Australian's and the Navy

[andrew@itmpl.com.au]

Hello all,

Ok, here we go...


In case you have not realised by the name of this topic or have not picked up on the last two letters in my e-mail address, I am Australian

For some years now all I have wanted to do is fly. However. at the tender age of about 10, I was told Australia did not have any carriers in our fleet. (Quite funny when I think about it!!)

This, together with the fact the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has roughly 70 Hornets (yes, 7-0!!!) and even fewer F111's, made me think US NAVY or USAF.

I have always had strong feelings for the United States, I believe it stems from our strong alliance over the last 80 years.

I have sent an e-mail to the US Navy but never received a response, they probably laughed as hard as you are now!! I have also tried to stay awake long enough to talk to a USAF advisor over the net but with the time difference it is very hard!


Is there ANY advice you can give me? If my chances are .000000001, tell me....I can take it like a man!!

ANYTHING at all would be a help.


Regards from Australia,
Andrew McKenzie

 

[46Driver]

I am sure it can be done, I'll start looking around and see what I can find out for you. All officers in the US military need a college degree, so you might want to think about doing a semester or two of uni here in the States. That would give you plenty of time to talk to recruiters. Actually, we just had some Aussie exchange officers out here at NAS Whiting Field (Pensacola, Florida) and it looks like we might be doing some of the Australian Army and Navy helicopter training. At any rate, 2 places in Australia you can go for more info - RAAFB Richmond (just outside of Sydney) has a US Air Force detachment. Also, you can try the US embassy in Canberra and ask for advice from the Naval Attache.

Some of the younger guys on here can tell you about how many slots the Navy and the Marines are going to give out, however I hear that very few pilot slots are being handed out in the Air Force right now from those who go through OCS (the Air Force calls it OTS) because the majority of the Air Force pilots come from either the Air Force Academy or ROTC.

Anyway, best of luck. Australia is my favorite place in the world to visit (just got back from Sydney 2 months ago - my 6th trip Down Under). Drink some VB or XXXX for me!

 

[Alex Fowler]

Can't give you any advice I'm afraid since I'm still a NROTC Midshipman, not even an FNG yet (my fellow Yanks will know what "FNG" means ), but I will say that Australia is our brothers and if anyone from any foreign nation has a chance to become a US Naval Officer, an Australlian-born gentlemen probably has the best chance.

Good luck, and if you can't get a billet with our Navy, yours is nothing to be ashamed of. God bless the United States of America, God Bless Australia, God Bless the United Kingdom, and God Bless the Republic of Poland.

 

[andrew@itmpl.com.au]

Thanks for the help and having a look around.

Were you out here for the Air Show? I have been to 2 shows in Avalon, Victoria but never Richmond.

If anything I would do my University Degree down here. 5 years, Civil Engineering + Management. (Although I may not do the management as it would be pretty pointless!!! That makes it 4 years.) Is that enough? I am finishing up Year 12 now. (I think you call it 'leaving')

Navy would be first preference, AF second. So the open slots sound good to me.

I am actually in Adelaide, down the VERY bottom so Sydney and Canberra are out of the question but I could always ring if absolutely necessary.

Isn't it ironic, I am a fan of Bud and other European (Stella, Heni) beers while I hate VB and XXXX with a passion!!!

 

[andrew@itmpl.com.au]

"yours is nothing to be ashamed of"

By no means, the only problem is the last time a fixed wing aircraft landed on a HMAS Ship was about 1950 odd!!!

Dont get me wrong, I love Australia to death. Its just we are a little short on hardware.

 

[46Driver]

Airshow? Are you nuts? I do this for a living - I see airplanes and helos everyday. I came down there to chase Aussie girls and drink good beer (actually, I prefer New Zealand's superb Mack's Gold beer). Seriously, I was accepted for my Master's in International Relations at the University New South Wales and ended up taking MAC (now AMC - basically Air Force transport space available) flights down to RAAFB 3 times in 1 year to check out the campus. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps had other plans....

The engineer degree will open doors for you to test pilot school and other specialities but I would tend to believe that the management degree might be more useful on a day to day basis as an officer and a leader.

To those who haven't worked with the Aussies, suffice it to say they are d@mn good in every aspect of their military - and the Aussie SAS is populated with some hard & crazy m****rf*****s!

I'm actually curious now myself to see if you could get a ROTC scholarship here in the States. At any rate, good luck and God Save the Queen.

PS: Isn't Adelaide wine country?!

