Originally Posted by
XHooker
2) I'll go against the consensus here and suggest you look at AD service. There are lots of pitfalls (stifling bureaucracy, absurd regulations, long hours, careerist senior officers, to name a few) but you'll make decent money, get the best training in the world and be surrounded by the finest people you'll ever work with. The experience is character building if nothing else. Admittedly, the ANG/AFR offer most of the advantages of AD with few of the disadvantages, but don't dismiss AD out of hand. As far as going straight civilian, I wouldn't trade my mil time for a decade of seniority.
Several issues about AD to consider...
- You don't get to chose your airframe. You could end up in RW, which is a different animal than fixed-wing. Good missions and fun flying, but obviously an entirely different career track once you transition to the civilian world. The vast majority of military helo pilots I know do not have flying jobs post-military, some of that is lack of opportunity, some is by choice.
The army is almost all RW, especially for new hires. The USN/USMC/USCG have a lot of helos, probably at least 50% of their airframes. The USAF has the fewest helos, and I think they usually have enough volunteers to fill those seats (can anyone elaborate?). With the guard/USAF reserve you know what your airframe will be before you commit.
- UAVs: Not sure what the policy is this week, but I personally would not sign up for AD if there was a chance that I could get invol-ed into UAVs. UAVs will do nothing for a civilian aviation career (might as well fly wire-guide model airlines and log that), and in my opinion will not provide good career progression in the AD military. The military culture does not (and for good reason) place UAV pilots on equal footing with actual war-fighters who go in harms way, and stunts like that "RPA Hero Pilot Medal" actually make those folks a laughingstock.
- NPQ: If you get medically disqualified or wash out of training, there's a good chance you'll still owe the military some number of years. Maybe not the end of the world, some guys have gone on to have long careers in non-flying specialties after attriting from aviation.
Personally, I would only consider regular AD if:
- I just wanted to serve for a few years, and didn't care too much about what I flew, and wasn't too worried about civilian aviation. This is what I did.
- Or I was interested in serving in a variety of flying and non-flying jobs, desired to move around a lot, and wanted to achieve high rank. If you're not "in it to win it" you'll end up doing a lot of mandatory career-enhancing stuff that you'll consider a waste of your time. An AD career is a different animal compared to airlines and/or reserves.
Originally Posted by
XHooker
Also, don't fall into the fighters or nothing mindset. Some of your selection will be determined by skill and some by luck beyond your control. Heavy drivers do some cool stuff and while helos might take longer to get the airline job, that's probably some of the most challenging flying available.
All true, but if airlines is your long-term goal, try to stick to FW.