Army Aviatior Advise

[WRENCH]

I have recently contacted a recruiter and am interested in WOFT. My recruiter does not seem to be very familiar with army aviation. Took the ASVAB last night, got 80%.....anyone know if that is good enough? I know nothing about the Military-just want to fly Helicopters. Second, what are the real vision requirements. My vision is 20/20 but I have to wear contacts. Thank you for your time, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hobit]

Go to www.aptap.org and select the last item on the drop down menu at the home page.

There is some good info there.

Also try a search on the APTAP forum.

Here is the Army Recruiting Command's web site for WOFT. Lots of good info and contacts there.

http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/

With regard to the recruiters you find in the strip malls....

You have to respect them because they complete a very thankless mission. We really do need them.

HOWEVER, BE FOREWARNED!!!!! They don't care if you get into W.O.C. school. It is not worth the time to fill out all of the paper work to get you in. It's better to put you into the infantry. You will have to more or less force them to help you and even then, they will stone wall and try to get you to enlist and say that you can't get flight school off the street.

You can enter the Army and go to flight school as a Warrant Officer. DON'T, DO NOT, REFRAIN, RESIST the temptation to believe the recruiter when he/she says it will be easier to enlist and apply from within.

BTW the ASVAB score is broken down into sections and the "GT", general technical, is the important one. I think it needs to be > 110 or 115

Also look into the AFAST. That is another test you'll need to take.

when I got in competitive AFAST was >120-125

Good Luck

 

[Dandan2cansam]

I'm a CFI and active Naval Reservist. I understand the application process well but am held up on the GT score. I took the ASVAB back in 91'. I would rather not take it again but I can't find a GT score on there at all. I phoned someone and they said that you would have to combine some of the scores. Only they didn't know which ones. Can anyone help?
Also, Recruiters will try everything to get you to enlist. I've read upon the Army's laser surgery program and the recruiter got heated with me because I told him that you could have the surgery and still enter the Army as a Warrant. So, stick to your guns. The Warrant Officer Recruiters at Fort Knox explained that I didn't need to go through a recruiter. I could do everything on my own.

 

[qmaster3]

Dan,

I just had to retake mine for the Coast Guard. I am active Navy and took the ASVAB in 95. They said it's only good for three years..

The test is a joke now.

 

[Dandan2cansam]

Cool. Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to get a recruiter to set me up. We'll see I've got alot of waivers to deal with. Anyone know about the any color vision waivers. I can fly on a First class medical for the FAA. I've got a SODA from the FAA for color vision. I can see all the colors but only someof them give me trouble.

 

[Traderd]

I'm a CFI and active Naval Reservist. I understand the application process well but am held up on the GT score. I took the ASVAB back in 91'. I would rather not take it again but I can't find a GT score on there at all. I phoned someone and they said that you would have to combine some of the scores. Only they didn't know which ones. Can anyone help?

Also, Recruiters will try everything to get you to enlist. I've read upon the Army's laser surgery program and the recruiter got heated with me because I told him that you could have the surgery and still enter the Army as a Warrant. So, stick to your guns. The Warrant Officer Recruiters at Fort Knox explained that I didn't need to go through a recruiter. I could do everything on my own.

I am a retired Army Warrant and you bring up an interesting point of doing this on your own without the help of a recruiter.



I recently spent a few weeks working with a recruiting office while helping out my wife, who was doing IRR duty. I agree with your determination that a recruiter will try and get you to enlist. As you probably know, the Army has had trouble meeting recruiting goals and your WOFT packet will take months for the recruiter to complete and I can attest to the fact that there is a lot of leg work (read time) involved to get someone into the WOFT program. Most of the enlistments will take a matter of days in terms of recruiter man hours. This may be one source of the bias since their job is to put bodies in a uniform. Don't be too hard on the recruiter until you've spent a little time knowing the BS they endure. While your priority is WOFT, unless there is a command directive concerning a priority to get that slot filled, it will only be your priority not the recruiters. I will tell you, there is no shortage of bodies trying to get into Army flight school. The big deal of course is no college requirement for entry.



As for the LS, the last I heard from my unit's flight surgeon was that it was being considered on a case by case basis but there was no blanket waiver. It has been a while since this was discussed so it may well be an acceptable condition for entry by now.



That why the information from Knox interests me. I would like to see how you are able to get all of the stuff done outside of a recruiter. There are a lot of requirements that must be met (and to meet them you have to know them), forms out the a$$ and several interviews to be scheduled. I worked with the recruiters in December and there was one young man who was pushing hard to be processed for WOFT and the recruiters kept telling him he wasn't eligible because he had prior misdemeanor convictions. He had the charges removed after community service, but the Army said no go. He did a congressional and the recruiter was told to continue the packet processing. The jury is still out as to whether he will be accepted though.



