Originally Posted by
greggo
I won't call out the particular poster by name, but he has some dated information about Army Aviation.
I'm an airline guy. I fly the B747 for a great operation, when I'm not serving active duty, and I know of several airlines who have a high regard for the Army Aviator, including where I currently work. There are a few regionals who give hiring priority to the Army folks. Of course, there are some il-informed and prejudice folks in some of the legacy carriers who tend to look down their noses at Army types. That's only because they have little or no knowledge (re ignorance) of the modern Army Aviator and the complexities of modern Army Aircraft.
The FW isn't always the reward for a long career as a RW Avaitor, as previously mentioned.
The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve are hurting for FW aviators, especially the AR because of an on-going operation in the sandbox. It is actually very possible to get an initial entry position in an AR FW unit.
The Army, Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve will be fielding the C-27 over the next several years, adding 128 C27 airframes. The C27 will be the self-deploying intra-theater asset which will have a high demand for additional crew members because of the high optempo of its mission.
The Army National Guard will be the first to field the airplane, followed by the Army Reserve in 2011. Until 2011, the AR has plenty of C-12 flying to be done with the current mission. Beware of what you ask for. The C-12 community is flying their a**es off.
I chose the Warrant Officer route, although I had a choice to do either. The USAF doesn't have WO's and they don't understand the structure, so you will get mis-information from those types. I chose the Warrant route because I wanted to specialize and concentrate on flying and being the technical expert. Besides, I can go to age 62 as a WO Aviator, which gives me another eight years.
Call the number posted, but MAJ Gray is not the contact any more. I can't recall the new-guy's name, but I'm certain he'll be happy to answer your questions.
Personally, I would try either a Guard or Reserve unit with IERW positions to get a quick slot into flight school.
I assume you're talking about me. To clarify, military flying experience of any sort is a resume enhancer. Army aviation will not hurt your propsects, it just may not be the shortest path. I personally have no problem with army aviation, almost did it myself once (for the fun factor).
The limitations I see are that most of the best airline jobs require FW time...if army aviation will delay your acquisition of said FW time, that may be a consideration for you. The ideal solution for one who aspires to airline and mil flying is military FW, preferably ANG/USAFR combined with regional flying.
If you can't get a FW slot (degree or whatever), then RW would be better than sitting home...especially if do ANG and fly as a civilian too.
I agree that there is a lot of procurement in progress for army FW and, as I mentioned originally, it looks like junior folks can now get into it sooner.