Vance Air Force Base

If you selected Vance you will be alone and unafraid among the zoomies, the flyboys. Remember you are representing the Marine Corps and try not to get too soft. Airforce training is different than Navy training but in either case you are going to need to learn your pubs and procedures. If you are at Vance and have gouge to share send it this way at admin@marinegouge.com. In the mean time you are going to need to learn to fly the T-6 get ahead by visiting T6 Driver. When you get to Vance ask around for the "check flight gouge binder" which will be in the possession of one of the flights (currently 8th squadron, B flight). This binder has descriptions of the check pilots. As soon as you get there get someone to explain the pattern to you. It's not too compicated but extremely busy. You can observe the T-6's in the pattern from a little park on the north east side of the runway, outside the back gate. Know your pubs and your pattern. During the contact stage the 248 will be your bible. Patterns, patterns, patterns, seriously if you louse up a ride and come home to a perfect pattern, they'll be forgiving. If you have a perfect ride and mess up one thing in the pattern, you're done.

For a while at TBS there was a rumor that selecting Vance improved your chances of getting Jets. It is not true. For you that want the real gouge on why to go to, or not to go to Vance, here it is. There are few Marines at Vance, Marines stick together, therefore the other Marines on station are going to look out for you. They will be more willing to go to bat to get you what you want, but as for being more likely to get a certain airframe because of grades or what have you, that's just rumors. Record Highs, and close to record lows, for NSS, have been set at Vance, particularly in 2006. It's a crap shoot, just do your best. As for the training. The Air Force is a little strange about how they do things, but the training is top notch. You will fly everyday, most of the time you will double turn. The training is intense and the best description for it is that it is the Air Force's TBS. You'll learn alot and pretty much hate life. You may get through training faster, but add in travel time to and from Vance, pool time when you get there (typically 1-2 weeks) and 6 weeks of ground school prior to hitting the flight line, and you come out about even. Put it this way, the guys I went to API with are about a week ahead of me at advanced. There it is. Aside from that there's not much more to say, grab your boot laces and hold on tight.

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Vance Update June 2008

As of June 2008 most of the above selection still holds true. As a Marine student you will stand out for several reasons: your TBS mentality, your desert flight suit and the fact that there are only about thirty of "The Few and the Proud" at Vance at any given time. Your experiences in Quantico will truly prove helpful in Enid, OK. You will have an inherent flexibility when it comes to the constantly changing schedule (and weather) at Vance. Additionally, no matter what your IPs throw at you, it will be ten times better than standing watch over a SAW during FEX 2 in February. At times it may seem like you have to put up with a lot of stupidity, but the trade off is you fly the T-6 at least 5-6 times a week. The T-6 alone makes driving out here, and leaving Pensacola Beach and McGuire's behind completely worth it. You will fly an aircraft that can pull -3.5 to +7.0 Gs, with a max speed of 316 kts, awesome LCD displays for your cockpit instrumentation and top notch safety features like a Martin Baker Ejection Seat. The Air Force program places significant emphasis on formation flying. After only four months in the T-6 you will be flying 10ft from your buddy at 90 degrees AOB (wingwork), and by the way you'll be solo. Also, for the aspiring jet guys, the T-6 pattern speed is 200kts. This should help making the jump to the T-45 slightly easier. Couple the advantages of flying brand new aircraft with the fact that you are going through the program in a tight knit group that "cooperates to graduate" makes training at Vance a great option.

Lately, advanced assignments out of Vance have been pretty good. The last six Marines to select took one jet, two ospreys, two C-130s and one helo. Derive from that whatever you wish regarding your own selection chances.

The downside is the move to Enid, OK. The town has three big bars, two of which are terrible (I'd recommend Callahan's). The state has "near beer" (Max 3.2% Alc. By Vol.) and is a hundred miles from Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Upon taking the Enid exit off I-35 (412 West), you will be thinking "what the hell did I get myself into" for about 30 miles. I make you two promises: you will get used to Enid, and you'll be ready to leave when you finish. There are several apartment complexes that are livable. I paid $365 a month for a one bedroom one bath (This included all utilities with the exception of Electric). Rental homes are available out in town (expect to pay $600-700 in rent a month).