Flight Surgeons

[q123]

1) i heard that flight surgeons are allowed to fly the plane(i.e. the pilot lets them drive the stick)? but in the navy/usmc none of the fighters have a stick on the 2nd seat. Only F15E in the AF has it. Am i wrong?
2) if you're an hpsp student(therefore commissioned), are you allowed to use a flying club at any military base so as to get your private pilot license or just to rent a 1engine plane at a cheaper rate?
3) If you're in an Orion squadron as a flight surgeon, what would be your deployment schedule like?
thanks

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[Milrad]

1. Yes your wrong. F-15 B and D's have a second stick for training. F-16 also. I do not know if the F-22 or JSF have?

2. Yes you are right.

3. I have no idea.

 

[q123]

1. Yes your wrong. F-15 B and D's have a second stick for training. F-16 also. I do not know if the F-22 or JSF have?
.

no. i dont even know what's F15b and d. Where does it say that navy has it? F16 is AF and there is no 2nd stick, only 2nd seat. some training squadrons may have 2 sticks, but as FS you are assigned to a fighting squadron(unless you get some rare assignment to a training school like top gun or 3rd phase flight school). In a fighting squadron even navigators dont get any stick time, because there is only 1 stick. The only exception is F15E in AF.
F22-look up on wikipedia. Navigators in F15E squadrons are becoming pissed that their F15E are getting replaced by 1 crew aircraft.

 

[BKK]

no. i dont even know what's F15b and d. Where does it say that navy has it? F16 is AF and there is no 2nd stick, only 2nd seat. some training squadrons may have 2 sticks, but as FS you are assigned to a fighting squadron(unless you get some rare assignment to a training school like top gun or 3rd phase flight school). In a fighting squadron even navigators dont get any stick time, because there is only 1 stick. The only exception is F15E in AF.
F22-look up on wikipedia. Navigators in F15E squadrons are becoming pissed that their F15E are getting replaced by 1 crew aircraft.

The F16 B and D models are two seat models of the F16 and do in fact have a stick in the back seat. Most operational F16 squadrons may have only one or two B/D models, whereas AETC F16 training squadrons have many more (mainly only at Luke AFB)

 

[navrad]

3. When I was in a patrol squadron we deployed for 6 months and returned for one year.

 

[crusinmsu]

if I may ask the others here. I was speaking with a recruiter the other day with the Navy Medical Corps and he said that they were going to be downsizing the number of Flight Surgery billets as they are starting to phase out the GMO tours ? is this true? I was really hoping it would be easy to pick up one of these slots after finishing medical school in 2013 or 2014. i'm a ways off but still it was and still is my dream... is the Navy the wrong place to pick up a flight surgery slot in the near future? i'm an ENS Reserves.

 

[hippuppy]

Hi, I am about to graduate from the Navy Flight Surgery curriculum in Feb and will be stationed at Meridian NAS (which is a jet training base for the navy and marine flight officers.) T-45s are the jets and they are two seaters with dual control so the backseaters can pilot the aircraft as well.

It is true that the navy is going to move towards more residency trained billets; however there should always be a role for the flight surgeon. I have not heard of a decrease in the number of flight surgery billets. There might be a shift toward more operational spots for flight surgeons in the future. I would caution you; however in making any decisions based on what you feel will happen in 5-6 years as things can change rapidly.

I will tell you that I feel being a Navy flight surgeon is one of the most exciting and rewarding jobs in the military. I am biased but as Navy FS we go through ground school with actual hands on flying of the T-34C (prop) and TH-57 (helo). It is a blast. My army and airforce collegues unfortunately don't get this experience. I would still say that if you want to fly, Navy FS is the way to go.

With my new billet in Meridian I will have a great opportunity to fly the T-45 jet and have been told one can get pretty good at it as there is ample time to fly when at a training wing.

If I had to guess, I would say that by the time you get through med school, a majority of military students will be going to military internships and then continuing on into military residencies. There will be a need for flight surgeons, you will just have to keep following the changes within military GME to find out how to get one of these spots.

Currently you can apply to FS after completing a one year internship and most people who wanted FS as their first choice got it.

Good luck,

Hippuppy

Navy LT Student Flight Surgeon

 

[crusinmsu]

thanks so much LT good info there. It was my thinking that if they allowed more ppl to go straight through training and do residency that there would be less people who wanted to do flight surgery and therefore a better chance of getting it.

 

[Helos2medicine]

I am not 100% on this, but I understand that the Navy is phasing out the GMO (read 'flight surgeon') tour before residency, and moving to flight surgery as a post-residency tour. That means that the flight surgeons, via a phased-in plan through the next 4 years, will be residence-trained physicians, and the GMO options after internships will be severely diminished or gone all together.

 

[crusinmsu]

so basically it would be an option perhaps for someone after completing their residency? do you think it would be limited to certain residencies? say someone wanted to do a Psychiatry residency and then go flight surgeon tour... hoping they wouldn't only take family practice folks.... either way residency years don't count toward payback correct? so you could do a residency and then serve your committment perhaps as a flight doc ???

 

[crusinmsu]

hadn't heard anything lately on here but wanted to get this forum alive again for flight surgeons and aspiring students who hope to one day wear the wings... *like me*!

 

[BomberDoc]

The only two things it takes to "wear the wings" are #1, not to match and #2, meet flying physical standards. Both are exceedingly easy. Being a flight doc is a good way to pass the years of commitment until you can apply for a good civilian residency. It is painful, but better than being a garden variety GMO.

 

[crusinmsu]

are you speaking to the Air Force sir? i'm on the Navy side.
also had a question for you bomber doc have you seen docs come into the air force from other branches, ex. (army, navy) after their committment is up in their branch? just curious. my first choice was always air force and they wouldn't commission me b/c i didnt have a degree in a technical discipline. thought maybe after the M.D. they'd change their mind haha but the navy gets their time with me and mine with them for now.

V/R