Quote:
Originally Posted by CityCop
Hi everybody!
I signed my AIRC contract a few weeks ago and still have some unanswered questions. From the small amount of information I could find online, I'm under the impression that all the high speed, door gunning, rescue swimming, survival training, freedom fighter stuff I was face fed at MEPS is looking to be a crock. Since I'll be a reservist is it true that I won't have the opportunity to choose what sub-rate I would like? I understand the whole "needs of the Navy" but I was sold on AIRC the second they said shoot stuff from helicopters and C-130 gunships. I would really love to be an AWS dry-helo but from what I've read I won't even make it to SERE school. Any AW reservists that could give me a run down of the difference between the Active Duty and Reserves pipeline?
Thanks in advance!
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Well really the crux here is that you went reserves instead of active. The Navy isn't going to dump a huge sum of money into you if they can't use that investment on a regular basis. Getting someone through the Aircrew pipeline, plus SERE, and any other training you might need for an eventual billet costs hundreds of thousands of dollars when it's all said and done. So if you're only going to be available a couple weeks a year then that's not an investment they're going to be keen on making.
Most reservists end up at VR squadrons from what I've seen. While it's not blowing up terrorists, it's still a badass gig in it's own right. Those guys travel ALLLLLLL over the place. All kinds of weird nooks and crannies around the world that most people will never get to. So don't get too beat up about it if that's where you end up. A few FTS folks I know have also found themselves at one of the few reserve VP squadrons as well.
If you wanna be Billy Badass and come help chase bad guys on a regular basis then I would recommend looking at your options for active duty down the line. You're significantly more likely to get where you want to go and do what you want to do when you're here full time. I always tell people that if you invest in the Navy then the Navy will invest in you.
/r
CTT1
Edit: Also even Active Duty AIRC guys aren't gunning shit out of helicopters or C-130s (the Navy doesn't have AC-130's, for the record). The vast majority of AD AIRC guys end up in the P-3/P-8 community. A small minority will go AWS dry; but that's definitely the minority.