Forum: Future F-16 crew

Hi Im new here and Im actually interested in becoming a Navy NFO or Rio in an F-14 even though they are going to start moving them over to F/A-18's soon I heard. A little background; Im 21, I go to University of Central FL, Im a Junior, both my grandfathers were fighter pilots for the AF and my 1st Cousin is a Liutenant in the Navy and Is a fighter pilot, F-14's to be specific. Also my dad is a private pilot.

Anyway, I couldn't find a lot of information on NFO's. It seems like the majority of the information is on trying to become a Pilot. I would love to be a pilot, don't get me wrong, but I think I might enjoy being in the back. Lol Im just curious as to what my choices are in pursuing that, what is the best way to go about it, presumably after I graduate, and what my chances would be to actually be picked because I know first hand how hard it is to become a fighter pilot and I would assume it to be more likely to be picked as an NFO. Any insight would be very appriciated.

Thanks
MT

F-16.net Sponsor

Trust me, if you can pass a Class I flight physical, be a pilot. You'll have a much better time.

My biggest thing is I just wanna fly. Is the need for NFO's larger than the need for NA's ? I can see how I would probably have a better time being a pilot, but I kinda look at it like its better to fly and be an NFO, than not fly at all, because of the fact it seems everyone wants to be a pilot, and if I could be an NFO and be able to fly, rather than trying to be a pilot and not cutting it, then I would be an NFO hands down, if ya know what Im sayin

In the Navy you have one big problem for both pilot and NFO, for pilot is that jets are a small percentage of all naval aircraft, the bulk are helicopters. Each primary class from each squadron has about 25 SNA's and there's usually about four jet slots one being Marine, thats divided among all graduating classes form NAS Corpus Christi (2 squadrons), NAS Whiting Field (three squadrons) and a couple of SNA's in joint training at Vance AFB. Right now jet selection is divided into F-14, S-3, A-6 and 18's C and E, by the time you get there S-3 will be almost gone, about half of the remaining 14's and the 6's will start going to the Bone Yard, this is true for NFO's too, demand changes constantly but for NFO's it's not so good since you have plenty S-3 and F-14 transition to 18F's growing as more S-3 squadrons are being decommed.

Your best bet is to study hard for the AFOQT and get a good GPA, go to an ANG unit and get a '15 or '16 slot. Trust me, I passed a 16 ANG slot to try for Tomcats, although I flew A-4's for a little while, I'm a Helo driver......bad call, even though it's the most fun I've had flying I think I would trade it for the cockpit of the Viper, specially since they don't land on the Boat at night he he!!!!

Fuel524,

I'm a Navy NFO - and I joined up with the intention of being an NFO, NOT a pilot. Most guys would call that crazy, but for me I had no desire to fly the plane. I still think strings hold it up when I'm at the [Link pending approval] in short, I'm a much better passenger than driver - and I enjoy playing with all the gadgets that an NFO can be afforded.

My aircraft? An E-2C Hawkeye. It's not sexy, it's often underappreciated, when you're in a bar women have never heard of it (so you end up saying you fly Hornets), it's slow, it's a prop, and it's generally a pain to fly in. That being said, it is truly an NFO's platform. The pilots, while part of the team, are there to mainly drive you where the aircraft needs to be stationed. If you're not familiar with E-2C'[Link pending approval] we're often equated to an Air Force [Link pending approval] Airborne Battlespace Management. In my opinion, if you're gonna be a Navy NFO, it's the platform of choice. No other platform has the responsibility, the power, or the presence (and reach) of an E-2. It's true that we have no defensive weapons, but we simply pluck the assets at our command (read this as 'everyone else') to come to our aid when necessary.

In the Air Force, NFO's are generally second class citizens (just a personal observation, not necessarily a fact). In E-2's, you're the Mission Commander. Forget about F-14'[Link pending approval] by the time you get thru flight school the last two remaining squadrons will have been decommissioned for over a year. That being [Link pending approval] Hornets are nice because they have windows and fly like a Cadillac, but they're just being told where to go and what to do by the E-2 NFO!!

Anywhoo - just some thoughts from an NFO who never wanted to be a pilot. Oh - yes I have perfect vision, yes I kicked a$$ on the AFOQT, yes I easily passed the Class I flight physical, and yes I actually CHOSE to fly E-2's!

One final [Link pending approval] a good friend was determined to be a fighter pilot. He went so far as to get his private license before joining the Navy. He ended up getting helo'[Link pending approval] to this day he swears he loves flying helo's more than he ever loved jets.

Good [Link pending approval]

Go to a local Navy recruiter. Tell them your interested in the BDCP program for aviation (what Im presently contracted under). They talk to your school and get an idea when you graduate, then they schedule you to got to OCS slightly after that. Best thing is you get money, and I dont know about you but Im swimming in student loans so that was a big sell. Typically the Navy has about twice as many NFO slots per year as Pilot. And you can specify which one you want, or put pilot your first and NFO your second and they'll decide what they want.

Good Luck

Thanks everybody. Anyone know of any good sites with info about NFO's and becoming an NFO. I did a search, but it didnt turn up much

Hey ltmattyd: Don't mean to get off-topic but I heard something about the E-2 a long while back that I thought was pretty cosmic. The story went that if the Airspace Controller (my term) in the E-2 saw the need, he could datalink to the F-14s he was in contact with and actually fly one of the Tomcats remotely to where ever the E-2 needed it to be to run the intercept. Is that at all correct or was someone just BS-ing? Question

Knowing Naval Aviators like we do I'd think that'd be a huge ego deflator, IMHO.

Thanks for your insights!

ltmattyd, one interesting side note to your comment- in the F-14A on the GRU-7A ejection seats there are labels to identify which seat is which. The front seat is labeled PILOT and the rear MCO (not RIO as most would suspect). MCO stands for Mission Control Officer, indicating the GIB is the one in charge to some degree...

Kevin
The Ejection Site

Forum: Future F-16 crew

Navy NFO/Rio?