Understanding NFO

2024dude

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Can someone help me understand the role, responsibilites, or experiences that a Naval Flight Officer may have?

Here's what I know so far:
They do not go to school to pilot the planes.
They can operate the weapons on the plane.
They handle navigation and communications?
Annnd the navy videos on youtube say, it's jobs require technical skills similar found with video games... which caught my main intrest.

I wanted to become a pilot, but because of my terrible eye vision, I am afraid they won't invest into correcting it. So the closest thing to being in a plane would to become a NFO.

Thanks! ._.
 
NFOs are ok to wear glasses. Your vision must be corrected to xx-xx. FWIW, they are able to fix a lot of vision issues with lasik and PRK. DD's roommate who wore a high prescription her whole life is sporting 20/15 now. That said, NFO is not just Goose in the back seat of a go fast AND the Navy is phasing out those jobs with the new fighters. They are also the people manning the equipment in the back of the P-3 Orions and P-8 Poseidons as well as the E2 Hawkeyes. As an NFO I believe you will go to some part of flight school which justifies the added time requirement.
 
Unless things have changed alot..NFO's still go through Pcola Basic Flight Indoc. (which covers basic flight theory, survival training, etc). They don't physically control the aircraft, but support the mission and can serve as Mission Commander on crewed aircraft like P3 and P8. I'm biased, but think it is one of the best jobs as a junior officer in the Navy. As a LT, I was a TACCO/Mission Commander on a P3, responsible for the mission (while the PPC was responsible for keeping us alive). My training pipeline included Indoc in Pcola, Basic flight & Navigation at VT10 in Pcola, then Overwater Nav at Mather AFB in Sacraemento, a 6 month Fleet Replacement Squadron learning the P3, then Squadron. Most of the real learning is in the Squadron, advancing from Nav/Comm, to Tacco, and then Mission Commander qualification.
 

Found this!

"Upon completion of the Intermediate phase of training, SNFO’s either select the E-2C Hawkeye with follow-on training in Norfolk, Virginia or continue their training with VT-86 in Pensacola.
In the advanced training syllabus at VT-86, SNFO’s fly the T-39 Sabreliner and the T-45 Goshawk. Students will either proceed down the Strike pipeline ultimately receiving their Wings of Gold as Electronic Countermeasures Officers (ECMO) for the EA-6B Prowler or proceed down the Strike/Fighter pipeline for selection as Weapons Systems Officers for the F/A-18F Super Hornet."

Can someone break down the different paths and how they are different from each other?
They all sound cool, but as helmsdown said the demand for NFOs is declining. Should I still be interested in becoming a NFO?
 
I'm biased, but think it is one of the best jobs as a junior officer in the Navy. As a LT, I was a TACCO/Mission Commander on a P3, responsible for the mission (while the PPC was responsible for keeping us alive).
Hehe, why is it one of the best jobs? Did it align with your interests or did you learn to love it?
 
Hehe, why is it one of the best jobs? Did it align with your interests or did you learn to love it?

I got a lot of responsibility, autonomy, and leadership experience very early. I served before Lasiks and less than 20/20 was disqualifying. My eyes went bad after Admission , but I still wanted to fly. I don't think the experience would have been the same in a TacAir squadron, where the role of the NFO is more supporting the pilot, but in P3's the Mission is in the back of the aircraft, and the Pilots and NFO's were really equals in the squadron.
 
as a former NFO I can tell you what my experience was like,

I flew A-6 Intruders as a B/N which is Bombardier/Navigator. My job was to handle all the navigation, weapons delivery and communications of our mission, including all weather, low level, attack missions with a huge range of weapons, including nuclear. Back then, the A-6 and the F-14 were the primary punch of the carrier air wing. Today, both missions are covered by the Hornet. The closest analog to my old job in today's fleet is super hornet WSO.

It wasn't my first choice coming out of VT-86 (I wanted F-14s), but after i got into it, I realized it was the best possible job for an NFO (most aviators realize that their platform is the best platform and wouldn't want it any other way)

I became an NFO because I didn't get my first choice, which was pilot. My vision was really good (20/15) , but needs of the navy dictated that when I got selected for AOCS they needed NFO's. NFO's have to meet vision requirements, SNAs (student naval aviators) are Class I, NFOs are Class II. details are at https://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmotc/nami/arwg/Documents/WaiverGuide/01_Physical_Standards.pdf

Pilots must have 20/40 uncorrected, 20/20 corrected. NFO's must have 20/20 corrected, no limit on uncorrected.

