Army Warrant Officer Aviator??

[F18sPlease]

Does anybody know much about this program? It almost seems too good to be true. I could not find any forums specific to this program so my curiosity led me to talk to a recruiter. From that conversation I gathered that most qualifying applicants are accepted, you don't need a degree, and as equally important is the fact that you are guaranteed flight school where if you rock out you can either stay in or go back to civilian world. Seems like a darn good deal to me. However, only applying to prior service or currently enlisted no older than 29.

 

[bch]

there was a thread about 8 mos ago about this, do a search on this website, it should still be up. It was real detailed.

 

[turtle_sc]

The best man from my wedding got picked up over a year ago for it. He just finished flight school and is flying blackhawks with the 10th mountain div right now. He echoed the same things...if you put in for it it is almost a sure thing. He says they are hurting for helo pilots right now.

 

[Nfs_127]

I talked to the Army requriter last week about this and at a point in time it was a easy way to get pilot. Now, I hear its pretty competitive and you need a very good gpa and everything to even have a chance at all beacause they have filled a lot of pilot slots allready and I think they are starting to give more Lt's pilot like the rest of the services who have or are stating to shy away from the warrent officers in favor of commissioned officers.

 

[marti'swife]

A little over a year ago I was turned down for SNA and decided to go over to the Army National Guard Aviation Squadron in St Paul, MN and inquire about being a pilot there. Within a month I was in a board for people that wanted to be both Commissioned and Warrant Officers and was offered both. There is a lot of competition, but if you have a degree I know the Gaurd is in need of Commissioned Officers. Unfortunatley for me I found out two weeks before OCS that I had been PDQ'd because of excessive Phorias (a condition I never knew about). It really sucked because I had my flight school date and everything locked in. Oh well, It was better I found out before OCS instead of finding out once I got down to Ft Rucker for flight training. The moral of the story is that if you can't fly Navy then give the Army Guard a shot. Where there's a will there's a way. Good luck.

 

[marti'swife]

OOPS! I didn't realize my wife was logged in.

-Marti

 

[trvsmrtn]

I applied for it about 4 years ago. They post the selection results on the web and for about a 2 year period, I was the only sailor not picked up. I contacted some of the sailors who were picked up, especially ones in admin rates (I was a PN) and it seems that aviation rates and technical rates are the real shoe ins. The YN that got picked up around that time was a master sky diver and a master scuba diver and the HM that got picked up had a letter of recommendation from an Army General that he worked for. My PT scores were just as good and I had 4.7 evals with early promotes, but no technical skills or hook ups. Three months later I was picked up for BOOST/STA-21, so I figured it was fate and I belong in the Navy. Anyway, it is a great program. The only downfall is that almost guaranteed your first tour will be unaccompanied in Korea for a year, followed by 2 years in the states and right back to Korea for another year. The website is http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/ . Good luck to anyone interested in applying.

 

[jg5343]

My brother is in training for the Army right now flying Apaches, and would be happy to answer any direct questions you PM me. Also, the Army takes Lasik! He had Lasik, and the Navy booted him so the Army picked him up.

 

[GVSURob]

If anyone has any specific questions about the Army Warrant program I'd be glad to answer them for you. I'm currently about 9/10 of the way through it, and can offer what to do's and what not to do's on every step of the way (for a civilian application that is).

Thanks!
Rob

 

[bobbybrock]

