Life/OPTEMPO In Each Service Branch

Aviator25

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If anyone can speak to this, I would like to know more about the differences with life and the operational tempo in each branch. What are the key operational tempo differences between Army/USAF/USN/USMC? Specifically, what is life like with deployments and having to move? With each branch, is life more like having to move every 2-3 years or can you permanently live somewhere and go on deployments every few months/year?

What is life like in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer or on a submarine? How often do you go out to sea, what happens in the time when you are not on a ship/submarine, and where do most people live when not out at sea (do they have a permanent home or constantly moving and having a different job)? Lastly, how flexible are the different branches with changing jobs? Can I become a naval aviator for a few years and then be on a submarine or be in cyberwarfare?
 
So, you have to realize you are asking about the lifestyle of about 2.5million people. There is no easy answer. Infantry is different than submariners, of course, but Army H-60 pilots have differences from Air Force H-60 pilots...and Air Force H-60 pilots have different ops tempos and lifestyles across the different squadrons (Weapons school vs schoolhouse vs operational unit vs test vs...other stuff..etc).

You really have to narrow things down to a couple career fields within a service or two, and even then we can usually only talk in averages.

I had one assignment with a unit that had alert missions going 24/7. I didn't travel much, but the hours were very strange sometimes. Then I had one assignment where I was gone TDY almost as much as I was home. This was for the same aircraft.
 
Can I become a naval aviator for a few years and then be on a submarine or be in cyberwarfare?
Not likely. In every branch of the military, you are usually kept in aviation once you earn that designation. The service doesn't want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on training you to fly, only to have you switch jobs and spend another large sum of money to retrain you. Usually the only reason a pilot cross-flows to another career field is due to medical issues, and even then they are often kept in a flying related staff job minus the aircrew duties.

Of course there are always a few outliers, but it is largely uncommon.
 
Not likely. In every branch of the military, you are usually kept in aviation once you earn that designation. The service doesn't want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on training you to fly, only to have you switch jobs and spend another large sum of money to retrain you. Usually the only reason a pilot cross-flows to another career field is due to medical issues, and even then they are often kept in a flying related staff job minus the aircrew duties.

Of course there are always a few outliers, but it is largely uncommon.
Like this guy.

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So, you have to realize you are asking about the lifestyle of about 2.5million people. There is no easy answer. Infantry is different than submariners, of course, but Army H-60 pilots have differences from Air Force H-60 pilots...and Air Force H-60 pilots have different ops tempos and lifestyles across the different squadrons (Weapons school vs schoolhouse vs operational unit vs test vs...other stuff..etc).

You really have to narrow things down to a couple career fields within a service or two, and even then we can usually only talk in averages.

I had one assignment with a unit that had alert missions going 24/7. I didn't travel much, but the hours were very strange sometimes. Then I had one assignment where I was gone TDY almost as much as I was home. This was for the same aircraft.
Could you talk about operational tempo/life with Naval Aviation and Subarmines in the Navy and also Infantry in the Marine Corp.
 
Could you talk about operational tempo/life with Naval Aviation and Subarmines in the Navy and also Infantry in the Marine Corp.
Submariners have two major branches - Fast Attack and Ballistic Missile Subs.
Fast Attack subs have schedules that are generally at least similar to surface ships. You generally deploy for 6 months or so and while deployed generally have some port visits. Port visits can be just a break or they can also be to do maintenance and/or repairs. While not always true, you can generally expect a year between deployments but during that year, you might go out to sea for a few days or weeks for training, exercises, etc.
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Ballistic Missile subs deploy for shorter time periods but are out and underwater for essentially the entire time as their mission is to "vanish" until they are needed. Their deployments tend to be very very well schedule/planned for a very long time in advance. Generally, when not deployed, another crew takes over the sub and your crew trains and does admin in a building. Deployments are approx 3 months and then you're home for 3 months.
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SWOs/surface ship life is much like the Fast Attack Subs described above but they can all vary greatly. For instance my first two ships had great contrasts as in the case of the first, it was still under construction - in my first year assigned, I spent only ONE night aboard/away from my wife and that was literally at the end of that year. The following year had a range of short, up to a couple of month periods at sea but still had the majority of the time in our homeport or in the shipyard. On the other hand, while my second ship was actually in a shipyard when I reported, we proceeded to do four deployments which totaled 14 months in the 19 months that I was aboard. We really got to do a lot of interesting operations in those months away but it was certainly a lot of time away.
Neither of those two examples were typical but nor were they unusual. After 3 or so years of Sea Duty, you generally rotate to a shore tour where you are away much less often but you could get that shore tour in a foreign country.
 
