hawkdriver29

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201108/mlbs-controversial-decision-stop-military-tribute-hats MLB = FAIL

As far as I know that's just how the Army does business. Anybody who knows otherwise, feel free to corrrect me, but even if you get picked up for OCS you still have to go to basic first. I can tell you how much fun it is going through basic in your late 20's with a bunch of high school kids

BUFF52, Yes, Warrants generally fly more than the branch guys. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I'm a CW2 flying Blackhawks for the 25th ID right now so feel free to PM me and I'll give you as much info as I can. There are also other threads concerning this topic so do a search as well. [ 18. July 2005, 03:33: Message edited by: hawkdriver29 ]

Rookie, I gotta agree with heloguy. If location is you're primary concern then this isn't the job for you. Remember, regardless of what branch you go to you will PCS. Even if you're lucky enough to get that great locale, you won't stay there forever. Don't forget about deployments either, unless Iraq & Afghanistan are what you consider warm and comfortable. Do this because you love flying, stick with it because you love flying and want to be there for the ground pounders. Doing this for money, notoriety, or a pimpa$$ beach house on the North Shore is just going to leave you dissapointed

Rookie, What type of info on flight equip are you looking for? Army has 4 helicopters, AH-64 (attack) OH-58D (scout) CH-47 (lift) and the UH-60 (lift, air assault, medevac, etc). As far as fixed wing, there's the C-12 and the UC-35. Guard and reserves fly some other types of fixed wing but I'm not sure what they are. Fixed wing slots are HIGHLY competitive, and 99.9999% of all aviators will start with helicopters and have to apply for a fixed wing slot. As far as flight time, it depends on what type of officer you become. If you go Warrant you will spend most of your career with a flight company. At some point you will track as either an IP, Maint. Test Pilot, Safety Officer, or TacOps Officer. The down side, as a CW4 IP with thousands of hours you will be outranked by a 2LT nugget right out of flight school, st times you will be treated like a glorified E-4. If you get your commision, as the previous posts said you will probably not fly much. You'll get about a year as a platoon leader, maybe some time as a company XO, and 1-2 years as a company commander. The rest of the time will be spent in a staff job. You'll still fly, but not nearly as much as those in a line company. Of course you'll get paid much better than Warrants, as well as having a little more diversity in your career. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I have worked with some great Warrants and commisioned guys as well as some horse**** ones on both sides. You have to examine both sides and make the decision that best suits you.

I second the APTAP site, (aptap.org). Two other sites worth checking out are hawkdriver.com and kiowapilots.com. Quite a bit of good info on both flight school and if applicable WOCS. I know that I've also seen some threads on IST's plus info shouldn't be that hard to get. There's a fair number of WO's who came from the other services. One thing to remember with the guard. Their deployments last closer to 18 months usually. They mobilize at an Army base a few months prior to deploying to train up, then the year deployment, then back to said base for reintegration training and whatnot. Not trying to dissuade anybody mind you. The guard has some good units and great people, and while they're gone longer, they won't/shouldn't go as often as active currently. [ 27. April 2005, 03:03: Message edited by: hawkdriver29 ]

Ryder Ask your Dad, he probably knows better than me. My opinion is that it doesn't necessarily matter, at least not to get in. I had already graduated college prior to going "high school to flight school", but I also know of some guys who literally went h.s to f.s. You will want to get your degree at some point. It will help you get promoted, not to mention help prepare you for life after the military. foster You might also want to check out www.hawkdriver.com. I know the OH-58 guys have their own website, not sure about Apaches or Chinooks, but if I can find them I'll let you know

Foster Flight time depends on many things, the aircraft you fly, where you're stationed, your ability, and attitude to name a few. As far as job happiness, you have good days and not so good days. Army aviation is by no means perfect, but it's not bad either. There are some similarities that your fixed wing time will help you with, but there are also many differences, just wait until you start trying to find the hover button. Keep up the research, and don't let recruiters talk you into something you don't want to do. Most recruiters aren't too familiar with the Warrant program. I've met people, both Warrants and enlisted who were told they had to do some enlisted time before they could apply for WOCS. As I said before, I'm not familiar with IST's, so I don't know if, or how that would affect how the recruiter works with you. Regarding overseas assignments, Germany has several aviation units, but some of them may be moving back stateside with the restructuring going on. Other units are in Italy, Korea, Japan, and Honduras. Again, with the restructuring going on, all this may be up in the air. You can go overseas in your first assignment. I went to Korea out of flight school. It's fairly common for quite a few guys to go overseas right out of flight school. Good luck with everything, and don't hesitate to PM or e-mail me with any questions that may pop up.

foster I'm a CW2 3 years out of Mother Rucker and currently in Afghanistan. I was "high school to flight school" so I'm not familiar with IST's. Like Ryder said you'll have to take the AFAST and score at least 90. There is a prep book available, and I'd reccommend picking up, at least so you have an idea what to expect. If you study and prep a little the test isn't that hard. You'll start out at Warrant Officer Candidate School (at Rucker). It was a 6 week course when I went through but there was talk of making it longer, don't know if they did or not. WOCS isn't too bad, the first 2 weeks are pretty hectic, you can't do anything right, the TACS are on your ass, all that fun stuff. As you move along it gets easier though, I think my class only had 4 out of 65 who didn't make it, 2 due to medical problems, and 2 who were just rolled back to another class and graduated later. Once that's done and you pin on your bars, you'll start flight school. You start out in the TH-67, (a Bell Jet Ranger) for primary and instruments. It'll feel like your trying to drink from a firehose at times, but most people get through it. You'll learn to focus on what they expect you to know tomorrow. Flight school has changed since I went through so more than likely after instruments you'll select aircraft and start Flight School 21, which is AQC, BCS, and NVG qual all rolled into one. When I went through, we did BCS and NVG quals in OH-58C's, then AQC in our aircraft. The nice thing about flight school 21 is you should leave with 3-4X more time in your aircraft than those who just go to AQC. I'm sure I'm forgetting something so PM me if you have any questions

New to the board, so I'll throw my 2 cents in and hope I don't look like a fool. Being an Army aviator, I tend to agree with the consensus. I don't want to come off like I'm bashing the Army, but most of us realize that life is better in the AF. Better pay, better standard of living, better support. As I said, nothing against the Army, but we're owned by the ground pounder's who don't always understand the needs of aviation. Also, if you're thinking about life after the military, I would think fixed wing time is more marketable than rotary wing time. Like I said, just my 2 cents.