As an "upper classman" in the schools of Naval Aviation, I would offer the following:
1. The brevity of the new API will help as much as it will hurt, so it will probably be a wash in the overall student experience. Knowledge will be fresher for the tests, but you won't have much of a life outside of class. (I recall many API "study nights" that involved beer and procrastination due to too much spare time)
2. Faster pace will be better for follow on training -- for those in A-pool, go ask some one in Primary how intimidated they were the first few weeks of Primary Ground School. It never really seems to let up or get easier. Like Noze said, each new school is challenging in its own way. Having a more intensive program is a good wakeup call -- one many of my contemporaries didn't get until the VTs.
3. Having now survived the RAG, I think the best advice I've ever received is that you never really stop having to prove yourself to someone. First its wings, then the RAG, then quals quals quals. Especially in a multi-crew aircraft, senior crew members are going to remain skeptical of a junior's abilities until they prove themselves. People think that getting the wings is the end all, but there were plenty of days in the RAG where I felt like I was flying Fam 4 in Primary all over again. A number of friends (all in different aircraft/communities) and I have often joked that you might as well leave the wings at home in the RAG, because you rarely are given much credit for having earned them.
Regardless of why this is happening, realize that it will probably help you better appreciate what you have gotten yourself into -- a lifetime of dedicated, hard work. If the thought of that is already getting you nervous, perhaps it's time for a gut-check.
1. The brevity of the new API will help as much as it will hurt, so it will probably be a wash in the overall student experience. Knowledge will be fresher for the tests, but you won't have much of a life outside of class. (I recall many API "study nights" that involved beer and procrastination due to too much spare time)
2. Faster pace will be better for follow on training -- for those in A-pool, go ask some one in Primary how intimidated they were the first few weeks of Primary Ground School. It never really seems to let up or get easier. Like Noze said, each new school is challenging in its own way. Having a more intensive program is a good wakeup call -- one many of my contemporaries didn't get until the VTs.
3. Having now survived the RAG, I think the best advice I've ever received is that you never really stop having to prove yourself to someone. First its wings, then the RAG, then quals quals quals. Especially in a multi-crew aircraft, senior crew members are going to remain skeptical of a junior's abilities until they prove themselves. People think that getting the wings is the end all, but there were plenty of days in the RAG where I felt like I was flying Fam 4 in Primary all over again. A number of friends (all in different aircraft/communities) and I have often joked that you might as well leave the wings at home in the RAG, because you rarely are given much credit for having earned them.
Regardless of why this is happening, realize that it will probably help you better appreciate what you have gotten yourself into -- a lifetime of dedicated, hard work. If the thought of that is already getting you nervous, perhaps it's time for a gut-check.
