Zach7177

Just curious as to why not go army?

OuterMarker

Don't worry, they will beat that fixed-wing stuff out of you in the first week. The Army has almost 4000 helicopters and a few airplanes. If you're looking for airplanes, you'll find them in the Air Force.

And if you primarily want to be a "pilot, get 1500 hours and go to a Regional. The military (especially) the Army, is not looking for pilots, they want Officers who can do 40 other things with flying being just one of them. There are plenty of 20-year Army Aviators walking around the Pentagon with less than 1000 hours of flight time, but they have probably checked most of the right blocks for War College and 06 selection.

Zach7177

I don’t have a preferance I’d fixed-wing or rotary. I was just curious if I’ll get fixed wing just due to my hours.

But thank you for the input!

BeatNavy

When I was in college one of my professors, an Apache guy, said that army Aviation is the armpit of military flying. And after flying for 8+ years it is absolutely true. As a commissioned guy, I was scoffed by my bosses for trying to fly a lot. It’s a tertiary duty. Sure commanding troops is a great responsibility, but if you are interested in flying, being commissioned isn’t the way to go. I had almost as much flight time as my warrant peers, because I made myself an asset and forced my way onto flight schedules. And I got lucky with deployments while in flying positions (lucky Bc I got to fly a lot, not lucky I spent a ton of time getting shot at). Many of my commissioned peers got out at 8 years with 400-500 total hours. Unless deployed, and unless an IP, even warrants don’t fly that much. We always had nonflying crap going on. As a warrant, there are still additional duties. It’s a lot better as a flyer, but you have to answer to some snot nosed 23 year old LT and 29 year old captain, and you will make significantly less money than commissioned guys. The bonuses are a joke compared to AF bonuses.

Now let’s talk optempo. 9-12 month deployments. When not deployed, you get to spend time pretending and sleeping out in the field, in tents, or at miserable training centers, often times simulating deployment with no cell phones or internet. Contrast that with ANG/AFRES pilots who fly, considerably more, have shorter deployments to much better locations, and are sought after by airlines. Airlines (minus JetBlue) scoff helo time. Lots of army guys in the regionals and JetBlue. Not a lot of AF dudes have to go to regionals.

I know lots of us Army folks who transitioned to the ANG/AFRES, but I know zero ANG/AFRES guys who went Army. There’s probably more I could think of but that’s the quick stuff in the front of my mind.

Zach7177

Thank you for this great input. I’m going to assume making a mistake going the army route to fly?

Thank you for this reply and your perspective. Greatly appreciated. I took the Astb with the marines a year ago , 5-7-5 48. However, my recruiter was adamant about me putting college on hold to head to ocs. So in the meantime I’m weighing my options in other branches.

USMCFLYR

This doesn't sound right.

You either do PLC during summers between college, or OCS after college.

Were you talking to a RECRUITER or to an Officer Selection Officer (OSO)?

Zach7177

OSO, he wanted me to go over summer. I just was not ready to make the commitment too early, and wanted to make sure I chose the right branch, and utilized the time I had till graduation to weight all my options.

USMCFLYR

Yeah - you wouldn't have had to put college on hold.
That program is designed for the summer between college semesters.

I didn't go to OCS until 9 months after graduation - so there is still time for you to look into all options.

Certainly DO NOT make your decision based on an internet forum.

I fly with numerous former Army guys - all of which ended up with lots of time fixed wing.
It was very competitive to get into the fixed wing program back then - I'd imagine it still is though like was said earlier - I heard they were even sending some people directly to fixed wing.

Good luck in your decisions.

Zach7177

Very informative response. Exactly what I am looking for. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Yeah it seems that everyone has a different route to bribe me with. Just try to gather as much input to make an informative decision.

Thank you

Gundriver64

To the OP: this is good G2. I flew the 64D for most of my Army career. It's an amazing machine and a battlefield shaper. However, the amount of BS creep is at epic levels out in the field. Yes, you'll get great training in state of the art equipment, but the Army way of doing things (leadership, priorities, political correctness) will make you want to bang your head against the wall.