CG Flight Advice

[parrothead08]

Brunes covered what I did. I was a deck watch officer too. Similar jobs. The people who have failed out recently have been to sent to New Orleans or Mobile to work in the sector / district command center. One girl did two tours on a ship, asked to go back to a ship, and they sent her to New Orleans.

I agree with taco09 on the DCA situation. It's pretty damn hard to do right now.

It's a quality of life thing. All the DCAs I've talked to said they got tired of the constant deployments/being away from family. One of my IPs was about to put on O-4, got picked up for the DCA program and dropped to O-2 in the CG. Said he woulnd't change a thing.

I've heard rumors that Big CG wants more "homegrown" aviators despite the fact it's cheaper to use DCAs.

You have to finish your service obligation. The Navy isn't going to spend 2 years and a million(s) of dollars training you and then immediately let you switch services. Haha.

Our wait times have been much longer than the other services. The whole thing is cyclic though. In a year, there will be no wait but the Navy will have to wait 8 months. Then it goes back. Just depends on when you happen to fall into the program.

 

[parrothead08]

I'm a US Merchant Marine Academy Graduate and Air Guard member looking at the option of Coast Guard flight. I see two options that I know of.

One DCO and become an engineer and then try to apply within the CG to get a flight slot, or two Apply to OCS, and compete for a flight slot. I can't find anyone else to contact besides the recruiters on what is the best route to take and as expected they don't know. If there are any other options available or any advice is much appreciated.

Just noticed this...I hope you don't get it. Haha. I kid, I kid.

 

[positiveg89]

Thanks for the replies. I thought about enlisting in the CG and applying from within, but the wait is long for the more popular positions (several years for AMT IIRC). So it's either stay out and hope I get into OCS, enlist and apply from within, or go to another service and try the DCA route.

 

[11smitsaj]

Just noticed this...I hope you don't get it. Haha. I kid, I kid.

Hmmm...there is only one logical place I can think of where you originated from haha.

 

[parrothead08]

Hmmm...there is only one logical place I can think of where you originated from haha.

The Service Academy "rivalry" that no one cares about. haha.

 

[11smitsaj]

The Service Academy "rivalry" that no one cares about. haha.

Shake that bear!

 

[parrothead08]

When I was a 4/c, I got liquored up and donned the bear costume for the football game. It was down at your school and 100 degrees. I almost died.

One of your esteemed colleagues (female) wanted to do me though, so it worked out.

 

[sardaddy]

"I've heard rumors that Big CG wants more "homegrown" aviators despite the fact it's cheaper to use DCAs."

That isn't the case at all. The DCA program is simply a quick way to get pilots into CG aircraft when needed. It is like a spigot. If we need a lot of pilots the DCA spigot is wide open. When the demand for pilots goes away the DCA program goes away. If the demand goes even lower then selection for flight school right out of OCS goes away. Right now the need to fill cockpits is pretty low. We have more pilots than we need due to a lot of organization changes in aircraft. Therefore we aren't bringing in too many DCAs. At one point in the early-mid 90s, there weren't any DCA selection panels for about 5 years. Then right after that there were three panels a year that were taking 20+ each time.

So it isn't a matter of wanting more homegrown pilots, it is a matter of how many pilots they need.

 

[sardaddy]

I thought I had posted this before but it doesn't look like it showed up so I will try again.

You do not have to wait three years to apply for flight school. I just talked to one of my fellow pilots who happens to be a graduate of the MMA. DCO for a MARGRAD is no different than an ensign coming from OCS. You go to your unit and can apply for flight school as soon as you want. There is no requirement for you to do engineering for three years. In fact there is no guarantee you will become a ships engineer. You are just a nasty Ensign for the CO to abuse just like everyone else that came on board as an Ensign.

There is even a way, I have no idea how, for a MARGRAD to get selected for flight training before going to the DCO course. Again, spoke to a pilot who was at the DCO course with 2 MARGRADs who already knew when they were supposed to report to flight training when they showed up to the DCO course.

By the way I went and looked at the link you posted. I was the one who posted the response. I didn't say he had to wait 3 years before he could apply to flight school. I wrote that he would have a 3 year committment in the Coast Guard. Meaning if he joined the CG to fly but didn't get flight school, he would still have to serve 3 years before he could get out.

 

[SamAca10]

Any advice for those of us still at the factory? I know from CATP that the helo pipeline is incredibly backed up....will things normalize by the time I graduate (2014) or should I expect that I'll be heading to a ship for my first tour?

 

[sardaddy]

I can tell you that the progression of helicopter pilots during that time isn't going to be pretty as that is when the "E" model H65 will be coming on line and the same issue the H60 side is having will happen to the H65 side but worse. It doesn't mean you will go to a ship right away. They don't have enough billets to take everyone anyway. What it may mean is a long wait after winging at the air station. before you get qualified in your airframe.

 

[parrothead08]

"I've heard rumors that Big CG wants more "homegrown" aviators despite the fact it's cheaper to use DCAs."

That isn't the case at all. The DCA program is simply a quick way to get pilots into CG aircraft when needed. It is like a spigot. If we need a lot of pilots the DCA spigot is wide open. When the demand for pilots goes away the DCA program goes away. If the demand goes even lower then selection for flight school right out of OCS goes away. Right now the need to fill cockpits is pretty low. We have more pilots than we need due to a lot of organization changes in aircraft. Therefore we aren't bringing in too many DCAs. At one point in the early-mid 90s, there weren't any DCA selection panels for about 5 years. Then right after that there were three panels a year that were taking 20+ each time.

So it isn't a matter of wanting more homegrown pilots, it is a matter of how many pilots they need.

I thought I had posted this before but it doesn't look like it showed up so I will try again.

You do not have to wait three years to apply for flight school. I just talked to one of my fellow pilots who happens to be a graduate of the MMA. DCO for a MARGRAD is no different than an ensign coming from OCS. You go to your unit and can apply for flight school as soon as you want. There is no requirement for you to do engineering for three years. In fact there is no guarantee you will become a ships engineer. You are just a nasty Ensign for the CO to abuse just like everyone else that came on board as an Ensign.

There is even a way, I have no idea how, for a MARGRAD to get selected for flight training before going to the DCO course. Again, spoke to a pilot who was at the DCO course with 2 MARGRADs who already knew when they were supposed to report to flight training when they showed up to the DCO course.

By the way I went and looked at the link you posted. I was the one who posted the response. I didn't say he had to wait 3 years before he could apply to flight school. I wrote that he would have a 3 year committment in the Coast Guard. Meaning if he joined the CG to fly but didn't get flight school, he would still have to serve 3 years before he could get out.

Thanks for the clarification. Just going off the student rumor mill. +1

 

[SynixMan]

Thanks for the clarification. Just going off the student rumor mill. +1

General good gouge: Students know maybe 50% of the truth and fill in the rest with "experience" which is largely nothing/bullshit/drunk bar talk.