Mucky Fother Luckers

[Swanee]

Tough love is still love. The guy that graduated last in my class still got an aircraft assignment. I don’t know what that guy’s doing today, but I hope he didn’t show up to his unit on day one going “what I wanted to be was a ___” because nobody in the room cares.

Ego has got to be one of the biggest enemies of realizing that collective strength of action is the only way this works. I want everybody to show up ruthlessly motivated to be the best whatever they are. Imagine what that could accomplish.

Look at my journey. Do I miss the Hornet? Yes I absolutely do. My state is getting F-15EXs and if I wasnt 43 years old I'd be looking to transfer over there in a heartbeat. Do I love the Reaper? Absolutely. We do cool things in our own way, and have an awesome quality of life. A highlight of my career was meeting one of our supported unit JTACS at a sim exercise at Wright Pat. Tier 1 SOF types. "Hey man, I recognize your voice from the radio, you're XYZ squadron/callsign?" he says to me. "Yeah dude, nice to meet you!" "Shit, let me buy you a beer. We'd never leave the wire if you guys weren't overhead. You guys are life and death for us out there." Of course I drank that beer, and bought the next round, and got to know a bit more about the guys we support.

Every military airplane you may fly (or operate) has something about it that makes it unique and cool and does something you can be really proud of.

Here's the other secret- it's not the airplane you fly that matters, it's the people you fly it with. I wouldn't trade any of my RPA time for more Hornet time. The people in both communities are amazing and professional and proud of what they do.

 

[Gatordev]

He literally taught me to do the entire contacts that I got 5s and the fact he wasn’t even close to 50 was indicative of the squadron’s MIF monsters getting scheduled with him a few too many times. He deserves strike from a work ethic perspective as well.

I get your point, but you don't know that he was that good in the plane because you weren't there. Yes, there are IPs that don't bother to learn the MPTS and that's unfortunate, but if "he wasn't even close to a 50," then that means his flying wasn't even close to a 50. All that sim time was probably helping him make whatever it is he did make, which is still a success, just a different kind.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

I would give this piece of advice though. Bring a piece of paper to the debrief and make notes of things you can improve on.

One would think that this was something being done starting with an SNA's first flight.
Taking notes during flight brief, at times in flight, and during debrief were critical during my VT/HT tenure.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

I fly airplane good no read good

Although I posted a little piece of humor, please keep in mind that those responding are quite serious in their advice and criticism, which is aimed at assisting you to grow as a future Naval Aviator.

Everything you do, say, or write are the small print on your active, living, resume.
Approach these interactions with seasoned career offices and aviators almost as a interview.
Our responses are intended to help you improve.

 

[sevenhelmet]

I dunno, seems to me getting helos is heavily indicative of good luck. The gods just removed the bad choices for him

Id rather have a 30 nss who didn't treat my aircraft like a consolation prize then a 49.9 who thinks got cheated out of their dream job

Boom. This is wisdom. @IFlyorDie, to SteveHolt!!! you listen.

Attitude is the difference. Stay humble and stay hungry. That’s how you “make your own luck”.

 

[Griz882]

Having completed primary I have walked away with a few conclusions…

Back in my time they tried a system called “quality spread” that would have really traumatized you. Roughly remembered, they stacked everybody by scores then #1 got jets, #2 got maritime, and #3 got helicopters…then the list rolled again so #4 got jets, #5 maritime and so on! One week the top pick went to jets, the next it might be helicopters, and then maritime! I never saw it, but people have implied here on AW that there have been a few helicopter drafts where everyone got rotary! Luck is critical, but @SteveHolt!!! has it right.

 

[SynixMan]

So for all future SNAs. Work your ass off, pray to God, and never forget the lucky charm at home. Be grateful as luck runs out just like Jimmy Doolittle once said “I could never be so lucky again”

I realize you're coming out of probably the hardest thing you've ever done so far in life, so I'm willing to cut you some slack. However as someone who instructed in VTs for 3 years and had 19 on-wings, you sound kind of whiny. NSS, MPTS, and instructors are not perfect, but it's the best system we have for imperfect people rating imperfect SMAs. In reality the difference between Over/Under 50 is just how quickly you picked up the new material to proficiency, not your innate flying ability. VTJs is even more of a firehose, so as a measurement of who can be trained in that environment and beyond, it's answering the call.

