Hopefully this is the right place to post this: I just spoke to an ex Air Force pilot about being a pilot in the Navy. He told me about the deployment timelines and said that in general cases, pilots will go on deployment for about 6 months and then at home for 18 months. I was curious if this is correct, and if not then what is the general situation on being deployed in the Navy. Any help will be useful, thanks. The only reason I ask is because my local recruiter told me differently.
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Deployment and Family Life
- Thread starter staff03
- Start date
I would say on average that would be am optimistic best case scenario. More likely, you'll deploy between 6-8 months followed by a year at home. Mind you, those 12 months at "home" will include a significant work-up period with the airwing where you're on the boat or Fallon for weeks at a time.
Brett
This is my $0.02 - the best advice and information you can get is usually gonna come from someone who is in the same branch of service that you seek to get information about. There are plenty of qualified people on this board who will correctly answer your questions.
Roger that ... even back-in-the-day ... while stationed @ NUW for a cumulative 55 months, including RAG-time and 3 cruises --- I was physically on the "Rock" a grand total of 17 months spread over those 55 months.
Cruises, workups, schools, detachments, blah, blah, blah ... it's not just a job .. it's an adventure. Pack lightly ....
If you are talking about an officer program, Brett's answer is right on. If you are talking about an enlisted program a waiver for two dependants is necessary and not a big deal to get. All you do is have an interview with an officer (back in the day anyway, may be delegated to a CPO now).
As to test scores, for officer you take the astb and your scores have to be very good, especially if your gpa is low. On the enlisted side, you take the asvab and the scores required vary depending on the program you want. I expect any college grad will score high enough on the asvab to qualify for a boat load of career options.
Bottoms line. Make sure you are talking to the right guy for what you want. See an officer recruiter for officer programs. I expect the guy you are talking to is an enlisted programs recruiter based on the dependant waiver comment.
I saw mine every day - they're called shipmates.
Brett
I know, I know. But honestly, in general cases between being deployed and home, about how often will your average pilot get to see their REAL family.
I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it's pretty much an unanswerable question. It depends on a whole lot of variables. Some people are deployed more than others. You get used to it and in the grand scheme of things, it probably belongs at the bottom of your list of criteria for selecting a career in the service.
Brett
I agree with Brett...too many variables to even take a stab at this. During my husbands first sea tour, he was gone 31 out of 37mo. The last sea tour he was home 15 out of 30 months.
I think what Brett is trying to reinforce here is that trying to "focus" on how much time you'll spend with your family, or trying to figure out how stable your family life will be is fruitless. I have made seven deployments during my time in the Navy, not to mention all the counter-narcotic deployments to the caribbean, battle group work-ups, Fallon, the list goes on and on and on. Your qualification as a pilot and membership in a squadron demands that you focus on the bigger picture (your CVW, deployment schedule, combat readiness, etc). My family has been EXTREMELY supportive of my career and quite frankly, I couldn't have enjoyed so much success without them. Having said that, at the end of the day, they know that Uncle Sam comes first - because that's what we do!
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