Which is the best branch to get a pilot slot?

[Gatorman]

Credibility....

However, you wil fly helicopters alot, and you will wear military wings on your chest which brings a lot of credibility.

lol....and don't forget the prestigious badge you get when you throw a grenade in boot camp ...(raotflmao)

This is too frigg'n funny......

Just reading about northshore and pilotyip.....yea, I am just dying to jump into either one of those branches....Bwhaaaahaaaahaaa.


lol...listen to Falconjet, he is a wise man.

Sorry Falcon, I really do respect your advise to the young man, I just cannot stop laughing about northshore and pilotyip's comments and flamming at eachother.

 

[McGillicutty]

Yeah, lots of bad poop being thrown around here. PilotLevi, this topic has been covered to great length (as already said). Do a search on this board and you'll find much better answers and opinions than the ones you see on this thread.

 

[Benhuntn]

I don't know about training and getting what you asked for... I've been out too long but I do know the AF is the best branch. When we deploy for war the first C-17's and C-5's in country bring beer and air conditioners to make the pilots feel less homesick.

 

[Pistlpetet]

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Another story, my co-pilot/gunner and I shot the best scores out of the rest of the battalion (~20 other crews) for a gunnery exercise, we had the best written test scores etc ( and bit of luck). As a reward and for recognition, we got the exact same ribbon as the cooks who fed us while we were out in the woods for the week. No, I don't think ribbons are the reason for striving to be the best, nor do I think I am a better person than the cooks. But I spent a LONG time and a whole lot of effort perfecting my skills. I think that flying and fighting a gunship is somewhat more labor intensive than heating prepackaged food. I really didn't want the ribbons but to be given the same thing was a complete slap in the face. Just a small snap shot of the way the army views your aviation service. Yes, these may be small examples but they are indicative of what you’ll see.
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Ha! All I got was a Korean Tomahawk! Being #1 is enough of a reward.

I have many USCG friends. They all got their boots muddy before going to the CG so they could enjoy the easier conditions of the CG as a retirement plan. The USCG has its positive things, but you will never be a part of History on a grand scale. You never will be part of an Air War, or Invasion, but that is up to you.

If you are young enough, you can even have two careers. Plenty of Army pilots have become AF, Navy, Marine, and USCG pilots.

I agree with Pilotyip, apply to all you are qualified for (including Guard and Reserve), and see which is the best offer you get. You can only do it once in your life, so don't slack off.

 

[Falconjet]

Ha! All I got was a Korean Tomahawk! Being #1 is enough of a reward.

I have many USCG friends. They all got their boots muddy before going to the CG so they could enjoy the easier conditions of the CG as a retirement plan. The USCG has its positive things, but you will never be a part of History on a grand scale. You never will be part of an Air War, or Invasion, but that is up to you.

If you are young enough, you can even have two careers. Plenty of Army pilots have become AF, Navy, Marine, and USCG pilots.

I agree with Pilotyip, apply to all you are qualified for (including Guard and Reserve), and see which is the best offer you get. You can only do it once in your life, so don't slack off.

Pete: Not to pick too many bones, but that statement is off base in many ways. My first Air Station CO had multiple DFCs from his tours flying rescue missions in Vietnam as a CG helo pilot on an exchange tour with the AF. The Falcon flew in the first Gulf War, tracking the oil in the gulf as it approached the de-salination plants in Kuwait. Two of them deployed over there for several months.

Try telling the helo drivers who pulled thousands of people off of rooftops in Katrina (CG, Navy, AF, Guard, et al) that they are not part of history on a grand scale. There are a lot of ways to make history without blowing things up. The CG is out there every day, and every night saving lives, at war or not. EVERY night.

I flew Falcons on two of the biggest disasters in the 80-90s. I flew up in AK on the Exxon Valdez, tracking the spill in the Sound, the Gulf of Alaska and down the Alaskan Penisula. I also flew on the crash of the Sunset Limited down in Mobile. Two fairly historic events, in my humble opinion.

There is a lot of stuff that the CG does that most people (even in the other services) have no idea about. They do so despite their small size and very limited budget.

I mean no disrespect to warriers of the other Armed Services, I count my blessings that I live in a country protected by the brave men and women in ALL our Armed Services. I just ask folks to be careful making blanket statements about services they might not fully understand.

Peace.

FJ

 

[Pistlpetet]

FJ,
You have good points, I apoligize.

However some of us DO or DID like blowing $hit up for the sake of History.

Note to Wannabee: Every Service and Job has a certain personality. Pick which suits your personality the best, as it will make your time in the military happier in the long run.

 

[Falconjet]

Hey, I've got nothing against blowing up things that need to be blown up. I think that would be cool too.

Its all good.

FJ

 

[SeaSpray]

... Being #1 is enough of a reward.

The USCG has its positive things, but you will never be a part of History on a grand scale. You never will be part of an Air War, or Invasion, but that is up to you.

However some of us DO or DID like blowing $hit up for the sake of History.

This guy is a legend in his own mind.

My guess is he never did squat - he talks about himself too much to be the real deal.