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Not likely. In every branch of the military, you are usually kept in aviation once you earn that designation. The service doesn't want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on training you to fly, only to have you switch jobs and spend another large sum of money to retrain you. Usually the only reason a pilot cross-flows to another career field is due to medical issues, and even then they are often kept in a flying related staff job minus the aircrew duties.

Of course there are always a few outliers, but it is largely uncommon.
It depends, but it can happen.
In the Army, once you have a successful command you normally chose a functional area... at least you did in the past. I knew aviators who went comptroller (finance and budgets) and FAO (Foreign Area Officer). There are several tracks such as these where you will probably never fly a military airframe again.
You can also apply for medical school and law school. I've known pilots who did both.
But aviation then subs or infantry... not saying it never happens but I haven't heard of anyone doing that.
 
Just to clarify my answer from a pilot’s perspective.
Flight school is going to last a year + followed by an 8-10 year ADSO (Active Duty Service Obligation). In the case of my Marine nephew, it was 5 years from commissioning to finishing RAG. So by the time his obligation to Marine aviation was done he had 13 years in, almost an O-4. Tough to change course at the 13 year mark unless you are doing something like medical school, JAG, a few other specialities, some of which I listed.
Second, going to flight school (or submarine school or other specialities) is just the start, you graduate with a learners permit. As a pilot you go to the “fleet” and learn to really operate. You slowly gain the necessary experience (and rank), needed to not just fly one aircraft but to lead a squadron. This takes time.
It’s the same in submarines I imagine. You graduate as a JG from sub school with a learner’s permit. You have much to learn and prove over many years before anyone will give you the keys to a nuclear powered submarine. Trying to do this as an O-4 would be nearly impossible.
It’s not uncommon in the Army and Air Force for officers in other specialties to be accepted to flight school. I think the Navy does as well, though not as common. Still, they normally won’t take anyone beyond the rank of a senior O-2 as the learning curve after flight school is just too steep. I imagine submarines are similar.
 
Submariners have two major branches - Fast Attack and Ballistic Missile Subs.
Fast Attack subs have schedules that are generally at least similar to surface ships. You generally deploy for 6 months or so and while deployed generally have some port visits. Port visits can be just a break or they can also be to do maintenance and/or repairs. While not always true, you can generally expect a year between deployments but during that year, you might go out to sea for a few days or weeks for training, exercises, etc.
.
Ballistic Missile subs deploy for shorter time periods but are out and underwater for essentially the entire time as their mission is to "vanish" until they are needed. Their deployments tend to be very very well schedule/planned for a very long time in advance. Generally, when not deployed, another crew takes over the sub and your crew trains and does admin in a building. Deployments are approx 3 months and then you're home for 3 months.
.
SWOs/surface ship life is much like the Fast Attack Subs described above but they can all vary greatly. For instance my first two ships had great contrasts as in the case of the first, it was still under construction - in my first year assigned, I spent only ONE night aboard/away from my wife and that was literally at the end of that year. The following year had a range of short, up to a couple of month periods at sea but still had the majority of the time in our homeport or in the shipyard. On the other hand, while my second ship was actually in a shipyard when I reported, we proceeded to do four deployments which totaled 14 months in the 19 months that I was aboard. We really got to do a lot of interesting operations in those months away but it was certainly a lot of time away.
Neither of those two examples were typical but nor were they unusual. After 3 or so years of Sea Duty, you generally rotate to a shore tour where you are away much less often but you could get that shore tour in a foreign country.
Thank you for explaining all this. Can you go into more detail about life when not deployed or overseas? There is a lot of information about different careers and life serving in different branches. But, what happens behind the scenes? Like for those who serve on submarines, do they usually have a permanent home where they leave all their stuff when out at sea, do they live on a military base when they are back, or do they also have to move every 2-3 years like in the Air Force? And what about those who are in infantry (like for Marine Corp)? Do they also have to move every 2-3 years? I appreciate everyone's answers and all the information and explanations that people have posted.
 
