Are mids able to list both Navy Pilot and Marine Pilot as options for service assignment (assuming you go to Leatherneck)? Or can you only list pilot and you will be assigned to the Navy/USMC based on quotas/needs of the service? Thanks in advance!
We list both! If you have your heart set on aviation, you can fly for either service. The choice between USN and USMC is an important one, so they try to leave that up to you!
@@benwenger7604 Thank you so much! Another question, but what made you choose USNA? I have appointments to both USAFA and USNA, but I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. Any help would be awesome! Thanks again :)
@@itsdav1y Happy to help! This might be a little long winded, but I will do my best to give you the advice I was given about a similar decision when I was in your shoes. I would encourage you to think not only about how the choice would affect your career, but also how it would affect the types of people you would be serving with. If you're like me, you are willing to do just about any job so long as you're doing it with friends and people that you like. I would seek out your peers who are making the same decision as you and see what they are doing. Are all of your friends going to USAFA? then maybe you vibe more with the zoomies (no shame in that!) Are all your friends the motivated marine types? Maybe you would get along with the other marines you meet at USNA! It could even be that you realize most of your buddies are going to art school; if mine had, I would probably be sculpting instead of sailing. That's how I made my decision. It turned out, it didn't matter as much to me if I flew for the air force or marines or navy, but it mattered a lot to me if I would like the people I worked with. If that way of making decisions doesn't quite work for you, fear not! All of the DoD branches are large enough and diverse enough that you'll be able to find the right people just about wherever you end up. But after balancing out career prospects, my skills and talents, my desire for adventure, etc. the tipping factor in my decision was that I had met more sailors and marines that I had liked, and found it harder to find as many friendly airmen.
@@benwenger7604 Thank you so much! Most of the people I've met and have spoken to are all going Navy over Air Force, so that is definitely a great thing to hear. In terms of service assignment again, how hard is it to get your first or second choice? I've also heard stuff about getting sub/nuke drafted, but I wasn't sure if that is really a thing or not. Thank you so much again!
@@itsdav1y You're so welcome! As far as service assignment - I am now a few years removed, so I dont know if the statistics have changed (and it sounds like you will have a few years yet before you reach that point!) But when I was there, you basically had a 90% chance of getting your top two choices, and a 80% chance of getting your first choice. There are lots of reasons those ballpark numbers are where they are, but I won't get too into that. What they aren't always saying out loud is this, though: a lot of those 10% who didn't get their top 1 or 2 got their last choice: sub drafted. I was one of them! And it's not great, but I know a few people who really made the best of it. It doesn't happen to just anyone, there are certain requirements and plenty of other gouge out there about it, but it is real. I think the key with dealing with the assignment process is a healthy combination of three pieces of advice: "do your best and you can achieve anything", "bloom where you're planted" and "if you want something, don't take no for an answer" in that order. For most midshipmen, the process is a meritocracy, and you'll be rewarded for your effort. For some, you get screwed, and it sucks, but you still can persevere, do great things, and even learn to love your assigned community. For a select, special few, you claw your way out of a bad situation and get what you want (or something close) in the end. That last group are people who transfer between communities after assignment, or get out of the military service entirely. It's not pretty, but it happens.
Hey man! Awesome video! For some reason I really enjoy watching g these service selection videos. It gives me inspiration. But, I am 20 years old, I took a year off of College after HS, but I am stuck on my route to achieving my dreams.... I want to be a Navy Pilot, it's been my dream ever since I can remember (I know everyone says that but it's true!) but my question is, would you recommend going through NROTC or OCS for the best chance at becoming a pilot? You dont understand how bad I want this! The only bad thing is I'll have to move out of state for NROTC but it'll be worth it if it's the better option, I tried doing research but it's 50/50.
Aviator22! Thanks for the comment! I'm going to tell you what I think, but keep in mind I have very little experience with what NROTC and OCS are like. In the end, your future is in your hands! OCS, as I understand it, is for people who have already earned a college degree. So if you can put yourself through school and earn a degree that OCS would want to pick you up for, then OCS is for you. On the other hand, any ROTC is going to be done concurrently with a college education. This limits where you can go to school, but opens up opportunities to see what military life is like a little more before committing and has a good chance of offering you a scholarship to pay for college. I'm not sure which is better for aspiring pilots, but I would recommend NROTC for your case. I further recommend you get in contact with local NROTC colleges and the OCS points of contact and see what their curriculum and career opportunities are like. It may be better for you to actually talk to someone over the phone or in person than the research you've done if that research has not yielded results yet. I hope this helps! Get exited and be proactive - you can achieve this!
Ben Wenger Thank you so much for the reply. I will be contacting both! I am fully confident I can do this! One more question, what did you selected to do?
Plenty of people do! This is just a small snapshot of that academy class. The video only shows the class of 2017 from 22nd company. Some companies don't have any SEAL or EOD commissions one year, but many in the next year.
Kind of! You put up your preferences, then the Navy and Marine Corps make some decisions based on what they need and what you ask for. Most people get their top two choices.
My son is class of 2021 can't wait until his service assignment
I went to NMMI with Carnahan! Congrats bro!!!
Christian Trout NMMI in the house, JC C/O ‘16
Are mids able to list both Navy Pilot and Marine Pilot as options for service assignment (assuming you go to Leatherneck)? Or can you only list pilot and you will be assigned to the Navy/USMC based on quotas/needs of the service? Thanks in advance!
We list both! If you have your heart set on aviation, you can fly for either service. The choice between USN and USMC is an important one, so they try to leave that up to you!
