I've been lurking on this forum pretty heavily for the past month or so and I was wondering if I could get some input from some of the more experienced posters.
Some Background:
I'm a soon to be 1/C at the Naval Academy and am rapidly approaching the time when I need to put in my preferences for service assignment. I had LASIK last October, and at my 6 month check up the eye doctor told me that they didn't manage to fully correct all of the astigmatism (or the nearsightedness, but that's less of an issue) in my right eye. He said that I was technically within standards for Pilot but that I was so close with my astigmatism in my right eye that there would basically be a 50/50 shot of me getting DQ'd down in Pensacola at my flight school. He recommended that I have a second surgery on my right eye but due to my summer training schedule I'm not sure if I'll be able to have the procedure done before Sept 1 (the cutoff date for to be commissionable ). With this in mind, I've been heavily considering both USMC and USN NFO.
The Question (read here if nothing else):
They are still commissioning a handful of USMC NFOs from the Academy every year, and will still have a few spots for my class (2018). If it takes ~3 years to get through TBS and Flight School, that would mean that if I went this route I would hit the fleet around 2021 or 2022. Assuming my squadron tour is around 4 years, that would put me heading to my B-billet in 2025/26. I know from skimming the USMC Aviation plan from 2015 that the last active duty F/A-18D squadron will convert to the F-35B in 2029. So does this mean if I went USMC NFO that I'd only get one operational tour in the cockpit? Would they even send me to a shore tour if the platform is that close to retirement?
I'm really interested in being a WSO after reading up on what they do, and I'd really like to be a Marine Officer, but I'm sort of unsure what to expect for my career (at least to MSR). I understand that the community is going away soon, and I don't necessarily mind getting out or transitioning to a new MOS like UAVs or whatever it would be. I just want to be able to actually contribute for the years that I am an NFO. I have read much on this forum about the poor health of the USMC jet fleet, and that coupled with uncertainty over joining a community near the end of its life has given me pause about taking what would otherwise be an incredible opportunity.
Thank you for your time.
Some Background:
I'm a soon to be 1/C at the Naval Academy and am rapidly approaching the time when I need to put in my preferences for service assignment. I had LASIK last October, and at my 6 month check up the eye doctor told me that they didn't manage to fully correct all of the astigmatism (or the nearsightedness, but that's less of an issue) in my right eye. He said that I was technically within standards for Pilot but that I was so close with my astigmatism in my right eye that there would basically be a 50/50 shot of me getting DQ'd down in Pensacola at my flight school. He recommended that I have a second surgery on my right eye but due to my summer training schedule I'm not sure if I'll be able to have the procedure done before Sept 1 (the cutoff date for to be commissionable ). With this in mind, I've been heavily considering both USMC and USN NFO.
The Question (read here if nothing else):
They are still commissioning a handful of USMC NFOs from the Academy every year, and will still have a few spots for my class (2018). If it takes ~3 years to get through TBS and Flight School, that would mean that if I went this route I would hit the fleet around 2021 or 2022. Assuming my squadron tour is around 4 years, that would put me heading to my B-billet in 2025/26. I know from skimming the USMC Aviation plan from 2015 that the last active duty F/A-18D squadron will convert to the F-35B in 2029. So does this mean if I went USMC NFO that I'd only get one operational tour in the cockpit? Would they even send me to a shore tour if the platform is that close to retirement?
I'm really interested in being a WSO after reading up on what they do, and I'd really like to be a Marine Officer, but I'm sort of unsure what to expect for my career (at least to MSR). I understand that the community is going away soon, and I don't necessarily mind getting out or transitioning to a new MOS like UAVs or whatever it would be. I just want to be able to actually contribute for the years that I am an NFO. I have read much on this forum about the poor health of the USMC jet fleet, and that coupled with uncertainty over joining a community near the end of its life has given me pause about taking what would otherwise be an incredible opportunity.
Thank you for your time.
