Pilot7576

Hobbs...

If you don't have any desire to fly helos, don't bother with the marines. Their bread and butter pilots are helo drivers that support the troops. If you're marine pilot, you're a marine first and pilot second...

JMO

Pilot7576

p3pilot

Hobbs: I played lacrosse in High school and also seperated my shoulders and did some physio. When I went to college and entered into the NROTC unit they had all my medical records and before I got knee deep into the flight program they made me go back to the doctors and get a all clear from them. Once I got that I had no problem with going Jets or props or helos. As for the Marines it's a life style. If you like it and don't mind fling Helos then it is a good place to go. If you are going to be getting into the military after college then you will have to go through an OCS unless you have an ROTC at your college. Multi-eng in the Navy for the next 10 years will propably be a hard find because of the P-3 draw down until the MMA program comes on line and is fully funded. My advice would be that let a current military doc tell you that you can not fly and not some ex-flight surgeon.
P3 Pilot

Cutlass 470

Hello, (I found this forum with Google)

Well I am one of the "CWO Pilot" hopefuls. Some of the comments I read were very..........................eye opening I guess one could say. lol. I am a SH-60B (Helo) SAR crewman with over 1200 hours. I have a BS in Pro Aero from Embry Riddle, and I am very excited about this program. I hope I get picked up for it and make it successful so others can follow. I was actually putting an OCS package together when the message came out. I'm stoked, and I hope everything works out. I have experianced first hand the loss of my fellow Aviators while on a deployment and had to fly in the other helo we had in the barn, two days after the accident, to get a job done (scariest flight of my life). But I got passed it. I want to fly helo's and can't wait until the day I get too. Hopefully the Romeo will be out in the fleet by then. If I don't get picked up for CWO or OCS, I will put in for Army Warrant. As long as I get to be a pilot, I don't care what aviation community or service I serve.


Helicopters don't fly..................they beat the air into submission.
Live to Fly, Fly to Live

crewdawg52

Looks just like the RAF. At the mid O-3 rank, you make a decision. All the staff and brown nosing schools, or stay in the cockpit, become an expert, and maybe make O-4.

If the AF had that option, I would have stayed!

LDORetired

Stumbled onto this "Warrant Officer" discussion. As a veteran of some 30 years active duty in Aviation Maintenance/Aircrew/Maintenance Officer it was my great good fortune to fly with two Chief Aviation Pilots and several that had been commissioned. It has been my contention for years that the NavyMarineCoastGuard should train Enlisted Pilots period-just as it was before Congress killed the program in 1947. Wardroom, well it worked for some 60 years of Enlisted pilots (Naval Aviation Pilot). Someway they did indeed fit into the mission of the squadron. I cherish the memory of flying with ADCS (AP) Leland Pomeroy as pilot in command with a Navy Captain as co-pilot, no doubt who was in charge of that airplane. I also have documents of a Chief Aviation Pilot flying jets in the early 1950's prior to obtaining his GED! The NAP's flew all types of aircraft that were in the inventory-fighters, seaplanes, patrol, bomber, helicopter, jets, whatever, they did it. Not many retired with less than 10,000 hours, one had 23,000 hours. Out of their ranks, were several aces, three Medal of Honor's, three Admirals and a host of all in between Enlisted and Officer rates and ranks. Many aren't aware that a great portion of the Japanese at Pearl Harbor were Enlisted Pilots, that many Officers in B17's and B24's in Europe were shot down by Luftwaffe Sergeants, that the Royal Air Force sent Lancaster bombers as far as Berlin with one Sergeant Pilot in all kinds of weather and at Night. The Enlisted Pilots of the world and especially our Navy/Marine/Coast guard have a proud history of flying and serving their country and doing it just as well as a commissioned officer.

tomgoodman

A tech sergeant was asked why he chose the Air Force. He said: " In the Army or Marines you sleep in a tent and get shot at. In the Navy you sleep on a smelly boat and get shot at. In the Air Force, you sleep in a barracks and watch the officers go out and get shot at.

Flight25

If what you want to do is fly for the navy, fly helos. Look around at job sites for helicopter pilots, although the top end range is not what an airplane pilot will make you will make more out of the gate with 1-2k in hours. Most places start out around 45-50k working 7 on 7 off. And the job stability is a heck of a lot better. Helicopter pilots are in a better position as there is not a glut of them walking around like us dime a dozen airplane drivers.

Bigflya

Thought I'd add my 2 cents. I'm a Naval Aviator who just got out. The Navy is doing this program for two reasons: One: money. You pay a WO less $$ in retirement then a career 0-4. Second: They screwed up the pilot career pipeline badly that they have no flying billets for guys past their DH tour. In 2004, the Navy forced all the NAS's that had station C-12's to give them to the TRACOM in Corpus Cristie to train more "joint aviators" since they also train AF C-130 guys. Those C-12's provided a good flying opp for senior guys that filed station leadership billets. I have no problem with former enlisted guys flying. I have flown with tons of them. Only then we call them Ensign, LTjg, LT etc. Commission them the way we were and pay them the same paycheck. They are essentially doing the same work for less. This sounds alot like the pay for training regional guy discussions I read throughout this site. As a senior LT, I would have gladly taken a career flying billet over the "joint warfighter" BS that is being shoved down our throats. We, as pilots, are losing our subject matter expertise as we must take all these different "career enhancing" jobs in order to hopefully get back in the cockpit as a department head. I feel sorry for all those poor guys and gals that this effects as they may only get one flying tour out of the Navy before getting frustrated and bailing. On the positive side, these people will be getting out with 1000-1500 hours tops and will not be competitive for "major" jobs right off the bat like we are now when we have had 2 to 3 flying tour and get out with 2500 or so TT. They then will not be able to take a drastic pay cut from a senior LT making 80k with good bennies to a regional guy making 30k with little bennies. They may quit the business altogether. In other words, less pilots in the pool. This will take at least five years to wring out though. My opinion of course.

P-3Bubba

P-3s are hurting. Its been like this for awhile, and its extremely frustrating. I have very LITTLE motivation to continue in the P-3 pipeline. I think that as more P-3s are redstriped (retired from service) the Navy will arrive at the conclusion that they can accomplish the ISAR and ASW mission with fewer airplanes. That will reduce the number of orders for the MMA, like (150-140=10 Total Purchased Airplanes).The P-3 Navy will cease to exist. I dont want to be a DH in this community. I will leave my JO tour with about 1000hrs and Im very very lucky. I have flying orders for my shore tour and once again Im very very lucky. In the next year there will be P-3 pilots finishing their JO (Junior Officer) tour with 800hrs. Things are getting scary.

CHIPSLGT3

Hey bubba, don't you owe 8 years after winging? Will that send you to a disassociated sea tour when your shore tour is up?