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Getting into Coast Guard Aviation

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kent1644

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I was just wondering on how the Coast Guard works as far as how they select Pilots. I do know their ASTB standards are lower than the Navy and the Marines, I think you only need a 3/3/3 to qualify. Also if you have taken the ASTB for the Navy, can you keep those scores if you want to apply to the Coast Guard?
 
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edato

Registered User
I was thinking of doing the same thing. I'm not sure if the ASTB transfers, I don't think they have an equivalent test. As far as I know (I talked to a recruiter and did some research) it is really hard to go right from Coast Guard OCS into Aviation training. For one thing, in the Coast Guard there is no guarantee of designation before you get to OCS. After OCS you pick what you want to do, but everyone usally ends up on a ship for a year or two for their first tour (unless you are an engineer). After that you can request a tranfer to aviation.

The other thing is that the market for pilots is tight, they don't have nearly the amount planes and copters as any other branch of the military and they already have a glut of pilots. They also usually take lateral transfers from Army and Navy copter pilots to fill their positions as there is far less training required.

It's not impossible, but your chances of flying anything are still better in the Navy, as you can be assured of your designation when you enter OCS. These are just my observations, I'd also like to know what others think.
 
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Davey

Registered User
edato,
I think you're mostly right. The CG has: 25 C-130s, 42 Jayhawks, 93 Dolphins, 41 Falcons, and a few new MH-68 Makos. That's about it. The Dolphins are mostly deployed on cutters. The other planes are looking pretty old and tired from what I've read. New planes are in the works though. I think Operation Deepwater is a $17 billion investment to upgrade and buy new equipment. Chances are that 5/50 OCS guys get selected for API directly. Now that OCS classes are bigger, maybe 10 guys per class (gals too). These numbers are pretty accurate. If anyone knows how many aircraft are in the Navy and Air Force, I'd like to find out. I'm assuming the Air Force has thousands of planes.

Go Get 'Em
 
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