NFO Selection: Very discouraged..

[MIDNJAC]

I knew a bunch of guys in my NROTC timeframe that had non-technical majors who ended up in aviation......probably the majority actually, in spite of my school being a generally technical school. I also knew tons of guys/gals who were priors. We had a couple in my fleet squadron, and I know plenty more. I also know plenty of guys who had prior flight training experience and/or certificates when they started flight school. I had my commercial and IR tickets. None of these things made a person less than desirable to the selection board as far as I could ever tell. Don't worry about it. Who ever you have been talking to is an idiot who doesn't know what they are talking about.

 

[Flash]

There is a former CO who was an NFO with double major in Women's Studies and French Literature, a dude who graduated from Berkeley no less. It takes all types!

 

[Uncle Fester]

Mrs Fester was pushing the age limit and majored in Music with a minor in Hebraic Studies (she thought about being a Cantor). She got picked up for NFO. It does indeed take all types. ASTB is king, with your GPA a close second.

The AF does seem to like STEM majors better; maybe that's where the Yahoo poster got the nugget he formed his bullshit around. But even amongst them I've met all kinds of backgrounds.

 

[picklesuit]

Hello aviators!

My question for all of you is this: I'm prior-service Navy, of the aviation community (AM), currently one year post EAS with a year left before my bachelor's degree is complete. When I left the service, it was a dream of mine to one day return as a NFO. What I'm running into now is a lot of discouraging gouge with regards to my chances of selection through OCS.

I'm currently majoring in history with a 4.0 GPA, tons of extra-curriculars, and a job as an editor with the college press. I excelled during my enlisted years, always earning MP/EP evals, NAMs, etc. I took flying lessons in my off time and racked up 40 hours. I'm 23 and have 3 years left on my IRR contract, so I thought I might have a reasonable chance of picking up a slot, but after asking this question on Yahoo! I got some pretty nasty replies.

An individual who claims to be in the business of officer accessions told me my major was a huge negative (even with a 4.0 GPA, because "they only want STEM majors"), the fact that I'm prior service was another neg. (who wants disgusting, putrid former E's stinking up the O corps), the flight lessons were also a neg. and I needed "more leadership exp." (Never mind being a former NCO, completing a B.S. in 2.5 years, and being a member of 4 clubs and organizations while working part time). He basically told me to kick rocks and GFYS.

Is this guy being unreasonable, or do I still have a shot? I'm going to apply either way, but I would feel a lot better about the whole thing if I knew the real deal.

Whoever you talked with is an idiot.
This 3.02 GPA Animal Science prior Enlisted guy got picked up just fine. Put the app in and crush it.
Pickle

 

[sevenhelmet]

Sounds like someone on Yahoo had a chip on their shoulder to me. You'll get much better and more accurate information here. Welcome to the site!

 

[mad dog]

Just an FYI, I worked on 60-Bravo's and a little bit on Romeo's while I was in. Cool aircraft, and I worked for a lot of great pilots, many of whom were prior-E, including the skipper!

Cool beans, Grease Monkey.

Did they ever figure out how to make the automatic blade fold feature actually be automatic on the Bravo's? Just wondering...I did a wee bit o' carpet dancing on the Indy due to the automatic feature not being so automatic. Nutty, nutty, nutty!

 

[Grease Monkey]

Cool beans, Grease Monkey.

Did they ever figure out how to make the automatic blade fold feature actually be automatic on the Bravo's? Just wondering...I did a wee bit o' carpet dancing on the Indy due to the automatic feature not being so automatic. Nutty, nutty, nutty!

Finding a bravo with working auto-fold was like turning water into wine! One the other hand, we did have some top notch AE's; real masters of their craft, who over several months were able to get a few to work like they should, but that's the exception, not the rule.

 

[N4Life]

I agree with everything said by the others.

