The head pilot (Skip) at PAC definitely runs his school with attrition as a goal. He feels like he is saving the Navy money and time everytime he can justify kicking somebody out.
I think IFS is a great idea. It saves the Navy money and it might even make for a smoother transition into primary. But there is no need for this attrition mindset. Plenty of people DOR in IFS. These are people who just don't like aviation as much as they thought they would, and the would most likely DOR sometime during FAM flights anyway. Some of the DOR realize the cockpit is way to stressful or that airsickness is not fun, and they don't want to press on.
Taking a student that the Navy has selected, and letting a civilian decide that this person "doesn't have what it takes" seems a little ridiculous. Especially so because the civilians usually have zero military experience. Skip was a prior Marine First Sergeant (I believe), but he wasn't a pilot. One day he told me how PAC was doing such a great job of preparing students for primary. He said he tried to run things "similar to primary" so there wouldn't be as much of a shock, and that PAC studs had "better success rates in primary."
I was sceptical at the time, but now I have been through primary, and now I can laugh at this statement. I doubt any of the instructors there know what goes into military flight training. One notable exception to this is Mr. Miles down at the Eglin Aero Club. My classmates who flew there came back with stories about the Berlin air lift and the Air Force during the 50's.
I am not telling anybody not to go to PAC, but it does seem that they are more attrition minded than some of the other schools.
