Jump pilot 17

Hey all,

I’m in the Guard and facing a tough decision.. I obviously want to fly but was wondering what we’re the pros and cons between the two routes? Trying to figure out which route I want to take..

Thanks!

rickair7777

Warrants will fly more and maybe have less weighty responsibilities (won't escape collateral duties though).

Commissioned Officers will fly less, and the primary job will typically be military leadership/management, with just enough flying to stay legal. They will get paid more too.

tomgoodman

A friend retired as the CO of an Army Guard helicopter squadron. A couple years later, the unit needed IPs and asked him to come back part-time. He agreed, provided they would let him be a Warrant Officer.

new guy

Is this short term or long term? If you want money and don't care about hours then go commissioned. If you want pretty decent pay but a ton more hours, go warrant.

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MIkeFavinger

The real answer is “it depends.” But first, about flight hours...

In the National Guard the amount of flight hours you are able to accomplish is variable but low, no matter if you are commissioned or warrant. Without being a full time IP or MP, either track is likely to get around 90-110 hours a year. (Source: IP Supervisor and AASF Commander). While a warrant in a company will likely fly more during drill and annual training, during the AFTP week flying is primarily an availability calculus. There is little difference in M Day flight time between warrants and commissioned during The week, and quite honestly, when I run a CAFRS report across the board there’s not much difference across the entire year. Additionally,unlike active duty it’s a greater possiblity for commissioned officers to become IPs, IEs and MPs in the Guard.

However, if you deploy, it pretty much goes back to the active duty paradigm where the commissioned officers outside a flight company barely make minimums, if they fly at all, while the rest fly.

So if you remove flight time from the equation, what sort of leader do you want to be?

Jump pilot 17

I’m not too worried about the flight time to be honest. This will be for long term,I fly for a part 135 company on the civilian side and that’s my main focus for time building.

rickair7777

If you might aspire to senior leadership, ie Colonel+ then go commissioned. If you really dig strategy and military history, likewise. Same if you might desire advanced education opportunities.

If you just want to fly stuff, and enjoy "in the trenches" leadership go warrant.

I'll caution that what you think you want now may not be what you want in 15-20 years. Consider carefully. My outlook changed over time, if I had known more about the military I would have gone warrant or enlisted as a teenager. Today I know that would have been a mistake for me, or at least I wouldn't have realized my full potential.

If it's all the same to you, the retirement check at age 60 will be larger for commissioned.

Gundriver64

In the Reserves by the time you become a CPT(P)/MAJ then it's likely you'll be thrown into the sand pale of crabs. The winners are those crabs who can "crawl" out of the bucket and become one of the 3-4 assistants to the assistant S3 and allowed to remain on the unit's ATP as a FAC2 aviator (with some luck).

BeatNavy

Switch from army guard to ANG and fly there.

hydrostream

Warrant. No question.