What are the long term commitment of a marine pilot?

[Worried_sister]

This may sound odd, but my twin sister is currently dating a guy who wants to be a Marine pilot. He went to a training thing this past summer in virginia, and he has to go again next summer. He will be graduating with an economics degree in the spring.

What I want to know is how much longer after next summer will it take for him to become a pilot? Even after his summer training sessions, is becoming a pilot a sure thing? If he does not become a pilot does he still have to be a Marine or can he quit? He claims that he will only have to be in the Marines for 2 years once he becomes a pilot and he is done forever. I don't belive this is true, why would the the government spend money to train him and only make him serve 2 years?

The reason I am asking these questions is because I don't think he is telling the truth about the long term commitment he will have with the Marines. I think he is lying so that my sister will still be with him and he hopes they will get married. I have nothing against Marines or the lifestyle, but I think it is unfair to mislead somebody about the risks and distance that is a part of beign married to a Marine.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Banjo33]

It's an 8 year commitment AFTER winging. After graduation from college, he'll go back to Virginia for 6-8 months (TBS). Then he'll start flight training in Pensacola. I've been in the training pipeline for 2 years now and have about 4 more months to go before I wing. THEN my 8 year obligation starts. I started TBS almost exactly 3 years ago.

 

[makoslim]

J boomer was MOSTLY right, it does take 6 months of TBS following his PLC graduation followed by approximately 18 months (on avg.) of flight school. The commitment after this varies on which platform you are flying, however none of them have a two year commitment (they range from 6-8). Are you sure he said he would have a two year commitment, or did he say it would take two years to get his wings?

your comment on the government paying to train him and then letting him go is right on, that is actually why pilots serve longer terms (this started in the 60's or 70's [my dad has a friend that entered just as the were extending the terms]). Back then officers would join, train, and then not re-up after their 3.5 years of service, and use the training paid for by Uncle Sam to go get civi commercial pilot positions. Therefore they extended the contract to discourage this and to keep pilots longer.


Also if the Corps is paying for his school I think (not sure) there is an extension to his contract for this too (I know there is for graduate school after commisioning, but not sure how PLC works with this).

 

[Clux4]

Someone just lost a girlfriend. Can you tell your sister I will change my contract to ground and go out with her that way I only have a 4 year commitment after training.

On a more serious note, you need to get things clear on his end. I don't think you fully understand him. He might be on this forum for all you know.

Hope you find the truth you inquire.

 

[Shadow9660]

The above threads are rignt on and let me add - even if the government does not pay for your schooling like in my case (My tuition was paid by veterans disability, as my father had slight hearing loss in Desert Storm) you STILL owe the 6- 8 year commitment (air). My dad (USMC MsGT ret.) tried to tell me I could "resign" my commission, as officers are appointed, not recruited like enlisted, so the reasoning is because the military didn't pay my schooling, I owed them nothing. NOT TRUE. My OSO made it very clear that if I want to fly, its going to be a long term commitment. My girlfriend understands this, and my passion for it. If your sister is a devouted g/f, she will too.

Bottom line, even if you pay your own college, MINIMUM commitment ground- 4 years minimum commitment air 6- 8 years after winging- dont let anyone tell you different.

 

[Taxman2A]

Someone just lost a girlfriend. Can you tell your sister I will change my contract to ground and go out with her that way I only have a 4 year commitment after training.

Actually, PLC ground only incurs a 3 and a half year commitment starting the day you go on active duty (i.e. the day you check into TBS). Thats unless you take financial assistance, in which case you can owe 4 years or 5 years depending on how much you take.

 

[Taxman2A]

The above threads are rignt on and let me add - even if the government does not pay for your schooling like in my case (My tuition was paid by veterans disability, as my father had slight hearing loss in Desert Storm) you STILL owe the 6- 8 year commitment (air). My dad (USMC MsGT ret.) tried to tell me I could "resign" my commission, as officers are appointed, not recruited like enlisted, so the reasoning is because the military didn't pay my schooling, I owed them nothing. NOT TRUE. My OSO made it very clear that if I want to fly, its going to be a long term commitment.

