Ask a Naval Aircrewman

Hamilton · 12-10-2014, 11:31 PM

[QUOTE=Haasino;34014]Unfortunately, you cannot volunteer for Aircrew as an AE/AT anymore... that ended Oct. 1st 2008 when all Aircrew duties were consolidated into the AW rating. If you want to be Aircrew, you'll need to have your recruiter submit a DAR to switch your rating from AV to either AIRC (Fixed-wing/MH-53E) or AIRR (Rescue Swimmer). Your other option will be to enlist AV, and then try to cross-rate once you hit PO2 (You can try after 2 years, but nobody is coming back here below PO2 currently).

I just DEPd in as an AV today and after reading your posts AW seems like something I really want to do. My recruiter told me I had the option to volunteer for Aircrew duties but clearly he was wrong. How likely are my chances of getting my recruiter to submit a DAR (btw what is a DAR?) and actually being able to switch over to AIRC, AIRR or AW? Also I'm a female and plan on getting my college transcripts in before I graduate bootcamp in June and enlisting as an E-3 if that helps or makes any difference at all.

BloodyPheonix · 12-11-2014, 03:24 AM

Forgive me for cutting in as this is largely Hassino's thread. As the Navy retires the Aircraft they work on, the AWF and AWV rates are cutting billets to the point that there is consideration of going back to the system where those billets currently filled by Fs and Vs are filled by ATs and AEs who have gone through NACCS. So there is that to consider but if you are more interested in the AWO experience, I'll do my best to answer your questions.

A DAR is a dep action request, they're chits submitted by your recruiter into their chain of command to change the terms of your contact. For you to get an AIRR or AIRC contract via DAR a person with one of those contracts has to drop out of dep. The likelihood is really impossible to tell.

Haasino · 12-12-2014, 07:02 PM

^ BloodyPheonix pretty much covered it.

The discussion of going back to the pre-2008 rating system is mentioned in this article: Advisory Board Formed to Assess Future of AW Rate. It took them 3 years to make the decision to consolidate the ratings last time... so I'm not expecting a quick answer. Maybe by the time the AWF and AWV billets are completely gone, they'll have reached a decision, lol.

NavyGirl2015 · 01-07-2015, 02:43 AM

Went to MEPS yesterday and got my contract for Aircrew! I ship on the 27th of May!

BloodyPheonix · 01-07-2015, 03:19 AM

I just got my hands on the Aeromedical Reference and Waiver Guide and perusing through it I found that fixed wing aircrew doesn't require depth perception. Am I interpreting that correctly? I've seen people who got DQ'd from Aircrew for not having Depth Perception so I'm confused.

Haasino · 01-07-2015, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BloodyPheonix

I just got my hands on the Aeromedical Reference and Waiver Guide and perusing through it I found that fixed wing aircrew doesn't require depth perception. Am I interpreting that correctly? I've seen people who got DQ'd from Aircrew for not having Depth Perception so I'm confused.

Hmm... just before I signed my AIRC contract at MEPS, they made me go back and take a depth perception test to make sure I qualified. But now that I think about it, I've never done one since, including during my annual flight physicals.

BloodyPheonix · 01-07-2015, 06:46 PM

I double checked the applicant and designated checklists to see if it's required for one but not the other but depth perception is not required across the board for AIRC. The Navy is confusing.

12-10-2014, 11:31 PM	#1
Hamilton Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	[QUOTE=Haasino;34014]Unfortunately, you cannot volunteer for Aircrew as an AE/AT anymore... that ended Oct. 1st 2008 when all Aircrew duties were consolidated into the AW rating. If you want to be Aircrew, you'll need to have your recruiter submit a DAR to switch your rating from AV to either AIRC (Fixed-wing/MH-53E) or AIRR (Rescue Swimmer). Your other option will be to enlist AV, and then try to cross-rate once you hit PO2 (You can try after 2 years, but nobody is coming back here below PO2 currently). I just DEPd in as an AV today and after reading your posts AW seems like something I really want to do. My recruiter told me I had the option to volunteer for Aircrew duties but clearly he was wrong. How likely are my chances of getting my recruiter to submit a DAR (btw what is a DAR?) and actually being able to switch over to AIRC, AIRR or AW? Also I'm a female and plan on getting my college transcripts in before I graduate bootcamp in June and enlisting as an E-3 if that helps or makes any difference at all.

12-11-2014, 03:24 AM	#2
BloodyPheonix Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 139 Rep Power: 0	Forgive me for cutting in as this is largely Hassino's thread. As the Navy retires the Aircraft they work on, the AWF and AWV rates are cutting billets to the point that there is consideration of going back to the system where those billets currently filled by Fs and Vs are filled by ATs and AEs who have gone through NACCS. So there is that to consider but if you are more interested in the AWO experience, I'll do my best to answer your questions. A DAR is a dep action request, they're chits submitted by your recruiter into their chain of command to change the terms of your contact. For you to get an AIRR or AIRC contract via DAR a person with one of those contracts has to drop out of dep. The likelihood is really impossible to tell.

12-12-2014, 07:02 PM	#3
Haasino Active Duty Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 1,439 Rep Power: 0	^ BloodyPheonix pretty much covered it. The discussion of going back to the pre-2008 rating system is mentioned in this article: Advisory Board Formed to Assess Future of AW Rate. It took them 3 years to make the decision to consolidate the ratings last time... so I'm not expecting a quick answer. Maybe by the time the AWF and AWV billets are completely gone, they'll have reached a decision, lol.

01-07-2015, 02:43 AM	#4
NavyGirl2015 Active Duty Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 38 Rep Power: 0	Went to MEPS yesterday and got my contract for Aircrew! I ship on the 27th of May!

01-07-2015, 03:19 AM	#5
BloodyPheonix Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 139 Rep Power: 0	I just got my hands on the Aeromedical Reference and Waiver Guide and perusing through it I found that fixed wing aircrew doesn't require depth perception. Am I interpreting that correctly? I've seen people who got DQ'd from Aircrew for not having Depth Perception so I'm confused.

01-07-2015, 06:46 PM	#7
BloodyPheonix Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 139 Rep Power: 0	I double checked the applicant and designated checklists to see if it's required for one but not the other but depth perception is not required across the board for AIRC. The Navy is confusing.