hey everyone,

i am meeting with an marine officer selection officer next week. just wondering if anyone has any advice on flying in the marines. what ocs is like and the whole process? is it tough to avoid a helo slot? i would much rather go fixed wing, but the marines offer gauranteed pilot slots as long as you do well on the physical and written flight test. i like that aspect. in the end i would think it would be so cool to be a marine aviator, helo or Fw or whatever they give me!

Word -

You can PM me with any specific questions that you might have and I'll try to answer them.

In general - you have about a 70% chance of going helos if you join the Marines.

OCS/TBS - tough going no doubt and it will test your resolve about whether you just want to be a pilot or a Marine.

Flight School - challenging.....but extremely rewarding of course.
Every community has its rewards and challenges. A lot of people want one thing or another coming into flight school and rarely do you meet them years after (remember you'll have about a 10 year commitment) that they haven't enjoyed their community to the fullest.

USMCFLYR

haha just the man i wanted to hear from! (or woman???)

so tell me about life as a marine pilot? how often do you go to sea? is ocs different for pilots? 70% chance of helos huh... ouch

I have to bust his chops a little.

Everyone thinks it "would be cool"...I hear that so much from the new AH-64 guys "it would be cool to shoot something down with a helicopter" or simply "it would be cool to fly the Apache." There is little thought to the mission. Look into the mission of the aircraft first then shoot for that. Don't be happy with "what you get" be happy with what you earn.

I always tell new applicants to the flight program that they had better get the "it has always been a dream of mine to fly" bit TOTALLY out of their head. We aren't here to make dreams come true. If you want your dreams to come true, go to Disneyland, they specialize in that. The military needs top quality, intelligent, and dedicated pilots to help support the troops on the ground. After all, that is who is doing the real dirty work: the boots on the ground. (Unless you're the Air Force, they seem to be detached from that aspect. Perhaps that's why we are pushing so hard for the C-27J program, so we can support ourselves.)

Be "cool" someplace else....I hear the AF needs video game players, er, UAV oper-, er, uh, pilots.

Rant over. In all seriousness though, good luck. The flight process is never easy, but always worth it in the long run.

CD.

thanks for the chop busting. i understand where you are coming from. i have 2 cousins who are marines, both in infantry. i am aware that my mission as a marine would be to support the guys on the ground.

1 "tell me about life as a marine pilot" - WAY to vague. LIke I said - PM me some questions and I'll try to answer them

2. "how often do you go to sea" - depends on your community and the mission. In the Hornet community we have squadrons on both coasts attached to Navy carrier air wings.

3. "is OCS different for pilots" - no.

4. "70% chance of helos huh" - probably. I don't know the current stats - but yes - Marine aviation is predominately helos. By the way - unlike what Chinook driver said - it is always the needs of the service first. You might have met all of the wickets and *earned* a certain type of aircraft, but if the needs of the service dictate otherwise - that is where you are going. What you *earned* in the USMC was the right to be called a Marine - nothing about what job you do.

Recruiting commerical over.......but based in truth.

USMCFLYR

WFTW,

Feel free to PM me. I am a former helo guy who wanted C-130s but the Marine Corps said otherwise. Since my helo days, I have instructed on multi-engine and now fly for a legacy carrier on 737s. I can only tell you what it is like from my perspective as a helo guy and what to expect as a Marine.

You'll have a great time at Q town! I did, and im contemplating my return(OCC-193 NPQ due to broken leg). It was an awesome experience, one of the harder things ive done, im sure youll do well. And as everybody has probably told you Marine first! Pilot and all that in addition to that!

Assuming you do well enough to get fixed wing and you select jets you should know that the Marines will be nearly out of Hornets by the time you get there. They didn't and aren't(to my knowledge) going to buy Superhornets and have staked their future on F-35B(STOVL). So if that is the direction you want to go, feel free, just know that that 70% that USMCFLYR speaks of is bound to go up as the number of seats in VMFA and VMA platforms dwindle.

Sounds similar to what I tell my students, at least the ones that need a little correction on the attitude. I'll generally let them know that it isn't about them; as a matter of fact, it is NOT my job to get THEM into the fighter CAF. It is my job to get A qualified candidate there, I could care less if it was them individually or the next guy - as long as the he or she that finally ends up there is qualified.

Works most of the time, but I never win any Mr Congeniality awards!