ea6bflyr-- You're an old man now... no more RIOs, just Rhino WSOs. LOL, just messing with you man. Yeah, it's still there... I just realized I've spent more hours in that stupid building than I have in the T-6, T-1, and T-39 combined... ugh.
Cindy- the gouge number is 45, but that's not set in stone except for the Chair Force. Like I said, the Navy is begging for Super Hornet guys, and plus there's so many folks (like yours truly) who the anthro guys won't let sit in the Prowler. So right now the issue is more "will you survive the Strike/Fighter syllabus?"
Remember, you can't get winged if your NSS is below 35, and due to the competitiveness of the S/F pool, your NSS will drop about 4 points after selection. So really, the rock-bottom MINIMUM should be a 40, but you should strive to get at LEAST a 45. Won't be easy, though, especially when you realize that the radar in the plane looks nothing like the radar in the sims.
Quick, what's the boldface for brain fire in flight? LOL!