Fixed wing
 

The Army Guard and Reserve are hurting for fixed wing guys. I am a former Apache driver for the Mississippi Guard and I got picked up to fly C-23 Sherpa's due to the shortage of pilots. I got the fixed wing course with a follow on deployment. I am in country now. The C-23's are flying more than any fixed wing unit in the army. I would be glad to answer any questions for you.

Check out guard C23 units... not that many at all. I was in a C23 unit and ALL the pilots were WO's, I was a flight engineer(enlisted). One guy, with a bunch of hours, was sent directly to the National Guard fixed wing school in West Va. If I remember right he was a regional pilot as well. No RW for him. Gotta love the National Guard, they do whatever they want.

http://www.wv.ngb.army.mil/aviation/fwaats/default.aspx

I won't call out the particular poster by name, but he has some dated information about Army Aviation.

I'm an airline guy. I fly the B747 for a great operation, when I'm not serving active duty, and I know of several airlines who have a high regard for the Army Aviator, including where I currently work. There are a few regionals who give hiring priority to the Army folks. Of course, there are some il-informed and prejudice folks in some of the legacy carriers who tend to look down their noses at Army types. That's only because they have little or no knowledge (re ignorance) of the modern Army Aviator and the complexities of modern Army Aircraft.

The FW isn't always the reward for a long career as a RW Avaitor, as previously mentioned.

The Army National Guard and the Army Reserve are hurting for FW aviators, especially the AR because of an on-going operation in the sandbox. It is actually very possible to get an initial entry position in an AR FW unit.

The Army, Army National Guard, and the Army Reserve will be fielding the C-27 over the next several years, adding 128 C27 airframes. The C27 will be the self-deploying intra-theater asset which will have a high demand for additional crew members because of the high optempo of its mission.

The Army National Guard will be the first to field the airplane, followed by the Army Reserve in 2011. Until 2011, the AR has plenty of C-12 flying to be done with the current mission. Beware of what you ask for. The C-12 community is flying their a**es off.

I chose the Warrant Officer route, although I had a choice to do either. The USAF doesn't have WO's and they don't understand the structure, so you will get mis-information from those types. I chose the Warrant route because I wanted to specialize and concentrate on flying and being the technical expert. Besides, I can go to age 62 as a WO Aviator, which gives me another eight years.

Call the number posted, but MAJ Gray is not the contact any more. I can't recall the new-guy's name, but I'm certain he'll be happy to answer your questions.

Personally, I would try either a Guard or Reserve unit with IERW positions to get a quick slot into flight school.

Greg,

Welcome onto the Forum. You are quite possibly the most knowledgable and experienced Army Aviator on this forum now and we all welcome your advice. The APTAPers on here would likely agree.

I got a tour from one of your British crews up in Prestwick a while back. Very friendly bunch.

Are you saying the army guard/reserve units will pick someone up from the streets (if they qualify), put them through warrant officer school and put them through fixed wing school to fly fixed wings or will they have to go through rotor wing school, serve some time in rotor wing before they can get the fixed wing slots?

I assume you're talking about me. To clarify, military flying experience of any sort is a resume enhancer. Army aviation will not hurt your propsects, it just may not be the shortest path. I personally have no problem with army aviation, almost did it myself once (for the fun factor).

The limitations I see are that most of the best airline jobs require FW time...if army aviation will delay your acquisition of said FW time, that may be a consideration for you. The ideal solution for one who aspires to airline and mil flying is military FW, preferably ANG/USAFR combined with regional flying.

If you can't get a FW slot (degree or whatever), then RW would be better than sitting home...especially if do ANG and fly as a civilian too.

I agree that there is a lot of procurement in progress for army FW and, as I mentioned originally, it looks like junior folks can now get into it sooner.

Absolutely. Generally only the AD WOs have to go through rotary assignments before they can go FW. Guard and reserve hire specifically for those slots...from within the unit, street, or wherever they find qualified applicants. I went through RW flight school (primary...) with some guard folks going straight into the FW course upon finishing IERW.

Let's put out some clarification here:

99.9% of Army aviators were trained initially (by the Army) as Rotary Wing pilots.

As greggo said, MAJ Gray is no longer the contact, but I believe the number posted earlier should still work.

The USAR is hurting for FW pilots. 75% of my unit is currently deployed. I just came back, although not by choice (medical).

In the past, hiring was left up to the individual units. That seems to be changing. It appears that the 11th Aviation Command (the command responsible for the majority of Army Reserve Aviation) is trying to centralize the hiring process. They've taken two guys from my company who are currently in flight school and reassigned them to rotary positions. We've fought the good fight to keep them, but lost. In other words, there is apparently no guarantee that getting "hired" by a USAR FW unit will result in you flying FW. We will certainly try to make that happen, but no guarantees.

Any specific questions, send me a PM. Things are in flux right now WRT hiring practices, but I can try to help if you're interested in USAR FW.

USAR C-12 jobs
 

A Bit of a thread revival here:

In reading the above posts it seems the Army Reserves were looking for fixed wing guys in 08. I'd like to hear from anyone currently in the community, what the fixed wing need is. I spoke with the USAR aviation personnel officer 6 mo ago and was told that there were no c-12 jobs avail. I'm very interested in going fixed-wing and am looking for POC's at any c-12 unit that's hiring. I'm wondering if I can interview with a specific unit instead of applying to the USAR in general? I'm a 1LT -64D driver in the Guard and also PPL/IFR fixed wing civil. I can relocate anywhere and deploy at any time. Ideally I'd like to revert to WO1 and fly fixed for the reserves. Any input would be appreciated. I would go guard if available but am told it is tougher to go fixed wing there. Thanks

Can you PM me.