Decisions Decisions

[Blue Team]

I am currently a junior in the Army ROTC program on a guaranteed reserve forces scholarship from the National Guard. When I decided to pursue the program, I did with the understanding that it was possible to switch my commission from the Army to the Air National Guard. My dream has always been to be a military aviator and I was told that the guard or reserves was the best way to go to get the most time. All of my time is in fixed wing, and I have never been in a helicopter. However, my contract basically guarantees me a flight slot in the Army National Guard, or possibly the Air National Guard if everything works out. I have began the process of preparing my package for the Air Guard and I am hoping for an interview next summer. I realize that if I make it through the interview process I will have to get a conditional release from the Army in order to switch over. I do not have a MOS, the only money the Army has invested in me is my scholarship. What are my chances of getting a conditional release from the Army? Also, I am starting to enjoy this Army stuff and I have my eye on the Black Hawk. It looks like an awesome bird to fly. I want a challanging flying career in the military, I am planning to go active eventually after I get my wings.What kind of flight time do young officers get in the Army Guard as compared to the Air Guard? How does flying a helicopter compare to flying fixed wing? I am not sure if it is worth the battle of trying to switch over because I do not know much about Army Aviation. If anyone could enlighten me on Army aviation and has any advice, I am all ears. Thanks

 

[av8r1526]

Chance of getting a conditional release directly after recieving a free college education: 0

Chance of getting a conditional release to go on active duty after recieving flight training through the state funded national guard: big 0

recieving a flight slot flying helicopters in the army guard: priceless

You better decide what it is you want to do. None of that is going to happen...but you're more than welcome to cut your own throat. You've been given an outstanding opportunity. Take it or you'll be sorry.


Been there
sincerely,
shouldhavebeen CW1 blackhawk pilot
current Air National Guard Staff Sgt.

 

[PilotoHalcon]

Well, maybe I can help a little bit. I went into the Army in 81 as a Warrant Officer wannabe. It has been my experience with all other things being equal the WO will fly more then the RLO. Now, do you want to go Army or Air Force? Over all the Air Force is treated better. I think over all their equipment is better also but for helicopters it is hard to beat the Army. For the Career I would say stay an RLO but if you want flight time in a hurry to get a position on the outside revert your commission at the first possibility and become a WO. I am not sure about the immediate possibilities of leaving to go to another branch but if you stick it out anything is possible. By the way, I have a few hours in the Hawk, easy and fun machine.
Hope this helps more then it confuses you.
j

 

[CCDiscoB]

Sorry Blue Team, you're too late. You fell for it, took the bait, now it's time to deal with your decision. Like Av8r1526 wrote, once the Army has a name attached to a scholarship, they've got you. Scholarships are recruiting tools, and they do not take kindly to guys that want to back out of what they've agreed to.

I'm not sure what happened to Av8r1526, but here's what you should be getting when you read between the lines of his post. If you try to mess around with the Army too much, they will cancel your contract and send you to basic training as an enlisted soldier. It's the same in the AF and I've seen it happen. We had a pilot scholarship student in my ROTC class that didn't graduate on time. The AF sent him to Lackland as an airman.

You mentioned you're excited about Blackhawks, excellent, the Army will be very happy to hear that.

 

[Pirate]

The real deal

Let me start by saying I am a CPT in the Army (non-aviation). I have put together a AFRes packet; got a sponsor; and am currently working on the conditional release. That being said I know 1 guy who was in your exact position about 5 yrs ago (he had a lot more fixed wing hours). He was branched Aviation (Reserve) from ROTC. He got to his Army reserve unit was told due to a training backlog it would take a couple of yrs to get him into training. He contacted the AFres took the tests got a sponsorship and tried for a conditional release. The Army said "Hell no". After trying for several months, he called his congressman. His congressman asked the Army 'why are you keeping this guy who is not trained and can not do crap for you'. He got his conditional release 2 days later. He is now an AFres pilot.
All that being said; I don't think you should be writing you congressman just yet. The way I see it you have 2 options (I am assuming the NG works like the USAR). You can try to take a branch other than aviation, do the basic course and transfer after that. The regulation does require that you go to IADT before you can interservice transfer. There are some exceptions to this but that's the long road. The basic course for most branches is 3-6 months. This means you give up the slot you have. Your call.

Option 2; stay aviation and go to the basic course and try to transfer after that.

Either way the first thing you must do is read the regulation. I don't know which reg covers the transfer of NG officers but for the Reserve it is AR 140-10. Don't trust what you read on message boards; good place for info, but you must check it all. When you do put in for the transfer have your DD 368 filled out with one of those little sign here tags at the bottom line and a copy of the reg covering it highlighted in the important parts. Do not trust the Admin folks. This is an odd occasion and when your a S-1 the last thing you want on your desk is an odd thing that can bite you in the ass. That is why YOU DO THE RESEARCH, you fill out the form and you have a copy of the reg in hand. If it doesn't make it past the staff wennie it will never get on the commanders desk.

Bottom line is you can get there from where you are but you must read the regulations.