Reserve Officer to flight school

[Andrew Teo]

Ok, here it is. I'm a college senior now with one more semester to go before graduation (meaning I'll walk around Dec 07) and by then I'll have my private pilots license for rotorcraft (getting ready for the check ride now). Basically, I'm looking at the Coast Guard's Select Reserve Direct Commission Program (SELRES). The idea is that I cut my teeth as an Ensign to LTJG and get to know the CG from the inside through the part time aspect of the Reserves. We have a family business that I want to help out with for the first couple of years post college, so thats why I'm looking at the Reserves. The big picture, though, is that I want to fly for the CG. So, my questions are these: can I go from a Reserve officer to an active duty pilot? Has this been done before? Would there be rank limitations when I apply for a flight slot (i.e. I can't be over LTJG when putting in my packet)? Does the CG like to take from their own ranks over civilians in the Blue 21 program? What is the service obligation if I was selected from the Reserves, would it still be the 11 years associated with Blue 21?

I know its a bit wordy, but I'm coming from very little knowledge of the Coast Guard, so I have a lot of questions.

 

[MJAngeli]

Andrew,
I am a Coast Guard LTJG with orders to flight training next month. First off, Coast Guard Aviation is extremely competitive. There are a lot of people on active duty that want in with very few slots, only about 50 per year. I'm not saying that it can't be done from the Reserves but the only official ways into the program are through active duty selection or Direct Commision Aviatior program which are aviators from other branches of service transfering over to the CG. Your best bet is to go through OCS which gives you only 3 years obligated active service. Typically pilots coming in from the other branches take a one rank demotion. Once selected for flight training it tacks on another 10 year obligation. Here is a quote from the actual flight solicitation message.
ACTIVE DUTY OFFICERS IN THE GRADES OF ENS/LTJG MAY APPLY FOR
THE COAST GUARD FLIGHT TRAINING PANEL SCHEDULED TO CONVENE 06 MAR
2007. SELECTION FOR THIS HIGHLY COMPETITIVE PROGRAM LEADS TO
DESIGNATION AS A COAST GUARD AVIATOR WITH SUBSEQUENT ASSIGNMENT TO
DUTY STANDING BILLETS WITHIN COAST GUARD AVIATION. PLEASE READ
THIS MESSAGE IN ITS ENTIRETY TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH THE
APPLICATION PROCEDURES.
2. SUBMIT APPLICATION LETTERS AND ENDORSEMENTS VIA THE E-RESUME
FUNCTION IN DIRECT ACCESS. THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF THE E-
RESUME, WITH COMMAND ENDORSEMENT AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION, IS
06 FEB 07.
Google "Coast Guard Flight Solicitation Message" if you want to read the whole thing. As you can see it specifically targets "Active Duty ENS & LTJG's". I hope this helps a little bit. PM me if you have any other questions.
-MIKE

 

[sardaddy]

The blue 21 program is intended as a civilian procurement tool so you are not really competing with military folks for that program and you can get a guaranteed flight slot if you meet the requirments and are selected.

OCS alone may or may not provide you an opportunity to fly right off the bat. Generally there are about 3 flight slots each class. Some times there are more, some times there are less or even zero.

If you don't get it then you can apply on active duty like MJangeli did. For the last board I was told there were about 95 applications and about 15 slots.

I really don't know if a reservist can apply from a reserve status for active duty as an aviator. But who knows, I know a pilot that came into the Coast Guard as a Direct Commission Lawyer. So anything is possible.

Good luck

 

[snake020]

Best advice to do anything on active duty is to go straight to active duty. There's usually a ton of red tape to cut through to get bumped from reserve to active.