Quote:
Originally Posted by mmm3
Thanks so much for answering all of these questions. It's very helpful! I wanted to ask if you know what the pipeline looks like for a reservist (non-FTS). Are the same jobs and platforms available? Does it depend on where you drill?
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Sorry for the delay in response... the website hack kinda threw a wrench in the site for a while.
The pipeline for Reserve Aircrew is the same as the others up through A School... you'll go to RTC, then Candidate School, and then AWF A School... the only difference is that you can only get the AWF rating, and you will be waiting longer to class up for Candidate School than the Active Duty people (
I don't know why... priority just goes AIRC, AIRR, Marines, Reserve). Your platform is also going to be limited... non-FTS all goes on the C-40 Clipper as flight attendants... and a very rare few can get orders to VP-62 in Jacksonville as P-3C Orion Flight Engineers... I believe there is a reserve squadron up in Whidbey Island, WA as well, but don't quote me on that.
It's also going to depend very heavily on where you drill... my roommate in A School was an AWF Reservist... he was in Pensacola for over a year, then graduated and went home to Indiana. It's going on 6 months later now, and he doesn't do any Aircrew duties, nor has he gone to follow-on schools... he just does computer-based training on his drill weekends. He also didn't have a career already lined up and was talked into Reserve Aircrew by his recruiter, so he's having a lot of issues right now.
It's possible that you might have more options though... there's a very real likelihood that, by the time you leave Pensacola, AWF might no longer exist and you'll leave an AE... AWF and AWV currently sit at 3% advancement to E-5, and 0% advancement to E-6... this is due to the disestablishment of the P-3 Flight Engineer and In-Flight Technician billets as the Orion is slowly replaced by the P-8A Poseidon. This is causing major issues for the F's and V's in the EP-3E and E-6B squadrons because, while the P-3 AWF's and AWV's are being given the option of cross-rating to AWO, the EP-3E and E-6B AWF's and AWV's are stuck with no advancement. To address this, there is a proposal to disestablish the AW[x] series ratings and go back to what it used to be prior to 2008... with the Aviation Warfare Systems Operators like me being the true AW's, and the Flight Engineers, In-Flight Technicians, and helo crewmen volunteering from the AE, AT, AM, AD, and other aviation mech, tron, and airframer ratings. This would allow them to remain Aircrew, while advancing at the % of their surface aviation ratings... it would also give regular AE/AT/AD/AM/etc. sailors the opportunity to volunteer for Aircrew duties after completing A School, should the need arise.
I realize most of what I just said might sound like Greek to you... so I'll simplify it with this: as long as you have a stable career and live near a Naval Air Station, Reserve Aircrew will be a fine opportunity. But if you don't already have a career, or you don't live near a NAS, you are likely to spend a long time away from family, only to come home and not use any of your training. If you fall into the latter category, I'd personally recommend either pursuing Active Duty Aircrew prior to shipping, or research other Reserve ratings that are useful at your local drill center.
That's just my $.02 as an Active Duty AWO who has seen what my Reserve AWF classmates are going home to...