Navy or Air Force Pilot with Engineering degree?

Navy or Air Force Pilot with Engineering Degree?


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sharks2812

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Jun 19, 2021
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I am a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering (grad May 2022), and in a 5 year program where I will graduate with a master's in Aerospace Engineering in May 2023. I am not in ROTC so I will have to either do OTS or OCS. I also have a private pilot's license and around 200 hours. I have had the thought of being a pilot in the military in the back of my mind for awhile and as of recent it has become a much stronger consideration. My biggest confusion in this whole process is what life will look like after the military, as I am not interested in the airlines and that is a majority of the information out on the internet. I love engineering and would like to work in the space industry at NASA or SpaceX after the military, but I want to fly and serve while I'm young and I feel like if I don't its something I'm going to regret.
Ideally I would like to fly fighters, become a test pilot, and then an astronaut but I realize these goals are far, far down the line and are besides the point right now. At the very least I would like to put myself in a position to go back into engineering later in life. This brings up the question of which branch provides the most options career wise and would best allow me to go down this career path. Some of the reasons I'm currently considering each branch are:

Navy:
  • The Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer (AEDO) role allows a lateral transition into an engineering role for naval aviators
  • The prospect of serving on a carrier sounds exciting
  • Would prefer to avoid tanker/cargo aircraft
Air Force
  • A more stable family life (have a long term girlfriend and will not be single going into training)
  • Serving as a 62EXB in case the pilot thing doesn't work out (but failure is not an option and I intend to put everything I have into training)
I know I probably sound a little too starry eyed right now, but any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. If there are any pilots who went on to engineering after serving hearing your path and story would be of great assistance. Thank you for your time!
 
Take this one step at a time. Start with which branch you’re a better fit for. Whose mission and culture best suits you? The needs of the Air Force and Navy always come first, so what happens if they decide they don’t need you as a pilot? Or they do need you as a pilot, but for Air Force heavies or Navy helicopters. If pilot is a no-go, which one then has the career paths that would suit you best?

If you do become a pilot, that won’t relegate you to the airlines after you leave the military. Above and beyond being a pilot, you’ll be an officer with leadership skills that are hard to find at an equivalent age in the civilian world.

The same goes for pursuing an engineering career post-military. You can, of course, choose to become a practicing engineer. But your real value to most companies will be as a leader of engineers. Explore those roles also, as they can be rich and rewarding paths.
 
MidCakePa is right about picking the branch with a culture that suits you. Someone with brains, a relevant degree, and flying ability will end up at test pilot school eventually regardless of which branch they choose. You've also laid out some solid reasoning for each branch, so I think you've just got to do enough research to get a solid feel for each service. I wish I could tell you there's one choice that's better than the other, but everything has its pros and cons.

One thing that just jumps out at me in your post, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, but more just advice from someone who's been there and done that. You say "failure isn't an option" when it comes to pilot training. That mindset might work in most military training pipelines, where it's just a matter of toughing it out, but in pilot training there are a million things that can get you booted no matter how hard you try. Failure might not be an option, but it's always a possibility. Stay motivated towards your goals, but don't let it be the end of the world if something beyond your control fails you out, or even just sends you down the cargo/tanker/helicopter route. There are a number of aviators from those airframes who became astronauts as well, and even plenty of servicemembers without wings at all.
 
MidCakePa is right about picking the branch with a culture that suits you. Someone with brains, a relevant degree, and flying ability will end up at test pilot school eventually regardless of which branch they choose. You've also laid out some solid reasoning for each branch, so I think you've just got to do enough research to get a solid feel for each service. I wish I could tell you there's one choice that's better than the other, but everything has its pros and cons.

One thing that just jumps out at me in your post, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, but more just advice from someone who's been there and done that. You say "failure isn't an option" when it comes to pilot training. That mindset might work in most military training pipelines, where it's just a matter of toughing it out, but in pilot training there are a million things that can get you booted no matter how hard you try. Failure might not be an option, but it's always a possibility. Stay motivated towards your goals, but don't let it be the end of the world if something beyond your control fails you out, or even just sends you down the cargo/tanker/helicopter route. There are a number of aviators from those airframes who became astronauts as well, and even plenty of servicemembers without wings at all.
Prudent and wise advice.

