First Shore Tour to NPS

[MrFlyingBob]

Has anyone done or heard of any pilots going to NPS for their first shore tour? All of the production and alternate flying billets are full up and I am considering this as my shore tour. Anyone have any career outlook gouge? I am well aware it's not necessarily "on-track" but it sounds like a good deal anyway. I will likely be pursing some sort of engineering or systems analysis degree. Thanks for your responses!

 

[ChunksJR]

Starting Sys Engineering Analysis in June as a post DH. It is way off track...and your 24mo NOB will not make you O4 in aviation (at least right now). But...if you are planning to redesignate, the degree may help. Good degree for outside the Navy tho...

 

[ea6bflyr]

Has anyone done or heard of any pilots going to NPS for their first shore tour? All of the production and alternate flying billets are full up and I am considering this as my shore tour. Anyone have any career outlook gouge? I am well aware it's not necessarily "on-track" but it sounds like a good deal anyway. I will likely be pursing some sort of engineering or systems analysis degree. Thanks for your responses!

If you go to NPS for shore duty, you are OFF TRACK and may never fly a grey aircraft (or any aircraft) for the Navy again as a 1310. You might as well write off DH and even making O-4 is at risk. After your Dis-Associated Sea Tour, you may be able to do a LAT TRAN to AEDO or even go FTS....or you may get FOSx2 and be shown the door.

Only time will tell.

 

[Recovering LSO]

If you go to NPS for shore duty, you are OFF TRACK and may never fly a grey aircraft (or any aircraft) for the Navy again as a 1310. You might as well write off DH and even making O-4 is at risk. After your Dis-Associated Sea Tour, you may be able to do a LAT TRAN to AEDO or even go FTS....or you may get FOSx2 and be shown the door.

Only time will tell.

Sadly, this appears to be the truth. My only hope is that somewhere some flag officer who continues to espouse "the navy values education" will see this post...

 

[BigRed389]

Weird. In contrast, I've been told by quite a few Marine aviators who went to NPS (apparently the academically qualified get "voluntold"-screened through their CCLEP boards) that they view being selected as a good thing.

 

[insanebikerboy]

Well, besides the fact that everyone told you what you already knew about it not being on-track, it is very doable. I've known a few dudes in recent years that have done it. Either let your front office or detailer know. Also, look on the NPS website and figure out your APQ. That resultant number will tell you what you qualify for and will give the detailer options on what degree programs you are eligible for.

 

[Gatordev]

If you go to NPS for shore duty, you are OFF TRACK and may never fly a grey aircraft (or any aircraft) for the Navy again as a 1310. You might as well write off DH and even making O-4 is at risk. After your Dis-Associated Sea Tour, you may be able to do a LAT TRAN to AEDO or even go FTS....or you may get FOSx2 and be shown the door.

I know of one specific example who couldn't even get into the FTS door due to the current competition. After a stint at Monterey, he scored a Super JO tour, which promptly showed him the FOS x2 door with no FTS pickup. As always, it depends on what you want out of your career...and timing.

 

[MrFlyingBob]

Thanks for your responses. Timing in the navy thus far has not been my forte and with the recent promotion rates and every back door becoming increasingly competitive I do not have an optomistic lookout for O-4. However, the navy is unpredictable if nothing else. I'll let you all know how it pans out!

 

[ghost]

I went to NPS for my first shore tour and it worked out for me. I picked up two MS degrees while there. I was there at the same time as a friend and we both screened for O-4 (YG02). He screened for DH and is in his DH tour right now. I opted out of the DH board was able to used my MS degree to get a job in a technical field that would not be available to most transitioning JOs. We both had competitive EPs in our first sea tour and picked up additional competitive EPs during our disassociated tours. The other 13x0s on their 1st shore came with sub-par paper and I do not believe screened.

If you go to NPS, pick your program carefully. If the detailer can not get the program you want, I would recommend taking any other shore tour. The MechE, EE, OA, and a few other hard science programs are worth more to potential employers. If you get out at your commitment, your degree is still recent enough (~3 yrs) that you can use it to apply for engineering positions. I would not recommend the MBA program. The name attached to an MBA is very important and you will not be able to get another one from a top tier school later.

If you are not looking competitive, NPS could be a good way to set yourself up for your next career. Things might change completely before your O-4 board in 5 years or so.

 

[Ralph]

Curious, what options did they give for your shore tour? I thought a flying opportunity was guaranteed.

 

[squorch2]

Why would it be guaranteed?

 

[Pags]

Curious, what options did they give for your shore tour? I thought a flying opportunity was guaranteed.

There are only so many flying billets available. If you have good timing, getting a flying job is easy. If you have bad timing getting anything resembling a production tour can be difficult.

 

[mosli]

I did grad school for my first shore tour and just finished a fleet DH tour, so it's doable. My guess is that strong EP in my first tour and "hard" disassociated helped, but who knows. The board doesn't provide that kind of detailed feedback, and maybe on the board after mine it wouldn't have mattered. Your best bet is to work hard, try to enjoy it, and keep as many doors open in the Navy as well as outside as you possibly can.

 

[Ralph]

Makes sense. What would be considered a career enhancing shore tour outside of the cockpit? With a disassociated usually a non flying tour that's a long time out of a plane.

 

[MrFlyingBob]

I was a victim of bad timing to the point that I couldn't pull an EP out of my fleet tour. Thus it made me very non-competitive for any production or other flying billets. Going to NPS from the fleet with an MP will not be the best way to make O-4, but I'm not the only one taking the Navy's boot these days.