USN or USAF?

[webmaster]

Maybe this has been posted before, maybe not.... got this in the email today, very apt, alot of those comments mean more to me now than they would have prior to my first tour....

USN or USAF?

by Bob Norris

Bob Norris is a former Naval aviator who also did a 3 year exchange tour flying the F-15 Eagle. He is now an accomplished author of entertaining books about US Naval Aviation including "Check Six" and "Fly-Off". Check out his web site at http://www.bobnorris.com/. In response to a letter from an aspiring fighter pilot on which military academy to attend, Bob replied with the following.

12 Feb 04

Young Man,

Congratulations on your selection to both the Naval and Air Force Academies. Your goal of becoming a fighter pilot is impressive and a fine way to serve your country. As you requested, I'd be happy to share some insight into which service would be the best choice. Each service has a distinctly different culture. You need to ask yourself "Which one am I more likely to thrive in?"

USAF Snapshot: The USAF is exceptionally well organized and well run. Their training programs are terrific. All pilots are groomed to meet high standards for knowledge and professionalism. Their aircraft are top-notch and extremely well maintained. Their facilities are excellent. Their enlisted personnel are the brightest and the best trained. The USAF is homogenous and macro. No matter where you go, you'll know what to expect, what is expected of you, and you'll be given the training & tools you need to meet those expectations. You will never be put in a situation over your head. Over a 20-year career, you will be home for most important family events. Your Mom would want you to be an Air Force pilot...so would your wife. Your Dad would want your sister to marry one.

Navy Snapshot: Aviators are part of the Navy, but so are Black shoes (surface warfare) and bubble heads (submariners). Furthermore, the Navy is split into two distinctly different Fleets (West and East Coast). The Navy is heterogeneous and micro. Your squadron is your home; it may be great, average, or awful. A squadron can go from one extreme to the other before you know it. You will spend months preparing for cruise and months on cruise. The quality of the aircraft varies directly with the availability of parts. Senior Navy enlisted are salt of the earth; you'll be proud if you earn their respect. Junior enlisted vary from terrific to the troubled kid the judge made join the service. You will be given the opportunity to lead these people during your career; you will be humbled and get your hands dirty. The quality of your training will vary and sometimes you will be over your head. You will miss many important family events. There will be long stretches of tedious duty aboard ship. You will fly in very bad weather and/or at night and you will be scared many times. You will fly with legends in the Navy and they will kick your ass until you become a lethal force. And some days - when the scheduling Gods have smiled upon you - your jet will catapult into a glorious morning over a far-away sea and you will be drop-jawed that someone would pay you to do it.

The hottest girl in the bar wants to meet the Naval Aviator. That bar is in Singapore.

Bottom line, son, if you gotta ask...pack warm & good luck in Colorado.

Banzai

PS Air Force pilots wear scarves and iron their flight suits.

 

[Darin]

I guess the question is if you would consider your decision differently if you had it to do again?

And as an aside, is the variation in equipment upkeep really that different?

I haven't seen the AF side of things, only the MC and Navy.

 

[EA-6B1]

Yea, like Darlin, would you Navy guys do it all over again?

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

Yea, like Darlin, would you Navy guys do it all over again?

In a second. I was just talking about the first time that I saw the ship from the air . . . well worth it. On the other hand, six months is a long time away from my wife, it puts a ton of strain on everybody involved, ship life is "like prison with a greater chance of drowning" and the other obvious drawbacks.

Do the math, carry the one and, for this kid, it was a damned good choice.

As an aside, I've spent +/- a year with the air force in one capacity or another and I concur with the above, though I wouldn't be nearly as complimentary.

Shooter

 

[Darin]

The AF has the half-year in Korea, though. So it isn't like you are always home. I believe you have to do a Korea stay every time you sign on for another tour, but I am not positive. I was talking to an AF O-5 about it a couple years back. He was doing a research fellowship on retention in the AF, and that was one of the things he cited.

 

[EA-6B1]

Honestly, are either home more than the other one? I mean being away from home is being away from home; ship or land. I talked to an AF Major and he said the rotation is something like 3 months deployed home for 12 or 15 then off again. I'm not sure if that's the exact numbers...

 

[webmaster]

During OEF I ran into quite a few AF personnel that were doing longer tours overseas than I was, quite a shock to them.

 

[spsiratt]

I think the 3 months deployed then home for 12 to 15 months is referring to the AEF (Air Expeditionary Force) system. It looks really good in theory, but doesn't always work. Also, it doesn't apply to everything. In theory, everyone is assigned to one of 15 AEFs that are eligible for deployment for a three month period, then safe for a year. Therefore, there are always 3 AEFs in their deployment window. Problems: it doesn't work if you need more than 3 AEFs, some jobs simply don't have enough people to split into all the AEF and are too specialized to work that way (like mine). As for the Korea rotes, it's 12 months remote (no family), but you get 30 days of leave in the middle. Not everybody has to do them when the re-up, but it can happen. I know people who have been in 15 years and have never been. Some longer and have only been once. As for me, I've never been, but I've spent more time deployed to ****hole countries than most ever will.

 

[Flash]

That actually has a ring of truth to it. Lately the AF has been deploying a lot but they seem to do that to the same people over and over, they don't seem to spread the wealth as much. A good quote that I have heard oft repeated gives you a good idea on how the AF and Navy fly differently "the Air Force has rules on what you can do, the Navy has rules of what you can't do"

 

[Darin]

Good info, spsiratt. Thanks for clarification. I knew the Korea deployment was SOMETHING nasty!

Any thoughts on the equipment inequalities (if any)?

I know talking to a B-52 wing will give one answer, and the air-to-air guys will say another, but overall?

-D

 

[spsiratt]

I can't really comment much on equipment inequalities. Most of the planes I've flown on were quite old, but seemed to be well maintained. The AF does seems to be pretty tight on maintenance and keeping things lookin' pretty. My only guess is that maybe some Navy equipment doesn't look quite as shiny new because of the corrosive nature of the climate around most Navy bases. I'm in Tucson now and nothing corrodes out here. That's why the AMARC boneyard is spread out over the desert here. I doubt there are any differences in safety or anything of that sort.