dansharp
Private Message This User: 
Posts:15
 |
| 11 Oct 2009 01:43 PM |
�
|
Please forgive me if this has already been discussed elsewhere...If so you can just point me in the right direction.
I just found out this past week that I was selected for enjjpt. A dream come true for me. I have been reading more and more about enjjpt and I ran across the "New ENJJPT Assignment Policy May 09" and I have a few questions.
http://www.wantscheck.com/LinkClick...p;mid=1373
Does this new policy mean there is not really much of a difference between enjjpt and any other UPT? I know most of the details about enjjpt and how everyone goes to 38's and what not but I’m talking about a difference in aircraft assignments once it’s all over.
If I read the new policy correctly, however nicely worded, it pretty much said getting a 38 means next to nothing. Meaning 38 guys can go to any aircraft instead of the fighter/bomber route.
So what are the differences between upt at enjjpt and everywhere else with this new policy?? Is the difference just a slightly better shot at fighters??
|
|
|
|
|
Shep
Private Message This User:
Posts:169
|
| 11 Oct 2009 03:09 PM |
�
|
So here's what happened. The older fighters are getting phased out and their replacements are going to be fewer in number. Also, the training pipeline for fighters was pretty backed up... too many dudes/dudettes, not enough jets. Combine this with a high demand for the UAV and spec ops career fields, and you started getting a lot of non-traditional drops at ENJJPT. Dudes came here under the assumption that they were going to get fighters, and boy were they surprised.
So what they did to fix this was change the policy. Before, it said that ENJJPT graduates would only be aimed toward combat aircraft. However, a lot of guys were stating that they would easily want to fly heavies or tankers or anything that kept them in the air versus the option of getting assigned a UAV. So the commander changed the policy and opened up all aircraft as a possibility. This alleviated the UAV/spec ops pressure and made the drops more similar to other bases.
If you know anything about the Air Force it's that there is always an up and down fluxuation of assignments and aircraft available. This past winter was the bottom of that curve for fighter jets. What we're starting to see now is the fighter pipeline opening up again and a rush to bring young guys/gals into those airframes.
The bottom line is this: the training at ENJJPT is still focused towards making combat pilots. When fighters are available, this is the best place to get them hands down. But things aren't like they used to be when classes were getting 8-9 F-16s dropped per class and the quote unquote "bad" assignments were Buffs and FAIPs being the worse you could do. There used to be a mentality here of "guaranteed fighters" and that is definitely changing. We still get the most fighter assignments, however now there are a lot of other non-fighter options out there. |
|
 Click here to view my Pilot Slot Statistics |
|
|
Hacker
Team WantsCheck
Private Message This User:
Posts:192
|
| 12 Oct 2009 08:09 PM |
�
|
Posted By Shep on 11 Oct 2009 03:09 PM
The bottom line is this: the training at ENJJPT is still focused towards making combat pilots.
So, uh....hmmm.....what is the focus of SUPT then? 
|
|
|
|
|
Rynizzle
Team WantsCheck
Private Message This User:
Posts:2451
|
| 12 Oct 2009 08:15 PM |
�
|
Oh Snaps!
Hacker, I think what he is saying is that combat pilot = fighter pilot. If you're not a fighter pilot then you're not a real combat pilot.
Just figured I'd stir the the pot because Shep and I haven't had a tiss in awhile... |
|
 Click here to view my Pilot Slot Statistics |
|
|
Shep
Private Message This User:
Posts:169
|
| 12 Oct 2009 08:34 PM |
�
|
Haha, actually I figured I'd take my turn to throw the bait out there and see if I got any bites. I figured that the term "combat pilot" would attract some attention. But just to clarify, I was refering pilots of aircraft that employ weapons. And like anything else, there are exceptions to every rule. For example, there's never been a mighty AC-130 dropped at ENJJPT, and we all know that it employs some badass munitions (yay Call of Duty). And there are also plenty of aircraft which employ weapons that aren't fighters (yeah, I'm talking about you, Reaper).
I also want to add that I meant no disrespect to pilots of aircraft that don't employ weapons. We all know that planes don't fly with out the people, parts, and gas it takes to keep them in the air. "Combat" this and "combat" that is the popular buzz word around here and I feel like the cadre use it to describe how the focus of ENJJPT is unique and slightly different than that of other SUPT bases.
Wow, that was about as politically correct as I've ever tried to be. Can you two find any holes in this one? |
|
| Click here to view my Pilot Slot Statistics |
|
|
AFcadet
Private Message This User:
Posts:47
|
| 12 Oct 2009 09:03 PM |
�
|
great question dansharp...I got enjjpt as well...and I was thinking the same exact thing.
It will be interesting to see what the drops look like in another 2 years when we complete enjjpt and get our assignments. Hopefully it will be at the upswing of the fighter demand 
Anyone know when the F35 is supposed to be introduced into the inventory? Im betting that will free up quiet a few slots as they pull pilots out of fighters to fill up the new F35s.
