Need advice: Applied Pilot/NFO, got pro rec EDO-SEGA

[Vitrivius]

Dear AW,

I need some advice from you guys. Before I start, here are my stats:

26/M (27 in January)
Non-prior
7/8/7 53
B.S. Chemical Engineering; GPA 2.7
M.S. Engineering; GPA 3.8
Private Pilot’s License 70hrs
Currently employed as an Environmental Engineer for a public agency
6 LOR (Retired O-3, boss, fellow engineer, XO of sea cadet unit, pastor, college prof)
The usual volunteer stuff (sea cadets for 7 years, meals on wheels, etc)

I got my citizenship in December 2010 and was aiming for the April board. As we all know, it got cancelled and pushed back until August. My OR called me a couple of weeks ago and informed me that even if I was selected in the August board, there would be no OCS class dates until March 2012, which would disqualify me because I will be too old.

But there’s a silver lining out of this. Apparently there’s an EDO pilot program during FY11-13 called SEGA (Submarine Engineering Graduate Accession) and subsequently I was pro rec’ed as an RL O-2 under that program. I’ve been doing a lot of research regarding the ED community and understand what the Navy expects from a submarine qualified EDO. They already have a ship out date for ODS (14 September) and choice of duty station at either Puget Sound or Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

I spoke to the Officer Community Manager who was very cordial in answering all of my questions and encouraged me to pursue my interest (aviation). Plenty of choices for overseas assignments, but it is not possible to do a lateral transfer to NFO 2-3 years down the road.

My options are:

A) Accept the commission

B) Respectfully defer the commission, and role the dice with the upcoming AF board in December and CG wilks flight initiative. (If either AF/CG doesn’t pan out, would re-applying next year make my application look bad for turning down a commission previously?)

My questions to you guys are, if you were in my shoes, what would you do and why?

 

[marmoset54]

Tough decision, I don't envy you. When I began this process, I was set on a certain designator. I researched the hell out of it and believed that I would be selected come my first board. I had visions of myself 10 years from now performing my duties to the best of my ability.

And I wasn't selected.

Unbeknownst and quite forgotten, I had been submitted to a board that I had not previously considered. It was a pleasant surprise in June.

Is it what I wanted initially? No. But the desire to become a US NAVAL OFFICER overrode the initial designator desire. I'm incredibly happy with my selection and am reading everything I can about my current designator. You need to decide whether you want to be a military pilot (albeit the AF Boards are STINGEY from what I have read) or become a US NAVAL OFFICER.

I'd suggest taking the EDO commission.

 

[Vitrivius]

thanks for the 2cents, I appreciate it. And yeah, it's kinda surreal that the Navy has more OCS pilot slots than the AF for FY12.

 

[xmid]

If you want to fly I would say re-apply for pilot/nfo. If you are commissioned as an O-2 it's going to be at least 2 years before you get in to flight school and thats assuming you get picked up for a transition. You would be starting flight school as a LT and it would be very hard to get back on track to follow the normal career progression. If you think you only want to do one flying tour thats one thing, but I'd still say re-apply for what you really want.

 

[Vitrivius]

xmid, they will not approve lat trans. Plus I would be too old to re-apply. If I'm in it (EDO), I'm in it for the long run. I'm leaning 60/40 towards re-applying to other branches.

 

[wlawr005]

Long term? Take the EDO option. Commission as an O-2, do your time (hell, make it a career if you like it enough), get the Navy to pay for your PhD or another Masters while you are in, build an awesome engineering resume, then move on to a civilian job set for life. You can always fly on your own time, especially if you set yourself up professionally.

 

[Vitrivius]

aahh.... the SFL dilemma. To me, money is just a piece of paper written with green ink. The civie job i'm doing right now, is setting me up for life if i were to stay on the long run. On track to make $100K+ in a couple years, unionized, easy going, no pressure, 2 hour lunches (3hr on a slow day, and that's not including breakfast, lol), blah blah blah etc.

The downside are: it's a cubicle 9 to 5 job, no view, stuck in one city, hate the commute (can't beat free rent), no sense of camaraderie, seeing the same people everyday, everyone is out for themselves, to move up way up it's more of who you know and not what you know (aka bust out the golden knee pads), and the worst part is the job is that it's not fulfilling.

What i'm afraid of, is that EDO is another office/cubicle work environment (but with more hands on experience and lots of responsibility sprinkled with a couple of overseas assignments). I want a job that i look forward to the next day where waking up in the morning is not a chore. A job that i love so much that i would dream of wearing my flight suit to go to bed because i can't wait to go fly missions the next day (yeah, corny i know). A job that is fulfilling...because sometimes, i just want to fly around the world and blow shit up (even cornier haha).

anyway, thank you all for your insightful input. I will update this thread as I progress.

 

[twobecrazy]

The downside are: it's a cubicle 9 to 5 job, no view, stuck in one city, hate the commute (can't beat free rent), no sense of camaraderie, seeing the same people everyday, everyone is out for themselves, to move up way up it's more of who you know and not what you know (aka bust out the golden knee pads), and the worst part is the job is that it's not fulfilling.

What i'm afraid of, is that EDO is another office/cubicle work environment (but with more hands on experience and lots of responsibility sprinkled with a couple of overseas assignments). I want a job that i look forward to the next day where waking up in the morning is not a chore. A job that i love so much that i would dream of wearing my flight suit to go to bed because i can't wait to go fly missions the next day (yeah, corny i know). A job that is fulfilling...because sometimes, i just want to fly around the world and blow shit up (even cornier haha).

anyway, thank you all for your insightful input. I will update this thread as I progress.

I think you have a somewhat skewed idea of what flying in the military is really like. Just my opinion.

 

[wink]

With the exception of your age you should be a good candidate for aviation. BUT, these are difficult and unpredictable times and your age will be an issue. I just talked to the guys in my NRD yesterday and it looks rather grim for anyone wanting SWO or avation over the next year or so. USAF is likely worse. Not sure USCG. Pass up the EDO job and you may very well end up in the civie cubical for the rest of your life. What do you want most? You want out of the cubical, real job satisfaction, great people and a some adventure, or do you want to fly more than escape the cubical? You have a well lighted escape path out of the cubical courtesy of the EDO folks. Aviation doesn't know you are on the other side of the office dividers.

 

[wlawr005]

aahh.... the SFL dilemma. To me, money is just a piece of paper written with green ink. The civie job i'm doing right now, is setting me up for life if i were to stay on the long run. On track to make $100K+ in a couple years, unionized, easy going, no pressure, 2 hour lunches (3hr on a slow day, and that's not including breakfast, lol), blah blah blah etc.

The downside are: it's a cubicle 9 to 5 job, no view, stuck in one city, hate the commute (can't beat free rent), no sense of camaraderie, seeing the same people everyday, everyone is out for themselves, to move up way up it's more of who you know and not what you know (aka bust out the golden knee pads), and the worst part is the job is that it's not fulfilling.

What i'm afraid of, is that EDO is another office/cubicle work environment (but with more hands on experience and lots of responsibility sprinkled with a couple of overseas assignments). I want a job that i look forward to the next day where waking up in the morning is not a chore. A job that i love so much that i would dream of wearing my flight suit to go to bed because i can't wait to go fly missions the next day (yeah, corny i know). A job that is fulfilling...because sometimes, i just want to fly around the world and blow shit up (even cornier haha).

anyway, thank you all for your insightful input. I will update this thread as I progress.

hey man...the grass is always greener right? Take the sure deal man...it'll help you out in the long run.