HSLD

Until now....http://forums.airlinepilotcentral.co...ead.php?t=2315

I don't think these guys will have to many collateral duties.

TankerDriver

Chandler,

I'm a Stratotanker copilot. I will give you an idea of what post 9/11 tanker life is like because that's pretty much all I know. Eventually, when the dust settles and we pull out of Iraq (Afghanistan is just about fizzled out now), it may go back the way it was, but I'm sure we'll eventually get into a scuffle with someone else one day, so who knows? You won't be in the Middle East for a year at a time as a tanker pilot and if you get into a tanker ANG unit, you most likely won't be in the Middle East at all unless you volunteer for it (which some guys do because of the money, benefits and flight time). ANG tanker units get some of the best taskings. Spain, Netherlands, Guam, Hawaii, Alaska, Vegas, France, and I could go on and on. Taskings like that on active duty are few and far in between. Instead, we deploy for 60 days at a time. Sometimes more, but never less (60 days is a minimum requirement by CENTAF right now). While deployed, you'll fly, on average, 25-35 missions in a 60 day period (schedule will vary). You may fly 3-4 days in a row and get one or two off. You may sit alert one day followed by a day off. At roughly 6-7 hours per sortie, you'll be looking at around 200 hours of flight time in a two month period. Our mission, obviously, is to offload fuel to coalition aircraft over Iraq who are protecting our troops on the ground. We've been offloading about two million pounds of fuel per day over there, which is amazing to say the least. When home from deployments, you most likely will get a job in the squadron or if you're lucky and your squadron has an abundance of LT's running around, you may not. It all depends. We're pretty much spread out so thin with staff that you would most definitely get a job right out of mission qual if you showed up to my squadron right now. You may work in the unit deployment office, the scheduling office, be made a squadron exec officer, etc... Time at home right now is averaging two to two and a half months and it looks like it may be getting longer in the near future. The amount of flying you'll do while at home varies. You may get on a local training sortie once a week or so. If they've got you doing a desk job and you're the only one in the office there to do it, you may only fly once a month to stay current (which is not out of the ordinary). We occasionally do Medivac missions, coronets (taking a flight of fighters somewhere for an excersize), and presidential support missions. We also sometimes support Edwards AFB and their F-22's testing, but again, stuff like this is few and far in between and at a Super Tanker base, everyone fights over these kinds of missions. For the most part, it's pretty much been: Deploy for 2 months, come home for 2 months, do your desk job and fly 3-4 times, deploy for 2 months, come home for 2 months, do your desk job and fly 3-4 times, etc... I am married and being away for 2 months at a time gets tough, but even as an airline pilot, you've got the chance to be gone 180 days a year. Unfortunately, being away from home is part of the job as a pilot no matter who you're flying for.

mtsupilot09

TankerDriver,
Thank you so much for the time you obviously put into your response. How did you personally get into flying you're doing now? Did you enlist, go the college route, or what? Just curious. Also what are the chances of getting a flight school slot, and the chances of getting a tanker or transport? Just want to get a clear idea of how realistic my goal of flying in the military is. One more. How often have you flown into TYS? Where are you based? Ok, I guess that was two more. Well you are the man for taking your time and talking to me. I certainly appreciate it.

Chandler

AmericanIdiot#1

HSLD...

I wouldn't be so sure. For the high school to flight school deal to work, there has to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Anybody that takes the CWO offer and gets their wings will eventually one day want to retire and that will entail getting promoted. IOT get promoted, you need good fitness reports beyond that of just piloting skills; admin and staff work come to mind. This message is just the carrot and stick. Once you reach for the carrot and fall into the water, you find out how hot or cold the water really is versus what you were originally told.

Hornetguy

Chandler,
I agree with RedeyeAV8r and am also a Marine pilot currently still on active duty, hopefully only for another 14 months. I only have time to browse this site and reply because I'm paying my penance as a joint staff officer at a COCOM, not actually doing legitimate work! I too was commissioned thru the PLC program with an aviation contract. PLC is a long standing program which produces a majority of Marine officers, ROTC and service academy's follow. PLC is for college freshmen thru juniors with one summer remaining before graduation. If you are a senior right now then you would graduate, go to OCS, get commissioned, then go to TBS. The earlier you get involved in PLC the better your chances are to get a pilot contract as all services speculate on how many pilots they will need X amount of years out and enroll guys sooner than later. It's the only commissioning program that will give you in writing a seat in flight school prior to signing the dotted line. However, as others here have said, being a military pilot is to be an officer first. As a jet pilot I am currently doing a 3 year joint staff job not flying. Furthermore, to be a Marine pilot means you'll be a Marine officer first, this is good and bad. Good because being a Marine officer is something only a handful get to do, I know it sounds corny but true. Bad because there are always crappy jobs to be filled all over the place and the Marine Corps views you as an officer first then a pilot, so you are not safe from those jobs and duties. Bottom line is that if you are considering the Marine Corps you need to do it because you want to be a Marine Pilot, not just a pilot to get hours for the airlines. You don't have to make a career out of it but just be prepared.

