ryan1234

This may seem counter-culture, but just go for the degree that pays for your flight training - between the GI BILL, the Stafford Loan Program, civilian job, and applying for various scholarships you should be alright without taking one of the mafia loan shark-dead fish in the mail-take your first born-cut your knee caps off loans...I mean sallie mae loans. I never thought I'd be saying this, but an aviation degree isn't that bad. First off... it's a degree, half of the program is gen. ed. classes with the later two years being more degree specific. If you get an aviation business degree let say (minor in flight?....or spelling), chances are you can transfer the gen. ed. and most general business classes into a Business Admin degree (at a state school) - which can be very useful. You may only need 40 (?) more credits to get another degree. So at the end of the day, you could have two degrees and a commercial pilot's license for the price of 40 credits at a state school... not bad. You may just have to be creative... I'm not sure how the GI Bill people feel about you switching majors at the last minute (after you get some flight time), but that's a possibility also - not trying to tell you to game the system....but.....

As far as the industry goes.... since everyone is tight with money (i.e. banks) not as many people are going 0-hero anymore, some are leaving the career, etc... well, if you just keep plugin' along you may find yourself on the better side of fortune. I wouldn't try to go super fast though- not much treasure on the other side of the rainbow these days.. it may be a while... just build yourself a solid network!

Best of luck - keep us updated!

bervin

The VA use to let you switch once, don't know if they let you do that anymore.

Michken

My 5 years in the Army, be it short, and painfull, has taught me one thing. I do not quit. Flat out. Any soldier, any REAL soldier, that has done time and servered honorably will be the same way. The military, though EXTREAMLY dumb at times has trained me to NEVER EVER QUIT. I know that when I get out I will go to a flight school. I also KNOW that I will excell as I do with everything because thats who I am. Finaly I KNOW that I WILL find a job with the training I recieve. I know this all because no matter if I have to beg barrow or steal I will get the money, and I know that I am willing to travel to other countries for a job. My wife who is also former military understands this and is in the same exact mind set.
The only reason I made this post was to ease some of the pressure off of finding a loan. It is difficult however I have enough in savings to finance it all so if it came down to it I would loan myself the money. I dont believe this will be the issue however its there.
Before I joined the Military this drive was not there, and I was a failure/loser/drop out/bum. Now things go my way because I make them go my way. Thank you for all your opinions on my topic good and bad. Its interesting to see where people see the industry and where they think its going.

-SGT Russell

rickair7777

That is an attitude that will serve you well...that is often the single most important personal benefit that folks get out of military service.

However, with regards to aviation...

The don't-quit-no-matter-what approach works well with endeavors that have high entry barriers but also high payoffs down the road...med school, law school, SF training, startup business, etc.

The problem with aviation is that you could do all the hard work and sacrifice and still not get a payoff. More than any other comparable field, there is a huge element of luck involved...

- Your health has to hold up.
- The industry may or may not be hiring when you need it to.
- The worst part is that unlike other professions, if you lose your airline job due to furlough or bankruptcy, your experience and salary is NOT portable due to the seniority system. You have to start all over at the bottom at another airline. Kind of like a Partner at a law firm switching companies and having to start in the mail room for $8/hour. This system also makes it almost unheard of for pilots to quit voluntarily...if they are trapped at a rapidly disintegrating airline. Bottom line: you need a lot of luck to pick the right airline (assuming you even have more than one options...pilots often take the first airline job they get offered).

Not saying don't do it, just be aware of the risks and uncertainty.

mswmsw

Have you considered getting a decent paying civilian police job when you get out (your MP training and experience should make you an attractive candidate for a civilian police job), and then just adding your ratings at a slower pace, sort of "pay-as-you-go" .....without taking out a big loan? i think the aviation industry is still at least a couple of years away from anything resembling a big increase in hiring, so a slower approach - without getting any big loan(s) - might actually work out as far as the "timing" goes, especially if you got a decent paying job in the civilian sector after you got out of the military. And there are a lot of big city (read: decent paying) PD's that are hiring right now.

heckler45

I see the aviation bug has bitten yet once again. But before you make your choices I would like to share my life lessons with you as well. I served seven years active duty Army as a 19D and currently the last nine years in the Reserves. I have always been passionate about flying since a little boy. After leaving active duty I became a Police Officer and seved in many positions during my eight year stint there. Over time I decided on a career change and chose to commit full time to obtaining my Licenses, Certificates and Ratings. I chose a Part 141 school because of it's structure and planned on working there when complete. Little did anyone know that the economy would take such a drastic nose dive and everyone would be hurting financially. I realized quick that working at that school would not be an option simply for the fact that the number of instructors outweighed the amount of fresh students enrolling. Some of my friends there are only pulling in about $500 a month which we all know won't cover rent.

