Hi, everybody. I've been lurking these boards for awhile and I finally was able to register the other day. I'm 23 years old, married with no kids and an enlisted guy in Navy and I'm wanting to become a pilot once I get out. I've been in the Navy for almost five years now and I have about 3 years left. I know many of you are probably thinking that I should do my flight training in the Navy but I'd really rather do it on the civilian side of things. I'll have my GI Bill and I already have a lot of money in savings and I'll have a lot more by the time I get out. So to my question...

Has anybody gone through the flight program at Arizona State? I've read a bit about it and I know they do some work along side with Mesa and from the horror stories I've read I wouldn't want to touch Mesa with a 20 foot pole. So assuming I forego the Mesa Pilot Bridge Program thing, how is the training itself? How is the school? Is the Polytech Campus nice? How is the campus housing they have near the Polytech campus, they look like old military housing units and sometimes they can be good.... and sometimes they should have been condemned months ago.

I also know many people say don't get a degree in aviation in case you ever need a backup job but trust me when I say that skill set that the Navy has given me is highly lucrative and I could easily get a job doing what I am now if needed. My wife is also trained in the same field and she is only a few credits away from a bachelor's degree as well, so we already have backups in line if my personal aviation career doesn't pan out or if the entire industry goes down the toilet.

Thanks for any information you might have.