I've got two questions...My first is that i've been hearing that is getting pretty easy to get NFO and Pilot and that people putting SWO as their number one with good grades are getting pilot, and that you have to have at least a 3.2 to get SWO, just wondering if there is any truth to that...Second, I want Pilot or NFO so for serive selection I was going to put Pilot #1, NFO #2, and then wanted to put something like SEAL, EOD, or Nuke as #3, because I know there is no way I would get any of those, is it a guarantee that I'll be flying???
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Service Selection
- Thread starter USS Tuna
- Start date
FormerRecruitingGuru
Making Recruiting Great Again
In the Navy, there's no guarantee for anything. With that being said, I'd say its easier to get a SWO slot than a pilot slot. First, you need to have more extensive physicals as opposed to being a SWO. Second, you have to pass the ASTB. And third, your GPA generally needs to be around a 3.0 to be selected as a pilot (according to my aviation advisor here).
Additionally they can't force anyone to go aviation because of the time committment. They honestly can't make anyone do any more than the 4 years, so even if they "give" you NFO/pilot, you don't have to do it. Happened to 2 guys from my unit this year, neither one of them is going aviation.
You're way off. And second of all, you won't even be considered for SEAL or EOD unless you put it as #1 on your list....it says that right on the service selection form. It is not "easy" to get anything; 95% of folks in comissioning programs work their butts off to get what they want, and occaisonally the Navy changes their mind a little bit. Yes there were some Pilot and (moreso) NFO drafts last year, but that changes all the time. Overall, they have been hurting for people, but so has the nuke community. But there is no guarantee that you will be flying. That said, I wouldn't worry too much....most people I know selected what they wanted, or AT LEAST their second choice....and that is more than just a trend in the last year. Put down what you want, in that order, and you will most likely get what the Navy wants you to get
Edit: to add to the pilot/NFO draft thing, everyone from my class that this happened to met with our CO and he asked them whether or not they wanted to accept. Each one did, but I guess they could have said no, and I have no idea what would have happened at that point.
Also, don't get hung up on a minimum GPA for getting what you want. There are SNA's and Pilots both from my unit, and on this board that had GPA's across the board....from 4.0 to 2.7-ish (lowest I've heard of). It all depends on your overall package, though the GPA is pretty heavily weighted of course
This is definitely true and I've known a few guys that tried something similar. If you haven't had a dive physical and done a PST you aren't elligible for EOD or SEAL even if it was your #1. I know a guy who put down Nuke as his third choice because he thought with his grades and his major that it was impossible to get selected for it... guess what he does now... Just put down your choices in order of what you honestly would like to do. Theres more to it than GPA. I got picked up (OCS) for pilot with a 2.55 (thank you plebe year...). Good luck.
war eagle
Registered User
To kind of echo what's been said already... there were two guys from my unit that graduated last August and they put SWO first on their selection sheets with no intention of doing the SNA/SNFO thing.... they're in primary now - and they love it. My roommate even got called into the MOI's office in January and was asked if he wanted to switch from SNA to SNFO before he graduated.
Bottom line, we all know it's needs of the Navy first, but I do believe that hard work pays off eventually. Good luck though.
Bottom line, we all know it's needs of the Navy first, but I do believe that hard work pays off eventually. Good luck though.
Well, for sake of argument, you cannot be forced into Nuke. It's synonymous with sub duty, a person cannot be forced into it. Although it may have been his third choice, he still had to say he'd interview with the 4-star, actually pass his interview, and then say he'd do it. So, it's not like he was "forced" into it. Without knowing him, he probably chose nuke over regular swo simply because of the extra money (and I say that because I know quite a few people who ended up doing that).
You are right you can't be forced into nuke, but you can't be forced in to aviation either and as others have said there are guys that got selected for SNA/SNFO that didn't even put it down. When I spoke with him about it I got the impression that he could have gotten out of it, but he was gonna get shafted if he did push the issue. He was told that getting choice #1 or #2 was out of the question and bitching to get out of something that he "chose" was not going to bid well for him. He went to the interview thinking that he wouldn't make the cut there, but when he did he just swallowed the pill and accepted his fate. For what its worth hes been doin' the sub gig for a little while now and really enjoys it.
zachary2777
Banned
Actually it's around $17k now for nuke. I think you get $10k just to sign. Sounds to me like they're hurting for people. Surface nuke sounds like it is hard to get, but if you want subs, you should be able to get it as long as you aren't a fuck up.
As for service selection, be prepared to take whatever you put on your wish list. Once again, you ought to be able to get aviation as long as you have decent grades and an an ASTB score. Guys at my unit who had not taken the ASTB nor had a nuke interview only put SWO and their restricted line choice (which no one ever gets) and subsequently got SWO. It didn't seem to be a problem to get SWO at my unit, although I've heard of guys at other units getting picked for aviation over SWO.
Honestly, I wouldn't even put the SpecOps stuff on there unless that's your first choice. So, you're pretty much restricted to Pilot/NFO/SWO unless you've had a nuke interview.
As for service selection, be prepared to take whatever you put on your wish list. Once again, you ought to be able to get aviation as long as you have decent grades and an an ASTB score. Guys at my unit who had not taken the ASTB nor had a nuke interview only put SWO and their restricted line choice (which no one ever gets) and subsequently got SWO. It didn't seem to be a problem to get SWO at my unit, although I've heard of guys at other units getting picked for aviation over SWO.
Honestly, I wouldn't even put the SpecOps stuff on there unless that's your first choice. So, you're pretty much restricted to Pilot/NFO/SWO unless you've had a nuke interview.
From my experience with my recruiter, they really need nukes. They're pushing this whole NUPOC thing pretty strongly in the engineering at my school. Lots of money, signing bonuses, and encouragement toward doing it (if you're qualified of course).
If they had a nuclear-powered plane, I'd be all for it.
If they had a nuclear-powered plane, I'd be all for it.
Don't worry, they're testing the feasibility of it. Plus, it's a UAV, so you'll get to fly one...with a joystick :icon_tong
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3406
So they're liberating energy in the form of gamma rays...What are they going to do with the gamma rays? I suppose it wouldn't take too much to get an X-ray gun that's light enough, but it's not exactly easy to harvest gamma rays going in all directions and then liberate that energy with any efficiency; all with a weight restriction. Not to mention that people don't exactly have pure hafnium-178 in their garages. Just purifying the hafnium is going to take more time and money than it's worth.
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Not true. We had a guy from my school this year who got turned down for subs and everyone was completely shocked. He was a really smart guy, did well in the battalion, etc. Apparently he aced the technical part of his interview but when he went to see the admiral, the admiral just didn't like him. He's a SWO now. We all felt sooooooooooooo bad for him.