Keep in mind that if you chose the 141 route you should finish all your training below the 250 hour mark. If you decide to not Instruct but still need to build your hours most jobs out there in the banner towing, traffic watch, etc. require a minimum of 250 hours, hence my issue I had. I love to instruct and moved back home to push my knowledge there. However, and I say this again, the economy has affected aviation across the board. New students, additional ratings, etc. are out there but not beating the door down. This is severly limiting my time building. I am fortunate that my spouse has an excellent job so the lack of income on my part is not affecting us. But more money would also be nice.

Now, you mentioned something about the military not paying much. I'm sure some of us older guys on here can attest to the awful pay we used to get back in the day. I will have to say that I believe the pay now is the best it has ever been. I think I understood you correct when you said you had enough in savings to make the difference up ($23,000) in your VA benefits. If that's true than you are doing excellent with your financial wisdom and I commend you. I only wish soldiers I had in the past were as wise as you. But if the Army pay was that bad then you would not be in the position you are in. Have you checked into the first year salaries of the regional's. If not then you will be shocked. Poor house as a term does not even do it justice. Just FYI I have decided to deploy again in order to pay for my student loans and in hopes of upon my return things will be a little better in aviation.

Drive and determination will take you far in anything you chose to do and in any forum your heart follows. Please do not take this the wrong way because by no means am I trying to deter you from following your dreams, without the hours you can not get the jobs. Your stigmatism; have you checked into seeing if it is correctable through surgery? I do know that Ft. Rucker allows applicants with 20/20 corrected through surgery. Check with the CW5's to see if they can get you any information. I have many friends that are Army aviators and yes if you find a '47 or '60 guard unit and get into it your chances of getting accepted to WOCS will increase. Even if by chance you can't qualify because of your eyes for school being a crewchief is good money for the simple fact that these birds don't just fly one weekend a month.

If there is any lesson I have walked away with it is this.... get a degree in something that will land you the job that will pay enough to afford flying as a hobby and not a career.

Barnstormer

I tell this to everyone who gets out of the military to chase this industry. Get a Guard or Reserve job.

N6724G

I was in enlisted on active duty as an 11B at Schofield Barracks. Itook flying lessons on the weekends when I wasnt in the field. I was an E4 and i was able to afford it just fine.

Got off active duty and came home and continued my training. I alreadyhad a degree so I used my GI Bill to finish my trainng . I amnoe a CFI.

Like the others have said I admire your determination and no quit attitude. Hooah. Keep it up. Just realize that in this industry it is not about who can endure. Sometimes,like now nobody is hiring so no matte how much Hooah ness you have the jobs just arent there. and its not your falut.

ALso like was mentioned earlier this job is based onsenority andnot performance. You could be the pilot since sliced bread. Shoot the best apprroaches, come to work on time everyday, but when they stat fuloughing if youare the last hired you WILL be the first to go not matter whata model employee you are.

I wish you the best. Keep the motivation and dont quit. just realize what you are getting yourself into. I enjoy Instructing. ilike teaching and I may just stay where I am

HercDriver130

A career in this industry is a marathon... not a sprint....no need to hurry through your training.

Any substantial upturn in hiring in this business..especially for low time pilots is probably a couple to three years away.... there are THOUSANDS of highly qualified pilots looking for jobs right now.

Take on as little debt as possible.

Luck has been mentioned.... this business is about being in the right place at the right time and knowing the right people.

I admire your attitude you will need it.

good luck!

jgdeleon09

Hey man, first of all, thank you for serving.

Well here is a little story for you and I hope it helps you out.

I've been in the military 9 years now, I'm also a grad from ERAU, but i didn't learned how to fly there. I did my courses thru erau at the military campus. Most of my time I was overseas. Well I'm in the army reserves right now, I currently hold a MOS of 11 bang bang, but I'm in a Drill SGT Unit.

I always wanted to fly and well I didn't do my reserch in the merilitary and went infantry, so a few years ago I decided to go ahead and start training no matter what. So I went down to Flight Safety Academy, great school, and great people there, well I got my pvt, instrument and multi there, and I used the GI BILL, It was not a bad gig, right now I'm in debt about 12k that's it. Well I decided to switch school to personal reasons and I'm at ATP in daytona right now, I enrolled in the new GI BILL Prog post 911, In order for me to go all the way to CFII I'm only going to need about 5k and everything is will be reimburst by the va, including examiners fee. So what I'm trying to tell you here is that is flying is what you want to do, go ahead and do it, follow your dreams and we do get a big reward for serving our country. The VA can be diffifcult most of the time, but they sure pay off.

Good Luck with everything. Keep us post it.