Officer program

[Spencebr]

Hello Everyone,
Im an Aviation Ordnanceman Second Class Petty Officer in the Navy stationed in Japan. I have been in less than 2.5 years at this point. I actually dropped out of school at Indiana University in my second semester of my senior year in 2010 to join the navy. I was really lost with what I wanted to do with my life or what I was even going to school for and to top it I wasnt the most mature 18-21 year old ever.

Anyways I left in good academic standing with a 2.48 gpa and 90 credits into a Communications Degree. Since joining the navy it has been a huge wake up call and has really got my butt in gear. I have been very motivated with fair to great evals, lots of community service, honor graduate of my A school class and promoted very quickly. However I really feel my academic record at Indiana University really haunts me to the point I wish I was starting from scratch now instead of trying to rectify and move on.

I am very motivated towards a goal of becoming a Naval Officer. I am very interested in being a Pilot as flying is one of my hobbies but just love the idea of serving and leading in the Navy as an officeris thrilling and would be willing to go in any direction that the Navy felt it could use me.

I am currently enrolled at Excelsior College where I will be able to wrap up a degree BS in Liberal Studies in April. However with as many credits as I had at IU and the limited classes I have to raise my GPA at Excelsior I plan to graduate with a 2.8-2.9ish GPA in April 2013. I have all qualifying scores for Pilot on the ASTB and got a 49 on the Officer Qualifying test.

My main question are these goals a pipe dream? Will I ever be able to achieve this and is a degree at Excelsior worth my time or should I continue with possibly trying for STA-21. Any feedback would be really apreciated.

[LaterBloomer]

Thank you for your service. If no one from the forum can help you, and they're a REALLY smart group of people (I'm the token idiot), have you thought of checking with an education or training officer? Is a GPA relevant, or is it more important just to have a degree? Good luck.

[ShotoJuku]

Go Navy & Go Excelsior


:iagree:

[29palms]

Hello Everyone,
Im an Aviation Ordnanceman Second Class Petty Officer in the Navy stationed in Japan. I have been in less than 2.5 years at this point. I actually dropped out of school at Indiana University in my second semester of my senior year in 2010 to join the navy. I was really lost with what I wanted to do with my life or what I was even going to school for and to top it I wasnt the most mature 18-21 year old ever.

Anyways I left in good academic standing with a 2.48 gpa and 90 credits into a Communications Degree. Since joining the navy it has been a huge wake up call and has really got my butt in gear. I have been very motivated with fair to great evals, lots of community service, honor graduate of my A school class and promoted very quickly. However I really feel my academic record at Indiana University really haunts me to the point I wish I was starting from scratch now instead of trying to rectify and move on.

I am very motivated towards a goal of becoming a Naval Officer. I am very interested in being a Pilot as flying is one of my hobbies but just love the idea of serving and leading in the Navy as an officeris thrilling and would be willing to go in any direction that the Navy felt it could use me.

I am currently enrolled at Excelsior College where I will be able to wrap up a degree BS in Liberal Studies in April. However with as many credits as I had at IU and the limited classes I have to raise my GPA at Excelsior I plan to graduate with a 2.8-2.9ish GPA in April 2013. I have all qualifying scores for Pilot on the ASTB and got a 49 on the Officer Qualifying test.

My main question are these goals a pipe dream? Will I ever be able to achieve this and is a degree at Excelsior worth my time or should I continue with possibly trying for STA-21. Any feedback would be really apreciated.

I don't think its a pipe dream. You have to be a bit savy though. Once the military has you locked in on an "A" school, they like to keep you there and not invest anymore in you than they have to, however, that was when I was in the USMC back in the day, things may be different now. Also, if you up your career, and get a degree, that's leverage for reenlistment. They may try to blow some smoke to get you to reenlist in your current field, but I would stand firm with your goals. If they don't come through, check out other branches and Air Guard for instance.
Sometimes, the military knows they got you and like in your case, they know that you want to do a career, stay in for 20 years, so they bet they can get you to reenlist under their terms. Overall, I don't think by NOT getting a degree you would be doing yourself a good service. You can always have your degree no matter what you do and where you go, in or out of the USN.
You may have to polish the apple a little, know whom to talk to above that can hook you up. Play the game like those career guys do. (Some of them are a bunch of assholes that don't want to learn but rather sit and drink coffee all day long.) Stand firm, if you don't get what you want, be man enough to pave your own way no matter what you do. You can always go to flight school as a civilian for example if the Navy jerks you around. Hope this helps.

