I'd love helos

Nothing wrong with that. There are a lot of my friends who fly them and they all get to do some cool stuff and go interesting places. Helos just put you at a distinct disadvantage if you want to be an airline pilot when you get out.
If what you want to do is fly, join a flying branch (AF or Guard). The Navy is very "officer first" and there are a lot of non flying or barely flying bumps in the road during a typical Navy Officer career.

I don't think that's true anymore. It was in 1990 when I got out, but today a couple regionals offer rotor to fixed wing transition.

My route through the Navy was kind of non-traditional but got me a major airline job: Helo squadron, station pilot where I flew both the helo and the C-12, TAR at a VR (VC-131H) squadron and finally to a C-9 VR squadron.

Obviously if you go Navy with the goal of going to the airlines you want to go VP and fly the P-8.

The Navy was good for me and I enjoyed every minute of it. You'll roll the dice a bit with pipeline assignment, but if you work hard and get good grades you should be able to pull it off.

Best of luck in whatever you decide.

It was far less than my 121 gig - but like others have said, in the Navy you're an officer first, pilot second. This is good news/bad news. There are a lot of aspects to being an officer that are very appealing - and the pay is very good. I probably averaged 50+ on deployment in the mighty Warpig, around 20ish a month when not deployed. as an IP I was often north of 80. Compare that to what I do in my 121 gig and it isn't very much.

If you're kinda on the fence, and you want some adventure in your life, then AD is by all means a GREAT route to go. You don't seem like airlines is your end all and be all goal - and that's fine. I DID NOT want to be an airline pilot when I started my Navy adventure. But later I decided I liked time off.

You can't beat the adventure of AD military. The suggestion of Coast Guard is SPOT ON. The coasties are a great organization with a very well defined mission and high espirt de corps. Definitely a great way to go.

Realize it can also vary significantly between squadrons within the same community or even the same air wing. For reference, we are in maintenance phase & in the past 90 days I have 70+ hours while some guys within our air wing have less than half that.

Some more food for thought as an almost retired Navy guy...

If you want to fly off a boat, do it. Whether it's 60's or 18's, everyone loves flying at sea, but hates living on the ship. All platforms have their advantage/disadvantage in the afterlife. P8 folks don't have as much PIC time until they're more senior, H60 isn't fixed wing, and a F18 natops qual isn't considered a true "multi-engine" aircraft (the hours count), but you get a lot of PIC time. Average three year fleet tour nets close to 1,000 hours in your platform, but that may vary with deployments and stuff. Don't forget small platforms like E-6B's and the CV-22 taking over the C-2 mission (best lifestyle going - day traps and per diem).

Your JO tour is the best time of your life, especially if you do a combat cruise. Then go teach at the training command and do lots of cross countries. Consider FTS if you wanna stay in the cockpit and fly something like VR.

Word of caution, and maybe it's changed with IFS and all that now, but those with prior ratings sometimes struggled in Primary. Don't hide it, but don't let it interfere with doing what they tell you to do and how they want you to do it. Just do your best and everyone ends up with what they deserve (mostly).

Really? I feel like if anything you'd be at an advantage. But I can see how bad habits and all that civialian training could hurt you.

We had a guy in my class wash out of primary because he couldn't (wouldn't) fly a rounded approach path. Always had to square downwind to base to final.

That aside, most of the guys with prior flight time did well in primary to the point that virtually all of them had "jet grades" at selection time. However, remember it is all governed by what's available the week you graduate from primary. One week it may be all jets and the very next week its all helos. That's the gamble you take with Naval Aviation.

I like to gamble.

+1 billion.

I got to fly point nose jets off boats, and I miss it every day. With the current state of things today however, I would seriously think about the Coast Guard.

No bad duty stations and all your flying is real world.

This is not an absolute but there is some truth to it. Some guys with prior flight time sail through Primary, guy in my class broke the NSS scoring system his grades were so high. Others completely struggle, some fail out. It's 100% attitude of the individual.