Candidate/Current Mid Parent Ask Me Anything

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Usnavy2019

10-Year Member
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Mar 31, 2013
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Hey all,

I know there is an influx of these due to the Brigade having some extra time away. In celebration of Mother's Day, I wanted to see if there are any questions I can answer from the parent side of the house. I'm a 1/C Navy Pilot select. Please feel free to ask me about anything and everything about my candidate process (both rounds), life as MIDN, academics, fitness, traditions, etc. Just my way of trying to give back after having this forum as a resource for a while.

I'll wait for a few questions to accumulate and respond periodically. Ask away!

Disclaimer: All views and advice given are/is my own and in no way do I speak as a representative for nomination boards, USNA Admissions, or any other official entity.
 
No question, but BIG TIME congrats to you!!
 
Congrats! Let us know how the move out/commissioning goes! Good luck and thanks for your contributions to this board. Keep us updated as you make it through flight school.
 
Thanks y’all! Move out was dynamic and busy. However, it was pretty well run. Commissioning was special and it was pretty cool to have a view no other class has had. Even if it wasn’t the whole stadium with the POTUS and Blue Angels, shabang, it was a good ending to a long four years. Will do on the flight school portion (probably in between phases).
 
When do you decide which type of aircraft you will fly? Or is it assigned to you? What's the wash out rate at Flight School?
 
retiredradar said:
When do you decide which type of aircraft you will fly? Or is it assigned to you? What's the wash out rate at Flight School?
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You can always decide which type of aircraft you want to fly. The Navy or Marine Corps will decide what you actually fly, based on the needs of the service.

Everyone does the first parts of flight school together. Then divvying up between rotor and fixed wing occurs, then you are eventually sent to the training squadron for the airframe you have been assigned to. You will be allowed to submit choices along the way, but the needs of the service will always take precedence.

People attrite along the way for voluntary and involuntary reasons, even for late-appearing medical DQs. I am sure stats are kept by commissioning source, reason for drop, at what point in the training pipeline they drop, and many other factors, so I am sure there is a statistically reliable range for the yield that can probably be found, especially for pilots produced in a given year as a percentage of trainees taken in. I just don’t know what the current rate is, even a SWAG. Others may have a better guesstimate.

The article at the link below, from what seems to be a fairly reliable source, cites 25%. That could include performance, conduct, medical, and voluntary DOR (drop on request.)

U.S. Naval Air Training and Operational Excellence - PMC

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
The best part (in my opinion) is Forest Sherman Field and what comes with it. Pensacola Beach is my favorite white sand beach in all the world, and the people there are as friendly as any you'll meet.
 
Ahhh .. Pensacola was a great duty station for new Ensigns ! The training was tough at times...but there were plenty of extended periods where we literally did nothing but muster in the morning, then sit around the Apartment complex pool the rest of the day. I was newly married at the time, so didn't partake in the wonderful Happy Hours and Ladies Nights opportunities that some of my peers did, but we had plenty of good times at McGuires !

Interesting question about attrition ..I don't think I have ever seen a published attrition rate. I think there is a presumption that every body that starts can earn their Wings (as pilot or NFO), Of course, there is attrition, for a variety of reasons...starting with Medical when you first arrive (the famous "NAMI -Whammy") an I recall a pretty rough "Pink Slip" program , where you received a written pink slip for any UNSAT evolutions (academic tests or flights).
 
McGuires was always a good time, usually right after being at Trader Jon's and before going to Seville Quarter.

Pensacola beach is nice to visit, but nothing beats living on Perdido Key , easy commute to NPA and close proximity to the FloraBama) :)
 
DH is part of a NAMI study and goes back once a year (probably not this year) for a physical and study interviews. I usually go with him, and we always take any of the USNA alumni sponsor mid family in the pipeline or on IP duty out to McGuire’s. That place has been there forever.

Classic. The post was about one thing, next thing you know, we’ve gone right to beaches, bars and chow, like good Navy and Marine people do. There’s that thing we tend to do. “Where you stationed?” “Rota.” “Hey, is the Move Over Bar still in Puerto?” Forget about work talk, let’s get straight to beaches, bars and chow.