 

[vegita1220]

OK I guess I can kinda help since my situation is somewhat similar to yours. My citizenship is not American, which is why I couldn't apply for a ROTC scholarship. However, someone in the Navy was smart enough to realize that many legal immmigrants may want to join up, and they made a College Program which lets you do everything the other ROTC guys do during the school year, with the exception of summer training.

I'm also assuming you want to join the USN...since I'm not sure if RAAF exchange officers can get carrier qualified. Somebody active should be able to help you with that.

The problem for you is US immigration laws. For you to become a US officer, you HAVE to be a US citizen. This process in itself takes about one year from time of application AND you have to have been a permanent resident for I believe 6 years but it could be less, not sure.

I'm not one to tell you what to do, but that's a LOT of time before you can even apply to get a commission. I would assume that that's why 46 driver recommends you attend a US college, it'll ease the process of getting into the country and getting permanent residence. The way I see it you can go to college here, do the College Program, learn about the Navy, clear immigration stuff, then apply for OCS. I don't know of any other way so you might want to wait to see if other people have anything to say before making a decision. Either way, good luck.

 

[bunk22]

I love Australia!!! Why don't you simply try to apply to their Air Force? If carrier avaition is really your goal, we have two Aussie exchange officers at our squadron (both are NFO's) and one has plenty of traps from the back while the other is new but his time will come. However, I don't see why you flying for the US couldn't be done though I assume you would have to change your citizenship. When I was in Perth a few years ago, I met a former American Hornet pilot who flew with Quantas and I thought your Air Force as well. Of course I think his decision to fly for Australia had something to do with a woman. Who could blame him

 

[andrew@itmpl.com.au]

Yeah, big time wine country.....best reds in the world (see: Penfolds).

To enter the RAAF is harder than any Force in the world. They only have very few planes available and therfore only pick the best of the best of the best.....you get the drift. Mind you, this is not taking anything away from the US, only your pilots need not be as good. I have spoken to many RAAF Hornet drivers and they are always telling me how they dux most Top Gun and other Training courses.

And as I said, the last time an aircraft other than Helo landed on a RAN ship was somtime during Korea!!

(One side note and I am not picking on you...most Americans/Europeans seem to do it. The national carrier is QANTAS, there is not 'U')

Please don't take offence to any of that!!!!

 

[vegita1220]

No offense dude, but entering your Air Force, and entering the USN are going to be equally bitching hard, just in different ways. Getting a green card is hard enough and takes time unless you can find a sponsor. Then there's the citizenship application, without prior US military service, which takes a LONG time trust me. You could be looking at applying to the USN at the ripe old age of late twentysomething, and that means an age waiver. Not impossible, just seems like a lotta crap to do. For example, you're gonna have to move over here, take time getting adjusted, find a place to stay, etc. You get my drift. On top of that's the new odds of getting jets, since last I heard on this board the USN was going 60% helo and 40% fixed wing. And note that fixed wing ratio includes prowlers, hawkeyes, hoovers, P-3s, etc.

 

[andrew@itmpl.com.au]

Do, its fantastic and at the moment we are starting to see the last of the "England" style weather!!

From here on in it will be bright, sunny and warm days!!!

You dad would have been involved with the Collins Class subs....JOKE!!! (I hope this causes no offence to your dad. Of course I have no idea what part of the building he was involved with.)

They are the biggest waste of money since the F-111 saga. The bloody things still dont work correctly. They spend more time in dry-dock than at sea!

Seriously, we should have just bought some designs off you yanks and we could still build them here. (Lots of jobs. We are known as the defence state. We build heaps of APC's and you guys have the golf ball's in our desert etc.). At least you do it right the first time.

 

[kimphil]

If you want to be an officer in the US military, you need to get your ass over here. Getting a visa to go to school is much easier (esp. from Australia) than waiting to come here after you graduate from university, getting a work visa, green card, and eventual citizenship. Doing that within a timeframe before you are too old to apply for pilot (27.5 years old) WILL be difficult. The only way that I can think of facilitating American citizenship without being over here is to marry an American (but don't take my word for that; I'm no immigration lawyer, but I do play one on television

). Good luck.

 

[vegita1220]

Marrying an American will definitely speed up and guarantee green card(which is really the hard part), but will not facilitate citizenship(which is the long but easy part) in any way. In case you were starting to actually consider that.

 

[andrew@itmpl.com.au]

Well, I must say there are some pretty good lookers over your way.....