Falconjet
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2002
- Posts
- 1,586
I've been getting a lot of questions from members of the forum and thought that perhaps some other folks out there looking for flying jobs or Uncle Sam funded flight training might want to consider the CG.
If you are a graduate of a military flight training program you could get a direct commission as an O-2 (good and bad with that) and go straight into the cockpit of a CG aircraft after an abbreviated OCS and then a CG aircraft transition course. Being an O-2 kind of sucks if you were an O-3 or O-4, but you will still make the higher flight pay and the junior guys get to fly more typically anyway. In the past they gave guys dates of rank comenserate with their prior rank but they then weren't competitive at their first CG promotion board. Anyway, it all counts toward 20 and if you happen to be an Army warrant it you would also go in as an O-2 (hard to say that that would be a promotion, depends on your perspective).
If you are a college grad (or an enlisted member of the service without a degree) you could apply to Officer Candidate School, finish that and then apply for flight training. CG pilots go through Navy flight training and are designated Naval Aviators and then designated Coast Guard aviators after their CG aircraft transition.
Odds are very good of getting accepted to flight training out of OCS, particularly with an aeronautical degree and a pilot's license, but not guaranteed. If not accepted right away, you just keep plugging. The CG is pretty lenient with waivers for vision, age and other physical issues because they don't always get enough people to apply for flight training.
The primary mission of the CG is Search and Rescue (SAR) and since it is now in the Dept of Homeland Security (from the Dept of Transportation) they may even start to get respectable funding for a change for its other missions of Maritime Law Enforcement, Marine Environmental Protection, Port Security (really big after 9/11), and others. The mission is there every day, you don't have to get activated to do what you've been trained to do, and it can be a very rewarding career.
(That is NOT a slam on the AF, USN, USMC or USA. Thank God and God Bless those that serve and are about to go into harm's way.)
Some numbers: C-130s: about 35, Falcons: 17, H-65 Dolphin helos: about 94, H-60 Jayhawk helos: about 40 maybe. The number favor rotary wing, but lots of pilots transfer over to fixed wing after a couple of tours in helos.
Duty stations: Mostly in CONUS, except Kodiak and Sitka, AK, Barber's Point, HI, and Borinquen, Puerto Rico. Mostly 4 year tours, short deployments, if any, and 1 in 4 or 5 overnight duty for SAR. Some military BS to put up with, but true with all services.
C130 units: Barbers, Kodiak, Sacremento, Elizabeth City NC, Clearwater FL
Falcons: Cape Cod MA, Mobile AL, Miami FL and Corpus Christi TX.
Helos: Almost everywhere. Great Lakes, Barbers, Sitka, Kodiak, Borinquen, Miami, Atlantic City, Cape Cod, San Diego. Lots of choices.
Anyway, it is just another option to consider, and not a bad way to have Uncle Sam pay for your flight training, earn a decent wage, and serve your country at the same time.
Semper Paratus
If you are a graduate of a military flight training program you could get a direct commission as an O-2 (good and bad with that) and go straight into the cockpit of a CG aircraft after an abbreviated OCS and then a CG aircraft transition course. Being an O-2 kind of sucks if you were an O-3 or O-4, but you will still make the higher flight pay and the junior guys get to fly more typically anyway. In the past they gave guys dates of rank comenserate with their prior rank but they then weren't competitive at their first CG promotion board. Anyway, it all counts toward 20 and if you happen to be an Army warrant it you would also go in as an O-2 (hard to say that that would be a promotion, depends on your perspective).
If you are a college grad (or an enlisted member of the service without a degree) you could apply to Officer Candidate School, finish that and then apply for flight training. CG pilots go through Navy flight training and are designated Naval Aviators and then designated Coast Guard aviators after their CG aircraft transition.
Odds are very good of getting accepted to flight training out of OCS, particularly with an aeronautical degree and a pilot's license, but not guaranteed. If not accepted right away, you just keep plugging. The CG is pretty lenient with waivers for vision, age and other physical issues because they don't always get enough people to apply for flight training.
The primary mission of the CG is Search and Rescue (SAR) and since it is now in the Dept of Homeland Security (from the Dept of Transportation) they may even start to get respectable funding for a change for its other missions of Maritime Law Enforcement, Marine Environmental Protection, Port Security (really big after 9/11), and others. The mission is there every day, you don't have to get activated to do what you've been trained to do, and it can be a very rewarding career.
(That is NOT a slam on the AF, USN, USMC or USA. Thank God and God Bless those that serve and are about to go into harm's way.)
Some numbers: C-130s: about 35, Falcons: 17, H-65 Dolphin helos: about 94, H-60 Jayhawk helos: about 40 maybe. The number favor rotary wing, but lots of pilots transfer over to fixed wing after a couple of tours in helos.
Duty stations: Mostly in CONUS, except Kodiak and Sitka, AK, Barber's Point, HI, and Borinquen, Puerto Rico. Mostly 4 year tours, short deployments, if any, and 1 in 4 or 5 overnight duty for SAR. Some military BS to put up with, but true with all services.
C130 units: Barbers, Kodiak, Sacremento, Elizabeth City NC, Clearwater FL
Falcons: Cape Cod MA, Mobile AL, Miami FL and Corpus Christi TX.
Helos: Almost everywhere. Great Lakes, Barbers, Sitka, Kodiak, Borinquen, Miami, Atlantic City, Cape Cod, San Diego. Lots of choices.
Anyway, it is just another option to consider, and not a bad way to have Uncle Sam pay for your flight training, earn a decent wage, and serve your country at the same time.
Semper Paratus