Personally I can't imagine paying the huge amount of money to get the ratings and time as a civilian, working for the commuters, to one day get to the majors. I doubt if you could ever recover your money spent plus lost potential income over the years flying bug smashers and commuters.

Chicks do dig Marine fighter pilots! The exception being your own wife after 5 or so years of dealing with your deployments and bar act.

Roll Inverted and Pull

I am a former Marine fighter pilot, a regular (as opposed to a reserve). I spent 8 years in the crotch,flew fighters,did my time at El Toro, a tour on the boat and a year in Viet Nam, resigned and worked for Delta for 28 years and am now retired.I tell you all of this so that you might understand that I`ve "been there, done that". Having said all of that, my best advice to you is to avoid the Marine Corps. Yes it is an elite branch, not many can join, blah, blah, etc. However, your chances of getting to fly jets is chancey at best. If you do get jets, they will be fighters or attack machines. You won`t build enough time to be competive. The Navy (or Squids, we called them)....Chance of jets...better. I suggest you consider the USAF. Flying is their profession, not a sideline. Try for a big old transport type plane, fly your ass off and get out at the first opportunity. I`m gonna assume that you are more interested in flying than to be a leader of men, be a career officer,etc.,etc.. If this doesn`t work for you, buy your tickets and start at the bottom like a thousand other guys. If you can do anything else, I suggest that you consider that.This profession is going through some real tough times and I don`t think they will get better soon. Shake any tree in any town and a bunch of pilots will fall out. Just one old guy`s opinion.

Razor

Chandler,

I grew up in Brentwood, went to high school in Nashville, joined the Army and served a couple of years as a grunt, got out and went to UT Knoxville. I got my Air Force commission through ROTC at UT, went to pilot training, graduated then stayed on as a T-37 instructor. After that it was a couple of tours in the E-3 AWACS (a B-707 with a big radar on its back) and for the last 7 years I've flown the U-2 and the T-38. I retire next year and will be looking for an airline job. I've flown big crew airplanes and single-seaters and enjoy them both. We've got several prior Navy and former Marines in my unit, as well as lots of furloughed airline guys back on active duty. This is a tough business to be in with lots of changes. The USAF isn't perfect by any means but I think it's a great career. I think if you want to fly and have a very rewarding, interesting career then you should consider the USAF. Each time I had to make the decision to either stay in or get out and go to the airlines I felt like there was still more I wanted to do while in the Air Force and that the airline job would still be there waiting for me. If I left then I could never do the USAF job again but if I stayed then I could do the airlines later, albeit with less seniority. I'm happy with the way things have worked out for me and would do it the same way again. I don't have PM permissions yet but drop me an email at [email protected] if you want to chat further. Good Luck

Herc130AV8R

DITTO to what Tanker says. Contrary to popular belief, you don't just fly in the AF as a pilot! You are an officer first and a pilot second wether you like that or not. There is a lot of extraneous BS to put up with when not flying. The money gets really good once you hit Captain (4 years) but the responsibilities outside of flying can increase too. If you are ONLY interested in flying I would not recommend the military because you would probably be miserable. I would say most AF pilots LOVE to fly but also get some inner satisfaction of serving their country which is what really got them to join in the first place. The deployment rates are high now for most heavy guys (tankers and C-130's are probably the highest). This will get you hours, experience and a lot of time away from home! Good luck

JMT21

I've always had a slight interest (not enough to go down and talk to a recruiter) about joining the coast guard; I'll graduate in about 2 years. Anyone know right off hand how difficult it is to get a fixed wing slot, what the commitment is, how often you get to fly, what the quality of life is like, or anyother pertinrnt info?

mtsupilot09

Thank you all for your advice. I have come to what I think is a good decision. I have actually decided to pursue missionary aviation. You won't find any salary information on missionary pilots. That's because they don't have any. Salaries, that is. They raise their own support through churches and other individuals and fly for a missionary organization in PC-12s, King Airs, Helio Couriers, Cessna 206's and PC-6s. I will have to become an A&P as well because missionary pilots are in a foreign country for up to four years at a time with not much assistance, so we need to be able to fix our own aircraft. Anyways, thanks again guys.