Military or not
 

Hey guys. Some of you know I am a student right now at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State Univ.) I am an Aerospace major with a concentration in professional pilot. I got my private when I was 17, and I'm 19 now. I spoke to a Marine recruiter this morning who came to the aerospace building. He was telling me about a program that they have were you graduate college, go to OCS, and if you qualify, recieve a guaranteed flight school slot. If I don't make it to flight school, I can walk away with no obligation. He gave this program to me in writing. Sounds pretty good. I've always loved the military and almost inlisted in the corps after high school. Has anyone heard about the success of this program or if it sounds like a good? I have always thought that airline pilots made way more than military pilots, but in checking out the pay rates and comparing the two, looks like military is the way to go, at least for the first few years. Anyways, I'm going to the airport in Murfreesboro (KMBT) next Thursday to fly in one of their King Air C90's. They invited me to this orientation flight where I'll fly right seat. Seems like a great opportunity. Let me know what you military pilots (specifically Marines) think. Thanks a lot in advance.

Chandler

OK, so if you don't qualify you want away from your commission.....what about your enlistment?

You realize that former military pilots start at the bottom of the pay scale when starting at any airline. Right?

Airline pilots at regionals start at about $20,000 a year. 4 years later, they may be making $35,000-40,000. An O-1 out of OCS, OTS, ROTC, Academy, etc... is making $35,000-40,000. 4 years later, as an O-3, you'll be making around $65,000-70,000. I'm pulling in $6,000-7000 a year above normal just in tax free combat pays because I'm deployed so much. I've been tax free 6 out of the last 7 months. Out of about the $60k I've made this year, only $21k was reported to the IRS.

As good as the money is, be forwarned that military pilots are officers who do a lot more than just fly. Officers are supervisors. Officers do more paperwork than you can imagine. Officers sometimes have to take assignments that may not involve flying. Flying is only part of the job. The military gives me $150 a month for "Flight Pay". $1800 a year. This is about 3.5% of my pay. As you can see, flying a 300,000 lb jet isn't worth much to the Air Force. A 1Lt services, finance, or communications officer, for example, is making exactly the same amount of $$ I am, less the $150 flight pay. Of course flight pay goes up to $650 a month at 6+ years flying, but that's basically designed to entice you to sign after your initial 8-10 year commitment is up.

The Air Force has a "b-scale" for flight pay? (b-scale - different pay for the same job). I can understand longevity steps, but for flight status pay :eek:

Military ?s
 

[QUOTE=mtsupilot09]Hey guys. Some of you know I am a student right now at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State Univ.) I am an Aerospace major with a concentration in professional pilot. I got my private when I was 17, and I'm 19 now. I spoke to a Marine recruiter this morning who came to the aerospace building. He was telling me about a program that they have were you graduate college, go to OCS, and if you qualify, recieve a guaranteed flight school slot. If I don't make it to flight school, I can walk away with no obligation. He gave this program to me in writing. Sounds pretty good. I've always loved the military and almost inlisted in the corps after high school. Has anyone heard about the success of this program or if it sounds like a good? I have always thought that airline pilots made way more than military pilots, but in checking out the pay rates and comparing the two, looks like military is the way to go, at least for the first few years. Anyways, I'm going to the airport in Murfreesboro (KMBT) next Thursday to fly in one of their King Air C90's. They invited me to this orientation flight where I'll fly right seat. Seems like a great opportunity. Let me know what you military pilots (specifically Marines) think. Thanks a lot in advance.


Chandler
I'll take a shot. I am a former Marine who went though the "PLC program" which sounds like the one your Marine OSO recruiter was pitching.

The question you have to ask yourself what do I want to fly and how badly?
I went to Officer Boot camp twice (for 6 weeks each) between my Soph/JR year and my JR/SR year at college.All I ever wanted to fly was Fighters. I did not have aspirations of becoming an airline pilot back then. I had the "Need for Speed".

It was a good program, although the 12 weeks of Boot camp sucked and the 6 months of Basic Infantry Officer Charm School (called "TBS" for The Basic School) was not my idea of a good time.

That being said, I had a Aviation Guarantee, which meant I was guaranteed entry to flight school ( no guarantee I would fininsh or get Jets). You had to earn that. Flight school wasn't a cake walk but if you want to fly you can't buy better training. Plus you get the shot to fly airplanes most people can only dream of............................an added bonus is you might get to payback Osama and his buds or other scum for their mis-deeds.

What is the active duty committment after you fininsh flight school? For me it was only 3 years, but I re-upped. Hind sight that was a dumb move but I have no regrets.

If your only aspiration is only to become an Airline Pilot and you want to join the Marine for the "Free" (the get their money out of you in other ways) training, I think you should go another route, Embry Riddle or Purdue or Southern Illinios U or Middle TN and get a CFI job until you can work somehwere else to build time and ratings.

But if you want to fly some kick Ass jets ,the F-18 of even the Hover Jet (aka Scarrier) go for it.

Plus , Chicks dig Marines..............................

HSLD:

It basically goes like this:

Aviation Career Incentive Pay
Years of Aviation Service
2 or less
125.00
Over 2
156.00
Over 3
188.00
Over 4
206.00
Over 6
650.00
Over 14
840.00
Over 22
585.00
Over 23
495.00
Over 24
385.00
Over 25
250.00

This is monthly incentive pay for flying. Years of aviation service starts when you start Undergraduate Pilot Training.

MTSU..definitely look into what kind of airplane/craft you may end up with. You could very well end up flying rotors and not be able to get to fixed-wing and that would pretty much be worthless to an airline. I'm guessing you've already looked at the AF. If not I would suggest that route. You might want to read some of the posts under the "ANG Part-time Pay" thread as we discussed in detail what being an AF pilot is like. The main reason I suggest the AF is simply b/c of the planes we have. A HArrier or F-18 is really cool but (1) fighters dont get as many flying hours as heavies and (2) I think the airlines might rather see C-17, KC-135, KC-10, C-5, C-9 etc because thats more in line with what they have in their fleets. Bottom line is that unless you had a reasonable assurance that you could get a decent size fixed wing acft I wouldnt go to the Marines (if you're planning on an airline career).

Just my 2 cents

Hey guys, I really appreciate all this advice. I talked with an ANG recruiter in high school. He wasn't very clear about flying, he really just wanted me to enlist. What would I need to do to fly kc-135's? They have a wing in my home town (McGhee Tyson ANG Base Knoxville, TN.) I have always loved seeing those heavies flying out of TYS. And, like you gentlemen suggested, the airlines (yes, I am hoping to eventually get with a major airline) prefer heavy time over fighter time. Any ANG or specifically stratotanker pilots out there? I'd love to talk to you about your career. For example, what is your lifestyle like? Are you married, and how long are you usually seperated when you are flying? What is your time commitment? I've got a worried girlfriend who has visions of me being in Iraq for a year if I do any kind of military flying. Anyways, let me know about the ANG thing and commitments etc. Also, thank you guys for your professionalism, I really appreciate it.

Chandler

Stuff
 

If all you are looking to do is fly with NO associated ground responsibilities, the military may not be for you.