Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Geographically the US is very isolated, we don't have to do much to defend the lower 48 from invasion. The fundamental nature of the US military in the 21st century is overseas power-projection...therefore most us will spend time overseas.
Out of curiosity, are you speaking from Coast Guard experience? From the officer stand-point, overseas assignments (even to the middle east) are quite competitve. The handfull of friends I've had (albiet not aviators, but afloat operations) have had to almost fight to get the opportunity to serve in the middle-east for a year.
Originally Posted by
rickair7777
You correct in assuming that OCS is a crap shoot for those wanting to fly...my family member did OCS with some wanna-be aviators, all of whom were sorely disappointed in the end.
Again, was this USCG OCS? The Blue-21 initiative/program IS in fact OCS, just with a guarenteed slot at Pensacola after graduation. I can see people blindly going to OCS assuming they'll get a flight school slot at graduation and being disappointed when they are assigned to Coast Guard Cutter so-and-so or Sector so-and-so.
I guess it boils down to how bad you want it. If someone can't get selected from a Blue 21 school, it appears to me that the odds are in their favor that if they don't get a slot right out of OCS, they will get a slot within 6-12 months provided they are motivated and successful (which isn't that hard to do as an Ensign) at their first tour.
I might be totally off-base here, but a quick scan of the past three year's panel training panel results yields:
Number Applied / Number Selected
02 DEC 08: 40 / 34
05 MAR 08: 32 / 20
04 DEC 07: 47 / 28
06 MAR 08: 17 / 26
05 DEC 06: 42 / 23
13 JUN 06: 22 /18
These are just the selection panel results and I don't beleive account for CG Academy/OCS - Direct to Flight School members. Another thing that the numbers will not show, are those officers who failed to screen their first time, but were picked up in a subsequent board.
It's not perfect or an absolute (but other than death and debt, what in this life is?) but I truly beleive, based on my 14 years of service, that it boils down to how bad you want it and what you're willing to do to obtain your "prize".