Marine Aviation Question

[AVDAD]

Youngest son is in his junior year at USNA and is going Marine. He recently expressed a desire to check out flight before making a decision next year. If said son decides he likes the view from above what does Marine aviation have to offer these days? What should he expect to be offered in the way of platforms? I would think that Navy would have more to offer but I don't think that's going to happen. He's going Marine one way or another.

Thanks for any insight,

AvDad

 

[HkDnAv8r]

Sir,
He can't go wrong either way with Naval Aviation. I was in a similar predicament when considering the military, and just before I signed on the dotted line for the USMC, I was accepted to the USN pipeline as well. In making my decision, I prioritized the chance to fly the F-18 (adv. Navy), time to wings (adv. Navy), and other mitigating factors (adv. Navy).
Does

 

[HkDnAv8r]

Sir,
He can't go wrong either way with Naval Aviation. I was in a similar predicament when considering the military, and just before I signed on the dotted line for the USMC, I was accepted to the USN pipeline as well. In making my decision, I prioritized the chance to fly the F-18 (adv. Navy), time to wings (adv. Navy), and other mitigating factors (adv. Navy).
Does your son want to primarily be a pilot or a rifleman? My Marine buddies will always say they are Marine Officers first, and pilots second. My Navy buddies say they get the hot chicks first by being Naval Aviators, and then grudgingly admit they are Naval Officers because then we are admitting we have something in common with Shoes.

 

[Heybill]

Sir,
He can't go wrong either way with Naval Aviation. I was in a similar predicament when considering the military, and just before I signed on the dotted line for the USMC, I was accepted to the USN pipeline as well. In making my decision, I prioritized the chance to fly the F-18 (adv. Navy), time to wings (adv. Navy), and other mitigating factors (adv. Navy).
Does your son want to primarily be a pilot or a rifleman? My Marine buddies will always say they are Marine Officers first, and pilots second. My Navy buddies say they get the hot chicks first by being Naval Aviators, and then grudgingly admit they are Naval Officers because then we are admitting we have something in common with Shoes.

Sir,
HkDnAv8r has it exactly right. Tell your son that if he wants to be a fighter pilot, in the Navy he has much more opportunity to remain in the cockpit his entire career. I have had quite an adventure and have enjoyed most of my Marine Corps career, but if I could go back, I would go Navy.

 

[SIG600]

Sir,
HkDnAv8r has it exactly right. Tell your son that if he wants to be a fighter pilot, in the Navy he has much more opportunity to remain in the cockpit his entire career. I have had quite an adventure and have enjoyed most of my Marine Corps career, but if I could go back, I would go Navy.

Whoa guys... this pendulum swings both ways. When I went through flight training there was a 6 month period when the Navy couldn't get enough jet guys and the Marines cut off the pipeline. Then all of a sudden the Navy completely cut off jet selection and the Marines were sending anyone with the grades to jets regardless of what they wanted. There was a time that the Marines were so hard up for jet guys, they were taking Navy guys in other training pipelines, letting them lat txfr to the Marines, with the guarantee they could fly Hornets (or Harriers, whatever they wanted).

It goes both ways, and all of the time. There is no way to know when he gets to that point in his training, which service is gonna be where in teh pendulum swing. Based on my experience from what I saw in the training commands, the Marine guys have a much better chance of flying grey jets than the Navy guys... but in the end it's all about timing and performance in Primary. There ARE times (and there's no way to know when) that there just arn't any jet slots graduating from Primary, regardless of service.

Something else he should thing about, in the Navy if you attrite from a harder pipeline (like jet training) you've got a chance to go to another community, P-3's, Helo's, etc. The Marines view it as a warfare attrite, and you're done flying period.

 

[AVDAD]

Thanks for the comments gentleman. What platforms might possibility be available on the Marine side when he graduates in 08? As I have said, he is going Marine, that decision has been made, I am curious what he might have the ability to fly. On a side note his older brother is going to try to solo him during Christmas break, that should be interesting.

And finally, thank you for serving our country, I will for ever be in yout debt.

God bless,

AvDad

 

[bertengineer]

Marine Aviation =
F-18
AV8B harrier
T-34 for instruction
T2 Texan for instruction
T44 twin for instruction
C-130 Legacy as well as New J model
V-22 Osprey (helo transitions to Fixed wing)

Bell jet ranger helo trainer
CH-46
CH-53
Cobra
Huey

What did I miss?

Fly Marine!

 

[frog_flyer]

Are v22 guys going to log that time as fixed wing?

Will it count for the majors?

 

[BSeals71]

Are v22 guys going to log that time as fixed wing?

Will it count for the majors?

V22 is considered as “Tilt Rotor”

I imagine that they should be able to count V22 in total time, but not sure on fixed-wing. It’s probably more on the helo side, considering you’re operating an aircraft with a cyclic and collective

Computing military flight time depends on the airline itself … each airline has it’s own way of figuring out fixed wing time conversions. Some even break down fighter time aka… “single-engine high performance military jet” Vs. say, someone flying a C-130 or KC-135

 

[stonewall]

Don't discount the F-35 for the Marines. It's a ways out, but your son is young enough to get in the JSF mix. The Navy will have a version, too.

SIG is right on this one. The "needs of the service" always change and you can't really predict them. The Navy pilot training pipeline can be fluid, unpredictable, and very slow. I will throw this out there, and I may regret it later. I was just telling my finacee tonight that if I hadn't gone USAFA, I'd have tried to be a Marine. There are NO ex-Marines, just former Marines. Every Marine is a rifleman, and every Marine takes pride in his branch, his unit, his uniform, everything. Of course, there are exceptions, but your son will NEVER go wrong with an officer career in the USMC.

That said...no bad options for your kid. Just try to impress on him what great opportunities he has right now, and don't let him blow it!