Training the Best

Nothing earth shattering to report, the most exciting thing is the addition of a new link to my blog. See it there on the right? Click on the one that reads SNA Training Timeline. This is a link to the Chief of Naval Aviation Training website and it explains in one web page the training that I am going to go through.

The website is, of course, very Navy-centric, but we train with those squids so most of it applies to me. In the FRS list, the Marine squadrons are the ones that start with VM or HM. All of the others are for squids and that is the point at which we part ways. Marine aviators go to the Marine RAGs. (Now would be a good time to give the glossary link a try!)

Also, there is no E2/C2 pipeline for me, the Marines don't fly those planes. And there is no E-6 TACAMO pipeline. If you are shit hot in jet advanced they will pick you to fly the Marine EA-6Bs. There are so few of them, they are so hard to fly, and they are so valuable they hand pick pilots to fly them. I'm thinking of tanking a few flights to avoid that particular hell. The last thing I want to be is a glorified taxi driver for three disguntled wanna-be pilots.

There may be a tilt-rotor pipeline soon (the MV-22 Osprey) but I don't know for sure when that will happen. They just started putting the Osprey into mass production and it will take some time to get enough aircraft to train pilots and have them in the operational squadrons.

I am training for my green belt in the MCMAP program, so I have to wake up every morning at 0545 and drive to NAS. I would complain about it but it keeps me from being bored and I get some good PT in. It also satisfies my savage urges by throwing some buddies around. Being around the Navy gets to you after a while; there is no warrior culture there and it bothers me. Most days the Navy and Air Force are more similar to a corporation than a military organization and that drives me nuts.