Ask a Naval Aircrewman

[NavyHooyah]

I just went to MEPS with the intension of signing as AIRC, unfortunately it wasn't available so I signed as a CTN. I really want to travel and my understanding is CTNs do not travel, also I have no computer experience. All the sailors I've been talking to say CTN is a great job with good advancement, great training in the field, and amazing jobs outside of the navy. I don't ship until Nov so I could easily change my rate until then. But what I'm wondering is should I keep CTN and be happy with my free training in the field and nice jobs when I get out, or be Aircrew and travel the world on the navy's dime and enjoy per diem and flight pay. Also, what can AWOs do for a living outside the navy?

[FlyNavy]

Originally Posted by NavyHooyah

I just went to MEPS with the intension of signing as AIRC, unfortunately it wasn't available so I signed as a CTN. I really want to travel and my understanding is CTNs do not travel, also I have no computer experience. All the sailors I've been talking to say CTN is a great job with good advancement, great training in the field, and amazing jobs outside of the navy. I don't ship until Nov so I could easily change my rate until then. But what I'm wondering is should I keep CTN and be happy with my free training in the field and nice jobs when I get out, or be Aircrew and travel the world on the navy's dime and enjoy per diem and flight pay. Also, what can AWOs do for a living outside the navy?

So the biggest thing I want to touch on right off the bat is this idea that you can easily just change rates in DEP. That's not the case. You can put in a "request" via the DAR process (DEP Action Request), but at the end of the day you signed for the rate you did. You made an agreement between you and the Navy that you would enlist in order to be provided that training. So from now on you need to be under the assumption that you'll be shipping for that rate. Anything that happens besides that is something special and not the norm. The reason I say that is we as an organization wouldn't be able to function if we had our anticipated numbers being all over the place and unpredictable if people were changing all the time. It was up to you to sign the paper so they're expecting you to keep your word.

None of that is to say though that what you signed makes you "in" the Navy yet, however. You're not gonna be held to that enlistment until you actually sign your enlistment contract on the day you ship. I just wanted you to be aware that getting your rate changed isn't as simple as just changing your mind.

-break-break-

As a current Aircrewman, I can also answer some of your aircrew questions.

So flight pay and per diem are cool and all, but it's really not THAT significantly more money than you get other places. You could still make a fat check getting sub pay, hazard duty pay on a ship, etc.

Travel is good and you'll definitely get to see some new places and experience new things. If you've never been outside the country before, doing so via aircrew is a great way to go.

AWOs outside the Navy can get into more government work if they'd like or do some contracting gigs with some civilian firms. Like anyone else as well, they can always get training on whatever they want on the Navy's dime (Tuition Assistance and GI Bill) to go pursue whatever career they'd like!

Navy side for your career, there are tons of opportunities outside of just flying ASW/MARPAT missions as well once you're done with your first tour. Not many that I can talk about here, but there is a large pool of different opportunities within that community.

/r
CTT1