Documented Flight Hours For Pilot OCS Package

[Sean232]

Hello,

This may be kind of a dumb question but I wanted to hear any opinions or suggestions on what I should do. I'm in the process of applying for a pilot position in the Navy and my recruiter says the application is finished and ready to send. He also said I qualified for immediate selection and my selection would depend on the quota needed at this time. There was a section in the application that described pilot experience (ratings/hours) which I entered none as of now. I addressed concern wanting to get as much flight experience as I can from now until I ship off (if I do) to also be a competitive pilot while in training since I know aircraft selection is merit based. My recruiter told me this would not be ideal since the application would be delayed while having to update this experience and I could miss the next selection round (which he says are my highest chances of getting selected do to the high number of slots currently available).

I was wondering if there was any real consequences to showing up to OCS or Pilot training with higher flight hours than what was entered into the application. Would I get into trouble if these hours are not updated in the application even though the hours up to the date signed are accurate? I realize looking back I should have got the flight lessons and PPL first and then applied for pilot. I thought the application process would take a lot longer since I would need waivers. I am open to any thoughts, suggestions, or criticisms.

Thanks

 

[exNavyOffRec]

No one cares about hours.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Really, don’t worry about private flight hours. Definitely don’t hold up your application to log them. Unless you’re a multi-hundred hour pilot with tickets, it’s really neither here nor there in the long run for flight training. Getting a few hours before you ship means nothing.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Hello,

This may be kind of a dumb question but I wanted to hear any opinions or suggestions on what I should do. I'm in the process of applying for a pilot position in the Navy and my recruiter says the application is finished and ready to send. He also said I qualified for immediate selection and my selection would depend on the quota needed at this time. There was a section in the application that described pilot experience (ratings/hours) which I entered none as of now. I addressed concern wanting to get as much flight experience as I can from now until I ship off (if I do) to also be a competitive pilot while in training since I know aircraft selection is merit based. My recruiter told me this would not be ideal since the application would be delayed while having to update this experience and I could miss the next selection round (which he says are my highest chances of getting selected do to the high number of slots currently available).

I was wondering if there was any real consequences to showing up to OCS or Pilot training with higher flight hours than what was entered into the application. Would I get into trouble if these hours are not updated in the application even though the hours up to the date signed are accurate? I realize looking back I should have got the flight lessons and PPL first and then applied for pilot. I thought the application process would take a lot longer since I would need waivers. I am open to any thoughts, suggestions, or criticisms.

Thanks

Welcome to the forum. The "new guy" and "dumb question" posts (jk on the last one) are a bit frowned upon here and there's already a ton on information at your disposal. Check out the various Pilot and NFO board threads to see where applicants stacked, including those with no flight experience. Similar advice for any follow on questions you may have. Good luck.

 

[sevenhelmet]

I'm in the process of applying for a pilot position in the Navy and my recruiter says the application is finished and ready to send. He also said I qualified for immediate selection and my selection would depend on the quota needed at this time.

Take yes for an answer. “Qualified for immediate selection” is about as good as it gets, meaning you already have a strong package together. Send it! Flight hours is NOT worth delaying your package for.

But, by all means, go and get some flight time while you wait to ship out- if that’s what makes you tick. Just understand prior experience is FAR less important than humility and disciplined studying / event prep in Primary.

Welcome to the forum. Search around a bit- there is a lot of good info here.