overwhelmed at the moment HELP PLEASE!

[Charles]

I've received a 4-yr navy option NROTC scholarship to George Washington University and hope to go to school there and then train to become a pilot. I could not be more excited about being awarded this wonderful opportunity but I am faced with a decision thats going to affect the next twelve or fourteen years of my life and would like to get a more solid idea of what those years are going to be like.
If someone could help me lay it out on a timeline and answer a few questions I'd really appreciate it. Four years of college and ROTC, approx. two years flight training, then what are some initial tours of duty for a junior officer and how many sea tours or shore tours will I have/where could I possibly be located and for how long? Quality of life? How many years will I be flying before given other duties? How well off will I be financially? After my commitment is up how competitive would I be if I wanted to pursue a career in corporate aviation? I know it's a lot to answer, but I'm all of a sudden a bit overwhelmed with the scope of my decision and would really like some input. Thanks!

 

[SlickAg]

First off, congrats. That's a big deal and you should be proud. If you search around this website a little bit you'll be able to find almost all of the answers to these questions. Your unit's website should also have some information about the various career fields and choices. The officers at the GWU unit will probably be more than happy to answer these questions for you. There is no committment incurred to the Navy until the day that your sophomore year starts, so if you decide to drop your contract anytime before then you don't owe anything. Hope this helps.

 

[litreofcola]

First of all congratulations on your scholarship. Second of all take a deep breath and relax.
All of your questions about your career will be answered once you get to your NROTC unit at GW. However I can try and clarify somethings for you.

In a perfect world flight training would only take 2 years to get your wings, however there are always delays and holds and waits for reasons that seem to defy common sense. however this is all cyclical and hopefully will be straightened out by the time you graduate. Probably not, so roll with the punches

After your appx. two years of flight school you will get your wings and report to a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS or RAG) to learn your specific airframe. The time you will be in the RAG is dependent on what you fly.

Once you finish the RAG you will report to your first fleet squadron for your first sea tour. This will last three years and I am pretty sure that you will make 2 Six month deployments during that time. Shore based platforms (P-3, EP-3, E-6) go on detachment to other parts of the world (not sure of the time frame on these detachments). As well as flying you will also have collaterall duties within your squadron at this time such as in charge of a division of enlisted sailors within the maintenance, safety or operations dept. etc.

After this sea tour is up you will report for a shore tour ( I think 3 years) at this time you can go be an instructor in Primary, Advanced, or the RAG, as well as go earn a masters degree, become an NROTC instructor, Test Pilot School ETC. ETC.

After this shore tour is up you will do what is called a disassosciated Sea tour, which will consist of being a part of an air wing staff on an aircraft carrier. you will not do any flying at this point in your career.

After the disassosciated sea tour you will return to squadron life if you so choose, I am pretty sure that this is the point where your committment will be up. You will probably be pretty close to Lt. Commander and will serve in the capacity of a squadron department head. It will probably involve less flying than your first sea tour but you will be flying nonetheless.

this is just a rough outline of what your career will be like for the duration of your initial committment.

My advice right now would be to worry about making the best grades you can possibly make, taking the ASTB and getting competitive scores, and having a great time in college. There is a surplus of pilots right now in the navy so the better you make yourself look on paper the better your chances. However when I entered college back in 2000 the navy did not have enough pilots, so things change but it is always good to be prepared for the worst.

Good Luck

 

[bch]

Something else that no one has mentioned yet... With an NROTC scholarship, the first year, including your summer cruise CORTRAMID (Career Orientation and Training / Midshipman) are obligation free. Worst case... you hate it, but get to see some cool things in the fleet (get a ride at the controls of a navy A/C, drive a sub and a ship, go play with the marines....etc etc etc) that most people will never see and you get a free year of college.

In my opinion, take the offer, see what you think and if you decide that military life is not for you, walk after a year. I did NROTC and loved it man. I love my career and I truly believe that taking that scholarship was the best decision I ever made.


All that said, here is a taste of what being a NROTC mid is like (this from my experience at the Universit of Colorado.)

As a 4/C (freshman) you will probably be put into a platoon (you can join the unit's drill, rifle/pistol team, or color guard unit.) If you do a competetion platoon (those mentioned) you may get the chance to travel to other units and compete/party.
Also you will be introduced to the fine military art of watchstanding. Ours was a lame phone / battalion biatch watch. Not bad, but not the greatest.
Classes are just like everyone else at the university except you wear a uniform once a week. A little uncomfortable at first, but it grows on you, and it can even be a source of pride.

