UORBulldog
New Member
Ya I feel I'm in a sort of declining fun pattern- senior in college-summer-IFS-TBS
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IFS Question
- Thread starter massman09
- Start date
NavyLonghorn
Registered User
IFS is fun.
Before I left San Diego for TBS, the Navy sent a group of 6 guys through the local school I was flying out of. This was almost a year ago, but it appears to be something that they still do. The flight school has to be certified and meet certain insurance standards in order to qualify. A guy I lived with in college is currently doing his Navy IFS up in the bay area. Coordinate with the new officer in charge for your area and try to get things set up. The worst that they could do is say no...Nomar116 said:
The Marines use 3 different schools, 2 in Manassas and 1 in Quantico. Quality of aircraft and instructors varies from place to place.
*IFS is good times... TBS, though long and tedious, isn't as bad as it seems. Yes, at times you may want to knife yourself, but you learn a lot and meet some good people. Before you know it you're walking across the stage, shaking the colonel's hand and driving down to Pensacola. Keep an open mind...
New IFS gouge ... they are now having Marines do IFS at the Quantico schools as well as sending a few to Atlanta as well as a few guys to Ohio. Dont know how long this will be going for, but all the Alpha guys who dont have IFS complete will have these places as options ... something else to keep in mind.
UORBulldog
New Member
Another question- is there actual specific IFS start dates or do they just start whenever? ANd is it 6 weeks long? My OSO told me I'd be going to do IFS in August and ALpha CO doesnt pick up until end of November so the time doesn't really match up right. And you would think they would send all the Alpha company guys to do IFS in Quantico to make it easy but who knows.
UORBulldog said:
The best I can do is tell you my situation. I came here Sept 15th and did IFS before I picked up with Alpha on Nov 28th. Due to weather and scheduling, I was doing IFS all the way up to the week before we picked up. They will probably give you at least 2 months to do it. It doesn't really take that long but the weather can drag things out. They will have specific report dates to Camp Barrett, and then you will be assigned to your flight school from there ... and then they will have their own start date. You will most likely do IFS in Quantico. Let me know if you have any more questions. Good luck.
s/f
why is ifs so weather dependent? don't we fly in sh*tstorms day in day out when we're deployed? i'm guessing it has to do with the fact that the ifs guys are just student pilots and have no extensive training or that the planes used at ifs just can't handle real bad weather. someone please educate this soon to be LT. t minus 23 days
ORM is going to blow your mind...pjxc415 said:
pjxc415 said:
Its more because of the limitations of the aircraft used. The winds out of Mannassas can get pretty nasty, and will definitely exceed the max allowable crosswind for the 172. Combine that with student pilots and ORM... weather becomes a *****.
***A lot also depends on your instructor and his/her qualms about flying in wind or rain.
WhiteKnight
Registered User
I finished TBS in DEC '03, then went through IFS at Quantico, flew through the Christmas holiday and finished in four weeks. When I did IFS students had the option of attending Quantico and Manassas only. My brother is going to be commissioned in July and is reporting to Fox Company. He is currently trying to get IFS done prior to reporting, however, he has told me that the only way this can happen is either he or his NROTC battalion foots the bill. As for the Navy, people in my peer group usually completed IFS in the town they graduated college, at BWI while at Annapolis, or at Pensacola prior to API, which makes sense so as to not bottleneck the pipeline. I have not heard anything about Marines in IFS at Ohio or Atlanta. I am certain that the reason this process has not been streamlined for pre-TBS LTs to attend IFS is a breakdown in communication between TBS and Pensacola. You will find when you report to TBS that the staff is not generally not knowledgeable of, or interested in the aviation pipeline. This will probably end up with the default answer of completing TBS, then completing IFS at Quantico. This sucks for three reasons:
1. You will be attached to Mike (malingerer) CO and put on working parties around Camp Barrett.
2. You will have to live in O'Bannon hall for four to eight weeks longer.
3. Your progress through the aviation pipeline will take that much longer.
Bottom line: Don't expect any kind of cooperation from the TBS staff with anything pertaining to your flight training, I.E. IFS, physicals, waivers, ASTB, etc. If you want to get results, you will probably have to take it upon yourself to do all of the research and make all of the contacts for yourself.
1. You will be attached to Mike (malingerer) CO and put on working parties around Camp Barrett.
2. You will have to live in O'Bannon hall for four to eight weeks longer.
3. Your progress through the aviation pipeline will take that much longer.
Bottom line: Don't expect any kind of cooperation from the TBS staff with anything pertaining to your flight training, I.E. IFS, physicals, waivers, ASTB, etc. If you want to get results, you will probably have to take it upon yourself to do all of the research and make all of the contacts for yourself.
illinijoe05 said:
I loved the 3 page ORM for the O course ... then we go and run it in the rain anyway while its falling apart and the ropes are worn thin ... but yeah, flying is a different story. New pilot in small craft in a bad updraft = very sticky situation. You know, its the whole crawl, walk, run method.
Raptor2216
Registered User
UpstateKillah said:
I don't know when you went though IFS here in Quantico but the officer in charge of the IFS program here is a pilot himself. When you are doing IFS, you only job is to fly. You will not be forced to work in working parties as long as your orders say that you are to complete IFS. As for flight medical's and all, there is a flight surgeon on base and i'm sure he's here for a reason.
The staff, both student and instructors, will help you as much as they can. I'm telling you all of this from personal experience and very recent experience at that.
For us, IFS was a 6 week, paid vacation. You have virtually no obligations (barring fighting forest fires and/or other natural disaster assistance) other than getting your ass to the airport on time and learning/executing. It was FUN for my group. I had my FAA physical the morning after mess night... passed despite my haggard appearance and the fact that I was still drunk. Enjoy your time at IFS- its good stuff and very low-stress. Stop worrying about it.