Prior service AF SSgt. Very seriously interested in flying Army Helos. Talked to a Army recruiter and was told I could be put directly into warrant officer flight program, or I could finish up my EE and go the O route and fly.  I would be going reserve.

Just wondering what airframe you fly and how you like it? The good and bad.  Any pictures of your whirly bird?

Thanks!

don't get hooked by the con.  

if you want to fly then get your liscence and fly when you want to.
if you want to serve your country then do so as an officer.  
if you think you will get to fly because they "said so" then you got a hard lesson ahead.  

HK warns!  

Quoted: don't get hooked by the con.   if you want to fly then get your liscence and fly when you want to. if you want to serve your country then do so as an officer.   if you think you will get to fly because they "said so" then you got a hard lesson ahead.   HK warns!

+1
Do your homework up front.
Do A LOT of homework up front!
The recruiter is not your friend.

BTW - my brother did 20 as a WO (& CWO), and did a lot of flying. It is not an easy thing.
A friend of his washed out early in Primary (slight hearing loss in boot), paid for his own flight training and has been flying commercially for years.

i'm doing the same thing. i spent 7 years in the Marine Corps and i'm trying to go WO and fly.

first, you need to be in the army/guard/reserve, and it's highly recommended that you be attached to an aviation unit.

once at your unit you will have to take the flight physical and Alternate Flight Aptitude Selection Test (AFAST). when you put in your packet, you will need a letter of recommendation from your CO and a CWO3 or higher. then once your packet gets accepted you will attend WOCS and then flight school.

i'm at the beginning of the process and hope to God i make it through successfully.

good luck!

Quoted: Prior service AF SSgt. Very seriously interested in flying Army Helos. Talked to a Army recruiter and was told I could be put directly into warrant officer flight program, or I could finish up my EE and go the O route and fly.  I would be going reserve. Just wondering what airframe you fly and how you like it? The good and bad.  Any pictures of your whirly bird? Thanks!

I'm not a pilot, but I work for 'em (Aviation maintanance)...

1) If you become a RLO (real live officer), you won't fly as much as a warrant... LTs have 'LT stuff' to do - troops to take care of, additional duty posts to man, and such... Further, since all aviation officers are pilots, some of them get assigned to no-fly jobs (such as platoon leader in an AVIM (intermediate maintanance company, which has no aircraft itslf and is responsible for fixing the flying 'line' companies busted shit) where the officer in question barely gets to fly enough to stay current....

2) If you go to WOCS, you will end up a W-1. You'll make about $100 less than a new 2LT, but your only job will be to fly aircraft. For this reason, most Army pilots start out  WO, and go commissioned later on in their career when they are ready to be a manager moreso than a pilot....

IMHO, if you want 'to fly' and that's it, do what the recruiter said, and enlist for WOCS.... You'll probably go to WTC (Warrior Transition Course, a re-entry/transfer training for ex members of other services, in lieu of BCT all over again), and then straignt to warrant school (no AIT unless you don't make it, in which case you are re-assigned 'needs of the Army')....

Quoted: i'm doing the same thing. i spent 7 years in the Marine Corps and i'm trying to go WO and fly. first, you need to be in the army/guard/reserve, and it's highly recommended that you be attached to an aviation unit. once at your unit you will have to take the flight physical and Alternate Flight Aptitude Selection Test (AFAST). when you put in your packet, you will need a letter of recommendation from your CO and a CWO3 or higher. then once your packet gets accepted you will attend WOCS and then flight school. i'm at the beginning of the process and hope to God i make it through successfully. good luck!

They now accept direct-to-WOFT applications... No need to join and be a E4/below first....

where do you find out more about this?

If you become an officer first, the pay is better in flight school. Don't rush, I have a feeling there will be plenty of work for the next few years.

I think that the USN has a flying warrant program running now though much smaller than the Army.

Quoted: If you become an officer first, the pay is better in flight school. Don't rush, I have a feeling there will be plenty of work for the next few years.

i could easily go to OCS; however, i have stay enlisted for a reason and that is mainly because i don't really want to lead, i want to do. WO appeals to me because their main mission is to fly whereas commissioned officers main mission is to lead troops.

I'd recomend you get with a NG unit and talk to them.  National Guard has most of the reserve component aircraft due to the state support mission, and that most RC combat units are NG nowdays.

There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with wanting to fly and serve your country, and doing that as a Warrant Officer is a fantastic way of doing it.  

I was a commissioned officer (got out as a CPT) Aviator.  I flew mostly UH-1H's and flew alot because of the jobs I had.  I got out as it started to slow down for me, and when Clinton came in they offered us what amounted to a year's pay to leave the service.  Gee, serve under Clinton or take a year's pay and start a new life young enough to do it?  Yup, I bailed.  

Hueys were all they say they were and more.  They definately had soul.  It's hard to make people believe that, but they did.  They'd give their best and try to keep you out of trouble that you got into yourself.  They'd pull some tricks out of their hat that you didn't think they'd have in them, but after all most of them had seen more combat in Vietnam than any soldier of flesh.  They knew what soldiering was about.  They had been shot up, bled on, died in, and saved many a comrade.  OK, I'm crazy, but if anything mechanical can have a soul, the Huey definately had one.  

I learned on the TH-55A recip, then on to Hueys, then to the UH-1 maintenance test pilot course, got some time in Cobras (Fully-mod with C-nite) and the Blackhawk, which is a worthy replacement and I have no doubt it's pilots will feel the same as I do about Hueys.  The Blackhawk really is a nice aircraft.

I don't have too many pics of me that survived all the moves.  Somehow they all wound up in my mom's stash of stuff and she won't give any back.  This is about the only one of me with an aircarft.



I didn't break it.  One of my jobs was picking up the pieces of anything that went down.  This was in ROK just south of K-16.  They had an engie failure into a soft rice paddy.  Couple minor injuries and that was it.  Totaled the aircraft.

If ‘ya do become a Wobbly One at Rucker, don’t wrestle the ‘Gator at the Lake Lodge……

Mother Rucker Hover Lover here................LOB? We don't need no stinkin'  nose-tuckin' LOBs.....

Wait! I was in the AF! Oh well.....same course,  back then, except for the last month.

That was a loooooooooooong time ago. WOCs got crap everytime that they took a breath back then. ....probably not the same now

FWIW, Aviation is a branch now, and WO's now hold Commissions when they pin on WO2.

Good luck..

Quoted: I think that the USN has a flying warrant program running now though much smaller than the Army.

Taking 35 members Navy wide. Must have a BA/BS be 27 or younger on sate of becoming a Warrant and an E5 or above.  Basically the same as the OCS program but you become a Waraant instead.  

Quoted: Quoted: I think that the USN has a flying warrant program running now though much smaller than the Army. Taking 35 members Navy wide. Must have a BA/BS be 27 or younger on sate of becoming a Warrant and an E5 or above.  Basically the same as the OCS program but you become a Waraant instead.

Interesting - thanks for the info.  I don't get much Navy gouge working in a Joint job.

Does anyone else have any more input on this?