Army Officer to Naval Officer - Feasible?

[Vlado]

Hello Gentlemen,

Ex-Army Officer (O2) currently in the IRR on the reserve side (non-flying job). Want to fly in the Navy. As you can imagine I don't want to do another OCS program since already commissioned. Is that even possible? Don't really care what I'd have to do to make it happen if there is a route. Contacted a local O recruiter a few months ago and tried to get some info, best response I could pull was "I think you'd have to go to OCS again, not sure."

Thank you all in advance,

Cheers

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Hello Gentlemen,

Ex-Army Officer (O2) currently in the IRR on the reserve side (non-flying job). Want to fly in the Navy. As you can imagine I don't want to do another OCS program since already commissioned. Is that even possible? Don't really care what I'd have to do to make it happen if there is a route. Contacted a local O recruiter a few months ago and tried to get some info, best response I could pull was "I think you'd have to go to OCS again, not sure."

Thank you all in advance,

Cheers

Prior officer are ineligible for OCS programs, you need to contact the aviation community manager to see if they have availability for your YG. There has been 1 person on this site that was able to do the inter-service transfer for aviation that I know of.

Due to my location when I was an OR we had several Army types that flew blackhawks that wanted to convert, we were told they get many who want to do the inter-service transfer and due to that the person wanting to come over essentially needs to have a stellar career in the service they want to leave.

It isn't impossible but it is extremely difficult.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Hello Gentlemen,

Ex-Army Officer (O2) currently in the IRR on the reserve side (non-flying job). Want to fly in the Navy. As you can imagine I don't want to do another OCS program since already commissioned. Is that even possible? Don't really care what I'd have to do to make it happen if there is a route. Contacted a local O recruiter a few months ago and tried to get some info, best response I could pull was "I think you'd have to go to OCS again, not sure."

Thank you all in advance,

Cheers

Not eligible for OCS programs, sorry.

ISTs are rare and usually for those who have desired skill sets. If you were a qualified army aviator there can be a case here, but without that - not so much.

 

[kite]

Might be worth calling a Marine OSO if you’re interested in going green. My understanding is that enlisted or officer, everyone has to go through entry level training and start from the bottom again. I know we had a prior army O4 select in my OCS class going in with a law contract.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Might be worth calling a Marine OSO if you’re interested in going green. My understanding is that enlisted or officer, everyone has to go through entry level training and start from the bottom again. I know we had a prior army O4 select in my OCS class going in with a law contract.

I had a similar situation to this as well. Kid couldn’t go Navy, so he tried the marine corps and is currently active duty ground (officer).

 

[Vlado]

Well that answers that, thanks all.

Re: Marines. I talked to a recruiter a few months ago and she said it would not be a problem to transfer over from the IRR. Granted, it would require going to OCS again and follow-on Marine Leader school (forget the name) before you even get to flight training. As you can imagine, that wasn't really something I jumped up and down about.

Stupid question but I'm going to ask it: Are there such things as waivers for already commissioned Officers in other branches (Army) to direct-transfer to the Marines without having to do OCS all over again?

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Stupid question but I'm going to ask it: Are there such things as waivers for already commissioned Officers in other branches (Army) to direct-transfer to the Marines without having to do OCS all over again?

No. Marine corps isn’t really the best service to try to waive requirements like that.

 

[Renegade One]

Feasible. You have to want it. Then do the hoops/hurdles.

 

[hscs]

If you get it, just don’t show up to your first squadron in black shoes like others have done.

 

[Griz882]

If you are an army officer and you want to fly then your absolute best best is to rush an Army National Guard aviation unit. I hear some states are hard up for aviators right now. If you are looking for a culture change then maybe consider the same for the Air National Guard. I recently saw that the refueling unit in New Hampshire is hosting a rush day for potential pilots here in the near future.

 

[Vlado]

Feasible. You have to want it. Then do the hoops/hurdles.

Believe me, I've tried. Almost 10 years of going back and forth from the Air Force, Air Guard, Navy, Army, etc. dealing with a weird medical issue that has plagued me from being unable to fly (freely) in aforementioned services. Spent thousands on Doctor visits getting documentation saying its a non-issue, talking to SECAF, Guard Bureau and a litany of other high ups because I want to fly more than anything. Would initially make some ground, then get stopped again and been going in a never ending cycle for almost a decade. In the meantime joined the Army so I could still serve in a capacity regardless but flying is just not likely for me at this point. Almost 1000 hours in on the civilian side of flying (fixed wing) with most of all the ratings before hitting the airlines, but its just not the same. You guys that fly in the military know its an itch that you wanted to scratch and achieve more than anything. Probably irrational and insane that I keep trying to find a way to fly in the mil, but here we are.