SS








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[GVFlyer]

Since the above posters put it out, I'll have to add; The Army does not respect their aviators like the rest of the services. You will fly helicopters, and that's the extent of the Army committment to you. You're basically a high paid enlisted guy. " A private with a club card" I'm told by some commisioned guys. So, you will get paid less, live in somewhat inferior conditions to the sister services, but you will fly, and it's not nearly the arduous selection process of the AF, Navy, etc.

When I was assigned to Headquarters US European Command, which was an Air Force Four Star command, there were Army warrant officers living in field grade quarters, pulling Field Officer of the Day and flying Air Force jets.


GV

 

[NorthShore]

lol....and don't forget the prestigious badge you get when you throw a grenade in boot camp ...(raotflmao)

This is too frigg'n funny......

Just reading about northshore and pilotyip.....yea, I am just dying to jump into either one of those branches....Bwhaaaahaaaahaaa.


lol...listen to Falconjet, he is a wise man.

Sorry Falcon, I really do respect your advise to the young man, I just cannot stop laughing about northshore and pilotyip's comments and flamming at eachother.

Sorry for urinating in your breakfast cerial of choice.

 

[sardaddy]

"Which is the best branch to get a pilot slot?"


Whichever one will take you.

 

[pilotyip]

Amen sardaddy. Has anyone ever met a military pilot later in life who said he regretted his service as a pilot? No matter what branch they served in.

 

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

I spent 12 years in the Army-Blackhawk Crewchief and Maint. Instructor. The Army is the ONLY service where you can select your job BEFORE you enlist. You get it in writing. It doesn't matter what job you enlist for, you can ALWAYS apply for the Warrant Flight Program. You will have to take a Flight Aptitude test called the FAST test. It's easy if you've ever flown or understand flight instruments and have good common sense. Ask your local recruiter about it. Don't let the recruiter promise you anything--he's not the one who can put anything in writing for you. That comes from the career counselor at MEPS. If you want to fly and don't have a college degree, you best chance os to enlist first and apply for flight school from within. More slots are available to you that way. I used to be a recruiter and I enlisted a guy with a 4-year degree. He was a Blackhawk crewchief also, and applied for flight school and is a Maint. Test Pilot now. PM me if i can help. Good luck!

 

[UHBlackhawk]

Having been an Army pilot, I would agree with the advise to apply to all the services. All have advantages and disadvantages.
As you have picked up, the Army has warrant officers and "regular" officers who fly. The warrant officers primarily stay in the cockpit their whole career; their additional duties consist of instructor pilot, safety officer, maintenance officer and TACOPS (tactical operations officer). While commissioned officers may not fly as much, they will lead more. As a 1LT I had a platoon of 5 aircraft and 20 pilots/crewchiefs. As a captain I commanded a company of 16 aircraft and the pilots/crewchiefs. I had quite a bit of autonomy. As a captain I also led missions all over the world with little over site; landed on pitching, blacked out ships at night; dropped "customers" off in the water while flying at 10' on a moonless night 30 miles off the coast.
In peace time staff officers did not fly very much in the Army; things are different now. Staff officers deployed over seas are flying 500+ hours- all combat time. Line pilots, both warrant and commissioned are flying 1000+ hours. This is no autopilot, wearing chicken plate, getting shot at, flying at 50' 120 knots, flying. It is very unforgiving, tiring, but rewarding. As you can imagine, with this much flying, staff officers HAVE to fly.
Is Army flying better than other services? No, just different. Fly for the Coast Guard and the Weather Channel will make shows about some of your hairy rescues... and you will do them all the time.
Fly for the Navy and you have a shot at landing a jet on a carrier at night. Not for the faint at heart.
Fly for the Air Force and you have a chance to fly B-1s, A-10s... all kinds of neat stuff. Plus they have great chow and facilities.
Fly for the Marines and Army and you will often live in a tent. The food will stink at times. It is hot. You will have to fly with chicken plate and fly so low and slow that you will see the jack*&^ with the RPG tracking you. But the grunts on the ground will love you when you pick up their wounded buds under fire; lay down covering fire for them so low that the spent shells fall on their heads; or pull them from a hot LZ... or die trying to do so.

 

[weekendwarrior]

Contrary to popular belief, I'm an Army aviator(warrant officer), and I've never pulled weed one. Furthermore, I've never had(nor will have) any jobs, such as a staff job like our Navy,AF counterparts. Granted, you are a soldier and the Army views pilots as another transportation specialty, so you won't get rock-star status like our sister-service fixed-wingers.
Mike-

Aint that the truth...I laughed pretty hard when I read that one! I think I had to move a few rocks in basic training that the last class moved to another spot. Oh wait, WOCS we pulled our fair share of weeds and mowed grass, but that was part of the game. Now you don't do much of that anymore...word on the street is WOCS students get cell phones, don't have phase inspection, and get passes. Had a CW4 go the the staff course and saw candidates at the PX on cell phones.

Ok, so I've hijacked the thread...sorry for the rant. Just bugs me when people make cracks like if you are in the Army you'll pull weeds...Horsesh!t.

I've been a FW guy, CFII, etc before flying helos...I love flying helos now, and wouldn't change it for the world. I like the dirt. I like sleeping in tents (kind of). But, I can tell you that your best chance for any pilot slot will most definately be in the Army...no degree necessary, and believe me, there was some serious sh!tbags who made it through WOCS and flight school.