After the academic yr, you will go on CORTRAMID. I had a great time. You will either go to San Diego or Norfolk (prob norfolk as you are going to an east coast school). It is 4 weeks long. 1 week with the surface community. You do things like damage control training (flood trainers), fire fighting, and then go underway on a ship for a day and a half. Then 1 week with the sub community. Same drill as the surface week, just substitute in a overnighter on a sub. Then 1 week with an aviation sqd. U could go to a helo, prop or jet sqd. It is all random, I personally went to a jet sqd and scored a ride in a hornet. Lastly you do a week with the Marines, doing marine stuff. IE rapelling, patrolling shooting... bunch of cool things, that I enjoyed, but had no desire to do for a living.

3/C and 2/C yrs (soph and junior) are about the same as the first as far as day to day stuff is. You will have the opportunity to start taking on leadership roles in the battalion in the form of midshipman billets... IE platoon chief, staff officer stuff like that.

The summer after your soph yr, you do your dungaree cruise. You can go on a boat or sub. I went on a sub, it was a great time. 5 weeks from scotland to kingsbay on a ballastic missile sub. Great experience, and a good free vacation. The summer after your junior year you go on your 1/C cruise. I HIGHLY RECCOMEND going on an aviation cruise. I went to Helo sqd and it help me make the best decision EVER. IE, learned that flying helos was awesome and that I really wanted to do it for my career.
The cruise is supposed to model the life of a Junior Officer. I got lots of stick time and got to see what sqd life was all about.

Your last year u will most likely have a higher leadership billet with the battalion and will probably be involved with helping to run the batt and mentor the underclassmen.

That is pretty much it. The stuff mentioned above is mostly accurate. If you go helos or props, flightschool should be shorter than 2 yrs... I finished in 1.5

If you have anymore ?'s feel free to Private Message me

 

[Fmr1833]

BCH- great job answering some great questions...but I have to be the one to ask...how does one go through the rather lengthy application process for the NROTC Scholarship without knowing this stuff? I went through and found it damn near impossible to do an interview without being able to answer many of these questions beforehand. Sorry to be a jerk, but it's weird, ya know? This just screams of the downside of the scholarship concept; namely, "Money first, Navy second."

 

[palatinexc]

how does one go through the rather lengthy application process for the NROTC Scholarship without knowing this stuff? I went through and found it damn near impossible to do an interview without being able to answer many of these questions beforehand.

All of the information can be found on the NROTC website. The recruiters also have pamphlets explaining all the details of the program. When all else fails, the officer recruiter is one of the best sources of information regarding NROTC. bch made a great post, but its not impossible to find all of this information easily.

 

[Charles]

Thank you so much for all of your answers, I really appreciate the time you guys have taken to help me. Now, Fmr1833...you're right, it would be impossible for me to have gone through the application process without getting answers to these questions. I'm a smart kid, don't jump to the conclusion that I just somehow stumbled through the entire application process without researching any of this or talking to people who've been there or asking my recruiter. I think the point that you probably missed is the fact that I'm overwhelmed (that means too much information :icon_wink ). The personal experiences and insights from people that have been there are much more valuable to me then what a book/website/recruiter tells me it's going to be like. This isn't a case of "money first, navy second" it's a case of wanting a perfectly clear idea of whats in store for me.
Moving on now, What can you guys tell me about the financial/quality of life aspect during the initial commitment? Also, transitioning from the Navy into civilian aviation...do military pilots have a step up on the competition or is their experience comparable? I know it depends on what you fly and other factors, but in general.

 

[bch]

BCH- great job answering some great questions...but I have to be the one to ask...how does one go through the rather lengthy application process for the NROTC Scholarship without knowing this stuff? I went through and found it damn near impossible to do an interview without being able to answer many of these questions beforehand. Sorry to be a jerk, but it's weird, ya know? This just screams of the downside of the scholarship concept; namely, "Money first, Navy second."

Well what I did: I had a navy chief (reserve) who worked at my high school. She gave me tons of guidance and pointed me to some good people when she did not know the answer....

But that was mainly just for the paperwork side of it. The interview: I just was myself. They asked why, I wanted to serve my country, I wanted to fly, and I wanted to fly off boats..... so I wanted to join the navy.


CHARLES:
As far as financial, I think you mean as a new officer. We by no means make a ton of money as an ensign, but you got 1 real good thing going for you. If you are smart (I was not) you will have no student loans after college, like most other people. But just to give you an idea, I made 38k including BAH (housing allowance), BAS (food allowance), Flight pay and base pay this yr as an ensign. After the first 2 yrs, it starts to become a bit more respectable quickly. Honestly though, it should not be about the money (even though one's lively hood is a good thing to think about b4 you committ to it). I have a ton of friends making 50k right out of college, BUT THEY WORK IN A CUBICLE STARRING AT A COMPUTER MONITOR. I get to go fly everyday, work with people who know what it means to show up on time to work, people who choose this proffession and for the most part people who enjoy their job.

