Originally Posted by
Cubdriver
If you see yourself as an airline pilot at some point, I can't emphasize enough that military pilot background is a huge advantage in the highly competitive airline pilot market later on. Even if its helos, as long as it is a manned aircraft. Just be aware of that. It is definitely worth the perhaps unlikely payoff of success in obtaining military training to put up with a lot of challenges up front. I have a pal who was a second leuitenant scheduled for air force flight training good to go when he found out he had a slight color failure in one eye that would hardly affect anything in a thousand years. He was heart broken of course, but he would still say it was worth the attempt. I can put you in touch with him if you like.
Frankly, I only think the military route is a good choice now if you want to primarily fly in the military. The Air Force is what, a 12 year commitment? 10 years for the Navy/Marines? At that point the airlines would be a paycut and you'd only be 8-10 years away from a retirement. You mentioned helos, if you don't have fixed wing turbine PIC time, your helo time is pretty much worthless for the airlines. I flew with a few former blackhawk pilots at colgan, they had to get their time at a regional just like any civilian guy. I have an uncle that was a navy helo pilot, he works in management for GE now. He didn't want to go from the Navy to a $19,000 regional salary.
My dad is an SWA capt and a former Navy pilot. He used to push the military route for me, but he only had a 5 year commitment and was out before he was 30. Now he says that just about everyone new he flys with is from a civilian background.