I hope the diversion is somewhat educational as to naval service culture and is therefore of value.



:tomcat:
 
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I have stapled a few bucks to the ceiling in McGuire's Irish Pub and have seen a lot of drunks kiss that nasty moose, in my day.
Blech.

Flounders is way better, in my opinion. Don't forget to go to the Sandshaker for a bushwacker.
 
Hello! Thanks so much for doing this.
Do you know what the rules are for (very mild, non-medicated) asthma when it comes to being a pilot? Is it allowed?
 
Moonmonkey1000 said:
Hello! Thanks so much for doing this.
Do you know what the rules are for (very mild, non-medicated) asthma when it comes to being a pilot? Is it allowed?
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You are about 20 steps ahead of how this works.

The first hurdle is becoming qualified to be commissioned as an officer via the DODMERB process. Once in an officer pre-comm program, there is a pre-comm physical. The SAs, ROTC, OCS/OTC all have timelines for when this happens.

DODMERB Qs or DQs per the established standard. The services may choose to waive per their current policy. The service policies for waivers may suffer from each other, as missions, gear and operating environments differ. Some DQs are never waiverable. Some are often waivered. Some may or may not, depending on the actual case.

Go to the DODMERB site, read all the menu items on the left-hand side, especially on process and FAQs. Go to the DODMERB forum here on SAF, read the Sticky at the very top.

You have to go through the process to be evaluated. Use Google to search for the many threads on asthma here on SAF, to get a sense of how it works.

This is a link to what I believe is the current officer accession standard:

 
Capt MJ said:
You are about 20 steps ahead of how this works.

The first hurdle is becoming qualified to be commissioned as an officer via the DODMERB process. Once in an officer pre-comm program, there is a pre-comm physical. The SAs, ROTC, OCS/OTC all have timelines for when this happens.

DODMERB Qs or DQs per the established standard. The services may choose to waive per their current policy. The service policies for waivers may suffer from each other, as missions, gear and operating environments differ. Some DQs are never waiverable. Some are often waivered. Some may or may not, depending on the actual case.

Go to the DODMERB site, read all the menu items on the left-hand side, especially on process and FAQs. Go to the DODMERB forum here on SAF, read the Sticky at the very top.

You have to go through the process to be evaluated. Use Google to search for the many threads on asthma here on SAF, to get a sense of how it works.

This is a link to what I believe is the current officer accession standard:

Click to expand...
Thanks for the response, I’ll look into that!
 
I will put out a qualifier that just because DoDMERB approves of something doesn't mean that a certain community will take it. DoDMERB is a medical clearinghouse of sorts just for commissioning sources as alluded to above. The Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) is the DoDMERB equivalent for Navy and Marine Corps Aviation. They develop their own standards. For what it's worth, I had asthma as a kid and outgrew it when I was 12. I had no problems with DoDMERB (not even a remedial). However, I had to take a Methacholine Challenge Test (google it) for my flight physical. Asthma any age is disqualifying by NAMI standards, but waivers are possible. I got my asthma waiver by having a negative MCT and meeting additional criteria. One of the criteria was being asymptomatic and off meds for a minimum of five years, I believe.

Does mild mean you or your DS/DD still has it? Active asthma is DQ from a DoDMERB standpoint.
 
it doesn't have to be active, any HISTORY of asthma after age 13 is an automatic DQ at DoDMERB. this is the source doc you should become familiar with if you have a condition you are concerned about.

as stated above, DoDMERB does the medical screening for officer accession programs. A DoDMERB DQ can be waived by the SA or ROTC. that only gets you in the door though.

when it comes time for the pre-commissioning physical, that is performed by USNA, but USNA is not the waiver authority. USNA works very hard to get all their mids qualified, but the waiver comes from BUMED. at that point, you could be qual'd for certain jobs and not for others.

in general, unless something changes while at USNA or ROTC, if you get a waiver going in, you are very likely to get the same waiver upon commissioning, but it's not guaranteed.

for Aviation, the NAMI is a whole other thing. they do a very thorough exam and have a different set of qualification criteria.
 
What's the airspeed velocity of an unladen European swallow?
You said ask anything...
 
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