High School to Flight School

[Just a kid]

Anybody here flown combat? Anybody here want to mention to Polartwin, who is a junior in high school, what it's like to kill a lot of people?

Anybody know anybody who maybe had a problem when what he thought was a military target turned out it wasn't?

Yeah, I know: Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out. But in combat flying you sometimes get the Big Epiphany: Hey, that's not the President's thumb on the bomb release, it's not the General's finger on the rocket release, it's mine turning down-there into freakin' hell.

President's not going to come back home and inexplicably decide never to fly again, or wake up screaming or every night dream what happened over and over and over, in slow motion.

No harm intended. Just a thought by way of balanced counsel for our lad. I never flew Coast Guard, but my guess is you don't screw up the whole rest of your life when you risk yours to save somebody else's.

 

[Pistlpetet]

I vividly remember a time in the 101st when almost nobody in the unit flew for 59 days so that we could save our flight time for a big training cycle. Why 59 days? because we all went non current at 60 days so it was the longest they could go in between flights. So what did we do on that first flight? We had a Battalion night gunnery excercise. What a great way to warm up after not flying for so long. I can honestly say that was one of the worst flying experiences I have had in my entire career. There were many near death experiences that night and not just in my cockpit.

This basically boils down to a Commander only thinking about his Report Card. He is not rated on how good or competent his pilots are, only how many of his aircraft are flyable. The Army does not do Aviation well in general (Ran like a tank Battallion). There were many times when we had to cancel all flying because the Operational Readiness Rate was below 60-70% flyable, but saving the aircraft for two months sounds quite bizarre, but believable at the 101st.

 

[AdlerDriver]

Thanks a lot for all of yall's help, it's greatly appreciated. I guess I'd really like to be a fighter pilot(who doesn't?), but there just seems to be a few too many things that come along with that awsome job. College being one of them. Another thing, I wouldn't want to join up and be stuck flying a desk for years. If I wanted to that i'd just go find a cubicle and do the whole 9-5 thing for 40 years. Not my cup of tea. That being said, a lot of things about being a warrant officer appeal to me: the flying, the chance to serve my country, and having a job that i truly want to go to most of the time. I guess I need to start looking for a recruiter to help me out. Crap, we had a few at our school last month.

Thanks again,
Dave

Dave,
Since you expressed an interest in fighters, I’ll give you my 2 cents (combine that with everyone else’s here and you could retire now). Flying a fighter is one of the best jobs in the military. It does have some “things” that go along with it as you said. Most jobs in the military do, though. You will work 12+ hours days routinely, you will deploy away from you family, you may have to go into combat and you will work 100 times harder than you ever did while going to college. Guess what, I’m sure my last underlined statement applies to flying helos as a commissioned or warrant officer in the Army too. College may seem like a big hurdle to you now but don’t let that force you down the easy road at such a young age. Frankly, if you can’t push yourself to pursue what you really want to do regardless of what may lay ahead (college) then I have some doubts about your ability to succeed in the military (no matter how you choose to enter). Maybe you’re having a bad experience in high school. Don’t let that cloud your judgment about college. It’s really not as bad as you seem to think it is.

I have many peers both active duty and now in the Guard that have flown F-15s for close to 20 years with no time flying a desk. Those who have were typically out of the cockpit less than 3 years. When they did, they were typically edging up on 40 years old, had a family and sometimes didn’t mind a quick break as a 9-5 type guy.

The things that appeal to you about being a warrant officer – “the flying, the chance to serve my country, and having a job that i truly want to go to most of the time.” - are exactly why I chose to fly fighters and what I experienced every day I flew them.
I can state for a fact, I would not have been able to graduate from USAF pilot training if I had not attended college first. I was not mature enough, my study habits were poor and I really didn’t have my act together when I was 18. There are some guys on this forum that get on their soap box about not needing college to fly. If you want to fly a fighter you do. Not just because it’s a requirement to get a commission but because it allows you to continue to mature and expand your intellect before you attempt to finish pilot training. My degree in Mechanical Engineering exposed me to courses of study, concepts and practical experience (wind tunnels, etc) that later on enhanced my understanding of aerodynamics, aircraft systems and the weapons we use. Other guys majored in something less technical and were equally successful. The bottom line is they didn’t try to do it as an immature 18 year old.

