Army Guard/Reserve

[The_Russian]

Is it possible to obtain a position as an Aviation Officer in the Guard/Reserve without prior experience?

 

[The_Russian]

Bump. Anyone? Must you have active duty under your belt?

 

[B-J-J Fighter]

The short drinking answer, yes!

 

[SAAB Driver]

Yes. I am a Officer In the Army National Guard, (non aviator) who looked into it, and this is what I found. 1. You must have your Bachelor degree, 2. You must go to Basic Training for 8 weeks, then OCS for 10 weeks I think. If you are willing to do #1 and #2, then go and talk to any recruiter and ask for the number to the State Aviation Officer. You will have to take a Class 4 aviation medical, and take a written test, AFAST I think. Once that initial screening is good you join the Army go to your schools when commissioned return to your unit and wait for your one year flight school in good old Alabama to become available and you are off. Total time of all the schools is possibly more than 1 year and 6 months.

Lastly, you could try and join as a warrant officer, but my memory is that those slots are reserved for those already in the unit who have paid their dues.

 

[Oh-ryan]

Is it possible to obtain a position as an Aviation Officer in the Guard/Reserve without prior experience?

Sure, but not if you are ar pink-o commie bastard.

 

[psysicx]

Why not go in as a Warrent officer?

 

[jetjock6]

Yes. I am a Officer In the Army National Guard, (non aviator) who looked into it, and this is what I found. 1. You must have your Bachelor degree, 2. You must go to Basic Training for 8 weeks, then OCS for 10 weeks I think. If you are willing to do #1 and #2, then go and talk to any recruiter and ask for the number to the State Aviation Officer. You will have to take a Class 4 aviation medical, and take a written test, AFAST I think. Once that initial screening is good you join the Army go to your schools when commissioned return to your unit and wait for your one year flight school in good old Alabama to become available and you are off. Total time of all the schools is possibly more than 1 year and 6 months.

Lastly, you could try and join as a warrant officer, but my memory is that those slots are reserved for those already in the unit who have paid their dues.

This is close to being right. Unless things have changed since I did it in the mid 90's, one would also have to complete AIT (Advanced Individual Training) and be awarded an enlisted MOS prior to attending OCS. This could take anywhere from 8 weeks to 1 year + depending on the occupational skill.

Also a commissioned Army aviator would need a Class 1A physical not a Class 4. Class 4 is for ATC I believe.

Good luck.

 

[SAAB Driver]

AIT is NOT needed. You can come in with OCS as the option and skip AIT.

OCS is also available either 8 straight weeks, or one weekend a month for one and a half years.

Coming in as a warrant is a great deal but here is the problem. Lets say a large state gets three or four pilot slots a year. One or two of them will be for warrants and the other two for Lieutenants. The guys who are already in the unit who don't have college will get the warrant slot way before some guy who is not even in the Army.

Hope this helps

 

[pilotyip]

No college or active duty required

I know of a pilot who joined the guard as an Enlisted man. He then applied for flight School, became a WO and H-60 pilot. He was then picked by the units fixed wing operation flying C-12's. He did this without a college degree or active duty beyond training.

 

[JungleJett]

Or you could just join the Air Guard and live better!

(Former Army......gives me a right!)

Love ya Army folks...

 

[Hobit]

Jungle Jett speaks the truth.

 

[pilotyip]

However Hobit, not everyone who wants to, will get into the Air Guard, the Army guard is always an option.

 

[Pistlpetet]

If you want to fly in the Army, Go Warrant. If you want to fly and hopefully retire at a decent Officer rank, go into the other services.

There is nothing wrong with going in as an enlisted guy with goal of going to flight school, but I would get your degree first, and exhaust all other options prior to doing that.

If you like to fly, I would be almost certain you would not be happy being a Commisioned Officer pilot in the Army. It is not any fun going through a year and a half of flight training, to get out into the real Army and find yourself in a non-flying slot, with a primary duty of being Platoon Leader in charge of the refuel/re-arm platoon.

 

[Hobit]

However Hobit, not everyone who wants to, will get into the Air Guard, the Army guard is always an option.

Yip,
You are completely right.


The absolute best flying I will or have ever done was in an Army helo. The folks are great too, I was surrounded by truly impressive people. That level of deprivation really brings people together also.

But, looking back, if given the opportunity to do it over again I would have exhausted more options in the 'Blue' side of the house. The simple QOL issues I dealt with are enough for me to routinely strive to push people who actually love to fly away from the army. Not a grudge I have against the army in general, just info I didn't have prior to joining. Maybe I will help someone so that after doing a fly-by for a huge Nascar race when they are falling asleep on cot underneath the stab of a -60 in a ARNG armory hangar, they won't question why their respective service was too cheap to give them a hotel room or even per diem money to buy food. The amount of value the army has for it's fliers is embarrasing. Poor grammar I know, but you get the point.

PistolPete's point is also TREMENDOUSLY important and valid. I saw guys trapped in the RLO ranks and very disappointed when they realized that they were not going to be flying a whole lot if any.

 

[The_Russian]

Thanks Pete. I had heard that one too. When I get out of ATL next week I'll be taking the next steps to make this happen. I am running out of time. I am about to turn 26 and my degree is just past halfway done. I want to serve, but I need to do it without the degree because of money and time remaining. Can anyone set me up with a good recruiter or unit to call? I want someone who is on my side. Can I contact the unit directly? Would that be a better option?

 

[The_Russian]

BTW, I am looking for AH64 or UH60 missions. I am not to interested in flying a dump truck or an underpowered binocular. (J/K -47 and -58 guys )

 

[Pistlpetet]

Well if you are wanting to only go into the Guard, you need to look at what units around where you live. Apache Guard Units are in NC, SC, TN, UT, TX, ID. UH-60 Units are in many places. Do some internet research, and contact the Guard Recruiter for that state, or call the Aviation Unit direct. I would imagine that they give all their Warrant Pilot slots out to Enlisted guys that have already been working in the Unit. That is the norm.

If you want to go Active Duty as a Warrant Officer, I am sure you would stand a good chance of getting picked up.

Do your research.

 

[scarface]

At one time the Army had a civilian skills program. If you had a commercial license with an instrument rating(fixed wing) with at least 700 hours you would be designated an Army aviator and sent to Fort Rucker for rotorary wing transition and instrument training. You had to have been prior military to qualify but it was a good deal. I was a platoon commander in an OH6 unit in the Pa. Army National Guard many years ago and sent a few guys through under this program.

 

[b747dogg]

OCS is also available either 8 straight weeks, or one weekend a month for one and a half years.

What do you mean by this???
You can break up OCS over a year and a half???

Thanks.

 

[jetjock6]

What do you mean by this???
You can break up OCS over a year and a half???

Thanks.

Yes. It is commonly referred to as State OCS. It is available to Guard guys (possible Reserve, not sure). It is run by the states Guard.

It consist of two AT periods (two weeks each), with 12-14 weekend drills in between.

If you graduate you receive a Federal Reserve commission as well as a State commission. They are no sham though, most have a high wash out rate.

Hope this helps.