Navy pipeline selection help
 

Gents,

Current student aviator in Navy primary. I'll be finishing up here in the next few weeks and thought I take a moment to get some perspective from some military turned airline pilots. I have 3 years prior service in the Marine Corps(enlisted) before being picked up by the Navy to be an officer/pilot. I am married with a 2 year old. Absolutely love flying, and I'd like to say I've done fairly middle pack here in primary. By no means am I the next chuck yeager but I've never failed/unsatted anything. Number one priority in my life is my wife and kid. That being said.... SELECTION.

My longterm goal is to become an airline pilot flying internationally with one of the Majors. I grew up flying alone to see my grandfather in France and have dreamt of it since. That being said... here is my current wish list

1. P8 (navy 737)
2. E2/C2
3. Helos or E6 Mercury(B-707)

My predicament is my 3rd choice. I'm torn between E-6s and Helos.

E-6s
Pros
- set up with multi engine heavy time
- Deployments are 3 on 3 off essentially
- always stateside
Cons
- have yet to meet an e6 guy talk good about community. One dude downright said to avoid it. Most complaints about predictability, boring, never overseas.
- live in OKC
- Never truly "deploy"

Helos
Pros
- best duty stations in navy
- All Pilot community
- Every helo pilot I've met said they absolutely love the community. Spoke about brotherhood
- Deployments were plenty, fairly predictable, and all over the world.
Cons
- Not multiengine heavy
- Have to fight for a VT instructor slot to get fixed wing hours
- Spend 1000s on multiengine courses to get rating

Thus my predicament, one essentially promises a rewarding navy career, the other sets myself up for the airlines.
- Is being in the E6 community really that bad?
- Is 3 years of CONUS mini deployments/living in OKC worth it for the multi-engine heavy time?
- Would going E-6s make me a shoe in for the Majors?

The idea of making 70k a year as a first year FO in the regionals sounds terrible, especially when I have a family to support. Let me know gents if I have any misconceptions. Thanks for everyone's time.

70k to start sounds bad? The majors aren't paying much more than that. And Hawaiin pays 37k to start. I'd suggest that you do a good job saving and pare down expenses. You have plenty of time. Who knows what contracts will be like when you get out.

I think your selections sound solid.

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Looking to be an airline guy? You should Have everything fixed wing on your selection card from Jets down to E6.

If you go E6, once your done with your commitment, you'll be able to walk on to the major airline of your choice. Plus, living in OKC is legit.

Dude you’ve got at least 8-10 years before you’ll even have the option. There is no telling what the airline landscape will look like then.

Shoot for what you want, the rest will fall into place. That said you couldn’t pay me to go to the P-3/P-8 community. I’d ask why not tailhook, but there are plenty of guys that don’t need to be convinced of that. Take what your IPs say with a grain of salt, there’s a lot of TACAIR hate in the VTs. Great IPs but don’t let them bias your choices. If I could go back and be a JO in a VFA squadron again I would in a second. There’s no better flying you’ll ever get to do then day case 1 around the boat.

No platform is going to make you anymore or less competitive for the airlines if it’s fixed wing. Far and away the majority of airline guys I fly with that were Navy/Marines, were pointy nose.

Don't put down helicopters. If the Navy wants/needs you to fly helicopters they will select this for you and then Helicopters were meant to be.

Ah, to be young again...!

I laughed too. Marines tend to like to deploy.

To the OP, if you want airlines, focus on fixed wing. Given your timing, you might be near the back side of the current wave, best not to take any unnecessary delays getting to your career destination airline.

When I get out in 8 years, so 2026/7, I’ll be making just north of 100k as an O-3. At that point my wife and I intend on having 3 kids (we already have a 2 year old). That’s near a 30k pay cut, if I’m lucky enough to get 70k. Money may not buy “happiness” but it sure does make it easier to achieve it.

You said solid selections you were referring to P8, e2/c2, e6?

Thanks

So I would love tacair, however speaking to current guys at the VFAs as well as 2 instructors we have here, it requires a ton of dedication, that’s a level of dedication I can’t say I have. I don’t want to burn up someones spot that wants it more than I do. Also if you’re stationed in oceana, I’m told work ups are done in the west coast, so your away from family. Stationed in LeMoore, well.... you have to live in Central Valley. I don’t like the idea of raising my kids where breaking bad could’ve very well been filmed. The only negative thing IPs here have said come from the p3/p8 guys who say loving on the boat would suck.

So you say no platform makes you more/less competitive if it’s fixed wing, my predicament was between helos and E6s. 8-10 years, a lot may change, but i know for sure there will still be airlines, and they’ll still be looking for the most competitive applicants. That being said which is most competitive helos or e6s, or will it matter?