Flying the F-35?
 

Greetings,

I'm a current college student considering a commission as a pilot in the Marines/Navy in a strike platform. I understand that that at least 60% of the Marines fly helos. With the new F-35 program in the works, what are the chances of getting a slot to fly this platform if I commission in 2015-2016? Also, how competitive is it to get into a fix-wing pipeline during primary flight training? Do most students want to fly helos (I guess that depends), but generally speaking, what else can be done to ensure fix wing during training?

Also, what IF someone were to end of with helos... How difficult would it be to take a tour as a t-34 IP? Is a transfer into a fix wing airframe common? (as you can see I don't want to fly helos.) Please pardon my ignorance.

I can't talk to the Marine pilot training pipeline (I was USAF) - however, I would be cautious about the F-35. I know they have like one or maybe two right now at Luke AFB, I would anticipate more delays etc...

Good luck.

how competitive is it to get into a fix-wing pipeline during primary flight training?

If you have to ask.......

i would imagine only the top few % would get their choice. When I was at USAF UPT approximately the top 10-15% got fighters. The rest heavies, rotary wing, and instructor.

The Marines are different in a lot of respects. There are a lot of guys who just plain don't want jets and want skids or some other kind of helo as their first choice. That being said, they won't put you in Jet Advanced if you don't meet a minimum cutoff score that says you are at least better than average. There is no percentage as it varies from week to week and month to month, but for simplicity's sake, let's say about one fourth of USMC pilots fly jets and just a few of them will select the F-35. You don't join the Marines to only fly. You are a rifleman and an officer first. Believe it. I had seven Marine on-wings when I was an instructor in the Navy, and none of then selected jets (only a few of them even wanted them).

Ghetto -
Maybe a small point of contention - but you don't consider commission until you get past OCS - then that last night before the scheduled ceremony - you have a chance to "consider" if you want to accept that commission or not. Also - You may wish for, hope for, dream of, and desire a Strike platform (and maybe even a F-35), but once again it is a LONG road before you get to "consider" it.

Is that the new percentage that the Marines are putting out? Seems higher than that before, but I've been out of the circle for a few years now.

There are a couple of reasons that this question can not be answered accurately.
First is that no one can tell you your chances because no one knows if you are even academically or physically qualified for an Air slot to PLC/OCS yet.
Second - you haven't made it through said PLC/OCS or TBS. (If you don't know what these acronyms mean - then you aren't prepared to start the journey either).
Third - Then there is the ENTIRE multi-year process of flight school - to include graduating with grades high enough to even have hope of selecting Strike/Fighter (and hoping that you don't hit on a selection week that has an ALL Marine Helo selection), then there would be carrier qualifications if you go the Strike/Fighter pipeline, etc....
Fourth - a personal story. When I was in Primary all the talk was about the MV-22 Osprey. It was going to be replacing the CH-53Ds and CH-46 probably just about the time I was hitting the fleet and if I was lucky enough I just might be one of the first fleet Osprey pilots. I thought - that would be great! Brand new technology and getting in on the leading edge of TTPs for a whole new airframe! Fast forward nearly 15 years and as I was starting my last tour in the USMC the first operational squadron was formed. Yeah.....I jjjjuuuusssstttt missed out on that Osprey spot. :eek:

In Primary flight training, you are already in the fixed wing pipeline. It is after Primary when you have been chosen for you pipeline that a student will then branch off into his/her Strike/Fighter, Multi-Engine, Helo, and whatever they are calling the Osprey pipeline.

No...it was no common during my time that most students wanted to fly helos. During my week - the number one NAVY student wanted to fly Seahawks and some time after me the number one MARINE student wanted to fly Cobras (his dad was a Vietnam era Cobra pilot who was a 3-star at the time so he was certainly following in dad's footsteps)
What can you do to ensure success to your desired pipeline? Study, fly, improve, and pray (because especially in the USMC - there has to be a smidgen of luck in there too)

Your best chance of switching communities if you do end up somewhere you don't want to be is to excel at your current job and apply for a transition. There are some (or at least there were) every year depending on many factors, but the most common for the helo pilots was to try and get orders to a VT squadron (Primary Training). I was a student of, and eventually a squadronmate with a guy who did exactly that (though I've not heard of another person with the same roadmap) CH-46 pilot to T-34C IP, Jet transition to T-2C IP, full Strike/Fighter transition and ended up in Advanced TA-4J and F/A-18 RAG with me and then on to our fleet gun squadron.

If you can't see yourself flying helos then your best bet in another service rather than the Marine Corps. It is the longest road to that set of wings and it has the highest chance of you being chosen for a different community. You had best first and foremost want to be a Marine, everything after that is just icing on the cake.

I won't even go into my personal feelings about the F-35B.

And, all the T-34s are gone...T-6 now.

The F-35 is the best thing ever...just ask Lockheed Martin.

This is coming from a USAF pespective as well, so take it as you will. I went through primary as an AF guy flying the T-34C in Pensacola (good times!) and watched numerous USN and USMC guys not get the fixed wing. At that time (1998) I would say it was more like 80-85% were going helos. I think the 60% is really low.

Fast forward a few years...when I became an instructor in the T-37 and T-6 I watched numerous Navy and Marine students get their dreams squashed when they found out that AF training didn't guarantee a fighter slot. It is a very small percentage that get fighters.

If you follow this path, be very prepared to not get your dream slot. Your first priority should be to serve your country in whatever capacity it needs. I have had several times when my career didn't go to where I wanted it, but it was where I needed to be. UPT instructor was one of them. With that said, I went in with an open mind and it turned out to be the best assignment of my career.

Like others said, I think we are pretty far off on the F-35 being full up. Good luck with your decisions!

Remember the F-35 is supposed to replace all the USMC hornets as well as the harriers. Any fighter track should in theory position you to *eventually* transition to F-35. Even if they end up keeping some hornets, or acquiering super-hornets (to offset F-35 costs) I imagine there would be plenty of opportunity for those who want to make the jump.

But like USMCFLYR said...it could take a while longer than expected :rolleyes: