Sna-bdcp

[Fetter]

I'm looking into the BDCP program for SNA and I can't find the answer to my quesiton. I want to be pilot, not an NFO or anything else. If I get selected for SNA, does this mean that I will for sure go to flight school? What if there is a shortage of SNA slots by the time I get out of OCS? Can the Navy send me elsewhere since I would have already signed the contract? I just want to know what can go wrong in this whole process.

Thanks.

 

[RichardDelk]

If you are selected for an SNA slot, that is a guarantee that you will at least be given a shot at getting through flight school. They won't say something like "well, we're out of aviation slots so you're going SWO."

Don't put the fact that you are solely interested in being an SNA in your motivational statement though......

 

[Thisguy]

Concur...the changing of needs will not affect those already selected, rather it will effect those applying for the particular fiscal year.

 

[Fetter]

Don't put the fact that you are solely interested in being an SNA in your motivational statement though......

There's another thing I'm unsure about. How much should I emphasize that I only want SNA? I was told by someone from VFA-106 that if I want to be a SNA, I should only apply for SNA and not take anything else. I'm supposed to keep sending in applications until I get the job I'm really after. I don't want to apply for SNA/NFO, get selected for NFO, and have to turn it down. However, I don't want to give the impression that I want to be a pilot more than a naval officer.

 

[fighterpfeif]

If you want SNA, then only apply for SNA. That was what I did and I got it. When applying I had the impression that I should've applied for both for the same reason that you are stating. But the recuriter told me straight up: DON'T APPLY FOR SOMETHING UNLESS YOU WANT TO DO IT IN THE NAVY, IF YOU WANT ONLY SNA THEN PICK ONLY SNA.

When you write your motivational statement, which was being discussed before, make sure to say that you want to serve your country as a naval officer and that flying is just an added bonus that is helping to seal the deal.

 

[BackOrdered]

I think what everyone is saying is that you should want to be an officer first and an aviator second. Circumstances don't guarantee you will always be an aviator or that you will get that far, S**t happens. Then what? No one is guaranteed to do anything, and the navy just wants to know that you won't try to ditch them as soon as you are told to take a desk job. If you have your own motives and you keep quiet about them, it's the navy's problem not yours.