Looking into the military...

[lola]

I'm looking into the military and I have a few questions for you all...

~I would be looking into being a pilot in the military...is it as hard as I've heard to get in? Does it make any difference if I already have some hours and training through my commercial? Does it matter if I'm a female? College degree?
~How hard is the medical? I've heard it's hard. I got a first class medical last year before getting my private, how much more is there to a military medical? Does height matter? What about vision? Contacts okay/not okay?

I've heard yes' and no's to most of these questions which is why I ask...

That's it for now... unless you have any other advice/comments...

Thanks,
Lola

 

[pilotyip]

think about it

This subject has been gone over a bunch of times, you can do a search. Remember you do not join the military service to fly, you join to serve your country to fulfill the needs of the President by flying. You serve at the pleasure of the President. You will not fly that much in the Military unless you go to a conflict, Although Army WO's do stay in the cockpit more than any other service, and there is tons of office duties and family separation. In 11 years of Navy Active duty I got 2500 hours, 800 in 6 months during Vietnam, of pilot time and I was gone from home for nearly 4 years. Saw my son for about 11 months between his birth, which I almost missed, and his third birthday. If you go into fly, you will have a 10-11 year obligation, which as an officer will include at least 3-4 years of not flying. It is not something you do on a lark, like Brittany Spear's wedding.

 

[lola]

First of all, thank you Patmack, for your comments and for not missing my point.

Remember you do not join the military service to fly, you join to serve your country to fulfill the needs of the President by flying. You serve at the pleasure of the President. ... It is not something you do on a lark, like Brittany Spear's wedding.

I am aware of all of this and I am not thinking of going into the military in order to get hours. Thank you for your comments but just because I am asking about some details about the military doesn't mean I'm overlooking others.

 

[BonesF15]

My 2 cents,


Try to find a guard / reserve job that will send you to UPT.

This is the best deal going and few people know about it until they are already active duty.

You would be full time during your training and most likely for 1 year after.

This would give you the most options.

You may want to take a look at www.baseops.net it has a lot of good info.

Bones

 

[Big Duke Six]

Bones,

I think I met you in the club at Vance AFB back in '91. Neither my fellow 'studs or I knew what the Weed was until we met you. Thanks bro....

 

[Mooseflyer]

I agree with BonesF15 - Guard/Reserve is the way to go. I disagree with Pilotyip, however. I'm sure it's very dependent upon the equip you fly, but in my AMC units there was never much trouble getting flying before 9/11. After 9/11....well, there's been tons of flying, and our junior guys have been absolutely getting their a$$es kicked with trips and deployments. As you become more senior, you typically have an office job to keep you somewhat protected and allow you some home time. Regarding the physical, yes it's much more involved than an FAA class I, but like others have said, you can't really study for it (but you can diet and exercise) - you'll never know until you try though. Best of luck with whatever you decide.

 

[ThomasR]

pilotyip advice is accurate

I was a WO Army helicopters. Warrant Officers, as all officers, have extra duties assigned in addition to flight responsibilities. Warrants primary duty is to aviation where "real live officers" find aviation to be, in the army, secondary to their primary MOS. All military services require a standard minimum flight time to maintain currency.

Flying in country, you will have some choice as to what areas of the world you'd like to participate, time will depend on military activity in the area. Otherwise it will consist of readiness training and the continuous probibility of being redeployed anywhere in the world within 24 hours notice or less.

Being deployed in a combat zone will mean all of your time will be devoted to flight standards, equipment readiness and mission events. You will eat, sleep and work with aviators and flight crews, mostly men. Military pilots have a strict code of conformity, if you have any problem dealing with men [at any level] you will have a problem gaining cooperation.