Originally Posted by Tannhauser621

Gents,

Current student aviator in Navy primary. I'll be finishing up here in the next few weeks and thought I take a moment to get some perspective from some military turned airline pilots. I have 3 years prior service in the Marine Corps(enlisted) before being picked up by the Navy to be an officer/pilot. I am married with a 2 year old. Absolutely love flying, and I'd like to say I've done fairly middle pack here in primary. By no means am I the next chuck yeager but I've never failed/unsatted anything. Number one priority in my life is my wife and kid. That being said.... SELECTION.

My longterm goal is to become an airline pilot flying internationally with one of the Majors. I grew up flying alone to see my grandfather in France and have dreamt of it since. That being said... here is my current wish list

1. P8 (navy 737)
2. E2/C2
3. Helos or E6 Mercury(B-707)

My predicament is my 3rd choice. I'm torn between E-6s and Helos.

E-6s
Pros
- set up with multi engine heavy time
- Deployments are 3 on 3 off essentially
- always stateside
Cons
- have yet to meet an e6 guy talk good about community. One dude downright said to avoid it. Most complaints about predictability, boring, never overseas.
- live in OKC
- Never truly "deploy"

Helos
Pros
- best duty stations in navy
- All Pilot community
- Every helo pilot I've met said they absolutely love the community. Spoke about brotherhood
- Deployments were plenty, fairly predictable, and all over the world.
Cons
- Not multiengine heavy
- Have to fight for a VT instructor slot to get fixed wing hours
- Spend 1000s on multiengine courses to get rating

Thus my predicament, one essentially promises a rewarding navy career, the other sets myself up for the airlines.
- Is being in the E6 community really that bad?
- Is 3 years of CONUS mini deployments/living in OKC worth it for the multi-engine heavy time?
- Would going E-6s make me a shoe in for the Majors?

The idea of making 70k a year as a first year FO in the regionals sounds terrible, especially when I have a family to support. Let me know gents if I have any misconceptions. Thanks for everyone's time.