[at2nfo]

Scrap the idea of STA-21, you are so close to being done, that you would be wasting your time. Graduating with a GPA of 2.9 would get your foot in the door but it's not incredibly competitive. Your saving grace would be that the Navy has been selecting a lot of pilots lately. So if you are an EP sailor, and have proven yourself in leadership capacities within the Navy and out you should be fine. I was a prior AT2 who made AT1 before arriving to OCS. I'm currently a week away from earning my commision. It is possible, if you want it bad enough don't let anyone say you can't have it. I'd maybe recommend to you to look at TESC, when you graduate from there, only the credits earned from them make up your GPA. So your previous college experience won't appear to wreck you, however your GPA will be present on those transcripts. I think the boards focus most on the awarding colleges GPA though. If you have questions be all means keep asking, and also take a look at Airwarriors.com when it comes time to put together a package.

[Spencebr]

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Those are some really valid points, I will tell you right now I will not reenlist as an AO. I dont find the work fufulling, I am very good at it and have tried to do my duty and be as professional and motivated as possible which has helped me stand out because thats hard to find in alot of junior sailors. I have been looking at many different options, all though I would never admit anywhere outside something like this because leadership seems to get really offended when you consider anything that is not NAVY! Don't get me wrong I love being a sailor and love being in the navy, that part of is awesome and I find it more rewarding than I ever could have imagined. However this is not a 20+ year gig for me if what is in store is humping ammo and building bombs. Some love it, just not for me.

Im going back to the states for the first time in almost two years and plan on meeting with a recruiter from the Army and Airforce and discuss what my options and opportunities are with thier respective services however the ultimate goal is to stay a sailor.

Does anyone here know and probabaly at2nfo will have some info if prior flight experience would help in a package? Im almost to my first solo right now and plan on finishing my private pilots license before getting out because the GI bill wont pay for flight training until I have that qualification.

Anyways, thanks again for all the input. I'm def trying to do something that is not traditional for the typical AO so alot of time it is not well recieved and its hard to get guidance or instruction towards the path I am trying to forge.

[Spencebr]

[QUOTE= I think the boards focus most on the awarding colleges GPA though. If you have questions be all means keep asking, and also take a look at Airwarriors.com when it comes time to put together a package.[/QUOTE]

at2nfo, two quick questions.. What were your ASTB scores? What started this whole thing was interest in NFO but I didnt have a qualifying score for NFO and had minimum score for Pilot. It was a bit shocking because I have blown EVERY military standardized test out of the water except these. What sources do you recomend to raise score? I used the peteresons prep book and I had been studying some stuff from my flying lessons but Im still pretty new to it.

Thanks again for all the input, its always great to see someone with similar goals make it and to learn a thing or two!

Also, I checked out the Air Warriors thing you told me to hit up. Great source of info but for the life of me I CAN NOT figure out how to become a member to post questions. Is there like a secret password or something lol?

[Pjbarney]

Hi Spencebr. I have no military advice, and I'm a newbie on this forum and TESC. I just wanted to say I think your posts are rather inspirational. You have goals, have accomplished a lot, and you know what you want to do with your life. Keep at it, I think you will find a way and thank you for serving.

[irnbru]

Just a small point, with EC, you have 30 days from enrollment to request the removal of any courses/credit sources. If you have any particularly low grades you think you could now ace, or would rather slip by with a 'pass' with a course or credit-by-examination, that would be the time to weed your status report.

Good luck!

[at2nfo]

Spencebr, my stats compared to the majority of my class right now is below the average. The ASTB was not an easy test to study for. I ended up taking it twice. On my second try I scored a 48 5/6/5 while most in my class was above 50 and had above 6s across the board. I think what stood out for me was my decent GPA of a 3.2, my enlisted evaluations which all characterized my leadership abilities, and my interviews. I also took some time to get a letter or recommendation from my senator. The senator was overboard maybe but it was available so I used it. All in all it took me around six months to make my package solid. If you want advice shoot me a PM with your email and we will stay in touch. I'll even give you a digital copy of my package to help you see how it's made up. I highly advise looking into TESC to look in a good GPA. You want to try and be over a 3.0. Study again for the ASTB. The second time I took it I had just completed two physics classes so that helped. Also, I made flash cards and had my wife quiz me frequently when we had to drive places, that helped alot. Anyway, let me know if you need some more guidance. As for airwarriors you may have to wait a certain time frame until you can post.

Almost forgot to answer your other question. Regarding flight experience, I've heard mixed things. I have heard that it helps but in no way should it be looked at as a definite leg up over people who don't have it. Fact of the matter is there is the civilian way to fly, and the Navy way to fly. So inevitably they will teach you how they want you to fly, but your experience will add points. Good on you for pursuing your PPL, I was in the process of doing the same until I got picked up. My package was turned in with no flight experience though.