I want to apply for OCC 192 with an air contract but my OSO tells me that there are currenty no air contracts available for the 192 class. However if I wait until 193 I will need an age waiver. So my question is, should I apply to 192 in hopes of picking up an air contract at TBS or should I wait till 193, apply for an age waiver (hope I get it) then apply for the air slot in 193 class? I will not be miserable as a ground guy, I want to be a Marine first, pilot second, but if I can have the air slot it is somewhat important to me that if I have the opportunity to get it that I should. Any advice here would be great!
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Air Contract dilemma...
- Thread starter stevew
- Start date
How old are you? I am in a similar position: Coming up on 27 soon and wanted to do a dual package. Why not do a dual package for 193? That way if the age waiver for air gets denied you could still go ground (assuming you don't also need a waiver for ground and get accepted). What is a couple of months in the long run?stevew said:
Is it that you have to be under 27 and a half by reporting to flight school? Not really clear on that the exact reg.
Edit: aren't there different age requirements for air and ground I guess is what I mean?
S/F
I believe you need to be 27 1/2 when you commission, and not when you enter flight school. I have been selected for PLC-C and I am on the high side of the age requirement but I was told I need to be no older than the above mentioned age when I get commissioned. I will be 27 and 2 months old when I should get my bars.
You should do the dual package method. Apply for both 192 as aground and then 193 air with the waiver? (Search the threads I thought I recently read a thread about age and air waivers.) Alternatively, just 192 and hope you are lucky at TBS. Just don’t quit fighting for what you want.
You should do the dual package method. Apply for both 192 as aground and then 193 air with the waiver? (Search the threads I thought I recently read a thread about age and air waivers.) Alternatively, just 192 and hope you are lucky at TBS. Just don’t quit fighting for what you want.
what if I do a dual package for 192 and I get picked up for ground? then I would be kinda stuck having to take it. If I do only air for 192 and get shot down at least I can do a dual package for 193, then even if I get ground I could worry about the air contract at TBS.
SgtUSMC: You need to be no older than 27.5 by the time you commission so for OCCers that would be the time you finish OCS.
SgtUSMC: You need to be no older than 27.5 by the time you commission so for OCCers that would be the time you finish OCS.
Hoping for an air contract at TBS is somewhat risky. We only had one up for grabs in Fox, and 20+ guys were fighting for it. Too many factors go into MOS selection, and the odds of picking up the air slot aren't especially good (though most companies tend to have more spots). If you want to fly, I'd go for the age waiver. We've got many guys here now that applied for and got them. I guess it just comes down to what you really want to do.
Ok, now I see your point. So your OSO didn't say you can't apply for 192 air, just that they are full? If you can apply go for it, you might just end up being preselected for 193 anyway, right? I am still trying to decide what to apply for but it seems like you really want air but are willing to accept ground only as a second choice really, even if you would still be happy with being a Marine Officer first. Heck, you could apply for only air again for 193 and there is still 194 if you are not over age for ground and there are also always other disctricts if they don't want to give you a waiver for flight. If it is your dream don't let anyone discourage you. If I really wanted air I would not be happy with anything but a contract for it just going of my prior enlisted experiences in the Corps. Trying to get it at TBS seems a dubious objective at best and an impossible one at worste if they happened not to have SNA/NFO slots for your TBS class.stevew said:
Just my two cents from another OCC wanabee.
S/F
SgtUSMC said:
You make some good points, I have heard about this thing about being preselected for the next class but don't know much about it, how does that work? My OSO never mentioned that option to me. Also, If I apply for air only at 192 can I get preselected for 193 even though I would need an age waiver for that class? When would I need to apply for that waiver, now or after I am eligible for it (only after I get to old)? I think that those are good points you are making and I will only apply for air in the 192 class since I can always go ground and do a dual contract for 193.
I don't really know much about it other than it seems like a lot of the guys who go air get preselected, but not so much the case with ground, but that may be a false impression on my part just from what I read. I think the deal with preselection is simply "needs of the Corps" and if they have let's say, 100 applicants and only 50 spots for the following class, but like 75 of the applicants have good applications, they would accept the top 50 for the immediate class and the remaining 25 would be preselects for the one after that. The last 25 would be denied. And then there would be only 25 slots now for the next class because 25 preselects are already filling that. It stands to reason that if you do that a couple times you are already getting applicants to project for two classes ahead and so on. That's just how it was explained to me anyway. I tend to assume that if they are saying the summer OCC is full for air contracts already, seeing as I was told the board for summer OCC does not meet until the end of March/begining of April, that 192 air must have been filled with preselects who did not make 191. It makes sense: if the Corps really is hard up for pilots and NFOs it makes sense to take qualified applicants ahead of time to not only help project their goals, but also to insure they don't lose people by denying them the first time around. Again, this is just from what I read online and talk with others about, so rumors persist.stevew said:
Either way you have nothing to lose by applying and everything to possibly gain. I have no idea about that age waiver technicality between classes but make sure your OSO office gets you the straight shizzy on that and hit us back. Again from another wanabee, best of luck to you.
S/F
The air contracts that switch have no impact on the number of slots at TBS. The Company gets a list from Headquarters Marine Corps, which has the availability of every mos. Its based on the numbers needed at the time, which can vary quite a bit from class to class. The class before us had 7, while we only got 1.
If I go ground now, and I want to switch to air later on, will I ever have that opportunity if I don't end up getting selected for air at TBS, or once I miss it at TBS I am pretty much guaranteed not to fly? Is there some point down the road where I can reapply for air? I really want to go to OCS, but right now air slots seem to be tight.
stevew said:
They do have the option of field accention however that is REALLY much harder to do than selecting at TBS so if you don't get one before, and you don't get one while there then there is really not much of a chance of getting one later. Again, not impossible but very rare.
I'm gonna be honest with you Steve....after applying multible times and getting denied, then finally getting accepted and you turning it down (twice?) due to a religous holiday (not bagging on religion)...don't expect any special favors from your OSO. If I were an OSO and a candidate pulled that on me I wouldn't even submit his paperwork anymore, and I'd pass it down to the OSO that relieved me for him not to submit it either.
There are too many folks out there that'd give their left leg to even get a shot at USMC OCS and denying your acceptance is just holding others up.
There are too many folks out there that'd give their left leg to even get a shot at USMC OCS and denying your acceptance is just holding others up.