These days, the pipeline for SNAs and SNFOs starts with IFS (Introductory Flight Screening). At IFS, both SNAs and SNFOs get basic flight instruction, including ground school and some time in civilian type aircraft, something like 20 hours or so of flying, including solo time. If you go USNA, you can do Powered Flight as a summer training option, which is similar and allows you to skip IFS and go straight to API (Aviation Preflight Indoctrination) at Pensacola.

At Pensacola, all SNAs and SNFOs go to API together. It consists of around 8 weeks of classroom instruction and a lot of aviation survival type training. Classroom training consists of the "big 3" - Navigation, Aero, and Engines

After API, SNAs go to flight school at Whiting or Corpus. SNFO's go down the street to VT-10. Basic is the same for everyone, after that you select for P8s (no P-3 anymore), or carrier based. In Intermediate, you select either E-2, or Strike (super hornet) , or ECMO (growler) there might be other options too. In advanced, you learn your specific community then get your wings. After that, you go to the RAG (training squadron for your specific platform) which lasts about a year, then you go to a fleet squadron.

I loved being an NFO in the A-6. In our community, the B/N in the right seat could be Mission Commander and had a ton of responsibility leading air wing strikes. I think Growler ECMOs and Super Hornet WSO's can be in a similar role.

If you want to fly and can't be a pilot, you should seriously consider NFO. NFOs are not as plentiful as they were back in my day, but there are going to be NFO jobs for a long time.

best of luck
 
With respect to the other posters, a lot of the responses to this thread include rather dated information. I am a recently winged Naval Flight Officer and would be happy to answer some general questions about my designator.

Pilots and NFOs begin their training together at Introductory Flight Screening (IFS). The course is around a month long and you get 10 training flights before you are expected to fly a civilian aircraft such as a Cessna or Piper solo around the landing pattern. Both pilots and NFOs are expected to operate the controls and solo the aircraft.

Then, both pilots and NFOs go to Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API), a 7 week preflight course where you learn basic information about aviation along with water survival skills.

Then, the NFOs go to VT-10 for Primary. The first 5 flights you fly in the front seat of a T-6A and are allowed/encouraged but not forced to fly the aircraft. After those flights you are in the backseat of the aircraft and will not typically operate the controls for the remainder of primary. Primary is divided into familiarization/contact phase, instrument navigation phase, visual navigation phase, and formation flying (with the recent syllabus change). With the exception of the first few flights, you will be in the backseat verbally navigating/directing the flight.

Upon completion of Primary, you either go to VT-4 for big wing/multi crew aircraft (currently P-8, E-2C/D, E-6, EP-3), or you continue on to Intermediate, which is still at VT-10 flying the T-6A. It is around 3 weeks long and consists of more formation flights.

From there, if you were selected for intermediate, you will continue to VT-86 and eventually fly in either the F/A-18F or EA-18G.

VT-4 is around 5ish months, and is an entirely simulator based squadron meaning you won't actually fly at all while you are there. It includes a common core, at the completion of which you will select your platform from the ones listed above. After common core, you will complete strand for your aircraft, then wing and complete flight school.

VT-86 can be anywhere from 7-11 months depending on aircraft health and weather. In that squadron you fly in the backseat of the T-45 jet trainer. Everybody goes through the same syllabus and then a few days before graduation selects between Super Hornets and Growlers.

Contrary to what was asserted by helmsdown, NFOs as a designator are not going away anytime soon. The P-8, E-2D, and EA-18G were all created within the last 10-15 years and have the majority of their service life ahead of them. They are still building brand new aircraft as we speak. The F-35C was never designed to replace all of the F/A-18s in the air wing, and most expect the Super Hornet to continue flying into the 2040s. The E-6 currently has no replacement but the mission is so important that the platform will not be going anywhere anytime soon. All of those aircraft carry NFOs as crew members.

What does an NFO do? That depends on the platform. Generally speaking, for all the platforms mentioned above EXCEPT for the F/A-18F, the pilot's job is to fly the airplane to where it needs to be and put it in the regime of flight necessary to accomplish it's mission, and the NFO is responsible for actually executing the mission of that aircraft, be it sub hunting, intelligence collection, Command and Control, electronic warfare, etc. In the F/A-18F, the NFO, called a Weapons System Officer or WSO, aids the pilot with weaponeering, navigation, targeting, comms, etc, to allow him to employ his or her aircraft more efficiently than they might in a single seat jet. The difference there is that the two are largely working as a team to accomplish tasks where as the other platforms the pilot has their tasks and the NFO has theirs and they are typically distinct.

I'm not going to post what aircraft I fly in on this forum, but I went to flight school with people that fly on every platform that NFOs are on, so I can speak generally about what they all do if you have any questions.
 
