Summer Training

[zab1001]

All they can say is no.

However, the sub guys going to dive school is fairly logical and I could see someone buying off on it. They could feasibly be required to perform those duties in their future careers. Jump school? Why would they send you if you will never use the training/qual as a Navy aviator unless you screwed something up?

Another question, whose pot of money is paying for this?

YEARS ago, as in the 80s, they did in fact allow stashed guys to go to jump school, I had 2 reservist IPs who had done it in this fashion. Based off of this, in the Roaring 90s, a number of stashed guys, myself included, attempted to try the same thing and were told "You'll never use this, and you might get hurt and lose your slots, so go drink beer/pack sand, and f off."

My advice? Ask. You never know. Meanwhile, take advantage of a paycheck and nothing to do. I suggest taking up gambling.

 

[torpedo0126]

no i know. ive enjoyed doing nothing, but jumping out of planes sounds so fun. the detailer said its fine, but it has to be done at "no cost." Which means I have to fly myself to Ft Benning and live in the barracks. the main problem is just getting a slot.

I guess is that I see as a spin-off of the way you described it...its something i probably would never get to do and since i have plenty of time i'd love to go. i'll let you know more once monday rolls around.

 

[bluesig1]

sorry...I am currently a stash ENS. I don't report to API/IFS until Nov. So I have a lot of time of doing nothing.

I've never heard of any stash ENS going to jump, but dive school I know two people who have. They both were sub guys however. The dive and salvage homepage offers an application process, but I don't know how that works for stashed JOs. I plan on calling both my detailer and dive school Monday.

I would do unspeakable things to be able to go to jump. Similar with dive, but I am somewhat nervous as to what the attrition rate is.

Any more thoughts or advice?

I have had multiple Army ROTC friends go to jump school, they all said it was pretty easy and short. I only have known one friend go to dive school in the Navy, he's enlisted and he says it's hard as balls.

 

[Gator NFO]

To me the whole benefit of being in BDCP was that all I had to do was go to school and sit back and collect my pay check without all of the other stuff Mids had to go through.

 

[navy09]

Ya, the whole Academy vs. NROTC vs. BDCP/OCS gets beat to death over and over. Pick the one that fits you best- 'cuz you can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[FMRAM]

To me the whole benefit of being in BDCP was that all I had to do was go to school and sit back and collect my pay check without all of the other stuff Mids had to go through.

Yes, but most of the MIDN that I know look forward to summer cruise, so it sounds like a good deal that you (and I) missed out on.

 

[DSL1990]

Yes, but most of the MIDN that I know look forward to summer cruise, so it sounds like a good deal that you (and I) missed out on.

i'm looking forward to all three of those summer cruises! it sounds like it will be a lot of fun. almost like going to summer camp (no disrespect intended)

i ended up not getting much additional scholarship money from vmi, but even if i did, i'd have wanted the nrotc one just so i could go on the summer cruises. i'd hate to miss those. :tongue2_1

 

[wink]

Has anyone ever heard of stashed OC's hooking up with a ROTC unit and going on CORTRAMID?

No, but that is an idea. Problems would again be cost. OC would be very likely be no cost. All the mids are on regular cost orders issued by a different chain of command. I also wonder if there would be a compatibility problem between mids and OCs. I don't know, but it is possible the NROTC CO or even CNET would not appreciate a BDCP OC with the big pay check, military free college lifestyle and guaranteed pipeline mixing with mids who are getting "paid" less, required to do more, and taking a crap shoot on designator.

 

[navy09]

FWIW...One of the ENS's on the ship I was on this summer was a STA-21 guy who did a MID-esque cruise while he was in school. I didn't talk to him too much about it, but he did 2 weeks on a surface ship and said he had to pay for his own food (I assume that means he had to pay into the Wardroom fund for the time he was there- Mids don't). YMMV but I guess it has been known to happen.

 

[lmnop]

no i know. ive enjoyed doing nothing, but jumping out of planes sounds so fun. the detailer said its fine, but it has to be done at "no cost." Which means I have to fly myself to Ft Benning and live in the barracks. the main problem is just getting a slot.

