The Mad Bomber Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 How much free reign do aviators have when it comes to setting up their own training and flight hours. Can pilots go through their command and tell them hey, here is my fight plan, training objective and whatever else they need and take off? Or do you have problems with restrictions from Higher HQ? I have been an Army EOD Tech for the last 6 years and love it when we have the free reign to conduct our own training schedules/plans and are allowed to accomplish our goals with minimal guidance. Trying to get PRK done so I can start the application process for flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin DBC Posted March 7, 2009 Report Share Posted March 7, 2009 How much free reign do aviators have when it comes to setting up their own training and flight hours. Can pilots go through their command and tell them hey, here is my fight plan, training objective and whatever else they need and take off? Or do you have problems with restrictions from Higher HQ? I have been an Army EOD Tech for the last 6 years and love it when we have the free reign to conduct our own training schedules/plans and are allowed to accomplish our goals with minimal guidance. Trying to get PRK done so I can start the application process for flight. When you first start out, you can make suggestions or the IPs (basicly unit level instructors) may ask what you want to do, but there is a structure to the progression system and you can't really get around that. Sometimes the higher-ups will try to ruin your day, but it hasn't been too common in my unit. You're probably not going to have the freedom of maneuver that you did in EOD (which is part of the appeal). EOD is a lot more of a "small unit" operation and you're pretty detached from field grade officer whereas you're having to deal with the big dogs on a daily basis in aviation. It's a good move though. I switched over from Infantry a few years ago and I love it. I'm doing the crew chief thing right now, but I'll probably end up putting in a packet sometime soon. J- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLHooker Posted March 8, 2009 Report Share Posted March 8, 2009 Your IP's at your unit, like Justin said... may allow you to have the freedom within certain criteria... for instance... they may just say... Plan an instrument flight, make it 2 hours, go. At that point, you can do whatever the hell you want, just has to be IFR and 2 hours long... Like Justin was saying though, you will have to progress once you get to the unit... Once you are progressed you will have ALOT more freedom, you will fly with PC's, most will tell you to just plan something, then it's up to you to come up with something meaningful. I, typically, don't care what a guy i'm flying with will plan, as long as it has some type of training objective. You MAY not have alot of freedom when it comes to what day/time you fly... depends on your unit, and who you are flying with mostly. CHAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mad Bomber Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Thanks, guys! Just the info I was looking for....now if I can just get my eyeballs taken care of.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mad Bomber Posted March 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 Just out of curiosity, should I eventually get into WOFT and make it through, can I request to be with a deploying unit? for my first duty assignment? What is the best way to try and soak up as many flight hours as possible once you get to your units? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pogue Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 You probably won't even need to request it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnall Posted March 9, 2009 Report Share Posted March 9, 2009 First thing you have to do is progress in the aircraft. They aren't going to put you with an already deployed unit, and probably they won't want to put you with a fixing to deploy unit, cause they're busy with train up & can't mess with you. But, you could easily get on with one that's a year or so out, when they're still filling up in advance of the deployment. Stranger things have happened, but you know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin DBC Posted April 4, 2009 Report Share Posted April 4, 2009 Just out of curiosity, should I eventually get into WOFT and make it through, can I request to be with a deploying unit? for my first duty assignment? What is the best way to try and soak up as many flight hours as possible once you get to your units? Heh... Everyone on active duty is a "deploying unit". I wouldn't rush it myself... Once you get trained up on a particular airframe, you want to get some time in to train up. There are a lot of things you don't learn (or don't learn well) at flight school. You don't get even somewhat proficient in mission tasks until you've been doing it for a while. We're going to be in the sandbox for a while... No need to rush into the fight until you're confident in preforming all of the missions you'll be expected to fly when you're over there. It's hard enough when you're training in the rear. It's a whole different story when you need to worry about enemy contact on top of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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