Anytime you begin a debate with a senior O-4/O-5ish aviator with the line "when I was on (middie) cruise..." you are probably wrong. Just some friendly advice from a guy who saw that his middie cruise perceptions of Naval Air were quite different than reality. As a reference point, there are no FO's/WSO's in my community, and there are varying degrees of love for the dual anchor crowd, right or wrong.
This is good advice...
This one time at band camp.....
Best of luck, enjoy the coolest ride one could ever ask for!
C420's comments ring true (flying takes art and science), booted a Aero masters MIT grad-he was looking for a solution on 5th order diff eq on ball flying, couldn't get the idea of just making the little donut stay yellow, balls on centerline, and the little light thingy slightly above the green ones... ya gotta be smart, just not toooooo smart.