I guess is that I see as a spin-off of the way you described it...its something i probably would never get to do and since i have plenty of time i'd love to go. i'll let you know more once monday rolls around.

Jump at Benning is 3 weeks long, and not particularly difficult. However, I think you may be surprised by how 'fun' the Army makes the jump school experience. The other thing that you should think about is the ease with which you can get injured during the course. Night combat equipment jumps with a few hundred of your new Army friends present a great opportunity for you to sustain an injury that will render you NPQ before you even get to start your real training pipeline. Is it really worth the risk just to get 5 static line jumps and a qual that will be of little use during the remainder of your Navy career? If you want to jump, find a good local DZ and go through an accelerated freefall course.

 

[flopper]

The other thing that you should think about is the ease with which you can get injured during the course. Night combat equipment jumps with a few hundred of your new Army friends present a great opportunity for you to sustain an injury that will render you NPQ before you even get to start your real training pipeline. Is it really worth the risk just to get 5 static line jumps and a qual that will be of little use during the remainder of your Navy career?

Ditto; I'd much rather have wings of gold than the snow cone and a medical discharge.

 

[Panda Jerk]

Ditto; I'd much rather have wings of gold than the snow cone and a medical discharge.

+1

Well said.

 

[torpedo0126]

true...but I'll still risk it. talked to the Flight Surgeon at Great Lakes and unless I mess up my vision or like get a hernia, breaking a leg doesn't NPQ you. i would just have to wait.

if anyones interested still, my detailer returns from leave monday and i'll know more. basically though, I am SOL. unless its in your pipeline you really can't go because the money isn't there. i talked to the training officer at dive school this morning about cutting some no-cost orders, but he said they are filled with people who need the training.

my CO wrote a letter for me for jump school giving about 4 good reasons why it would be beneficial for an SNA to receive airborne training. it probably won't do anything since funding is still tight. however, i have a shot at airborne after oct 1st because thats when the new fiscal year starts. my chances are still pretty low though.

 

[Moc1Sig]

Just re-read through this and didn't see a direct answer to my question.
Has anyone had any BDCP guys show up at your rag/frs/vt squadron to hang out or just get a little insight? Or at least how opposed would your commands be to this? I imagine you can’t do much, but checking out some squadron offices/ brief rooms/ planes or more on base could be a good summer trip for us BDCP kind.

Also, anyone know of advantages a bdcp guy could take advantage of at like a Navy base air show, with their military ID that civies would not? Maybe some kind of behind the scenes activities that could make you feel like you really are in the military. You know give you a taste of the next 8..um+3(training)11..um+1(college)…the next 12 years you will be experiencing.

 

[Uncle Fester]

...Has anyone had any BDCP guys show up at your rag/frs/vt squadron to hang out or just get a little insight?...Also, anyone know of advantages a bdcp guy could take advantage of at like a Navy base air show, with their military ID that civies would not?...

What exactly did you have in mind? Managing parking, getting BOQ rooms for the airshow pilots, and finding lost children? Because that's what goes on "behind the scenes" at airshows.

Here's the thing with being a hang-around in the squadron spaces - and I say this as someone who did just that over one Spring Break - it's not a complete waste of a perfectly good vacation, but it's close. The problem is that on shore duty, the instructors who are there, are there because they have work to do. The students are there because they're getting ready to go fly; and anyway, take it from me, students are not the source for the most accurate information on the Fleet or the Program.

Also, a lot of what you'd learn about how the Program works and what's going on in the Fleet will change by the time you get to where you can use that information.

Here's what I'd say you should do: pick a locale you want to go to anyway. Jax isn't bad, San Diego can be a lot of fun if you've got the money, etc. Take some of your beach time, say, a rainy day, and go take a swing through one of the FRS's. Call or write the PAO beforehand so you've got someone to talk to, and you don't show up on a day when a change of command is going on or something.