Choosing the Right Branch

byxguan

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Apr 7, 2018
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I am an incoming high school freshman and it has always been a dream of mine to attend a service academy. The goal would be to become a fighter pilot or ground crew if I don't grow to meet the height requirements.

So far, I've been trying to decide between USNA and USAFA. I know that both have outstanding aerospace programs and many opportunities to become a pilot, so I was wondering what you guys based your "branch decision" on.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read my message. I really will appreciate any advice.
 
1. Think lifestyle. Do you want to be away at sea for six months at a time? Do you get sea sick? Do you want to land your plane on a pitching and rolling postage stamp? Are you willing to fly a rotary aircraft in the Navy if it comes to that? Or do you prefer to be at home in the evening with the family, taking off and landing on a long runway on land, and have a better probability of getting fixed wing?

2. Does your sitting height match the air frame you desire? You have to fall within a particular sitting height range for a particular air frame. If you're really short or really tall then a pilot slot could be out of the question, or your desired air frame might be.

3. Study the jobs available in each service in case you don't get your first or even second choice. Are there jobs you would still consider interesting? There is never a guarantee you'll get your first choice. Even if you're at the top of your class, if the service doesn't need new pilots that year, then you will not be getting a pilot slot. You can locate officer MOSs on the respective service's web site. Study them.

4. The last factor to consider is which school you prefer. But that's only 4 years and being a pilot you'll serve at least 7 years active duty. Last I checked 7 is greater than 4, so what comes after college is probably more important to you than the college itself, especially if you think they both have excellent programs.
 
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Do you get sea sick?
Just a comment here as I've seen you and others write this before. During my time as a Surfavce Warfare officer, especially aboard an Amphib where we brought many new people aboard often, I've seen literally thousands of "landlubbers" experience being at sea for the first time. Depending partially on weather the first few days at sea, I've seen quite a few people get seasick in those first few days in the environment but probably 95 (or greater) percent of the seasick ones get over it and become accustomed to the motion of the vessel. I've seen plenty who had been seasick on the one or two occasions they had been out on the water get through it as well.
Bottom Line for me - unless a person has spent a significant amount of time at sea, them being seasick long term is far from a probable thing and probably similar to being carsick/airsick (really probably the same people) in terms of being a long term problem.
 
Good point @OldRetSWO. Still it's something to be considered along with the rest of life at sea. Maybe in future I'll say something like "Can you deal with being sea sick the first few days at sea?".
 
Definitely check out both campuses when it comes time. I’m a high school junior right now and at first, after visiting the campus, I was pretty convinced I wanted to go Air Force and only Air Force. Plan 1 was the academy and plan 2 was AFROTC. But, after getting back from my CVW today at USNA, I’m realizing how much I loved the campus and the navy. It’s definitely something that you should check out first hand. Thinking you know what the academy is all about and actually experiencing it/ visiting it are two completely different things. It put so much into perspective for me and definitely changed my mind. Now USAFA is still my first choice, but USNA is a close second. I would’ve never known how much I loved the naval academy and the opportunities there if I hadn’t visited this weekend!
 
Good point @OldRetSWO. Still it's something to be considered along with the rest of life at sea. Maybe in future I'll say something like "Can you deal with being sea sick the first few days at sea?".
Kinnem, how much time have you spent at sea? Myself about 17 years total mainly on Tin Cans. Found that people that stayed busy didn't have an issue with sea sickness and if you're not busy or asleep you're a passenger on a Carnival cruise.
 
Hah! I spend time in small boats on fresh water lakes fishing. Just repeating what people have said here in the past and I've already stated I would change what I say in that regard. BTW, the main point of what I stated remains the same, consider life in the Navy and at sea vs life on land with the Air Force.
 
@BTCS/USN: I may be in the minority, but I can get seasick looking at a fish tank. I have spent a fair amount of time onboard various amphibious (LST, LPD, etc) ships and even 6 weeks on the USS Blue Ridge (LCC) and been seasick on all of them. Even worse when drilling circles in the ocean before a landing buttoned up in a Landing Vehicle. I have always believed the reason Marines fought so hard to establish a beachhead was so they wouldn’t have to get back in the ship! [emoji57]
 
Definitely check out both campuses when it comes time. I’m a high school junior right now and at first, after visiting the campus, I was pretty convinced I wanted to go Air Force and only Air Force. Plan 1 was the academy and plan 2 was AFROTC. But, after getting back from my CVW today at USNA, I’m realizing how much I loved the campus and the navy. It’s definitely something that you should check out first hand. Thinking you know what the academy is all about and actually experiencing it/ visiting it are two completely different things. It put so much into perspective for me and definitely changed my mind. Now USAFA is still my first choice, but USNA is a close second. I would’ve never known how much I loved the naval academy and the opportunities there if I hadn’t visited this weekend!
May I ask how you already had a CVW as a junior and the application just opened?
 
@BTCS/USN: I may be in the minority, but I can get seasick looking at a fish tank. I have spent a fair amount of time onboard various amphibious (LST, LPD, etc) ships and even 6 weeks on the USS Blue Ridge (LCC) and been seasick on all of them. Even worse when drilling circles in the ocean before a landing buttoned up in a Landing Vehicle. I have always believed the reason Marines fought so hard to establish a beachhead was so they wouldn’t have to get back in the ship! [emoji57]
USMCGrunt, I hear ya but when I said stay busy I meant standing 8 -10 hours of watch a day, doing ships work in between, drills, taking on stores, refueling, loading bullets, working on quals and a "boatload" of paperwork, eating and grabbing the 4 or so hours left in the day for rack time. Most MarDets I've rode with spent their time working out or hanging around, not doing much and bored to death waiting for us to land them someplace. Ship's company has a slightly more intense schedule underway. Not much time left in the day to spend hanging over the rails. [emoji3]
 
May I ask how you already had a CVW as a junior and the application just opened?

I applied for summer seminar, and a few weeks ago got an email telling me that I was not accepted to summer seminar but was being invited to CVW instead. The majority of the other candidates at CVW this weekend were juniors as well.
 
Do you want to land your plane on a pitching and rolling postage stamp?
Kinnem, would you consider changing that phrase to “do you have what it takes to land your plane on a small piece of US sovereignty in the ocean”?
 
May I ask how you already had a CVW as a junior and the application just opened?

I applied for summer seminar, and a few weeks ago got an email telling me that I was not accepted to summer seminar but was being invited to CVW instead. The majority of the other candidates at CVW this weekend were juniors as well.



I am a junior and had my CVW in November of my junior year. They just invited me.
 
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