Ang

[Jayjinks]

There were a couple of people from the Guard and Reserves in my pilot training class, however they were all prior enlisted. There were a couple of students in other classes that just applied at a Guard or Reserve unit after they finished college. Seems like they got a sweet deal.

 

[Korgs130]

Babydoll,

Good call! I've been with the 182nd for 2 years (I joined after 9 1/2 years on active duty) and it is a great unit. IL ANG benifits do cover 100% tuition plus 100% of all flight fees at a state school. We are very busy, but you'll find that everywhere. A good percentage of our pilot took the same route you're taking. Good luck and I'll see you on the ramp.

Korgs

 

[FlyIllini]

Maybe I can help...

BabyDoll -- I'm just about finished with the progression you're talking about.. at Peoria..

I've been in the Peoria unit for about 8 years now (all the things that Korgs & pkober said about the unit are absolutely right on..) I enlisted as a crew chief after high school, got my ratings while going to college, then interviewed & got a UPT slot. I'm now finished with UPT & just started C-130 initial qual at Little Rock, & should get spooled up flying back at Peoria this summer.. After reading the previous posts, here's some things I want to point out...

1. Peoria is a great way to go & the IL guard really helps pay for school.. But to be clear, the IL guard grants you a waiver for 8 semesters at any IL state school (university, junior college, doesn't matter.) However, they don't touch flight fees. Just to be clear, I'm going to say again, the Guard doesn't pay/waive flight fees. (I suppose this could have changedin the 2 years since I was in school, but I seriously doubt it... Better do some serious research.)

2. Potential for misconception -- People who join the ACTIVE DUTY military out of the state of IL for 4 years or more qualify for the Illinois Veterans Grant, which does the same state college tuition waiver, but this one covers flight fees... (So, to recap, active duty covers them, the guard does not). With that in mind, you may run into someone who IS in the guard and DID have their flight fees paid for, but these are usually folks who came to the guard out of active duty & it was their active duty time that made them elligible to have their flight fees paid.. Absolutely confusing, but I'd be happy to talk more, just pm me about it..

As far as the GI Bill goes, the Guard has a little bit different setup than active duty.. You do not have to pay into it ahead of time, and the amount you get depends upon which career field you enlist into. Once you get to school, you stop by the VA with paperwork from the guard & they activate your monthly GI payments that come in the form of cash for you to decide what to do with.. If you decide to use this to pay for flight fees, you certainly may, other people (myself included) really use it to pay for food/rent/bills while going to school. (Your drill pay will net about $130 early on & you'll spend a fair amount of that on food & gas on drill weekend, so be careful when budgeting your drill pay to cover your other monthly expenses.)
Again, it's cash funds & how you use it is your deal...


3. It is most certainly much easier to be selected for a UPT slot if you are prior flightcrew than prior maintenance. (For example, enlisting as a loadmaster vs. a crew chief) I was prior maintenance, but the year I interviewed I got lucky in that there happened not to be any enlisted aircrew members from our base interviewing at the same time. So, try to get on as a loadmaster as your first choice, crew cheif as second choice, then really any maintenance position as a third.

4. I just want to be sure you're familiar with the amount/type of training involved.. Crew chief school is about 6 months long, loadmaster school I think is longer, but I'm not really sure how much. Then get your degree asap, and interview for a UPT slot.. Then there's a pretty hefty waiting period to actually get a UPT class date, for me it was just over two years. (you can usually interview if in your senior/late junior year as long as you can document that graduation is pretty much guaranteed). AMS (commissioning) is six weeks long, then UPT is about a year long. Then C-130 initial qual for another six months, and then about a 90 day seasoning period back at Peoria.. Things can get pretty stretched out if classes aren't scheduled very well, but that's often up to the whim of goverment funding. Plan on about 2 years for pilot training.


5. Pilot training for Guard/Reserve folks is exactly the same as it is for active duty. If you do not have a private pilot license when you go to UPT, the military will pay for you to get one. (It's usually referred to as IFT) If you already have at least a private pilot license, they pay for nothing.


So, the underlying theme here is this... The guard is a great way to pay for school & the 182nd is an excellent organization, but it is highly unlikely that anyone will directly pay for your ratings. There's a bunch of other little things that I thought of when I first read this thread but these are the big hitters...

I have very recently done exactly what you're talking about & I'm happy to give any advice you might ask for. (and probably some that you didn't ask for!!)

Hope it helps,

FlyIllini

 

[babydoll]

FlyIllini,

That is some pretty useful information. I was really sceptical about the Guard paying for your flight training, and I guess in a way you could look at it as they are with the GI bill and if you are in a Kicker program. So I can see where the recruiter would say that. It's a little misleading, but what are you going to do. I know that loadmasters are part of the crew and have been told that tech school is 4-6 months, but either way, im sure that if I were to do that, i'd have a better chance to get to know the crew and probably be selected for a UPT slot faster than somebody in maintnance.

I am not sure how everything works out as far as school goes. I dont knwo who i would go to or what I would need to start school and have tuition 100% payed for, but im sure that I could find somebody to direct me to that.

Like I said, I took the medical last saturday, and the recruiter should have called this week, and hasn't. I'd like to get the ball rolling asap so I can start my long journey but that doesn't seem to be happening.

Anyhow, thanks for all of the advice, and if you think of anything else that i shoudl know, please dont hesitate to inform me.

Best of luck to you!

Brittany

 

[Tweetdrvr]

here is my .02

After you join the unit, find one of the pilots who has their CFI who is a recent graduate of UPT--last two or three years or so. That is the person you want to take lessons from.

Once you start taking lessons do not finish your private license unless you think that is the only way to earn a UPT slot with the unit. Also study for the written test with only the Gleim CDs or the ASA test prep books but don't take it.

IFT is for people who don't have their ratings, and the AF pays for up to 50 hours for you to complete your license. The AF also pays for the written test fees, books and some supplies. If you don't solo in about 20 hours the AF wants to know about it, if you fail the checkride as far as I know you are finished. You get 60-90 days to finish the program once you start depending on whether you are ANG/RES/ or AD, so don't start flying in the winter time in Illinois. Once you start flying, you can be eliminated if you seek outside flying instruction other than that which is provided by the CFIs at the flight school you have chosen. This is done to keep people who are struggling from getting extra help on the side without having it count against their 50 hours.

If you already have 20-30 hours when you start IFT, you can pick up where you left off, but more importantly, you can do more advanced stuff like work on your communication skills going into both controlled and uncontrolled airports--(yes, uncontrolled airfields important to future 130 ANG pilots and very important to UPT students in the T-6), more cross country stuff, and maybe do some instrument training. Then when you have about 15 hours of the AFs money left to burn, go back and refresh yourself on the Private Manuevers untill you can blow away the Practical Test Standards and leave yourself five hours or so of slop left over incase bad weather precludes your checkride, so you can take warm up rides with your CFI.

I know of at least one person who did this and it works very well. They can't hold it against you if you have taken lessons before being awarded a UPT slot, but if you already have a license when you get your spot, they won't give you any money for training.

If you don't get a spot, then you spent the least money you could get away with in terms of investment in flying and testing materials, then you can seek other avenues through collegiate flying programs or using GI bill money at Part 141 schools.

Good luck and fly safe!