Stupid Questions about Naval Aviation (Part 3)

[Meyerkord]

Are there any common "golden path" jobs when it comes to being a department head? I'm familiar with how the career progression goes from flight school to MSR, but I don't know much about life afterward. The only ones I can think of would be an Ops/Stucon/Safety/Admin-O since those are the ones I see at the squadrons.

 

[xmid]

Are there any common "golden path" jobs when it comes to being a department head? I'm familiar with how the career progression goes from flight school to MSR, but I don't know much about life afterward. The only ones I can think of would be an Ops/Stucon/Safety/Admin-O since those are the ones I see at the squadrons.

OPSO/MO are usually the big ticket punching DH jobs.

 

[cfam]

Are there any common "golden path" jobs when it comes to being a department head? I'm familiar with how the career progression goes from flight school to MSR, but I don't know much about life afterward. The only ones I can think of would be an Ops/Stucon/Safety/Admin-O since those are the ones I see at the squadrons.

Caveat: this is from a VAQ perspective. VFA is fairly similiar, but I can't speak for the progression in the Helo or VP worlds.

DHs typically work their way up to a "senior-level" job during their tour. They'll start at a more junior position (typically Safety), then go from there to a more senior job like Admin, Ops, or MO. OPS and MO are usually viewed as the most senior jobs, and DHs will typically get their breakout EP FITREP out of those jobs. Some squadrons may also have a Tactics Officer or other junior-level DH jobs, but it's very community dependent. I don't know if this is true for every single seat VFA squadron, but many have an LDO as Admin instead of a DH.

 

[Brett327]

Caveat: this is from a VAQ perspective. VFA is fairly similiar, but I can't speak for the progression in the Helo or VP worlds.

DHs typically work their way up to a "senior-level" job during their tour. They'll start at a more junior position (typically Safety), then go from there to a more senior job like Admin, Ops, or MO. OPS and MO are usually viewed as the most senior jobs, and DHs will typically get their breakout EP FITREP out of those jobs. Some squadrons may also have a Tactics Officer or other junior-level DH jobs, but it's very community dependent. I don't know if this is true for every single seat VFA squadron, but many have an LDO as Admin instead of a DH.

VAQ squadrons now have/will have those Admin LDO billets.

 

[Mos]

Caveat: this is from a VAQ perspective. VFA is fairly similiar, but I can't speak for the progression in the Helo or VP worlds.

DHs typically work their way up to a "senior-level" job during their tour. They'll start at a more junior position (typically Safety), then go from there to a more senior job like Admin, Ops, or MO. OPS and MO are usually viewed as the most senior jobs, and DHs will typically get their breakout EP FITREP out of those jobs. Some squadrons may also have a Tactics Officer or other junior-level DH jobs, but it's very community dependent. I don't know if this is true for every single seat VFA squadron, but many have an LDO as Admin instead of a DH.

It's similar in VP, except I'm pretty sure we have more DHs than most platforms, so you'll sometimes see extraneous DH jobs like Assistant OPS early in the tour.

 

[croakerfish]

Caveat: this is from a VAQ perspective. VFA is fairly similiar, but I can't speak for the progression in the Helo or VP worlds.

DHs typically work their way up to a "senior-level" job during their tour. They'll start at a more junior position (typically Safety), then go from there to a more senior job like Admin, Ops, or MO. OPS and MO are usually viewed as the most senior jobs, and DHs will typically get their breakout EP FITREP out of those jobs. Some squadrons may also have a Tactics Officer or other junior-level DH jobs, but it's very community dependent. I don't know if this is true for every single seat VFA squadron, but many have an LDO as Admin instead of a DH.

It works pretty much the same way in HSC. The FNG DH job is usually Admin O.

 

[Gonzo08]

VAQ squadrons now have/will have those Admin LDO billets.

Unfortunately I don't think my squadron is receiving our Admin LDO before I expect to fulfill the SADMIN-O role.

 

[Brett327]

Unfortunately I don't think my squadron is receiving our Admin LDO before I expect to fulfill the SADMIN-O role.

Admin is a good gig and you’ll learn a ton. I enjoyed my stint in that job.

 

[OscarMyers]

Admin is a good gig and you’ll learn a ton. I enjoyed my stint in that job.

+1 for the Admin department. I was assistant AO and it was definitely a rewarding job in regards to working with a great team and learning a lot from being outside my comfort zone. DTS on the other hand.....

 

[SynixMan]

Are you guys seriously trumpeting Admin O as upwardly mobile?

 

[Brett327]

+1 for the Admin department. I was assistant AO and it was definitely a rewarding job in regards to working with a great team and learning a lot from being outside my comfort zone. DTS on the other hand.....

As a guy who travels quite a bit and does all my own DTS, the amount of work that takes for an entire squadron is staggering.

 

[Brett327]

Are you guys seriously trumpeting Admin O as upwardly mobile?

I’m saying it’s a job you learn a lot from. Admin is a stepping stone, in many cases, to Ops and MO in a Tacair squadron.

 

[BarryD]

Some squadrons may also have a Tactics Officer or other junior-level DH jobs, but it's very community dependent.

Can Tactics Officer be a Super JO job?

 

[Brett327]

Can Tactics Officer be a Super JO job?

The Tactics Department, after a 10 year hiatus, seems to be making a comeback in VAQ. It's up to the Front Office, but that could be filled by the Training officer/WTI/Super JO. There usually aren't enough DHs to give it to them, but I do know of one outlier.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

The Tactics Department, after a 10 year hiatus, seems to be making a comeback in VAQ. It's up to the Front Office, but that could be filled by the Training officer/WTI/Super JO. There usually aren't enough DHs to give it to them, but I do know of one outlier.

If you could provide three tenets of leadership what would they be?