I have never felt strapped for cash during the past 2 yrs as an ensign and I feel like a go out when I want and buy what I want (with in reason) with out going into debt.

As far as transitioning to a civi flying job. I was a civi pilot b4 I joined, and I was CERTAIN that is what I wanted to do after the military. Now... FVCK THAT. The type of flying I do is awesome, the training is 2nd to none and the aircraft to me are awesome! Do a search of the forum for airline stuff, I think you will find the days of jumping ship to a cushy airline job are long gone.

If you want to join to get the airlines, that is your choice... I personally would say join, becuase you want to be a NAVAL AVIATOR first and formost.

my .02

Once again, feel free to PM me with any other questions you may have, I hope this helped.

 

[Charles]

yeah, I'm not worried about the money, just curious to see how it all works out and thats about what I had figured. And the switch from navy flying to civilian is more of just an option, I don't think I'd want to go to the airlines. Maybe to a corporate flying spot for a big fortune 500 company but thats way down the line right now haha.
Now, in college as a mid I've heard you get all the military benefits like space-a flights and shopping on base etc. are those worth taking advantage of and do mids typically do so? What would be a typical flight on one of those flights, something about it intrigues me.

 

[bch]

I have never flown space-A and I would guess prob never will. Everytime I have needed to travel, it has been for a break in school (college) or leave (now). You HAVE to be back on a certain date usually or you don't want to waste a couple days of your leave waiting for a space-a slot.

As far as the xchange, if you live or go to school near a base, it can be a good thing. No tax, and sometimes real good deals. But if you do not live or go to school near one, I would not travel to go shop there.

 

[NozeMan]

yeah, I'm not worried about the money, just curious to see how it all works out and thats about what I had figured. And the switch from navy flying to civilian is more of just an option, I don't think I'd want to go to the airlines. Maybe to a corporate flying spot for a big fortune 500 company but thats way down the line right now haha.
Now, in college as a mid I've heard you get all the military benefits like space-a flights and shopping on base etc. are those worth taking advantage of and do mids typically do so? What would be a typical flight on one of those flights, something about it intrigues me.

My friend did some digging around and found out that Mids can in fact use Space-A flights. I'm not exactly sure about the details though. As far as shopping, you'll get a military ID during your first semester. This ID will allow you to shop at military exchanges online and on base. You can also shop at the uniform store online as well.

 

[Charles]

non sequitur

this doesn't really follow with my other questions...

I know the navy has fraternization rules and all of that, but I'm not quite sure if I understand them. Let's say I had a gf doing nrotc would that technically be not allowed?

 

[pennst8]

this doesn't really follow with my other questions...

I know the navy has fraternization rules and all of that, but I'm not quite sure if I understand them. Let's say I had a gf doing nrotc would that technically be not allowed?

Its generally looked down upon... but if she's not in your chain of command and you're both in the same class, it probably won't matter... You'd have to look up the fraternization policy put out by your unit.

On the other hand there are plenty of non-ROTC girls out there... probably thousands more... so why put yourself through the hassle?

 

[pennst8]

this doesn't really follow with my other questions...

I know the navy has fraternization rules and all of that, but I'm not quite sure if I understand them. Let's say I had a gf doing nrotc would that technically be not allowed?

FYI these our our regs:

1. The purpose of this letter is to publish the Battalion Fraternization Policy.
2. The policy is as follows:

a. Midshipmen will not date anyone in their chain of command. All midshipmen should exercise good judgment and not form any unduly familiar relationships in accordance with their battalion position.
b. Fourth class midshipmen shall not date a third class, second class, first class, officer candidate or MECEP.
c. Special treatment by superiors towards juniors for any reason, such as fraternity or sorority ties, friendships, or other relationships will not be tolerated.
d. Failure to uphold this policy will result in Battalion Commander's Mast and/or a performance review board.

3. Fraternization leads to a breakdown in discipline and disrupts the chain of command. Favoritism and personal feelings can get in the way of good judgment, not just in the battalion but in the Naval Service as well.

4. Fraternization and relationships among midshipmen are serious issues. Dating within the battalion is not prohibited, but it needs to be within the above listed guidelines. Questions should be directed to the battalion chain of command.

 

[WannaBEaP3gal]

Just want to throw in my two cents:
Be prepared for the unexpected... I wanted to be selected SNA, but after working my butt off for 3 yrs in ROTC I found out that my arms where too short by 1 inch to be a pilot... with the community as selective as it is right now, they will try to find something wrong with you. I got selected SNFO, and I couldn't be happier, everything happens for a reason, the initial shock though of being told "Sorry, you can't fly planes" devastated me at first. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, be open to the worst and best case scenario, you've got to be able to handle the worst if something goes wrong. GOOD LUCK!