A lot of interesting discussion here...should make for an interesting test. Brett is right, the DH screen board for VP is a HUGE deal (Webmaster would agree), but this program DOES NOT make that easier. There are several tickets that need to be punched to stay in the game as a VP guy for DH and on to command. By the argument that your experienced pilots ( and thus IP's) would be WO's and the JO's would be open for "career enhancing" ground jobs the entire flow of the P-3 pilot's career path is missed.
1) We have enough trouble already making hour requirements for PPC. The community reduced the pilots on board from 42 to 30 per squadron between Jan 2004 and now to alleviate this problem.
2) IP is ALMOST a pre-req to be in the game in a lot of respects. The RAG requires it, as do the VT advanced squadrons (for now). This plays BIG on the DH board and as you go on to screen for command.
3) Determination as to who is getting picked for these slots (and the "in play" slots like Pilot training, NATOPS, etc) is happening earlier and earlier, with some discussion to deciding early if you are even going to make someone a PPC based on early performance coming into play.
4) Follow on RAG, Adavanced VT, other slots are pretty scarce. VP is a community with a VERY set career path, and in the example of the advanced VT squadrons, the Naval Aviator is more scarce then our brothers from other services. (EX: OF 62 IP's in one advanced Maritime wardroom, 20 are Navy. 2 for the front office, 5 E2/C2, 1 E6, 4 VQ) The DH select rates speak for themselves, and the further breakdown that was given at a brief that we had here would indicate that outside these "traditional" in community jobs it is even tighter.
5) MMA is bought and payed for, but with only 105 total aircraft in the tally. That will futher play with the numbers. The word that we got from the Commodore from one of the P-3 wings who worked on the project at the Pentagon (brief last week) was that more could be in the works, but are not projected. The other thing he was pretty confident in was that the DH screen would probably only be a problem for YG's screening in the nex 2-3 yrs! (YG 97-99). He attributed this to the fact that the reduction of pilots in the squadrons that already occurred has fixed that problem and the retention averages would support there not being an issue by YG 00.
Taking all of these factors into account for the VP community, I think that the program is something that, although quite possibly as successful and cost effective solution, probably was introduced before they saw the results of other programs and will be short lived at best. I am not familiar with the helo side of the house and so cannot speak intelligently about that.
On another note (to add to an already long-winded reply), the cost of training a WO is in terms of flight school dollars, the same as any other stud, and the slot they leave will have to be filled by a new sailor, costing the navy 1 WO and 1 e-5 for the price of one O-1. I can tell you that the numbers that we are being asked to fill for the next four years in the VP community are on the upswing, to the tune of over 100 per year, so it would appear that we are not overmanned at the JO pilot level. Any additions to these numbers from the WO ranks could have the result of moving the experience core away from the JO's and make IA's the only viable option as I can assure you from an advanced VT perspective we are pushing for the most experienced PPC/IP's that we can get from the fleet.
Again, I apologize for the painfully long post, and fully welcome the beatings (well deserved) that will ensue!
