My Aviation Future

When I asked what my ultimate goal is in my career, it is tough to just pinpoint one. But I guess if I had to rattler them off they’d be; earn enough combat hrs. in a jet, fly one tour with the Blue Angels, and then move on to NASA and fly anything that would get me into space. Kind of a steep slope to accomplishing all those, but I believe that my long term goals in aviation are most definitely reliant on completing a number of short term goals in the process, and dependent on how many of those short term goals I can accomplish before I go blind or lose a physical qualification to fly an aircraft.

My view has definitely changed on where and what I want to do with my career since say high school, when I initially began contemplating real life. The only goal of mine that I know is certain on my list to reach is staying on my current path and finishing a minimum 20 to hopefully 30 year military flying career, retire and move on to something else. After that I would like to go into the civilian sector, but where totally depends on how long I can stay in.

Presently, the majority of military aviators I know are satisfied with their positions and not looking to get out into the civilian sector, myself included. This is not how it has been in the past and it makes it tough studying the civilian sector, but at the same time knowing you will not enter it for at least another ten years. The military is a great path which can save a ton of money as far as education and earning flight time, and the actual annual salary a military aviator brings in would most likely surprise the majority of the population.

The ultimate position I would like to reach in this sector, would be that of a command level, a single squadron, carrier, entire air wing, or an entire fleet, why stop? The commanding Officer acts as the CEO would and oversees all departments of each command, and is directly responsible to his superior for everything that happens in his command. These positions are comparable to high executive positions in many civilian aviation companies, briefly described here and the opportunity to earn a magnitude of experience that would transfer to that area as well. To me successfully commanding 5,000 members of the military in the capacity of an operational aircraft carrier seems it would pretty much prepare you for any leadership challenge you could ever encounter. To reach this position, the flying starts to go away, as with any executive position, an emphasis shifts to leading others.

My background in the Navy up until this point was flying, but as a radar operator, not a pilot. I have had extensive experience in the maintenance department, which are operated and ran very similarly to that of those in the civilian companies. Flight operations, scheduling, safety, training, quality assurance, etc. are all areas present in a military aviation commands and can provide the same type of experience. After college in the spring I will shift my attention to flight training for a pilot slot, but as we all know in this enterprise at some point in life an unforeseen medical issue could halt that if it’s your only plan, which is why I chose to major in the management side and plan to continue with my education and obtain my MBA.

My main reason for wanting to stay in the line of work I already am, other than the fact that I love the job, and the people, and the ability to get experiences that you cannot not otherwise obtain, here  is the emphasis the Navy places on leadership, professionalism and taking care of your employees or subordinates. These are values that are consistent (or should be) in all organizations, at least somewhere in writing, but are not always evident to those on the outside, or even the inside. If and when I am able to move on to the civilian sector aviation, my goals will undoubtedly change from where they are now, but these are the practices, methods, and priorities I would want to bring to any organization I would be affiliated with.