is the nastiest, fastest thing out there. Some of those Air Force jets are faster, but they don't base off of carriers. Nothing increases the pucker factor like trying to land on a pitching steel deck not much wider than your wingspan which is less than 150m long, and nothing exhilirates like catapulting from 0 to 165mph in two seconds.
June 9 - Graduation from The Basic School; no more humping, field exercises, or dealing with the leadership "styles" of my peers. Hoo fucking ray!
June 13 - Start IFS (Initial Flight Screening) This is a program recently started by the Corps in which student naval aviators (me) without a private pilot's license go to civilian schools in order to gain experience before starting the Navy school in Pensacola. In no more than 60days I will go through ground school, attain 25 flight hours, and do a cross-country solo. That does not mean across the US, it just means that I will have to navigate the route myself instead of using predesignated flight routes.
August - Head to Pensacola! Sandy beaches and blue skies here I come!
???? - Start API. Aviation Pre-Flight Indoctrination is a six week course in which they test you to see if you have what it takes to survive flight school. We take a bunch of written exams, they try to drown us several times in the pool, and we get a stamp on the book. This is in question marks because I don't know when I'll start it. The rumors abound and they vary from us starting immediately to us not starting until November. I'll just do what I've got to do now and worry about that later.
? + 6wks - Start Primary. This is the first phase of flight school which every Naval Aviator attends regardless of their platform (helocopter, jet, cargo) It is 27 wks long and can be done in Pensacola, FL, Corpus Christi, TX, or Vance, OK. It is our grades in Primary which determine what we fly. They produce a list of available slots (20 F-18, 34 CH-53, etc.) and you get to pick in order of your class standing. Graduate #1 and the world is your oyster. Graduate last and you'll be flying a cargo plane full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong. (Kudos to those who recognized the Top Gun refrence)
? + 33wks - Stard Intermediate/Advanced. This is where you learn how to fly helocopters, jets, cargo aircraft, or tilt rotor aircraft (Osprey). Can be in Pensacola, Corpus Christi, or Meridian, MS.
? + ? - RAG Squadron. Replacement Air Group. This is where a newly trained pilot hangs out and trains until there is a spot open for him/her in a combat squadron. You are flying F-18s, Harriers, Cobras, etc at this point, but you are not yet ready to be deployed.
About two years from now - Assigned to my first combat squadron. Likely assigned collateral duty as the Substance Abuse Control Officer (you watch people pee in a cup) because that's what they do to new guys; give them shitty collateral duties. Hell, I don't care as long as I'm out of school and flying the real thing. At this point I am ready to deploy and a fully trained Naval Aviator. Long jourey, but certainly worth it all.
BTW, the dream is Flying the F-18A out of Mirimar, CA. I just have a need for speed and the F-18 is the nastiest, fastest thing out there. Some of those Air Force jets are faster, but they don't base off of carriers. Nothing increases the pucker factor like trying to land on a pitching steel deck not much wider than your wingspan which is less than 150m long, and nothing exhilirates like catapulting from 0 to 165mph in two seconds.
// posted by Josh @ 5/31/2005 05:44:00 PM 
Comments:
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It's two day to go to graduation.....Hurray! Way to go! I see there is not much time between assignments but can you take a break, drink some bee and play a few games of pool-scratch? If so, let me know. I am in awh of you taking it and making it!
Lynn
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Lynn
# posted by 
: 6/07/2005 5:18 PM
: 6/07/2005 5:18 PM << Home
