Woft

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

The reason I was asking--I was in the Army from 87-99 and was a crewchief/maint. instructor, also taught at the maint. test pilot course before it got moved to Ft Rucker. Then, I was "volunteered" to be a recruiter. I had several people apply for WOFT right off the street. Back then ('94-'97), you had to have atleast 2000 hours PLUS a four-year degree with a GPA of 3.8 or higher to be competetive. Standards may be different these days. The best thing to do if you are a civillian (don't know because you didn't answer that part) is to talk to a local recruiter who has current info in that area. Ask to talk to the Company Commander--he/she is usually a Captain. If you are military, talk to your re-enlistment officer. Try Brigade level--they usually are more up to snuff than Company or Bn level. I've been out of the Army since '99 and I know things change. I still have some contacts though. Let me know if I can help in any way.


Good Luck!

 

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

Oh yeah,

I've heard several people talk about a program the Navy has where you can get into the flight program with just a first solo. Don't know anything about it--again, check with a local recruiter for info.

 

[armyjets]

When I was at Rucker last spring I was told that the selection rate was up around 85% of "qualified applicants" due to the shorage of pilots. I can't imagine it having changed all that much.

 

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

armyjets--what are you flying now? One of my pilots in Hawaii is flying Citations out of ......Ft Meade, maybe? Can't remember his name off the top of my head. I ran into him a couple of years ago in ATL--back when I was flying cargo.

 

[armyjets]

I'm actually out of the Citation (and active duty) now and back in the C-12 as a full time Guardsman but not for long. I was fortunate enough to get called in to re-interview by "Big Brown" last week so I'll be reverting back to part-time as soon as I have a class date. Your buddy was probably in either Andrews or Ft. Beloir (Davidson Army Airfield), they are the only citation pilots in the North East.

Cheers!

 

[psysicx]

How hard is it to get picked to fly jets in the army?And the reason for my posting was,when I did a search everyone said choose a different service.But the info was outdated so I was looking for new opnions.

 

[armyjets]

The Army just doesn't have that many jets so it (as is everything in the Army) is luck and timing. That may change though as there are jet aircraft that are being looked at to replace some of the turbo-props. The citation (UC-35) was supposed to replace the king air's (C-12) but after taking delivery on about 25 they decided to cancel the remainder of the order due to limited range and cargo capability. Eventually the C-12's will be replaced. I did hear rumor that the Military Intelligence (surveillance) king airs (RC-12's) are to be replaced by EMB-145's and in fact think the contract has been awarded. You could probably read more about that on APTAP but I know there were some server problems there a while back and a lot of the archived posts were deleted. Remember that ALL Army pilots are first and foremost helicopter pilots, I hope this helps.

 

[psysicx]

Thanks for the post.That what I really liked about the Army.Your just a pilot plus flying helos would be awesome.Also that explains why there were so few previous posts on APTAP.

 

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

It's more like this: You're just a soldier but you get to fly some too. Regardless of what your specialty is, you are a soldier first. This means that you help dig fighting positions around your perimeter, help put your tents up, etc. Most pilots are Warrant Officers. Most of them also have additional duties such as: Arms Room Officer, NBC (Nuke, Chem, Bio) Officer, Safety Officer, and so forth. Don't think that if you're not flying you don't have anything else to do!

 

[Pistlpetet]

58D or Blue flight suit guy...whatever you go by these days. I am only hostile to punks like you..lol.

I will be in Bangkok next weekend, so I am sure there will be some Thai girl that will knock the dust out of me.

Enjoy the Bayou


Physicx,

Most Army Active Duty Warrant officers only get the chance to fly FW after many years of good service in RW units. It is the literal carrot at the end of the long stick.