With respect to the other posters, a lot of the responses to this thread include rather dated information. I am a recently winged Naval Flight Officer and would be happy to answer some general questions about my designator.

Pilots and NFOs begin their training together at Introductory Flight Screening (IFS). The course is around a month long and you get 10 training flights before you are expected to fly a civilian aircraft such as a Cessna or Piper solo around the landing pattern. Both pilots and NFOs are expected to operate the controls and solo the aircraft.

Then, both pilots and NFOs go to Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API), a 7 week preflight course where you learn basic information about aviation along with water survival skills.

Then, the NFOs go to VT-10 for Primary. The first 5 flights you fly in the front seat of a T-6A and are allowed/encouraged but not forced to fly the aircraft. After those flights you are in the backseat of the aircraft and will not typically operate the controls for the remainder of primary. Primary is divided into familiarization/contact phase, instrument navigation phase, visual navigation phase, and formation flying (with the recent syllabus change). With the exception of the first few flights, you will be in the backseat verbally navigating/directing the flight.

Upon completion of Primary, you either go to VT-4 for big wing/multi crew aircraft (currently P-8, E-2C/D, E-6, EP-3), or you continue on to Intermediate, which is still at VT-10 flying the T-6A. It is around 3 weeks long and consists of more formation flights.

From there, if you were selected for intermediate, you will continue to VT-86 and eventually fly in either the F/A-18F or EA-18G.

VT-4 is around 5ish months, and is an entirely simulator based squadron meaning you won't actually fly at all while you are there. It includes a common core, at the completion of which you will select your platform from the ones listed above. After common core, you will complete strand for your aircraft, then wing and complete flight school.

VT-86 can be anywhere from 7-11 months depending on aircraft health and weather. In that squadron you fly in the backseat of the T-45 jet trainer. Everybody goes through the same syllabus and then a few days before graduation selects between Super Hornets and Growlers.

Contrary to what was asserted by helmsdown, NFOs as a designator are not going away anytime soon. The P-8, E-2D, and EA-18G were all created within the last 10-15 years and have the majority of their service life ahead of them. They are still building brand new aircraft as we speak. The F-35C was never designed to replace all of the F/A-18s in the air wing, and most expect the Super Hornet to continue flying into the 2040s. The E-6 currently has no replacement but the mission is so important that the platform will not be going anywhere anytime soon. All of those aircraft carry NFOs as crew members.

What does an NFO do? That depends on the platform. Generally speaking, for all the platforms mentioned above EXCEPT for the F/A-18F, the pilot's job is to fly the airplane to where it needs to be and put it in the regime of flight necessary to accomplish it's mission, and the NFO is responsible for actually executing the mission of that aircraft, be it sub hunting, intelligence collection, Command and Control, electronic warfare, etc. In the F/A-18F, the NFO, called a Weapons System Officer or WSO, aids the pilot with weaponeering, navigation, targeting, comms, etc, to allow him to employ his or her aircraft more efficiently than they might in a single seat jet. The difference there is that the two are largely working as a team to accomplish tasks where as the other platforms the pilot has their tasks and the NFO has theirs and they are typically distinct.

I'm not going to post what aircraft I fly in on this forum, but I went to flight school with people that fly on every platform that NFOs are on, so I can speak generally about what they all do if you have any questions.
Can you relate the tasks of an NFO to any activities you did prior to the military?
The Navy videos had interviewees who mentioned “it” is similar to playing a video game which I find hard to believe!
I put quotes around the “it” because they never get into specifics but I am so glad you guys have been able to help with details.
 
Can you relate the tasks of an NFO to any activities you did prior to the military?
The Navy videos had interviewees who mentioned “it” is similar to playing a video game which I find hard to believe!
I put quotes around the “it” because they never get into specifics but I am so glad you guys have been able to help with details.

Well, as I said above, what an NFO does varies dramatically based on what platform they are on. An E-2 NFO is going to be doing something entirely different than an F-18 NFO for example.

A rough summary:

F-18 WSO: handles comms/navigation for the aircraft. Does necessary targeting/weaponeering (programming bombs etc) so they are ready when the pilot decides to employ them. Communicates with JTAC as necessary.

EA-18G EWO: handles comms/navigation for the aircraft. analyzes incoming enemy radar signals, and determines the best way to jam them.

E-2 NFO: controls the air warfare picture. Has large radar that detects incoming enemy threats. Talks to the fighters to route them to avoid or intercept those threats as necessary.

P-8 NFO: depends on the mission but uses an array of sensors to track movements of enemy ships and submarines, or cameras to collect intelligence on overland targets.

EP-3 NFO: uses array of sensors to direct intelligence gathering.

E-6 NFO: transmits messages to/from the National Command Authority (NCA) and nuclear missile silos/bombers/submarines.

