Absolutely get your private pilots license. Start working on a Masters degree. If you're studying an ounce for API right now or memorizing a PCL for primary you really are overdoing it. There will come a time when you have to learn stuff and apply it very quickly, API doesn't have to be any different.
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Year Long Wait for API
- Thread starter draad
- Start date
When we were told that the standard was going from 3 strikes to 2 strikes for API, something that was ominious to me was the mentioning that you can still attrite even if you surpass that academic standard. Does that mean that some may be told, "yeah you did everything we told you that you had to do but it's just not going to work out, thanks for playing..." And then what. Redesignated? Seperated? Sounds like a Black Swan waiting to fuck a lot of people over.
I wouldn't exactly call it surpassing the academic standard if you don't meet the 3 strike rule(or 2 strikes nowadays.) It's a rule made in the current situation which is too many student aviators and still needing to pass only a certain amount. It's just how it is and you guys need to learn to deal with it. Know the standard, exceed it and you won't have a problem.
Redesignating or separating is dependent on your service. I know the Navy gave a lot of people the option to just get out for a little while but the Marine Corps sure as hell won't. You will make a wishlist of your MOS's just like you did at TBS and a job will be chosen for you depending on your preference and the needs of the Marine Corps. Some people get what they want(I know a guy who got tanks!) and some don't.
jeez i remember IFS being one of the chillest times of my life especially following TBS, nice little apt in manassas, cool instructor Mr. Schmidtke, lots of lazing around and now to hear people are actually failing out of it or severely struggling.. Just deal with the wait, i really wouldnt do much for primary because i doubt your retain any of it, if anything maybe get your hands on a system book and just go through that highlighting and understanding because once you got the engine down and other systems it'll be a lot easier to brief down the road.
I don't think the Marine experience at IFS has changed. I know that the Navy guys doing IFS at Skywarrior in Pcola are having a tough time. AFAIK the Marines who do IFS in this area do it at AMS in Milton/Peter Prince.
Skywarrior has a completely different atmosphere. I've had one experience with them and will never give them any of my money in the future because of it.
They're sending Marines to SkyWarrior now, as well. I've heard nothing but horror stories from that place, and that's coming from both the blue and green sides of the house; it's ending careers almost as quickly as Tailhook (I kid, I kid).
IFS isn't the lazy day experience that some earlier guys remember. They moved all the training down to the Pensacola area for both Navy and Marine Corps officers. Everything is standardized in ground school via 5 hour workdays in the computer lab, along with proctored tests. No take homes, no bonus notes, no book; just the standard computer supplement (which does help a lot). It is a "screening process" in every sense of the word, and kids are being dropped from almost every class.
I know I definitely wish I'd had my PPL prior to reporting, but hindsight is 20/20. If you've got the time and money to do it, more power to you. If not, it isn't the end of the world. Most people make it through IFS, so it's not a death knell or anything. There will be parts of the training pipeline a lot harder.
There's no more ground school for IFS now? No more days in the classroom with Skywarrior's Ted up in Bay Minette? Wonder why all the horror stories from Skywarrior now. Yes I know people who failed out of it when I was doing it 2 years ago (including my roommate), but it wasn't anything ridiculous. Hell, I passed and I landed like a retarded monkey.
I've met one or two Marines doing their PPL at Skywarrior after doing IFS. I don't know if they went through IFS there, but for some reason they decided that school was worth their money. Not my first choice, but maybe they were masochists?
Maybe it's a different environment when you're a paying customer. When it's not guaranteed money, and there are other options for the student, it pays to be a little nicer and earn that money.
I could be wrong though...Marines have been known to like a challenge. Can't talk from personal experience; came in with my PPL.
Assuming you finish flight training...wouldn't it be much easier, and cheaper, to test out with the FAA?
You're applying logic to SNAs. There's your first mistake.
Having already spent upwards of $40,000 of my own (borrowed) money to get my commercial ride, I understand what you're saying.
I paid $150 to take the FAA equivalency exam and it gave me a commercial-single and multi. haha suckers
Yeah but you also had to shave your head, start wearing jorts and learn to speak Yut.