nice.
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Officer Life
- Thread starter UpSidEdown777
- Start date
+1
It'd be better to start reading through the older posts though. There is a lot of good information to read through to help you make that decision.
Your not gonna get all the info you want or need in this one thread to make a good decision.
There isn't a book or anything out there that will tell you what your life will be like in four years. Up to now (22 y/o in your case) your life was predictable (step 1 high school, step 2 college etc.). That's over. Welcome to real life, aka unpredictability. I have NO IDEA where I'll be at the end of this year let alone making plans on 4, 8 or 20 years down the road. Go for what you want in life, but be prepared to get punched in the face, if you're smart, you've braced yourself for it and if you're strong enough, you'll keep going.
Everyone's experience is different, so trying to be exact is pointless.
Everyone's experience is different, so trying to be exact is pointless.
You haven't "lost any respect" as of yet, chiefly 'cause you haven't "earned" any. That's NOT meant as a criticism, you understand, it's just an observation. If you go into the NAV ... the respect will come as you progress in your Naval career and "earn it" ...
But as for the "focus" and "educated desicion(s)" you mentioned that might come along your path .... mebbe you should look at it this way:
If we were in a big -- a significant -- Naval air war and you KNOW you're probably goin' that direction when you finish the TRACOM all things being equal --- what would your "focus" and "decision(s)" look like then .... ???
Would you "do it", then?? If so, all the rest of the "education" becomes irrelevant, academic and merely fluff. You should join up.
If NOT ... then you should probably move along and make movies ...
The numbers in this thread make it clear that if you join the Navy, the most likely outcome is that you will end up a helo pilot whose wife sleeps with your next door neighbor while you are deployed. Odds are not in your favor, so if you are a guy who like to play it safe and rely on the numbers, best to look elsewhere.
As to your question, I think it has nearly everything to do with what kind of woman, or, in your case, apparantly "girl", you are into. Out of 50, I'd guess 35 wouldn't even want to try, or would run for the hills when they realize that despite what Top Gun told them, you don't run around looking hot in chokcers most of the time. Of the remaining 15 who are left after the get a decent sense of what life willeb like, I think 8 are capable of handling it, but only if their particular pilot is worth the enduring the level of suck that sometimes happens, and suffering through months at a time of celibacy. So it has as much to do with you as it does her.
Don't forget that 95% of the world is undatable!
Maine Vaulter
USMC Candidate - Air
Wait, the ~2 years of flight school isn't counted as active duty?
thull
Well-Known Member
Im sorry to say but I think you already lost some, maybe most of the respect from the tough AW crowd. Sometimes you just can't map out your life. Most people on this site just started with the dream of being a Naval Aviator (and when they found out they couldn't, they took the next best option, Naval Flight Officer). On this forum, you are dealing with people who gave it all they got to make their dreams a reality. And they all know that if you have other things lingering in your mind other than getting through OCS and Flight school, you won't make it. If you wanna fly for the Navy, then do all you can to make it happen and everything else will fall into place when the time comes. For now, go one step at a time. It's all about risk and reward, bigger the risk and sacrifices, greater the reward. Arite, now I gotta go back to memorizing my Big 4s
How are you in a position to speak for the "AW crowd"? You haven't gone to OCS yet, you know next to nothing about everyone on this site, and you know next to nothing about the OP.
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Roll with it Nick
It is, but the commitment is 8 years from winging.
Maine Vaulter
USMC Candidate - Air
Understood, Thanks.
It's a tough road no matter how you slice it. Some days it's going to be really amazing and some days it's going to really suck. On those days, the only cool thing about it is the sense of pride you get from being in the military. You'll get to see and do things that your civilian buddies couldn't even imagine, but you'll also deal with issues they don't have to (e.g. deployments, erratic schedule, moving fairly often). It's going to be a strain on any relationship but so are kids, houses, money and a million other things.
You'll never fully understand what you're getting yourself into until you're already committed. So, decide if you think all the things that appeal to you (being an officer, flying, seeing the world, etc.) are worth the hardships that you may not fully understand yet, but know are coming. At about year 8 you can decide if you want to stay in or fly for the airlines or be a millionaire or whatever.
Even if you hate every minute of it (and you won't) you'll still get a lot out of it.
You'll never fully understand what you're getting yourself into until you're already committed. So, decide if you think all the things that appeal to you (being an officer, flying, seeing the world, etc.) are worth the hardships that you may not fully understand yet, but know are coming. At about year 8 you can decide if you want to stay in or fly for the airlines or be a millionaire or whatever.
Even if you hate every minute of it (and you won't) you'll still get a lot out of it.
shotcalla10
what percent of RL officers get jets?
i'm in the position to make speculations about the AW crowd from being on this site religiously and searching and reading as many threads as I possibly can as well as from the countless "tough love" feedbacks I've gotten from many people on this site. And you're absolutely right in that I haven't gone to OCS yet and know nothing about most people on this site and know nothing about the OP besides the things he said in the posts, but dude... you just proved my case... you making comments about my post more or less in a derogative way is a little proof that the general AW crowd is tough (and I like that about this site because they don't fvck around and are straight forward and even like all the sarcasms and such, at the end of the day, they are helping everyone out in that way because we should all be able to take all the criticism and "tough" feedbacks the positive way and be more motivated). Besides, I thought my prior posts were in good taste (i used smiley faces didn't I???
) and I did eventually offer my sincere .02. I never put words in anyone's mouth, just regurgitated things that more experienced Naval Officers on this site have said over and over and over and over again that the road to Naval Aviation is extremely demanding and the only way to get there is if we go all out 110%. Anyway, didnt mean no harm so my apologies if I offended anyone else.