As for it being like a video game, I would say that there have only been a couple times where I remotely thought what I was doing resembled a video game. I suppose there are some rough parallels but I wouldn't equate the two experiences. If anything, being a pilot is more like a video game than an NFO as it requires manipulation of controls and hand-eye coordination. Those videos you watched were likely meant for recruiting and are probably not going to give you the most realistic picture about what a certain career does in the Navy.

With that said, I certainly like what I do and I would say most other NFOs (at least the ones I know at this point in my career) do as well. I just wouldn't call the experience similar to playing a video game.
 
Well, as I said above, what an NFO does varies dramatically based on what platform they are on. An E-2 NFO is going to be doing something entirely different than an F-18 NFO for example.

A rough summary:

F-18 WSO: handles comms/navigation for the aircraft. Does necessary targeting/weaponeering (programming bombs etc) so they are ready when the pilot decides to employ them. Communicates with JTAC as necessary.

EA-18G EWO: handles comms/navigation for the aircraft. analyzes incoming enemy radar signals, and determines the best way to jam them.

E-2 NFO: controls the air warfare picture. Has large radar that detects incoming enemy threats. Talks to the fighters to route them to avoid or intercept those threats as necessary.

P-8 NFO: depends on the mission but uses an array of sensors to track movements of enemy ships and submarines, or cameras to collect intelligence on overland targets.

EP-3 NFO: uses array of sensors to direct intelligence gathering.

E-6 NFO: transmits messages to/from the National Command Authority (NCA) and nuclear missile silos/bombers/submarines.

As for it being like a video game, I would say that there have only been a couple times where I remotely thought what I was doing resembled a video game. I suppose there are some rough parallels but I wouldn't equate the two experiences. If anything, being a pilot is more like a video game than an NFO as it requires manipulation of controls and hand-eye coordination. Those videos you watched were likely meant for recruiting and are probably not going to give you the most realistic picture about what a certain career does in the Navy.

With that said, I certainly like what I do and I would say most other NFOs (at least the ones I know at this point in my career) do as well. I just wouldn't call the experience similar to playing a video game.
Thanks for the info! I was recently selected for my second choice as an NFO in the Dec board. I was curious about opportunities after service. What do people normally do?
 
Is it possible to go from an NFO to a pilot? I've heard of people getting selected to go to flight school as an NFO, but is that true? Just wanted to make sure in case I ever do go down the path of an NFO
 
Is it possible to go from an NFO to a pilot? I've heard of people getting selected to go to flight school as an NFO, but is that true? Just wanted to make sure in case I ever do go down the path of an NFO
It is possible, but more of an exception than a rule. There are many factor at play. Manning, support of the front office (CO/XO), how many people apply, etc. All those are a bit down the road, but the point is that it is not wise to go NFO just so one has a try at pilot later. NFOs do some wicked cool stuff and are competent operators. Just like pilots. Plus WSOs (F/A-18F) and EWOs (EA-18G) do a fair amount of the aviating (navigation, comms, etc.) so you can get your fill there if you go to VT-86 (NFO jet advanced) out of VT-10 (NFO primary).
 
I was curious about opportunities after service. What do people normally do?
My DS is just finishing PS with c/o '25. Prior to PS he was only interested in SWO but during PPW he mentioned he learned about NFO and expressed an interest. Obviously long way to go and this post certainly helped me understand NFO's more, but I am interested in @chiefkaikai question about NFO transition to civilian job.
 
My DS is just finishing PS with c/o '25. Prior to PS he was only interested in SWO but during PPW he mentioned he learned about NFO and expressed an interest. Obviously long way to go and this post certainly helped me understand NFO's more, but I am interested in @chiefkaikai question about NFO transition to civilian job.
NFOs can and do go on to a wide array of civilian jobs after separating or retiring, same as any other officer. Companies want to hire these folks for their demonstrated leadership in high-pressure situations, people management skills, resource management ability, capability to work globally and learn things fast, understanding of accountability and responsibility, understanding and exposure to STEM disciplines, established security clearance, work ethic and many other factors. The college major doesn’t necessarily play a huge role in the military officer specialty; the officer specialty may or may not play a huge role and translate directly to a civilian role. Military officers, senior enlisted leaders and more junior enlisted are hired for many other qualities they bring to the table.

I have done much longer posts than this with detailed resources and links, but here’s one of the several military officer placement firms who have been in the business for years of finding junior officers to fill hiring needs of corporate America.

Look at the hamburger menu.

Service Academy graduates also have the SACC, attended by top firms who know exactly what they are looking for, and staff their booths with SA grads and vets from all sources:
 
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