There is also the possibility of being medically DQ’d for flight, because stuff happens or isn’t apparent in initial physicals.

Over the years we have sponsored USNA mids, one got all the way through USNA, flight physicals, flight school, jet pipeline and into Hornet training squadron - and developed migraines. Navy medicine tried everything, but nothing worked permanently. DQ from Navy air, now a meteorological officer. Excelling, but after all the work to get superb grades, be an aero major, graduate in top 10% of the class…life happened. Another in the sponsor family, had a PPL and IR, dead set on Navy air from childhood, jets, test pilot, NASA, astronaut, aero major, top 15 in class rank, NASA summer internships, was found to have a condition in the pre-comm physical that would require lifelong daily medication. The nature of the medication was an aviation DQ. The submarine community snapped him up. Life happened.
The above anecdotes don’t just happen in the Navy.

Best thing you can do is research at the primary sources and do some reverse engineering to ensure there are career options that appeal in both services in case of aviation DQ somewhere in the pipeline. Think about the Navy does most of its work on the surface of the ocean, over the ocean, under the ocean, around the ocean, with lengthy deployments out of sight of land and far from home. It is not everyone’s cup of tea.

The needs of the Air Force and the needs of the Navy drive all. OTS and OCS are used to cherry-pick stellar candidates to top off O-1 Officer production from other sources such as service academy and ROTC. There is a manpower endstrength max and min goal each fiscal year.

Above all, be flexible and adaptive. Why not apply to both, see what happens as you go along.
 
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Oh - and it’s not too early to talk with an officer recruiter and get on their radar as a potential FY22 OTS or OCS candidate, especially if spots are limited. You can ask all the questions you want. There will be screenings they will need to do. Don’t start this as you wrap up your final semester of your graduate program. Be sure you find the officer recruiter via the right website widget, not the shopping center office with enlisted recruiters focused on enlisted personnel.

The Fed govt/military fiscal year (FY22) starts 1 Oct 2021, and the OCS and OTS recruiters will start building the intake pools for various officer specialties. Your competition will be people like you who “bloomed later” in terms of aspiring to a military pilot career, and many will have impressive degrees, pilot experience, etc.
 
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I am a rising senior studying Aerospace Engineering (grad May 2022), and in a 5 year program where I will graduate with a master's in Aerospace Engineering in May 2023. I am not in ROTC so I will have to either do OTS or OCS. I also have a private pilot's license and around 200 hours. I have had the thought of being a pilot in the military in the back of my mind for awhile and as of recent it has become a much stronger consideration. My biggest confusion in this whole process is what life will look like after the military, as I am not interested in the airlines and that is a majority of the information out on the internet. I love engineering and would like to work in the space industry at NASA or SpaceX after the military, but I want to fly and serve while I'm young and I feel like if I don't its something I'm going to regret.
Ideally I would like to fly fighters, become a test pilot, and then an astronaut but I realize these goals are far, far down the line and are besides the point right now. At the very least I would like to put myself in a position to go back into engineering later in life. This brings up the question of which branch provides the most options career wise and would best allow me to go down this career path. Some of the reasons I'm currently considering each branch are:

Navy:
  • The Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer (AEDO) role allows a lateral transition into an engineering role for naval aviators
  • The prospect of serving on a carrier sounds exciting
  • Would prefer to avoid tanker/cargo aircraft
Air Force
  • A more stable family life (have a long term girlfriend and will not be single going into training)
  • Serving as a 62EXB in case the pilot thing doesn't work out (but failure is not an option and I intend to put everything I have into training)
I know I probably sound a little too starry eyed right now, but any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. If there are any pilots who went on to engineering after serving hearing your path and story would be of great assistance. Thank you for your time!
You sound like the perfect candidate to go the Guard route. You will be able to fly while serving your country, and also pursue your engineering aspirations. In addition, you can apply to units that operate the airframe you are interested in flying. I would encourage you to start seeking out units and applying, as many are interviewing for candidates that will attend UPT in fiscal year 2023. I know of many who have gone this route and it really is an often overlooked gem.
 