@@benwenger7604 Thank you so much! Another question, but what made you choose USNA? I have appointments to both USAFA and USNA, but I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. Any help would be awesome! Thanks again :)
@@itsdav1y Happy to help! This might be a little long winded, but I will do my best to give you the advice I was given about a similar decision when I was in your shoes. I would encourage you to think not only about how the choice would affect your career, but also how it would affect the types of people you would be serving with. If you're like me, you are willing to do just about any job so long as you're doing it with friends and people that you like. I would seek out your peers who are making the same decision as you and see what they are doing. Are all of your friends going to USAFA? then maybe you vibe more with the zoomies (no shame in that!) Are all your friends the motivated marine types? Maybe you would get along with the other marines you meet at USNA! It could even be that you realize most of your buddies are going to art school; if mine had, I would probably be sculpting instead of sailing.
That's how I made my decision. It turned out, it didn't matter as much to me if I flew for the air force or marines or navy, but it mattered a lot to me if I would like the people I worked with.
If that way of making decisions doesn't quite work for you, fear not! All of the DoD branches are large enough and diverse enough that you'll be able to find the right people just about wherever you end up. But after balancing out career prospects, my skills and talents, my desire for adventure, etc. the tipping factor in my decision was that I had met more sailors and marines that I had liked, and found it harder to find as many friendly airmen.
@@benwenger7604 Thank you so much! Most of the people I've met and have spoken to are all going Navy over Air Force, so that is definitely a great thing to hear. In terms of service assignment again, how hard is it to get your first or second choice? I've also heard stuff about getting sub/nuke drafted, but I wasn't sure if that is really a thing or not. Thank you so much again!
@@itsdav1y You're so welcome! As far as service assignment - I am now a few years removed, so I dont know if the statistics have changed (and it sounds like you will have a few years yet before you reach that point!) But when I was there, you basically had a 90% chance of getting your top two choices, and a 80% chance of getting your first choice. There are lots of reasons those ballpark numbers are where they are, but I won't get too into that.
What they aren't always saying out loud is this, though: a lot of those 10% who didn't get their top 1 or 2 got their last choice: sub drafted. I was one of them! And it's not great, but I know a few people who really made the best of it. It doesn't happen to just anyone, there are certain requirements and plenty of other gouge out there about it, but it is real.
I think the key with dealing with the assignment process is a healthy combination of three pieces of advice: "do your best and you can achieve anything", "bloom where you're planted" and "if you want something, don't take no for an answer" in that order. For most midshipmen, the process is a meritocracy, and you'll be rewarded for your effort. For some, you get screwed, and it sucks, but you still can persevere, do great things, and even learn to love your assigned community. For a select, special few, you claw your way out of a bad situation and get what you want (or something close) in the end. That last group are people who transfer between communities after assignment, or get out of the military service entirely. It's not pretty, but it happens.
Hey man! Awesome video! For some reason I really enjoy watching g these service selection videos. It gives me inspiration. But, I am 20 years old, I took a year off of College after HS, but I am stuck on my route to achieving my dreams.... I want to be a Navy Pilot, it's been my dream ever since I can remember (I know everyone says that but it's true!) but my question is, would you recommend going through NROTC or OCS for the best chance at becoming a pilot? You dont understand how bad I want this!
The only bad thing is I'll have to move out of state for NROTC but it'll be worth it if it's the better option, I tried doing research but it's 50/50.
Aviator22! Thanks for the comment! I'm going to tell you what I think, but keep in mind I have very little experience with what NROTC and OCS are like. In the end, your future is in your hands! OCS, as I understand it, is for people who have already earned a college degree. So if you can put yourself through school and earn a degree that OCS would want to pick you up for, then OCS is for you. On the other hand, any ROTC is going to be done concurrently with a college education. This limits where you can go to school, but opens up opportunities to see what military life is like a little more before committing and has a good chance of offering you a scholarship to pay for college. I'm not sure which is better for aspiring pilots, but I would recommend NROTC for your case. I further recommend you get in contact with local NROTC colleges and the OCS points of contact and see what their curriculum and career opportunities are like. It may be better for you to actually talk to someone over the phone or in person than the research you've done if that research has not yielded results yet. I hope this helps! Get exited and be proactive - you can achieve this!
Ben Wenger Thank you so much for the reply. I will be contacting both! I am fully confident I can do this! One more question, what did you selected to do?
Christian I'm not assigned anything yet but I'm leaning toward Navy pilot or USMC pilot. I'm glad this helped!
Why doesn't anyone go EOD or Seal Officer?
Plenty of people do! This is just a small snapshot of that academy class. The video only shows the class of 2017 from 22nd company. Some companies don't have any SEAL or EOD commissions one year, but many in the next year.
@@benwenger7604 Thanks for the reply Ben!
Do you get to choose your assignment?
Kind of! You put up your preferences, then the Navy and Marine Corps make some decisions based on what they need and what you ask for. Most people get their top two choices.
@@benwenger7604 ok because i wanna go to the academy and become a seal officer
@@human22..3 Best of luck!
Why only some of the male midshipmen shave their hair lol?
Those are midshipmen who have been assigned to the United States Marine Corps! It is a tradition that we shave their head
@@benwenger7604 lol the Jarheads. Oorah!
The United States Navy has "pilots"?
coldplayplayer15 aviators lol
Naval aviators are the best pilots in the U.S. Armed Forces.
@@al11220 US Navy - The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight
They all look the same when they come back in the box
yeah like you
ZERO DIVERSITY lol
how