Navy ROTC flight slot

flyguy 96

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Hello! I'm new up here on this forum! I have some questions about Navy ROTC. Does anyone have any statistics? How many people applied for flight slots last year vs the number available?How many people graduate navy ROTC?of those, how many usually apply for flight slots each year? This is all exclusively navy option only. So how many flight slots are given to navy ROTC each year? Thanks
 
No clue. However, my son is in the NROTC, Marine option, and the captain recently said that the Marines are in need of many pilots and such slots are easy to get. So, since he has had his eye surgery and now has 20/20 vision, his thoughts have turned in this direction.
 
In past years 29% of NROTC mids got aviation. Decent grades, ASTB's and recs and not too hard to get.
 
DD told me that there were midshipman in her unit who were "drafted" into aviation who hadn't requested it. I was surprised to hear that. I would have thought there would always be way more who requested aviation than slots available.
 
I am sure the Navy is looking down the pike like the AF. Every major airline has stated due to FAA current regulations they will be hiring at a frenzied rate starting in about 5 years and will do this for 5 years.

It should not be a shock to anyone.

Airlines since 2001 have been hiring at a drip. The majority of commercial pilots be it FedEx or SWA come from the military. Due to the poor paying starting salaries, many will take the pilot bonus and stay until they hit 20, this way they have that pay to ease the pain financially until they move to the left seat.

Now go back to 2001, even though many were hired in 2000, many airlines furloughed after 9/11. Using the avg age in pre 9/11 as 42, add 14 years. Their young pilots are 55/56 on average. They are forced to retire at 65. With every year their pilot shortage is increasing at a faster rate. Plus, many like our friend that are Captains now get to pick and choose how many days and when they are going to fly. They need new blood to be on call when these guys call out!

The military knows that back in the mid to late 90s they were losing experience pilots at very high rate. The AF actually jumped their bonus pay to 125k to stay until they hit the 14 year marker. They than started a second retention bonus to stay until 22. They also took the commitment time from 7 to 9 upon winging to slow the bleeding. Currently the AF is trying to do a preemptive strike. The fighter pilot bonus is now 225k if you sign to stay from the 10 to 19 year point. I would look into see what the Navy bonus is....typically that will give you an idea how short they are on pilots. When they start tweaking anything it usually means manpower is concerned about meeting their 5 year retention goal.

It takes about 2 years to get them operational. If they find out as a senior they are going aviation than that will be 2017 for their first tour at the earliest, which will be when airlines start hiring. 2020 when they will have just 3 years in and being an IP. Meanwhile, if the Navy is like the AF, those that commissioned in 2010, are looking at they can put in their papers in a year and begone a year later. This creates a training void and a huge mission aspect.

I also would remind you on this forum there was a poster that created a thread of being drafted into subs. They had aviation as their choice, but the Navy decided due to his academics he was needed more in subs.

The sword can cut both ways which is why you really need to always remember the adage service before self.
 
In past years 29% of NROTC mids got aviation. Decent grades, ASTB's and recs and not too hard to get.
And if it was like past years, that is the exact same % of mids out of USNA who billeted into aviation. I have always found it admirable that the Navy treats NROTC and Academy commissions equally in terms of Service Assignment, without preference to one or the other.
 
DD told me that there were midshipman in her unit who were "drafted" into aviation who hadn't requested it. I was surprised to hear that. I would have thought there would always be way more who requested aviation than slots available.
It may have to do with the years of service obligation, which is substantially longer for pilots that for SWO.
 
Very surprised at the earlier comment of being drafted in to aviation. Quite the opposite for my son. He was drafted in to nuke subs, even though pilot and NFO were his top 2 choices and he had excellent ASTB scores, a high GPA, and an aero eng. major. Needs of the service, needs of the service, needs of the service..........
 
It makes me wonder if the Navy likes to "spread the wealth" of various candidates into each type of assignment. i.e. They don't want all of the highest ranking candidates to be aviators, for example. Instead, they want an equal distribution of top Midshipman to be Aviation, Nuke, sub, SWO, etc. This could be what is happening, I suppose. I believe there was some mention of the Army doing this, too. DD said a Senior dropped out of their NROTC program this week, when he did not get his top choice. He was a programmer, who got a 2 year scholarship. Does this mean he'll be paying back just 1 1/2 years of tuition? She was shocked to hear that anybody would drop because of this.
 
It makes me wonder if the Navy likes to "spread the wealth" of various candidates into each type of assignment. i.e. They don't want all of the highest ranking candidates to be aviators, for example. Instead, they want an equal distribution of top Midshipman to be Aviation, Nuke, sub, SWO, etc. This could be what is happening, I suppose. I believe there was some mention of the Army doing this, too. DD said a Senior dropped out of their NROTC program this week, when he did not get his top choice. He was a programmer, who got a 2 year scholarship. Does this mean he'll be paying back just 1 1/2 years of tuition? She was shocked to hear that anybody would drop because of this.

That is exactly what is happening. Highest ranking of top third get first choice, same for highest ranking of second third and final third. At least that's how it used to work. Marine Corps is supposed to be getting away from this some and I suppose Navy might be too. Going to more of a draft system that I'm not sure I understand yet.
 
Kinnem,
I am usually aligned with your observations, but not on this one. I have never heard of a tertile selection process in NROTC. I have no idea how you could quantify tertiles to make that happen. The selection process was/is much more qualitative than most would imagine.
Drafts are the result of the lack of qualified applicants wanting the positions. "Quality spread" happens as pipelines tighten and loosen.
JMHO,
OS
 
Kinnem,
I am usually aligned with your observations, but not on this one. I have never heard of a tertile selection process in NROTC. I have no idea how you could quantify tertiles to make that happen. The selection process was/is much more qualitative than most would imagine.
Drafts are the result of the lack of qualified applicants wanting the positions. "Quality spread" happens as pipelines tighten and loosen.
JMHO,
OS

I always defer to Oldsalt's judgement! I'm pretty sure the Corps used to work this way and perhaps I'm extrapolating something to the Navy where I shouldn't.
 
I'm pretty sure the Corps used to work this way and perhaps I'm extrapolating something to the Navy where I shouldn't.

The Marine Corps did designate MOS this way and recently announced a change. Just this weekend, I heard that they are going back to the "tertile" method. At best, one TBS class employed the new way before going back. I haven't yet confirmed this but heard from a good source.

I am not aware of the Navy ever operating this way. USMC can do it as everyone goes through TBS before getting an MOS - not so with Navy.
 
Just to clarify, I was talking about the Naval selection process. The Corps does theirs at TBS.
OS
 
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