I know there are some exceptions that may be able to succeed straight out of high school but why not give yourself the best chance. You might even change your mind about what you want to do with your life. I started college in Navy ROTC with a plan to drive ships for them. One year later, I switched to the USAF and planned on being an engineer for them. It wasn’t until senior year in college that I decided to pursue a career as a USAF pilot. Luckily for me they had some pilot slots available. My point is, not everyone can tell where their real strengths lie and what their future holds at the ripe age of 18. At least going to college isn’t committing you to one direction so quickly. Whether you choose to attempt to fly for the Army as a WO or try to fly a fighter, you can still pursue military aviation when you complete your degree. If you decide you don’t want to go military, you can still get your degree and pursue another option.

Anybody here flown combat? Anybody here want to mention to Polartwin, who is a junior in high school, what it's like to kill a lot of people?

Anybody know anybody who maybe had a problem when what he thought was a military target turned out it wasn't?

Yeah, I know: Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out. But in combat flying you sometimes get the Big Epiphany: Hey, that's not the President's thumb on the bomb release, it's not the General's finger on the rocket release, it's mine turning down-there into freakin' hell.

President's not going to come back home and inexplicably decide never to fly again, or wake up screaming or every night dream what happened over and over and over, in slow motion.

No harm intended. Just a thought by way of balanced counsel for our lad. I never flew Coast Guard, but my guess is you don't screw up the whole rest of your life when you risk yours to save somebody else's.

Yes, I flew combat and killed another pilot trying to do the same thing to me. I don’t lose any sleep over that. The good thing about air-to-air combat is there are no innocent bystanders. The guys dropping iron do run the risk of killing innocents. All the more reasons to ensure you are mature enough to evaluate the pros/cons of your career choice.

Just a kid: I’m sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. Thank you for your personal sacrifices and your service to our country. It’s good you brought it up and made sure this discussion addressed it. These days, if someone thinks they can go a 20 year career without seeing some combat, I think they’re kidding themselves. They need to understand that and be ready to make significant sacrifices if they are called to do so. While the military can offer a good retirement, “awesome jobs”, money for college, etc. – that shouldn’t be why someone joins. It’s ultimately a volunteer force of people preparing for combat or to support those in combat. If you’re not ready to make those sacrifices and possible pay the ultimate price, do something else PolarTwins55.

Good Luck.

 

[Just a kid]

That's a great response, Adlerdriver. With those comments and some reflection, Polartwins has been advised -- he has all he needs to consider to make his decision.

 

[weekendwarrior]

Back to the original topic, my stick buddy in flight school was 18. He was flying Apaches at 20.

Needs of the Army...the Army needs pilots, so I'd say now more than ever is a good time to do it.

The guard is a great way to do it. Get some enlisted time as a crew cheif for a year, learn alot about the aircraft, kick but every day, and you'll get a flight slot. Then you can go to college while doing the guard thing. Trying to go to college active duty will be surprisingly difficult. In the guard, you'll still get great tuition and GI bill benifits, and have the time to actually get an education. Plus, as a pilot, you get AFTP (additional flight training periods) so in addition to your weekend/month, you get additional time to come in and fly, and get paid for it. Drill, annual training, and AFTP's amount to about $10,000/year..not bad for part time work.

Now, with the current optempo, there will be deployments in there too. So it's not necessarily the cush guard job it used to be. But, it is a great way to get in, get your time started early, and get an education. It may take a few extra years with deployments, flight school, advanced schools, etc, but for a guy fresh out of high school that is what I recommend.

 

[weekendwarrior]

As far as flying hours are concerned, we fly 140 hours/year in the aircraft. 10-15 hours/month. Deployments are different...guys over there are flying 800-1000 in a year.

 

[PolarTwins55]

just curious if anyone had any updates/recently been through this program and have some kind of an idea of the acceptance rate/ demand for warrant officers?

 

[propilot]

Could you expand on the program. The only thing I could find on the program (including looking at the UND website) is this statement from Sen John McCain:

$2 million for the Air Battle Captain program at the University of North Dakota. This provision sends students from West Point to North Dakota for their flight lessons. Instead of letting flight schools compete for the ability to train these cadets, we have earmarked their training to North Dakota. We are putting parochial interests over the necessity to provide the best training possible for the best price to our Army cadets.

From that it looks to be only open to West Point Cadets. I know there are similar programs to what you said but maybe they are named differently?

Additionally, you don't just "go into the 160th" there are a few hurdles you have to jump before you get there, and as a commissioned officer it is even tougher to get in due to less available jobs and a few more obstacles to overcome.

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