Color Blindness and Aviation

[Mallenator]

Hey everyone, I know this question isn't as on topic for these forums as it should be, but I figure I could probably get a lot of good info here.

Anyway, let me tell you a little background to help with my questions...

I am currently 16 (rising senior in high school), and am a plane fanatic. I have always been interested in jets, helos, prop planes, you name it since I first discovered them. And as a lot of teenage boys dreamt of, I wanted to be a pilot. However, it wasn't untill a few years ago that I found out you couldn't be red/green colorblind and fly (as I am, deuteranomaly). So of course my dreams were crushed and I searched for other jobs that involved working with airplanes (but my desire to serve in the armed forces still stood). I finally found aerospace engineering and am now choosing to pursue it in college (my parents dont approve very much of me enlisting as they state I am to smart with a 4.2 GPA and 2200 sat), along with ROTC in Army or Air Force (you cant be a Naval officer and be colorblind, or so I heard). And now with college apps coming up next year, I am trying to decide what I should do.

Well, enough of that (I hope I didnt put you to sleep already).

On another note, I would like to ask all of you if you know of any officer jobs that work directly with (or sometimes with) airplanes in any of the services? Also, if I can't get any directly related jobs, does anyone know about aerial intel (I heard about it somewhere...)?

Any other info is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance to all that apply.

Cheers!

 

[m0tbaillie]

First, you *can* be an Naval Officer and be color blind, but you cannot be a pilot/navigator. Colorblindness is disqualifying for those two designators.

Second, officers don't enlist, they commission. Also, I think it's a good idea to point out that many enlisted members of the military have not only college degrees but many either have or are actively pursuing advanced degrees. A few even have their PhD.

No disrespect to your parents or anything, but there is no such thing as being "too smart" for the military - that's completely false. Some of the most intelligent people in the country pursue careers in the Armed Forces because they want to serve their country and do great things.

Again no disrespect, but your high school GPA and your SAT scores are not really indicative of your propensity towards success as a Naval Officer - they are only indicative of your potential success in college. Keep your grades up.

Many people who seek a commission in the US Armed Forces are not just smart, they're top-notch and highly intelligent. Every officer - with the exception of LDOs - has at least a Bachelor's degree, and many of them have technical graduate degrees and beyond.

Wait until you graduate high school and at least start college before you start considering the Navy. If it still interests you then, then come back. If it's what you want to do, your parents will understand.

As far as the rest of your post goes, you'll have to wait for someone in the know to answer that, as I do not know.

 

[OUSOONER]

Hey everyone, I know this question isn't as on topic for these forums as it should be, but I figure I could probably get a lot of good info here.

Anyway, let me tell you a little background to help with my questions...

I am currently 16 (rising senior in high school), and am a plane fanatic. I have always been interested in jets, helos, prop planes, you name it since I first discovered them. And as a lot of teenage boys dreamt of, I wanted to be a pilot. However, it wasn't untill a few years ago that I found out you couldn't be red/green colorblind and fly (as I am, deuteranomaly). So of course my dreams were crushed and I searched for other jobs that involved working with airplanes (but my desire to serve in the armed forces still stood). I finally found aerospace engineering and am now choosing to pursue it in college (my parents dont approve very much of me enlisting as they state I am to smart with a 4.2 GPA and 2200 sat),

Cheers!

Your parents should be well informed that there are a lot of men and women who are very bright that are enlisted. I have friends that are/were enlisted in the various branches and one is a CPA for an accounting firm now. I would say go to college but hey if you want to see the world and do something that you take with you the rest of your life and are serious about enlisting..go ahead. Remember, no enlisted, no Navy/AF/USMC/Army ... I'll leave the rest for the btdt enlisted/officers on here to give you better advice.

 

[m0tbaillie]

Your parents should be well informed that there are a lot of men and women who are very bright that are enlisted. I have friends that are/were enlisted in the various branches and one is a CPA for an accounting firm now. I would say go to college but hey if you want to see the world and do something that you take with you the rest of your life and are serious about enlisting..go ahead. Remember, no enlisted, no Navy/AF/USMC/Army ... I'll leave the rest for the btdt enlisted/officers on here to give you better advice.

Judging by the way his post read, I don't think he ever intended on enlisting, per se, I just didn't think he fully realized that aviators were officers and that officers were commissioned, not enlisted. I chalked it up to mismatched terminology.

