Synixman

Flying shore orders are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. For helos and from talking to my peers VP/VQ now, you’ll go through a nomination round with the detailers in Millington. Four times a year (quarterly) around 9 months from the end of your first tour, you submit a preference sheet for jobs your community has. Each community has billets they “own” (FRS/Advanced/others), and things like Primary VTs are shared amongst the communities. What you submit also has your flight hours, quals, FITREPs, and CO’s recommendation. The gaining commands get a say, the detailers work through it, and a slate is generated and disseminated. You can decline and go do something else, but that basically assures you aren’t promoting past O-3.

Given how big the squadrons have gotten, consolidation of the FRSes, etc, it’s a not easy any more. My round had ~80 people competing for ~35 flying jobs. The oddball non production things like station pilot, shore duty C-12s, etc go to a second round where you again compete amongst the other remaining applicants.

I’d argue part of this system is trying to ensure fairness across a large group of people. The other part is to make it a “black box” that can’t be heavily influenced by a phone call.

I’ve got tons of respect for the more seasoned voices on here, but the landscape has shifted significantly in the last 10 years. It used to be that guys going to CNATRA jobs were non hack MPs who were getting out. Those days are gone. Average guy/gal coming to VTs is a Fleet Ranked EP. Lots of folks with EPs going to non flying jobs. I’d hate for you to poop on your shoes by advertising your designs early.