Actually, the MSgt was correct. I personally saw Lt's resign their commissions at TBS. It is possible to get an entry level separation as a Lt during your entry level training. It is looked down upon, and it is not a recommended course of action, as it will involve getting an ass chewing at the Colonel level, probably on more than one occasion, but you certainly can be separated from the Marine Corps by resigning your commission. Bottom line, if you don't want to be here, the Marine Corps will not put Marines' lives in your hand. Once you are fully trained any request to resign your commission will almost definetely be denied until your EAS(I have seen this happen to an Officer as well).

Your OSO was right. If you want to fly it is a long term commitment. Unfortunately though, even in the Marine Corps you will find people that try to weasel their way out of commitments. This is a rare occurance, but it does happen.

 

[sublime259]

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that it recently got changed to an 8 yr commitment for pilots, no matter what you fly. Anybody have a definite asnwer?

 

[KBayDog]

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that it recently got changed to an 8 yr commitment for pilots, no matter what you fly. Anybody have a definite asnwer?

That's a negative. Just met with Maj Hayes from HQMC yesterday; it's still 8/6/6.

 

[sublime259]

ok, thanks for the clarification!

 

[Worried_sister]

Thanks for all your information. The reason I'm so concerned is that this guy is kind of a creep. He went to some merchant Marine school in NY after HS, and got kicked out because of bad grades and talking back. Now he's telling her he only has to be in the Marines for 2 years and then he will become a commerical airline pilot. He says he wants to fly a new jet they have that can fly vertically and if he messes up he wil die. My boyfriend (who isn't in the military) says from what he knows the plane that flies like that now is really old, and the new one that willl be shared with the rest of the military probably won't even be made until around 2010. I don't know if this is true or not, but as you can see the way he talks about it is really dishonest.

 

[ben]

You are right... this guy sounds like he is being very dishonest. Your boyfriend is right about the planes - one has been around for a while and the new one won't be in the fleet for quite some time. Any guy who points out the fact that he could die if he messes up in the cockpit just so his girlfriend will think more highly of him is a total TOOL. Just my opinion .

 

[Taxman2A]

Thanks for all your information. The reason I'm so concerned is that this guy is kind of a creep. He went to some merchant Marine school in NY after HS, and got kicked out because of bad grades and talking back. Now he's telling her he only has to be in the Marines for 2 years and then he will become a commerical airline pilot. He says he wants to fly a new jet they have that can fly vertically and if he messes up he wil die. My boyfriend (who isn't in the military) says from what he knows the plane that flies like that now is really old, and the new one that willl be shared with the rest of the military probably won't even be made until around 2010. I don't know if this is true or not, but as you can see the way he talks about it is really dishonest.

The plane he's talking about is the Osprey... It's a high speed new "tiltroter" piece of gear that has been in the production stages for decades... Supposedly it is really close to actually entering the fleet, but that's besides the point.

Noone will be released from the Marines after 2 years of flight training. What's more, noone could get the necessary amount of hours required to fly for the airlines in 2 short years. This guy is a clown who probably watched a discovery channel show on the Osprey and has instantly decided he will fly it, probably without doing any research on the Marine Aviator pipeline. He's either lying or grossly misinformed. I'd be willing to bet money that this guy won't even make it through OCS. People that talk about what airframe they are going to fly before they even go to OCS don't usually amount to much. Oh yeah, and getting kicked out of the merchant marine academy for disciplinary reasons doesn't usually look too good on a PLC application.

Tell your sister to get away from this jerkoff... I'm getting Scott Peterson vibes just reading about him.

 

[Broadsword2004]

He might also be referring to the Harrier jet; that is an old plane, been in the fleet since the late 70s. It can take off and land vertically, but is supposed to be replaced by a VTOL (Vertical Take-Off & Landing) version of the Joint Strike Fighter eventually.

 

[ben]

The plane he's talking about is the Osprey... It's a high speed new "tiltroter" piece of gear that has been in the production stages for decades... Supposedly it is really close to actually entering the fleet, but that's besides the point.

I was thinking he meant the Marine variant of the JSF, which definitely won't be around any time soon. Either way I still stand by my comment that this guy is a tool. Tell your sister to break it off :tapedshut.