My personal and biased opinion is Air Force OTS and try and get a Space Force slot if you're interested in NASA/SpaceX. Lots of great opportunities and will set you up for success in the space industry. Look into the AFSCs (Air Force Specialty Code) 13S in addition to 62EXB. I know you want to be a pilot, but if you don't get a pilot slot, sounds like you'd be able to get into another career you'd enjoy if you went Air Force rather than Navy.

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Get accepted to both, then ask the question.

If accepted to only one, go to that branch.

If accepted to neither, come back for advice.

SAF is tremendous resource, but it is still one step at a time and one should never overestimate one's value
 
If Navy, I would put Aviator and NFO as top 2 based on your post. Don't sell yourself short, and cross that bridge when you get there if you find yourself booted out of flight school. Not sure if AMDO would interest you at all; if not, satellite operations in the Navy falls overwhelmingly on the IP community for your #3.

USN established the Maritime Space Officer designator under the IWC earlier this year. May be another off-ramp of interest for space operations after a career as a Navy pilot (billets are currently O-4 and above only). MSO is promising a much more stable family life than any other Navy designator (i.e. first tour in a fleet concentration area, and then pretty much just Colorado the rest of the time).

Might not be what you're looking for, and not the same as Space Force, but putting it out there as a new option that was quietly brought online recently.


The Navy also maintains the "Space Cadre" via an additional qualification designator for both Space Operations and Space Acquisition. Any designator may go through the training, do some space stuff, and return to their source community. If you want to be an Aviator and stay an Aviator, but sneak in a space operations tour once in a while, may be a good way to go for you.


If you want to dig deep into Space Operations, do Space Force. None of the other services really get deep into that business, and if they did, those components will transition to Space Force soon.
 
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Reviving a bit of an old post, but if you didn't go the military route, you can always go and try to fly for NASA directly?? I know they sometimes advertise for pilots. The Wallops campus for Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has numerous aircraft.

There are also plenty of opportunities for work in NASA right now as many people are starting to retire (especially over the next few years). I know for a fact we do not have a very strong pipeline of young engineers at the Greenbelt campus of GSFC.
 
If Navy, I would put Aviator and NFO as top 2 based on your post. Don't sell yourself short, and cross that bridge when you get there if you find yourself booted out of flight school. Not sure if AMDO would interest you at all; if not, satellite operations in the Navy falls overwhelmingly on the IP community for your #3.

USN established the Maritime Space Officer designator under the IWC earlier this year. May be another off-ramp of interest for space operations after a career as a Navy pilot (billets are currently O-4 and above only). MSO is promising a much more stable family life than any other Navy designator (i.e. first tour in a fleet concentration area, and then pretty much just Colorado the rest of the time).

Might not be what you're looking for, and not the same as Space Force, but putting it out there as a new option that was quietly brought online recently.


The Navy also maintains the "Space Cadre" via an additional qualification designator for both Space Operations and Space Acquisition. Any designator may go through the training, do some space stuff, and return to their source community. If you want to be an Aviator and stay an Aviator, but sneak in a space operations tour once in a while, may be a good way to go for you.


If you want to dig deep into Space Operations, do Space Force. None of the other services really get deep into that business, and if they did, those components will transition to Space Force soon.
This has been very helpful information, the Space Cadre sounds like an awesome opportunity I am very interested in. Thank you!
 
Thank you for everyone's advice and assistance! It was very helpful in me understanding what I want and what to look for. I have decided that Navy OCS is the goal
 
Not saying this to be rude or mean, but don't go in thinking you will fly fighters. Chances are you wont. Out of every class that goes through UPT, maybe 3-4 get a pilot spot and that includes foreign pilots and National Guard and Reserve pilots who know which plane they are flying before they go to training. Not saying you wont be a fighter pilot and you shouldn't try but the odds arent great. Plus, you may not like being a fighter pilot.
 
On the AEDO front, usually those are designated Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers who redesignate to stay in the R and D and test fields. Test Pilot is a really cool thing to do and you really get your hands on the issues currently in the fleet as well as seeing/flying hardware on the horizon. I will say that the boat is definitely unique to the Navy and it is cool in its own right. It is not for everyone and that is fine. Honestly, preferences change so much. Just do what feels right when that time comes. Plus, every platform has their cool stuff. Big wing planes in the Navy have relatively good quality of life. P-8s and CMV-22s are probably the two most sought after platforms in flight school at the moment.
 
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