Ask a Naval Aircrewman

[Haasino]

Originally Posted by austin_andres

Hello, I'm currently in the process of joining the navy and I would like to be an AWO Aircrewman. Due to some circumstances I would have a choice of shipping soon and going in as FTS or waiting a long time and going AD. Would i be able to go FTS AWO? Which is a better lifestyle, AD or FTS? I go to meps on Monday so any additional information would be much appreciated.

The only FTS Aircrew orders are AWF Loadmasters and Flight Attendants on C-130's, C-40's, and C-12's... AWO is only initially available for AD, however you can transition to SelRes after your first enlistment if there's available orders in either of the two reserve maritime patrol squadrons.

My advice if you want AWO is to stick it out for the AD slot and use the time to physically prepare yourself for Aircrew Candidate School.

[FlyNavy]

Originally Posted by Haasino

The only FTS Aircrew orders are AWF Loadmasters and Flight Attendants on C-130's, C-40's, and C-12's... AWO is only initially available for AD, however you can transition to SelRes after your first enlistment if there's available orders in either of the two reserve maritime patrol squadrons.

My advice if you want AWO is to stick it out for the AD slot and use the time to physically prepare yourself for Aircrew Candidate School.

[austin_andres]

Hello. Update: I swore into the navy yesterday with an Aircrew contract, I leave May 18th. Any tips for me to prepare aswell as tips once i get in? I have been training for this job in the physical aspect. I've been swimming 5 miles a week for quite some time. Along with running 30-40 miles a week. Also lifting weights and doing as many bodyweight exercises i could think of. Any tips would be much appreciated.

[FlyNavy]

Originally Posted by austin_andres

Hello. Update: I swore into the navy yesterday with an Aircrew contract, I leave May 18th. Any tips for me to prepare aswell as tips once i get in? I have been training for this job in the physical aspect. I've been swimming 5 miles a week for quite some time. Along with running 30-40 miles a week. Also lifting weights and doing as many bodyweight exercises i could think of. Any tips would be much appreciated.

If you're doing all that then you should be fine. Body weight exercises are the way to go! Being able to bench a lot is great if you're in a weight lifting competition, but at NACCS it's about how long you can do it for and how many reps you can do.

For the running, I would say you don't need to do that much distance. The longest run we did was around 5 miles (grad runs). So instead of just pure distance, switch up days between distance and then sprint intervals. The sprint intervals will help with your run times while the distance keeps your cardio up. The biggest thing a lot of people failed on was that last PST test. Having a crappy run time is what sank the vast majority of the guys who failed.

As far as swimming goes, just make sure you're comfortable in the water. You'll be doing plenty of endurance swims and each day you'll be doing treads with more and more gear on (ie flight suit, boots, vest, helmet, etc).

/r
CTT1

[austin_andres]

Thank you! For my rating inside of Aircrew, I would like to be a AWO or AWF (flight engineer side). So my other question would be what would I have to do to accomplish this and when does this selection take place?

[FlyNavy]

Originally Posted by austin_andres

Thank you! For my rating inside of Aircrew, I would like to be a AWO or AWF (flight engineer side). So my other question would be what would I have to do to accomplish this and when does this selection take place?

Selection happens as you're about to graduate.

Nothing you do really will have much impact, as the LPO of the school is just given a number quota for each job to fill and 9 times out of 10 he just fills it up and lets you know where he put you.

Occasionally he'll let the top few people in the class get a pick, but I've personally seen it go both ways. So don't let people tell you that you're 100% going to get a pick because there is a very legitimate chance they just hand you a rate as well. (again, seen both happen while I was there)

AWF's on the FE side of the house are also losing a lot of positions as the Navy decommissions the P-3 and moves to the P-8. They're moving those guys into C-2 or E-6 platforms, but the opportunity is going to be a lot less than it used to be seeing as they have to do something with all the guys they already have now.

AWO is pretty common though (90% of my class ended up there) and they will still be in use with the new P-8 platform.

/r
CTT1

[austin_andres]

For the rate of AWO, how difficult is the A-School? Like do you study things like math or is it more about your aircraft and how it operates? Also how long is the typical pipeline, taking into affect being on holds?