Luck in Orange and White is preparation meeting opportunity over the southern United States airspace system. Luck in gray aircraft is preparing so fucking much in peacetime your eyes bleed. And also knowing the bubbas in helos and P8s flying all night are professionals who find the submarine hunting the carrier before you are killed in your rack.

So please never mention this post in advanced lest you be ridiculed to death, don't tell stories about primary, and in a five years look back on this and laugh. You'll be in the middle of a 9 month deployment that just got extended to 12 because CENTCOM needed assets "just in case"

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

I never saw it, but people have implied here on AW that there have been a few helicopter drafts where everyone got rotary!

This occurred with me in 1979. Regardless of ranking, everyone got helos the week of my selection.
Although I was disappointed for a couple days, that changed with my first TH-57 flight.
My Navy instructor was fantastic, and showed me how unique helicopters were.
His guidance and style made all the difference.
I have never looked back with regret over not getting another pipeline selection.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

Every military airplane you may fly (or operate) has something about it that makes it unique and cool and does something you can be really proud of.

Here's the other secret- it's not the airplane you fly that matters, it's the people you fly it with.

Pure truth!

 

[taxi1]

The only reason I disagree is because I knew a SNA who lived in the sim.

Sim does not equal aircraft. They correlate, but imperfectly.

 

[number9]

No community can afford to be made up of a population of last 1/3 dirtbags.

I don’t care how god damned good you were, what you showed is an aptitude to be the best, not an aptitude to fly a particular platform at the exclusion of the others.

How useful would it be to have a community of strike badasses when the guys guarding your carrier from subsurface attack or providing you EW and C2 were window lickers? Yes, that means despite the ego we need to have people in places like P8 or in the Army case Medevac/Hook that weren’t just barely good enough to make it.

From what my buddies have explained, I think Marine Corps OCS does it kind of this way? They divide the class into thirds, and within each third they rank candidates and their MOSs are distributed based on where you rank in your third.

That way, you don't have (for example) the entire top 1/3rd of the class as infantry, and the bottom 1/3rd of the class as supply -- no offense to either community. Instead, you get a fairly even distribution.

 

[CommodoreMid]

This occurred with me in 1979. Regardless of ranking, everyone got helos the week of my selection.
Although I was disappointed for a couple days, that changed with my first TH-57 flight.
My Navy instructor was fantastic, and showed me how unique helicopters were.
His guidance and style made all the difference.
I have never looked back with regret over not getting another pipeline selection.

Had I gone Tailhook I would have gotten E-2s. There was about a 1.5 month period when I would have finished intermediate that every single person got E-2s.

 

[Faded Float Coat]

The harder you work, the luckier you get.

 

[MIDNJAC]

One would think that this was something being done starting with an SNA's first flight.
Taking notes during flight brief, at times in flight, and during debrief were critical during my VT/HT tenure.

Yeah, I think it is still the norm. At least most of my FRS students do it, as did my fleet bubbas doing their SFWT events before that. Doesnt bother me if someone doesn’t, might be their learning style to just listen and retain it better. But it is what worked for me at least, and I imagine many others.

 

[Odominable]

From what my buddies have explained, I think Marine Corps OCS does it kind of this way? They divide the class into thirds, and within each third they rank candidates and their MOSs are distributed based on where you rank in your third.

That way, you don't have (for example) the entire top 1/3rd of the class as infantry, and the bottom 1/3rd of the class as supply -- no offense to either community. Instead, you get a fairly even distribution.

TBS, but yes. This can lead to some hurt feelings, but generally speaking folks tended to self select via stated preference into the “less desirable” MOSs regardless of their class standing for a variety of reasons. There’s a well-reinforced stereotype of prior enlisted grunts wanting nothing to do with humping a pack again, for instance, or former maintainers going into some aviation support field.