[QUOTE=LauHalaLana;123166]Not quite. Three of the four Pearl Harbor pilots sailed Master before becoming pilots. All had some active duty time, but no retired USN Captains or Admirals, and they really don’t have much of a chance of becoming a pilot, even for the navy.[/QUOTE]
Captain Mike Freeman is a Pearl Harbor Pilot right now. He had command of two Navy vessels I believe. Just ran into him the other day when I was renewing some certs at Baltimore MITAGS. Admirals don’t often go after pilot jobs because many are so old by the time they retire, but it happens on a rare occasion. Captain Freeman had a much easier time going for the job because it was so rare that they get people with actual Navy command experience who have all of the required credentials. He had some commercial time on salvage ships as well right after he got out. I think it’s just rare that Navy CO’s actually go and get their license when they get out or while they’re still in. Usually by the time they retire, they don’t need it financially, so they have to really love being out at sea to go through all the trouble of getting their license at that stage of their life. And then tell their wives after 20 years of deployments that they’re still going to be gone 6 months out of the year even though they just retired. Probably doesn’t happen that often!
Most of the San Diego civil service pilots are great guys, only one I can recall being questionable in abilities. Most of the ones I worked with are retired. The biggest problem with San Diego is the navy harbor master, some failed retired USN chief ( probable a bosn mate) that is a total dipshit. Never accomplished anything, knows nothing about ships, piloting one or commanding one. Arrogant, narcissistic a -hole SOB. What genius hired him needs his head examined. Typical insignificant Small minded dork that obtained a small amount of power due to position. Picture Harry Reed as a harbor master and you have it.
True, the ones I’ve seen are retired USN chiefs that were navy pilots when on active duty ( most of them). Never ran into one that was an ex-co or admiral, not to say they don’t exist, just never ran into one.[/QUOTE]
Ok, the Navy does make some stupid decisions, but even they aren’t dumb enough to hire a retired admiral as a pilot. That would be a total disaster.
Ok, the Navy does make some stupid decisions, but even they aren’t dumb enough to hire a retired admiral as a pilot. That would be a total disaster.[/QUOTE]
I would agree. I never said they employed retired admirals someone else did.
I would agree. I never said they employed retired admirals someone else did.[/QUOTE]
I realized it was another poster who said that. I was just too lazy to scroll back on my phone to find a more appropriate postto quote. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
No worries, I didn’t take it as a big issue… Just wanted to make sure it was known that I am not a big advocate of retired admirals ( or COs for that matter) making their way into this industry.
Z-drive: due to the requirements for getting San Diego pilotage, prospective Navy civil service pilots always ride with the commercial pilots at some point in order to get their unlimited tonnage and unrestricted pilots license from the USCG. The Navy simply doesn’t have large ships cover the whole bay.