F18'splease,
I'm an Army CW03 Blackhawk IP. I entered through this program about 11 years ago. I was reluctant at first. It's a pretty good deal. It does have some major draw backs.
Entering the WOFT program is different from the outside. A lot of guys get a accepted after being enlisted after a few years. I'm not to sure what the acceptance rate is for guys off the streets. If you have your degree and a good FAST score your chances are pretty good. My class had aonly one prior service guy in it and he was an ex-Navy SEAL.
You also need to know what it is you want to do. If you want to lead troops you should apply for OCS. If you want to fly you should apply for WOFT. Regualr Commisioned Officers ( Warrants are commissioned too) fly very little. For example, in my present unit the only Regular officer who is an Aircraft commander is the skipper. None of the 0-2's or 0-3's are. As a warrant you will fly your entire career. I've been in a flying billet since I graduated flight training. Later in your career, you chose a track as a warrant. You can go either I.P., Saftey, Test pilot or OPS. As an IP I fly about 300 to 400 a year. Regular line pilots ( warrants) fly about 200-250 a year. Pilots in the desert are flying about 600-800 a year.
As a Regular Commisoned Officer you'll fly for the first 12 to 18 months out of flight school. After that you end up on BN staff. As a BN ( sqaudron ) staff officer you still get to fly. About half of our staff flys. The other half keeps their currency in the sim. After you make 0-3 you'll spend more time on BDE ( Wing) staff . At this level you'll do no flying.
As I've mentioned on previous post the program has its good and bad. The good part is you get a very proficient warrant aviator. The bad part, those who lead you are not very proficient aviators. For most Navy and Marine guys this seems odd. In the other services the Skipper, XO, OPS o and such tend to be the most experienced. Not so in the Army.
The main thing for you to do is to be very persistent with your recruiter. Most recruiters are very reluctant to put guys into this program. There is very little credit for the amount of work they have to do to get you in. You might here something like," if you enlist as aircrew first it will help your chances". Don't buy it. You might have to do a lot of the leg work. If you have any questions I'd be more then happy to help. I can be reached at bobbybrock@hotmail.com

 

[GVSURob]

BobbyBrock is right, most of the guys that get accepted are currently serving, or are prior service. The current acceptance rate for civilians is about 30%... but thats for those who make it all the way to board selection and don't get weeded out during the M.E.P.S. /phyiscal/AFAST/Class 1A Flight Physical process.

Rob

 

[GVSURob]

I also forgot to mention that Bobbybrock is also right about recruiters. The Army doesn't have OSO's so if you walk into a recruiters office, the recruiters put you on the back burner because of all the paperwork/time required to make you an officer... not to mention when you walk in and say "Hi, I want to be an officer" it offends many of them because if they actually go through with it all - you'll be a higher rank than them within one year and they all have 8-10+ years service.
The key is to be persistant in finding the right recruiter that will help you get where you want to go. You have to remember, they're used to dealing with guys that walk in one day and are in boot camp two weeks later filling part of their quota. If the recruiter doesn't seem willing to help you out, move on to the next one. I went through two recuiters before I found one willing to help my cause. If there's any questions about the Army WOFT program, please feel free to shoot me a msg, I'll gladly answer any that you have. SuperUnknown0280@aol.com

Thanks!
Rob

 

[Legionnare]

How long do you contract for with this program? Also, how do get to select your aircraft? Are Apaches the toughest aircraft to get? Just a few silly questions, that I am quite curious about. Also, if you fail fly school, are you sent civilian again? or are you given a MOS and mandated to finish your contract enlisted?

Also, bobbybrock...why do say that Navy/MC is the way to fly? and that you would've rather done PLC and fly than your current Army service? PM if you prefer. I am quite curious.

Thanks

 

[bobbybrock]

Leginnare,
The contract is for six years. This begins the day you get winged. For me that was one year to the day. As in our siter branches the needs of the service are the first thing the army looks at. After that it is all order of merit for aircraft selection. It might have changed but when I went through your order of merit was based on check rides, flight acamdemics, PT scores and regular officer stuff.
Apaches are no more difficult to get then any other airframe. Again it depends on the Army and timing. I was the only guy in my class to get blackhawks becuase at the time there was only one slot for twenty guys. Your personallity will play a large part in airframe selection. Blackhawk and Chinook pilots tend to be very laid back. The attack bubbas ( Apache and Kiowa) tend to be a little more high strung. So during primary you'll see where you fit in.
If you enter flight school as a civilian and wash out of WOCS then you will be obligated to serve in an enlisted MOS that you chose. If you wash out of flight school as an Warrant Officer then you will be sent home. There are guys who have prior enlisted time who wash out. These guy usually go onto serve as a warrant in their enlisted career field.
When I graduate form college I did apply to the Marines. I got accepted w/o a flight contract. I really thought hard about what I wanted to do. I worked for two years for a marketing company, and finally decided to look into another branch. The ARMY guranteed me I'd fly. If I listened to my dad ( former Marine NFO) I would have
gone to PLC. But I didn't.
Arm aviation is a totally different beast. The thing that is very hard for most of us Warrants is working for regualr officers who have very little experience in the cockpit. In our sister branches they don't have this problem because they are the only pilots.
I really enjoy flying for the Army. But the branch has many problems.

 

[Legionnare]

Thanks Bobby,

Your post is quite helpful.