Who to sign with?

[motorhead]

Hola Forum,

I’m trying to make a life decision and was hoping to tap into some airwarrior wisdom. I have read several posts on this site noticed you guys are pretty helpful. I’ve always wanted to fly for the military, but the punk rock lifestyle of my youth wouldn’t allow it. Then I got out of college and considered it once again, but I had a lot of job offers and the “officer first, pilot second” line I was fed coupled with my recent introduction into the real world of tedious paperwork scared me into thinking I would always be behind a desk. I talked to some pilots in the civilian world who told me I would do much more actual flying in the civilian world. So I figured I take private lessons while working and hopefully one day fly Medivac or Police helos. Now nearing the end of eligibility at almost 26, I still want to fly for the military and have the commitment and maturity to do it. The only question is which branch? I’ve spoken with recruiters from the Navy and Coast Guard and scored well on the ASTB. Helicopter flying seems to come natural to me and I really like how challenging it is so that’s probably where I want to go, but I if someone wants to put me in a jet I doubt I could say no.

Just hoping someone can share some stories/insights of who has the best training, missions, equipment etc. with the least desk time.

Gracias

 

[TheBubba]

This has been discussed ad nauseum. Use the search fu.

To give you an answer: It all depends on what type of mission you want to fly. Each service and platform has a different mission.

It sounds like you want to fly a SAR type mission. That's the CG's bread and butter.

My advice is to figure out what you want to get out of aviation and military service. Figure out which service's culture best fit you. Figure out what type of mission you want to fly.

I picked Navy for three reasons:
1. I always knew I wanted to be involved with Navy or Marine Aviation, preferably as a winged Aviator or Flight Officer
2. I wanted to fly off the boat.
3. If I couldn't fly for whatever reason, the Navy and Marines had many other options to be at "The Pointy End of he Spear".

I chose Prowlers because I thought the mission sounded like something I'd be interested in (so far, not disappointed, thought we'll see after my first deployment)

If you really want to fly helos, Navy/USCG/USMC are a good way to go, and so is the Army. The difference is what you want to do with the helo.

Hope it helps,
Bubba

 

[Single Seat]

As someone whose flown both military and civilian, my first piece of advice is don't take advice on subject matter from guys that haven't actually done it (i.e. civi guys telling you about the military).

That being said, what you do is entirely up to you. If you need to be convinced of joining the military, you'll have a hard time finding the motivation to see it through to the end. And trust me, it only gets harder as you move on into the fleet. It'll be the time of your life though.

Look at it this way though... you have a finite amount of time in which you are eligible to become one of the best aviators in the world, and not pay for it. All that other crap like police flying, air ambulance, etc... will always be around.

 

[Flying Low]

Wait to you are about 30 then apply. 30 and over get first choice for aircraft out of flight school since they usually have families and big Navy is trying to be "Family Friendly".

Holla back.