mine

Hi, my name is Eli, I'm 18 years old, and am currently in the Air Force ROTC program at Oregon State University. My ultimate goal is to fly for an airline or a business like UPS. What are the pros and cons of having 4 years of military experience? What are the pros and cons of having 10 years of piloting experience in the military in terms of actually getting a job and/or seniority placement?

MalteseX

I'm not sure what you are asking---so I will go through your post and questions point-by-point.

You say you want to fly for an "airline or a business like UPS."

What are the pros and cons of having 4 years military experience.
Pros---many; military service is looked upon very favorably unless you are working for some anti-military organization or a state college.
Cons--you can get killed; you can become disabled

What are the pros and cons of having 10 years of piloting experience in the military?
Pros--military guys get hired at all airlines in very big numbers/percentage. You get paid very very well in training and with an adequate salary. You won't incur seemingly insurmountable expenses while getting your ratings and/or getting low pay in your early years by going the flight instruction/regional route.
Cons--10 year commitment. You will be older/behind in seniority numbers. You have to "put up" with all the military BS (deployments, etc.) I know at age 18 this is fun, but it won't be at age 30 with a family.

By the way there is no advanced placement by being a military guy. Your seniority starts at the bottom for most airline/flying jobs.

Best route: Go reserves or guard and serve your commitment there. You can then start looking for civilian flying jobs as soon as you are qualified vs having to wait until the long commitment is completed.

FlyBoyd

The Navy is wings + 8...so more like 10 years.

Isn't the Air Force wings + 10...so more like 12?

BDGERJMN

Mine,

Welcome. A few points to offer. First, do some research in the military transition threads that exist on this site and some others(baseops.net). You will find the answers(opinions) to your questions and many more that you haven't even thought of yet. I think the biggest consideration you need to think about is this: DO NOT join the military simply to build time for an airline gig, you won't be happy. DO join the military because you ultimately want to serve your country and become an Officer first and then a pilot. I dont think many dudes on this board who wear the uniform and wings will argue that point.

Best of luck to you.

LivingInMEM

At the risk of sounding like a broken record: If you want to become an airline pilot; become an airline pilot, not a military pilot. If you want to become a military pilot, do so.

Kingbird87

Listen to MEM, If you have the attitude of "this job in the military is a stepping stone", you will likely not succeed in the Air Force, and I would not want you in my squadron. Neither would I want you in my cockpit as First Officer. So, ask yourself who you are and what you want to become. I wanted to be a military officer, I was fortunate enough to be selected to become a pilot, I gave my all to it, was looking for a stable life, was fortunate again, to be hired by a major airline, and continued doing what I loved most as an Air National Guardsman. Log back in fifteen years from now and let us know how it went.

PittsDriver

I agree, as an Active Duty B-52 pilot, I can say just rolling through the military to get to the Airlines is probably not a smart idea. You need to want to be a military pilot first. However, if you want to serve but not full time, I highly recommend ditching ROTC in favor of trying to get a guard or reserve flying job. There is not one day that goes by that I don't wish I would have done the guard/reserve thing from the start instead of finishing ROTC and going active duty. I don't mind active duty, but here in the B-52 community and I imagine most others, is that flying is pretty much your additional duty, and not your primary duty like it is supposed to be. Its kind of painful to be active duty right now. Oh, and not to mention you have a very, very high chance now of getting a UAV right out of pilot training. Now that is a suck factor, you bust your but for 54 weeks and all you end up with is a remote control airplane for at least 3 years.

HoursHore

At the risk of being stoned for apostasy, I think that there are plenty of Airline pilots who used the military as a stepping stone. I am one of them. I made my mind up to bail about 1 year into my fleet tour, and positioned my self to make the jump from there on out. (Putting flying above ground job, taking an instructor with the AF that no one else wanted but offered tons of multi engine jet vs single engine turbo prop)

I didn't join the military to become an airline pilot, as others have said, (hell, I didn't even know that pilot would be my first choice til my NROTC training between soph and jr year) but I decided pretty early on that I didn't want to make the military a career.

That being said, you must be committed to the military and the people you are serving with, as well as the mission at hand, even if your goals are not to make it a career. And you have to enjoy it while you can, cause its only in the military that you'll take a crew of sub- 30 year olds to exotic locations with no cares whatsoever.

Somehow a layover with some one who is almost as old as my father just isn't the same.

As far as the Guard/reserve goes, in theory that sounds perfect, but I know the the guys who make a living at it at my AFRES unit are working very hard right now, deploying as much as AD guys to make it work.

Its not always like that, but I just point this out that its not some undiscovered nirvana as some make it out to be.

The pros of mil experience: plenty of networking, quality time

Cons: gone a lot, get to the majors a little later than the regional wunderkids, (but their career trajectory is also a function of the economy.)

USMCFLYR

MalteseX -

I'm sorry - I have to disagree with your assertion about all that military BS stuff like deployments? Exactly what is BS about deployments? It is what the military does. If you were in the military - did someone have you sign a piece of paper that said that you would never have to deploy or did part of your military physical at some point say t hat you were worldwide deployable?

Mine - I echo all the advice not to use the military as a stepping stone. That 10 years+ will eat you alive. It is great if you decide to get out after 1 tour (or however long it is until your commitment is up). You could be and should be proud of what you would have done, then continue on with chasing your second dream if that is where life takes you.

AD -vs - AR or ANG? Seems everyone on this forum thinks you shold ditch AD for one of the other programs - which is exactly what they are - programs. If you want to serve in the military full time with all the pros and cons that comes along with it - ENJOY!

USMCFLYR

mine

Thank you for all your opinions. You guys are freaking awesome!
I just applied for Embry Riddle University to take the non military route. You guys are right. 10+ years is a bit too much... for me at least.
Does anyone know how much flying hours I can get going through the military and/or going through a flight school program?
Are there any airline pilots that are willing to give me their number so I can talk more personally and with more detail?