Even though other non *weapon employing* aircraft are being thrown into the drops, its good to hear enjjpt is still getting the most fighter drops |
|
| Click here to view my Pilot Slot Statistics |
|
|
Handyman
Private Message This User:
Posts:25
|
| 15 Oct 2009 02:19 PM |
�
|
I've been researching the F-35 coming online and seeing several dates, some as early as 2012, but as late as 2018. They are still conducting flight tests to work out bugs and such. So, AFTER we graduate ENJJPT AFCadet! Haha, doesn't mean there won't be need for transitions from other airframes, as they did with the Raptor.
There were 2 F-22 drops last week at Laughlin, and, apparently from the word of my friend going through UPT at Laughlin, there were about 4-6 F-22 drops from ENJJPT. Just some "combat" food for thought.
If anyone has more info on the ENJJPT drops lately, I know several of us are quite curious. |
|
| Click here to view my Pilot Slot Statistics |
|
|
Shep
Private Message This User:
Posts:169
|
| 15 Oct 2009 05:34 PM |
�
|
The 4-6 F-22 drops depend on what you mean. If you're talking about 4-6 F-22s in one class... haha, yeah right. That couldn't be further from the truth. If you mean 4-6 in the last year, then that's a little more like it.
I've been here for a year and we've averaged getting one F-22 just about every other class. Also remembere that there are only 8 classes per year here verus 15 classes per year at the other bases. |
|
| Click here to view my Pilot Slot Statistics |
|
|
ENmafia
Team WantsCheck
Private Message This User:
Posts:409
|
| 15 Oct 2009 06:44 PM |
�
|
Also, the EN Drops for the last year have either been listed
in the assignment/drops thread and/or in the actual "UPT Class Drops" Module
under the UPT Prep tab on the homepage. The fact that EN has 8 classes per
year effects this new module as well...so you just have to click back through
the drops to get to the last drop (09-08). 09-10 shows up as a drop before
09-08 but there is no such thing as an 09-10 class. Someone must have
just entered the class wrong but it was obviously recent (probally before 09-08)
and thus can show you what drops have been looking like, though I can't verify
the drop as recent cause I just got here 9 weeks ago and thus have only been to
one assignment night. |
|
| ENJJPT Class 10-08 "Tators" Click here to view my Pilot Slot Statistics |
|
|
Hacker
Team WantsCheck
Private Message This User:
Posts:192
|
| 16 Oct 2009 05:49 AM |
�
|
Posted By Shep on 12 Oct 2009 08:34 PM
I feel like the cadre use it to describe how the focus of ENJJPT is unique and slightly different than that of other SUPT bases.
Well, sorry to say, no -- the focus of ENJJPT isn't any different than SUPT. Nor does such lip service to "combat" produce a pilot any more capable than any other training source.
The reality is that a SUPT grad and an ENJJPT grad (outside of having a couple more hours in AFORMS and having that weird space above the velcro on their shoulder where the American flag used to be) are totally indistinguishable from each other. They have essentially the same washout rate in IFF from both sources.
Another frequently ignored reality that ENJJPT is a political tool for the NATO alliance. That US students participate at all has more to do with playing nice with NATO than having a separate, parallel pilot training path for (what used to be) the fighter business. From an undergraduate training perspective, it simply makes no difference. |
|
|
|
|
dansharp
Private Message This User:
Posts:15
|
| 16 Oct 2009 06:07 AM |
�
|
Ok I guess I'm starting to learn of this, I guess you could call it rivalry, between ENJJPT and other SUPT. Had no idea. I am only selected for ENJJPT so I have no real information to back me up, but I would think there is a difference. I mean why are there few slots given out each year? Why do you have to have such a high order of merit to be selected? Also, when looking at the drops page other UPT classes and ENJJPT seem to be quite different. I don't know of any real differences. These are just some thoughts I have. I'm not saying one is better than the other by any means. I do however think there are a few differences.
From: PilotSlotQuest@wantscheck.org
Date: 16 Oct 2009 05:49:55 -0500 To: Subject: RE: New ENJJPT Assignment Policy May 09
[00011377:00012532]
|
|
|
|
|
Hacker
Team WantsCheck
Private Message This User:
Posts:192
|
| 16 Oct 2009 01:33 PM |
�
|
Put simply, ENJJPT used to be the "guaranteed fighter" route -- back when fighters were the #1 choice of damn near every USAF officer who wanted to be a pilot.
Going to ENJJPT meant that, regardless of your performance among your class peers, you were going to get an assignment to a fighter. That meant ENJJPT slots were highly sought after, and meaning that the qualifications required to get in were higher because of that increased competition (and, just as importantly, the realization that every grad WOULD get a fighter, and the USAF wanted to be sure only the "best" were getting in the front door).
That guarantee has eroded away, although most ENJJPT grads do go to fighters currently. |
|
|
|
|