As for the tests, I don't know if they are handled differently for prior service or not. The current ASVAB does appear to be easy enough for any high school grad. You would need a GT score as well as take the FAST test and the scores would need to be competitive (not sure how you can find out where that stands). Also, since you are currently in the Navy Reserves I wonder if this would be some kind of inter-service transfer deal? I did fly for several years with a WO that was a submariner for six years so it can be done. I have never heard of combining test scores but the world is full of stuff I've never heard of.



I really wish you the best because if you can do this alone it would probably serve everyone's interests and you may actually be able to speed up the process. If you can, drop by the forum upon occasion and give us an update.







Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

[Nipsedaiser]

HOBIT was DEAD ON-it took me a little over 2 years to complete all the entry requirements for WOFT using recruiters. The best thing I can tell you is-BE PATIENT and don't accept anything other than what YOU want to do. You can worry about what MOS you'll be put in if you wash out (which was rare when I went to the school). Friends of mine who did have to reclass by and large got cool jobs, but it is based on the needs of the Army. If you've got it together to get in, you've got it together to get through. Good luck and enjoy all the math and pushups

 

[WRENCH]

-Thanks everyone.

 

[KeepTrying]

I will try to help you out on this as I just finished my packet without the help of a recruiter. I'm currently in the Air Force, so some of the things will be a little different, but all in all the packet is basically the same.

Concerning test scores: The ASVAB "General" score is the one most often given as a final score in the form of a percentage, in the AF this is the only score that they give you. You will either need to send your scores in to Zena, the Army lady who transcribes the general score into GT score, or you can request that your test results be formatted for the Army at the time you take the test. In general a 64% translates roughly to a 110, which is the minimum standard for this test.

I would suggest studying hard for the AFAST test, as you can never be too prepared. A fantastic study guide that helped me immensely was the ARCO Military Flight Aptitude test preparation book. NONE of the others were helpful. Cliffsnotes was terrible, the answers to the questions were incorrect and misleading. There was one more that was just as bad, I don't remember the name but it was written by a retired 1st LT, which I thought was really strange. That book was the worst. I would also suggest getting a couple of books on helicopter flight in general and spending some time learning as much as you can about the terms and how basic flight works. Being interested in all aspects of the craft is never a bad idea. Strive to make above a 120 on the test, but don't be discouraged if you score lower.

Concerning Vision: I have 20/40 vision (which is acceptable) but I had an astigmatism that was over the limits for the Army. (+/- 1.00 diopter astigmatism is all that is allowed and I have a -1.50 in both eyes.) Depending on what you wear the contacts for, you may need to get an exception to policy. I had to submit for one and it's what held up my packet from getting submitted sooner. Taking a good long look at AR 40-501 which you can find on the Warrant officer recruiting webpage is a good idea.

Ok, now for some more pointers:
Take a look at the warrant officer recruiting site. http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/ On that first page there is a list to the left. Breeze through the Civilian applicant side, and then go to the Active Duty Applicant side. There you will find a good do-it-yourself packet starter. I printed off the application checklist and then called the recruiter number on the site and had the guy go through the list with me line by line to find out exactly all that I needed. Just a word right now, I started the application process on November 30th and my packet is already submitted, so doing it yourself can really hasten the process. (I'm also a "squeaky wheel". I like to be present enough to be remembered, interested enough to know the process, and annoying enough to make them want to get it done fast and right. It's a balance.)
The recruiters on the website *are* a big help, but they expect that you'll get most of the packet done on your own or with a recruiter. They're exceptional for questions and they are speedy with answers.

I know that there are some differences reguarding forms and written essays between civ and mil, but the majority of the forms and resumes and flight physicals can be done of your own initiative. The main thing that takes the longest time is the physical, and scheduling the testing, once you're past that it's all downhill. If you have any questions reguarding the details about anything, I'm more than happy to help.


KeepTrying

 

[Pv2 Beemer]

Hey everybody, I was going to make a new thread, but why not just post here?

Well here's my situation:

I'm currently finishing up my senior year in High School, I've taken my oath for the Army National Guard, and I'm enlisted as a 15X (Apache electrical systems repairer).

I want to eventually become a pilot, so after a few years in this MOS, I want to try for WOCS and WOFT. What would be your guys' recommendations on going this way. Or are there better ways of going about it?

 

[RGC]

While I am not the SME in going this route, what I can encourage you on is:

--excel like hell in your MOS
--if you do well as a 15X, try to get your superiors to 'go to bat' for you regarding advancing to WO and getting flight school. Letters of Recommendation, etc.
--try to get started with an undergraduate program if you can. a little college can go a long way.

having an Aviation MOS helps, IMHO.

and at the present time, all compos of the Army are *hurt-ting* for aviation WO's.
good luck to ye and god bless