I will throw out one caution, the OCS may have an affect. Back when I was going through flight training, they put a halt to NA/NFO's going through OCS because they were so overmanned at the time. The primary path was through the boat school and ROTC, with months where maybe one OCS officer went aviation. At the time, they were practically begging people to drop out, with a lot of people told at USNA/ROTC if they select aviation, once at NATC they were allowed to leave commitment free. One of the guys in A-pool had the Navy pay for his doctorate while waiting to class up and allowed out commitment free because the Naval aviation was so overmanned. I don't was to discourage, and I don't know the current manning situations, but be aware. Otherwise what they other idiot said is BS.

 

[Brett327]

One of the guys in A-pool had the Navy pay for his doctorate while waiting to class up

I'd like to hear the particulars on this. How does one complete a PhD program in a few months? Under what Navy program was this being paid for? Drawing tuition assistance while one takes a few grad school classes =/= having the Navy pay for your PhD. Color me highly suspicious.

 

[Uncle Fester]

I'd like to hear the particulars on this. How does one complete a PhD program in a few months? Under what Navy program was this being paid for? Drawing tuition assistance while one takes a few grad school classes =/= having the Navy pay for your PhD. Color me highly suspicious.

It's Plausible, as the Mythbusters say. I could see someone who came in with a master's or did VGEP at the Academy finishing off a doctorate if they had a long wait in A-pool. Likely or advisable or common, definitely not. But possible.

 

[N4Life]

It wasn't just a few months to class up. I wish it was that low. It was averaging 7+ months after you checked in at NATC and not everyone reported directly to P-cola after commissioned. We had a class mates who didn't arrive until 6+ months after commissioning, so if you add the 7 months A-pool time, that's over a year just to start API after commissioning. For myself, after months of waiting in A-pool, I was sent to NAPI (NFO Aviation Pre-Flight Indoctrination) as a test case which when finished put me at the bottom of the class up list and I had to wait even longer for API. From what I understood at the time, he was in a similar situation, where because of the average class up time the Navy agreed to pay for his advanced degree instead of his sitting around doing nothing during A-pool (I don't know what program or if it was TA, just his stating that the Navy was paying for it). I do recall a few other students who were working on their masters degree (I was enjoying the success of completing college at the time and not ready to take on a new degree so I didn't look too much into the details ). During one of the weekly mandatory musters (Thursday I believe), they again offered a commitment free release from the Navy, just raise your hand. I remember him commenting that since they already paid for his doctorate, he was going to take them up on release. Depending on what kind of doctorate it was (I believe some take less than two years after a bachelors), depending on if he took any additional classes while at college, or after, depending on whether he went straight to aviation after commissioning or did something in between; I have no reason to doubt what he said.

 

[nittany03]

What doctorate takes less than two years? Those are called Masters degrees at best, and they usually take 2 years.

 

[Brett327]

Got it. I still think your friend was engaging in hyperbole. He probably drew TA for whatever classes he took while waiting. I suspect that the actual facts of his case are somewhat less story worthy.

 

[mad dog]

What doctorate takes less than two years?

Animal Science.

Definitely Animal Science.



Note: Just kidding, picklesuit.

 

[hummerhole]

OP..as you have heard from others, don't listen to people who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. FWIW, it actually kind of surprised me that you would take military advice from Yahoo answers.
Anyway, the answers you took to heart probably come from the same people who think that USNA guys do better in the fleet than OCS/ROTC guys.

From what I have seen, Tier 3 majors do just as well (if not better) than Tier 1 majors. I've seen people attrite from NFO flight school/RAG with degrees ranging from Electrical Engineering to Political Science. As you have probably seen from your enlisted service,a lot of success in this business stems from your attitude and work ethic. If you are a good dude, a good instructor will go out of his way to help you. If you are a shitty know it all, you will probably have a rough time.

With that being said, don't think your prior service will give you a leg up. Don't take this the wrong way, but once you start flight school, no one cares where you came from or what you have done up to this point.