First Shore Tour to NPS

[IKE]

It sounds like some of us would like to return to the days of Aviation Officer Candidates, where you get your commission with your wings. You would definitely have more time in your career that way.

 

[Pags]

It sounds like some of us would like to return to the days of Aviation Officer Candidates, where you get your commission with your wings. You would definitely have more time in your career that way.

To what end?

 

[IKE]

I guess my point was that's the only way I could conceive of 13xx LTs having time in their career for NPS, etc. (by not losing 3+ yrs in flight school). I'm not saying I want it that way; I quite enjoyed ENS and JG pay to be stashed in Pcola and SD while training to fly.

 

[Pags]

I guess my point was that's the only way I could conceive of 13xx LTs having time in their career for NPS, etc. (by not losing 3+ yrs in flight school). I'm not saying I want it that way; I quite enjoyed ENS and JG pay to be stashed in Pcola and SD while training to fly.

Gotcha, makes sense. I just don't see that there'd be a need for DHs with grad degrees. all the arguments for having a grad degree seem like nice to haves vs needs. And I say this as a guy who had an NPS degree during my years of service. It only came in handy when I was applying for AEDO. Also as a guy with an NPS degree I feel free to say that an NPS degree isn't some secret sauce. NPS isn't some vaunted bastion of higher education.

 

[IKE]

... as a guy with an NPS degree I feel free to say that an NPS degree isn't some secret sauce. NPS isn't some vaunted bastion of higher education.

I seem to recall a number of students describing NPS as a "pump, not a filter" to the IG a few years ago.

Agree 100%. The degree of prestige an NPS MS carries is highly dependent on the particular school/major.

 

[Pags]

I seem to recall a number of students describing NPS as a "pump, not a filter" to the IG a few years ago.

Pretty spot on.

I still worked pretty hard for my AE degree but I was never too stressed that I was going to fail or get a grade worse than a B.

 

[insanebikerboy]

Pretty spot on.

I still worked pretty hard for my AE degree but I was never too stressed that I was going to fail or get a grade worse than a B.

I recall showing up to NPS as an ensign enrolling in the Ops Analysis department and all everyone kept saying was 'I'm sorry'. They were right, that department was tough.

 

[IKE]

I recall showing up to NPS as an ensign enrolling in the Ops Analysis department and all everyone kept saying was 'I'm sorry'. They were right, that department was tough.

Like I said, highly dependent on the major. When I was there in '12/'13, all the Financial Management (FM) and HR students were living it up, while engineering students generally took 3-4 more credit-hours per quarter. Operations Research (OR) is a respected and difficult program; Systems Engineering is respected (among SE types). I've heard the Defense Analysis (DA) program is good. Depends.

 

[Pags]

Like I said, highly dependent on the major. When I was there in '12/'13, all the Financial Management (FM) and HR students were living it up, while engineering students generally took 3-4 more credit-hours per quarter. Operations Research (OR) is a respected and difficult program; Systems Engineering is respected (among SE types). I've heard the Defense Analysis (DA) program is good. Depends.

The AE program used to be very respected; until they closed the doors and turned it all over to AFIT in a fit of jointness. That said, life at NPS was FAR easier than life in college. Military obligations were nil, I didn't need a second job (didn't stop a few of my peers with good handicaps from looping at Pebble), and for half of the year I was there I had three day weekends every week.

Was the course material challenging. Of course. But there were very few times when I was at risk of working a 12hr day, let a lone a all nighter. To say my QOL was high is a bit of an understatement; I golfed, I drank, we had an unstoppable bar trivia team, I dedicated a decent amount of time to a full season of fantasy baseball (dear god, never again), I learned to sail and sailed competitively at least twice a week on the bigger boats in the yacht club, I played intramural soccer.

NPS as a JO from the fleet sure would be a grand time to recharge, enjoy your family, etc. But there's no way you'd be working as hard as your buds flying in the FRS, WWS, or HTs.

 

[Spekkio]

Pretty spot on.

I still worked pretty hard for my AE degree but I was never too stressed that I was going to fail or get a grade worse than a B.

I have yet to speak to a person who felt differently about their Masters program, regardless of institution.

 

[Recovering LSO]

NPS as a JO from the fleet sure would be a grand time to recharge, enjoy your family, etc. But there's no way you'd be working as hard as your buds flying in the FRS, WWS, or HTs.

But, but, but... that's not fair... I should be able to do anything I want, go anywhere I want, let other people do the fleet's work - and still promote and select... //end sarcasm//

 

[Spekkio]

Like I said, highly dependent on the major. When I was there in '12/'13, all the Financial Management (FM) and HR students were living it up, while engineering students generally took 3-4 more credit-hours per quarter. Operations Research (OR) is a respected and difficult program; Systems Engineering is respected (among SE types). I've heard the Defense Analysis (DA) program is good. Depends.

I was there as an OR student and while the workload was more than say a FM student (I had class 4 days a week and classes on Fri during a whole two of the 8 quarters in the program), it wasn't heavy.

Like I said, talking to others it seems par for the course that Masters programs are generally not all that challenging. The hard part is when you also have to work to support yourself and family, something you don't have to do at NPS.

 

[Spekkio]

Gotcha, makes sense. I just don't see that there'd be a need for DHs with grad degrees. all the arguments for having a grad degree seem like nice to haves vs needs. And I say this as a guy who had an NPS degree during my years of service. It only came in handy when I was applying for AEDO. Also as a guy with an NPS degree I feel free to say that an NPS degree isn't some secret sauce. NPS isn't some vaunted bastion of higher education.

Spot on.

I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to have a shore tour there, it was a great experience. However, the argument for keeping it around is more based on the intangibles and 2nd order effects than directly applying the education to your day job. While there's time to get 11xx to school, there is not the additional time to spend 2-3 years using that education.

I probably won't be programming spreadsheet simulations and analyzing output statistics on my sea tours... Just a hunch.

 

[SynixMan]

A smart person once told me Naval Aviation really values two types of "graduate eduction" for JOs. One is the kind you get after a few months in Fallon and comes with a patch. The other you get at the FRS while you're instructing there. All others are nice, but won't help you be a DH and continue on.