Thank you all again for the responses.

 

[TyKing]

Believe me, I've tried. Almost 10 years of going back and forth from the Air Force, Air Guard, Navy, Army, etc. dealing with a weird medical issue that has plagued me from being unable to fly (freely) in aforementioned services. Spent thousands on Doctor visits getting documentation saying its a non-issue, talking to SECAF, Guard Bureau and a litany of other high ups because I want to fly more than anything. Would initially make some ground, then get stopped again and been going in a never ending cycle for almost a decade. In the meantime joined the Army so I could still serve in a capacity regardless but flying is just not likely for me at this point. Almost 1000 hours in on the civilian side of flying (fixed wing) with most of all the ratings before hitting the airlines, but its just not the same. You guys that fly in the military know its an itch that you wanted to scratch and achieve more than anything. Probably irrational and insane that I keep trying to find a way to fly in the mil, but here we are.

Thank you all again for the responses.

Well that answers that, thanks all.

Re: Marines. I talked to a recruiter a few months ago and she said it would not be a problem to transfer over from the IRR. Granted, it would require going to OCS again and follow-on Marine Leader school (forget the name) before you even get to flight training. As you can imagine, that wasn't really something I jumped up and down about.

Stupid question but I'm going to ask it: Are there such things as waivers for already commissioned Officers in other branches (Army) to direct-transfer to the Marines without having to do OCS all over again?

I say if the Marines are giving you a shot you should take it. Yeah, it’s a harder road to flight school with OCS and TBS, but flying for the Marines is a great opportunity to fly for a service with great history and tradition. You can’t beat flying in Naval Avtiation. Go for the Marines.

 

[Griz882]

Believe me, I've tried. Almost 10 years of going back and forth from the Air Force, Air Guard, Navy, Army, etc. dealing with a weird medical issue that has plagued me from being unable to fly (freely) in aforementioned services. Spent thousands on Doctor visits getting documentation saying its a non-issue, talking to SECAF, Guard Bureau and a litany of other high ups because I want to fly more than anything. Would initially make some ground, then get stopped again and been going in a never ending cycle for almost a decade. In the meantime joined the Army so I could still serve in a capacity regardless but flying is just not likely for me at this point. Almost 1000 hours in on the civilian side of flying (fixed wing) with most of all the ratings before hitting the airlines, but its just not the same. You guys that fly in the military know its an itch that you wanted to scratch and achieve more than anything. Probably irrational and insane that I keep trying to find a way to fly in the mil, but here we are.

Thank you all again for the responses.

If you are a hard medical down then that is that. You can go into “aviation adjacent” jobs like meteorology or maintenance or even research remote piloting positions with the services that use officers for that kind of work. I’d keep working the airline track, fly as a civilian, and see about RPA officer positions if it were me.

 

[FLGUY]

I say if the Marines are giving you a shot you should take it. Yeah, it’s a harder road to flight school with OCS and TBS, but flying for the Marines is a great opportunity to fly for a service with great history and tradition. You can’t beat flying in Naval Avtiation. Go for the Marines.

Second this. OCS and TBS combined will be less than a year total. Time is ticking, and whatever crazy paperwork hurdles the other services are presenting to you, the Marines don’t seem to be. You may find yourself spending a year with administrative or bureaucratic nonsense chasing the other services down.

The Marines also send you to do your NAMI flight physical -before- reporting to OCS, which is a huge benefit that rarely gets mentioned. Navy students have to roll the dice with OCS, potentially going through all the hoops to get to OCS, and being disqualified from flight upon getting their first true Flight Physical at OCS.

 

[Vlado]

Cheers all. The Marines are the only one at this point that are at least willing to send me to NAMI. The biggest personal hurdle would be if I'm going to be good with losing my existing commission and rank to start from the bottom again at a new OCS program. At the risk of sounding like I'm whining, seems pretty bass ackwards and I'm fighting myself if I'd be a fool to do that.

I really appreciate the advice you guys are offering.