Posted: 10/7/2010 1:40:28 PM EDT
|
So i have been thinking about joining the Army alot lately. Here is my plan as of now.
Go Army ROTC at University of North Dakota, four year degree for Civil Engineering and UND's helicorter flight school. Would have my commercial rotor wing rating when i graduate. I believe UND is the only college that offer ROTC with a helicopter flight school. Then i would owe 8 years i believe? Active of cousre, to get the extra experince. Correct me if i am mistaken in any of this. Questions. When i actually go active, will i be actually get to do some flying. What are the chances that i will get screwed out of flying and doing something else i am not interested in. Any other input and advice would be greatly appreciated. 
|
|
Quoted: So i have been thinking about joining the Army alot lately. Here is my plan as of now. Go Army ROTC at University of North Dakota, four year degree for Civil Engineering and UND's helicorter flight school. Would have my commercial rotor wing rating when i graduate. I believe UND is the only college that offer ROTC with a helicopter flight school. Then i would owe 8 years i believe? Active of cousre, to get the extra experince. Correct me if i am mistaken in any of this. Questions. When i actually go active, will i be actually get to do some flying. What are the chances that i will get screwed out of flying and doing something else i am not interested in. Any other input and advice would be greatly appreciated. If you want to be a pilot, and nothing else, go Warrant Officer... If you want to be an Army Officer who occasionally sits in a helo cockpit, go Commissioned/ROTC. The pay diff is not that much... You don't need your helo rating to get picked up, and it is MUCH cheaper to get it through the Army (by getting selected for WOFT, or branched Aviation) than it is to pay out of pocket... |
|
Like the others said, go the Warrant Officer route.
This is one site (I belong) that might be helpful KiowaPilots.com. There are a couple of other military sites for "other" airframes, I don't go there so I couldn't tell you what they are called, something like "GayBusHawksPilots.com" or "I'm an ApacheSimulatorPilot.com" General requirements ask for an AA degree, but that is waiverable. If there is an active Army or a National Guard/Reserve unit close by, check with them also as you'll eventually need some help from them. |
|
Quoted:
Go WOFT like me and some others on here. Otherwise, good luck. I know you wont fly as much as an o-grade, but the pay is better,.... This. I graduated from the Virginia Military Institute and I never took a commission. I'm now a CW2 flying medevac blackhawks. There's very few jobs that are more rewarding than that. |
|
If you ask a recruiter to help you. Their first choice is going to be to lie to you and tell you to enlist and then do your packet.
A recruiter has a quota for each month. Warrant Officer Candidates (WOCs) do not count towards their goal and are a waste of time for them to invest in. You can use the recruiter to get you to MEPS for your physical and other paperwork (security clearance) needs. The WO packet is up to you. Here is the website. The process and paperwork is long and needs to be done exactly as requested. If you cannot follow directions on how to apply to flight school, the Army doesn't want you. The packet IS part of the screening process. Do not get overwhelmed...it is just paperwork. I am a Warrant in the Army. I have 3x the more hours than my Regular Live Officer (RLO) counterparts do. You will become the expert because you will fly more... a lot more than the RLOs. Good luck. http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/index.htm |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Try to get out of the habit of saying "chopper". Nobody in army aviation calls them choppers.  Strictly out of curiosity, what do they call them? Helicopters, planes, helos, the last two digits of the model like a AH-64 is a 64. I've never heard "choppers" unless it was a movie. It's like calling your M16 a gun. |
|
I have a couple of points for you to consider. 1. Aviation is one of the most difficult branches to get as an ROTC cadet. You are branched according to an algorithm that ranks you among all of your peers in the nation. Over half of your score in this ranking (at least it was a few years ago) is your GPA. Not if you have an engineering degree. Not if you went to a hard school. Not if you already have your pilot's license. None of that shit matters. A guy with a 3.0 graduating from Harvard with a degree in mathematics is going to be ranked lower than a guy graduating from West Georgia College State Polytechnic University with a 3.2 in political science. You need to find a balance between your degree and how competitive you want to be for branching. 2. Why the fuck would you pay to go to flight school BEFORE the military put you through FREE flight school?
|
|
Quoted:
i wasn't going to pay for it, UMC has rotc with a helicopter flight trainging program. thanx for all the help tho guys, i am going to talk to a recruiter, hopefully i can sift thru all the bullshit  recruiters aren't known to help with bs. Im biased, but try dropping a WOFT packet. Its a long process, but what in life worth a shit is easy? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Try to get out of the habit of saying "chopper". Nobody in army aviation calls them choppers. Strictly out of curiosity, what do they call them? Helicopters, planes, helos, the last two digits of the model like a AH-64 is a 64. I've never heard "choppers" unless it was a movie. It's like calling your M16 a gun. Or simply, 'birds' |
|
Quoted:
where would i get a WOFT packet  www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/ that will be an excellent source to answer most of your questions. I'm assembling my packet right now as well. Next pick up date for packets is Jan 15. If you push hard, you should be able to get your packet done by then. Good luck, maybe I'll see you at Rucker. |
|
Quoted:
There are a couple of other military sites for "other" airframes, I don't go there so I couldn't tell you what they are called, something like "GayBusHawksPilots.com" or "I'm an ApacheSimulatorPilot.com" BWAHAHAHAHA the love between Army aviators never ceases to make me laugh! |