Thank you for explaining all this. Can you go into more detail about life when not deployed or overseas? There is a lot of information about different careers and life serving in different branches. But, what happens behind the scenes? Like for those who serve on submarines, do they usually have a permanent home where they leave all their stuff when out at sea, do they live on a military base when they are back, or do they also have to move every 2-3 years like in the Air Force? And what about those who are in infantry (like for Marine Corp)? Do they also have to move every 2-3 years? I appreciate everyone's answers and all the information and explanations that people have posted.
Everyone is different but generally Officers have homes off the ship while they are on Sea Duty. The Navy does not seem to have as much Navy Owned housing as some of the other services but since many Naval bases are near cities or decent sized communities, it is not difficult to find housing in the community and there is a Housing allowance that will pay (or help pay) for it. When I first moved to my first ship in the Norfolk area, I rented an apartment in Virginia Beach and after getting married, bought a house there. My son was in Hawaii for his first tour on a sub (approx 3-4 yrs) and rented a house there with a roommate. Grad school in Europe had him and his wife renting an apartment and now he is again aboard a sub and owns a house. Some Navy officers that I know buy a house when they move to a new base but then rent it out when they get reassigned and hope to own 3 or 4 houses by the time they retire from the Navy. Navy moves seem to be more like 3 yrs than 2 but you can serve tours in the same area, especially if its Norfolk or San Diego where there are a lot of Navy billets. For example, My first ship was in Norfolk and I transferred to another ship in Norfolk. Then I went to a Shore Duty billet in Virginia Beach so I was there for 6 or so years.
 
Still, they normally won’t take anyone beyond the rank of a senior O-2 as the learning curve after flight school is just too steep.
I can’t speak for the other services but the Air Force regularly takes captains and sometimes even majors. The last select list for USAF flight training was actually majority O-3.
 
I can’t speak for the other services but the Air Force regularly takes captains and sometimes even majors. The last select list for USAF flight training was actually majority O-3.
When do officers usually stop flying though? I know that O-7s don't fly, but do O-5 and O-6s still fly fighter jets or planes or at that point is it more of a desk job for pilots?
 
I can’t speak for the other services but the Air Force regularly takes captains and sometimes even majors. The last select list for USAF flight training was actually majority O-3.
The Army won't take you beyond O-2. But the Army commissioned officers have a different command track and use warrant officers like the British military uses flight officers.
 
When do officers usually stop flying though? I know that O-7s don't fly, but do O-5 and O-6s still fly fighter jets or planes or at that point is it more of a desk job for pilots?

Again the answer is “it depends”. There are O-6 training SQ/CC who fly the line like a regular instructor pilot. There are also some Wing Staff O-4s who only fly once a month to keep currency. It varies according to your squadron and job. You could also stop flying for a Pentagon or school tour and then resume when you get back to a squadron.

Stealth_81
 
The Army won't take you beyond O-2. But the Army commissioned officers have a different command track and use warrant officers like the British military uses flight officers.
They’ve actually been taking junior O3s on the last couple boards. I think it’s career suicide but they really need the folks to fill the O4 slots they’re projecting as shortfalls apparently
 
They’ve actually been taking junior O3s on the last couple boards. I think it’s career suicide but they really need the folks to fill the O4 slots they’re projecting as shortfalls apparently
Wow. I don't think they have done that in a long time. There were a few when I went through flight school, but that was when the Fulda Gap scenario was still in play and Army aviators were not expected to live long. When I was an IP at Rucker they were only taking O-1/2s.
 
When do officers usually stop flying though? I know that O-7s don't fly, but do O-5 and O-6s still fly fighter jets or planes or at that point is it more of a desk job for pilots?
If you’re just looking to fly, you can easily do that. As @Stealth_81 said, it depends on your position. If you’re not vying for rank advancement or leadership, you can fly your whole career if you’re content with not making it past Major or Lt Col in the Air Force.
 
Wow. I don't think they have done that in a long time. There were a few when I went through flight school, but that was when the Fulda Gap scenario was still in play and Army aviators were not expected to live long. When I was an IP at Rucker they were only taking O-1/2s.
Yea, that makes more sense to me for career satisfaction and ensuring RLOs have the requisite baseline aviation proficiency before they’re punted to higher levels of staff planning aviation operations but if they’re just looking to feel seats, which it feels like they are (thank you ARI and it’s continuing ripple effects), I guess it makes sense.
 
Whoa whoa whoa..... Why's Space Force always forgotten!?!?! Since 1790 the Guardians of Space Force have guarded our coasts.... and still they're forgotten.
 
Earliest federal sponsor would have to have been Ben Franklin and his electric kite, I suppose.
 
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