 

[Rg9]

...with a 4.2 GPA and 2200 sat...

Is your GPA based on a 4.0 system? If so, that always annoyed me - schools that gave out "better than perfect" grades. Way too much self-esteem issues.

Did they change the SAT scores or what? I thought it was out of like 1600 or so when I took it.

It sounds like you want to be an officer, which a good ambition. If you're primary concern is working with planes, though, you have more options too. I'm not trying to discourage your attempts to join the military (I think you should), but there are plenty of options to work with aircraft. You're doing aerospace engineering so you can always try to get a job with a defense contractor as a civilian, or the Air Force has lots of engineer positions... It's lots of nerdy stuff, though, and may not be where your heart's at.

On the plus side, I do know of a couple AF engineer guys that have had opportunity to work hands on with plenty of aircraft - even know one guy who's out at Test Pilot School getting some back seat rides and stuff (strangely enough, his sister, who's a civilian engineer, is working out there doing flight tests too).

Don't know if this helped, but I hope it did. Good luck.

 

[LazersGoPEWPEW]

Yea they changed the scale that they score it now. I'm not certain what it is but I think it has something to do with the new writing section that they added into the test.

 

[WishICouldFly]

What about AEDO and AMDO for Officers that work with planes?

Or you could do Supply and hope to be attached to a Squadron.

WRT to school stuff:
SAT is now out of 2400, with an essay section.

And as for the GPA, A+s count as 4.3 in some schools.

 

[m0tbaillie]

What about AEDO and
WRT to school stuff:
SAT is now out of 2400, with an essay section.

And as for the GPA, A+s count as 4.3 in some schools.

Most schools giving out GPAs above 4.0 on a 4.0 scale are doing so because AP classes count as weighted credit (1.5cr as opposed to 1.0cr). For example, when I graduated high school there were two GPAs on my transcript: 4.3 weighted, 4.0 unweighted. Most schools print both.

 

[shotcalla10]

keep pressin on kiddo. there are MANY great careers for you in the Navy. with color vision problems, you can still be Intel officer, IW officer, AMDO, SUPPLY, CEC, etc... you're just not qualified for Unrestricted Line Officer... you are however qualified for everything (restricted line, staff corp, etc...). keep researching and keep pursuing what you wanna do.

 

[A4sForever]

.....Cheers!

Right, ..... "cheers".

You don't write/think like a 16 year old -- which is not too surprising as your registration info states you were born in 1990; thus making you at least 18+, assuming that is correct.

We've had a lot of trolls/frauds come on this site of late -- some from the area of your IP -- for their own particular purposes. Please put something more "meaningful" into your bio page -- i.e., something more meaningful than "Waka-waka".

Cheers.

 

[OUSOONER]

Right, ..... "cheers".

You don't write/think like a 16 year old -- which is not too surprising as your registration info states you were born in 1990; thus making you at least 18+, assuming that is correct.

We've had a lot of trolls/frauds come on this site of late -- some from the area of your IP -- for their own particular purposes. Please put something more "meaningful" into your bio page -- i.e., something more meaningful than "Waka-waka".

Cheers.

Columbo in the house!!..... "oh, and ONE more thing...."

 

[m0tbaillie]

some from the area of your IP

Not defending the guy or anything specifically, but your IP isn't necessarily a geographic indicator of where you're physically located, it's usually only a good indicator of where your *ISP* is physically located. Some ISPs only have a few major DHCP hubs across the nation serving IPs so they end up being "clustered" around specific geographic regions.

 

[Herc_Dude]

... but your IP isn't necessarily a geographic indicator of where you're physically located, it's usually only a good indicator of where your *ISP* is physically located. Some ISPs only have a few major DHCP hubs across the nation serving IPs so they end up being "clustered" around specific geographic regions.

Nerd

 

[Gatordev]

Not defending the guy or anything specifically, but your IP isn't necessarily a geographic indicator of where you're physically located, it's usually only a good indicator of where your *ISP* is physically located. Some ISPs only have a few major DHCP hubs across the nation serving IPs so they end up being "clustered" around specific geographic regions.

Many of our repeat offenders have come back w/ the same geographic IP, so it's a valid sleuthing technique, regardless of the OP's intentions (which I suspect is just laziness in filling out the bio).

 

[OUSOONER]

Nerd

I concur...the username being a primitive castle fortress during the medieval era doesn't help either.

But then again, I may be one too for knowing that