What goes into making quals beyond PPC on your first sea tour?

[fallada711]

Understood that I’ll probably get blasted for worrying too far in advance or not using the search function (I tried) but from my understanding, most people make PPC, HAC, (etc.) on their first sea tour as long as they don't have any major screw-ups and are able to progress normally. What goes into progressing farther, like making IP in a VP squadron? Do you just need to get lucky to get enough hours to get that far through the syllabus? Is it something the front office picks people for?

Just was curious as I hadn’t heard too much about it from instructors. Thanks!

 

[CommodoreMid]

Lots of factors overall, but your performance upgrading will set the tone. Guys who are consistently above the upgrading curve get positive attention, but if you drag your feet, have to be berated into doing PQS, and qualify at the last minute, odds are quals above 300 aren’t going to be in your future. Performance as a level 300 and the trust to go out and do the hard missions from your front office goes into it. Screwing up easy things will hurt you.

Also the other instructors and DHs are looking to see how much you’re mentoring the new guys as a function of if you can teach good habits. Finally, performance as an officer matters. You can crush it in the aircraft all day, but it can hurt you if you can’t be trusted to do the other hard work that makes a squadron function. Saw a guy during my DH tour that ended himself this way. He was all about flying, but when it came to being well, an officer, suddenly he was too cool for those tasks.

 

[Meyerkord]

At my squadron (HSM), a lot of the decisions for who gets advanced quals happens at the quarterly Standardization Board meeting, where the front office, DHs, and a few senior JOPA get together to identify the hard chargers that would be a good fit. Most of it comes down to your performance and proficiency in your ground jobs and in the aircraft, as well as the amount of time remaining at the squadron to actually use the qual.

 

[MIDNJAC]

Lots of factors overall, but your performance upgrading will set the tone. Guys who are consistently above the upgrading curve get positive attention, but if you drag your feet, have to be berated into doing PQS, and qualify at the last minute, odds are quals above 300 aren’t going to be in your future. Performance as a level 300 and the trust to go out and do the hard missions from your front office goes into it. Screwing up easy things will hurt you.

It is utterly amazing that "PQS" is even in the vocabulary of an aviator, much less actually an approved term with relevance to tactics. Fly on sky SWOs

 

[CommodoreMid]

I wish it wasn’t, but when Big Naval Aviation is cool with our FRS spitting out level 100s who are only capable of wiping their asses, here we are.

And that’s not meant to be a slam on the bros at 30, they have their mandate and limits on training time, they’re doing what they can.

 

[SynixMan]

Quals are essentially how the Front Office rewards their picks before FITREPs. You'll notice people who are on the "fast track" getting more quals earlier and later on advanced quals (IP, FCP, Level 300, etc). Sometimes deployment timelines play a part since you need X qualified people in to go and someone may or may not be a deployment player (timing).

A few factors I saw in HSC:
-Squadron reputation outside the cockpit. Do you take your ground job(s) seriously? Do you play well with the wardroom, and to a lesser extent with the goat locker and bluejackets? Numerous examples here but this is like an "interview" for O-4/DH.
-Fucks given about flying related stuff. Do you have all your prerequisites met and are you in the books early on? Conversely, do you have to be constantly reminded to do shit and show up unprepared?
-Stick skills. Some people just don't have it, although this will usually manifest at the Aircraft Commander qual level. Skipper doesn't trust you behind the boat at night? Sorry, this isn't charity.
-Visibility. Did you spend a ton of time on Det with a weak OIC who doesn't advocate for their people? You might be unknown and have to grind to keep your rep up at homeguard.

As @Meyerkord mentioned, it kind of happens at the Stan Board. But the Front Office usually has a good idea who they want going into those, although good ones will remain open to suggestions. I'll say as a senior JO running FOPS planning (weeks 1+ to 4) organizing Level 3 dual ship stuff with external entities/ranges/Weapons School, I'd often walk into the CO's office with a plan to push JO A, B, and C on their quals based on seniority-ish and they would look at the qual matrix and make real time changes to JO X and Y. It's subtle.

Ultimately quals are finite and require resources (flight hours, weapons expenditure, ranges, instructors) so they are the CO's investment in you and their belief it will pay off in you staying in the community as a DH and potentially CO.

 

[hdr777]

I wish it wasn’t, but when Big Naval Aviation is cool with our FRS spitting out level 100s who are only capable of wiping their asses, here we are.

And that’s not meant to be a slam on the bros at 30, they have their mandate and limits on training time, they’re doing what they can.

Whats the time to train there? Any diffrence between pilot and NFOs?

 

[Waveoff]

Be good at your job (ground job), be good in the plane (airmanship and upgrading), and be good in the wardroom (be a good dude and dont be a dick).

Outside of that, it’s in the hands of fate and timing. So many fitreps will say “sustained superior performance” but a good chunk of it is actually “sustained superior timing”.

IMHO there’s no dumb luck. A Roman philosopher said “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” That’s not to say you should give up and adopt “it is what it is”, rather do your best, stay ahead of the curve, and be a good officer/mentor/leader, and good things will happen how they should.