My Chances

[Clean]

I'm sure you guys get this kind of question a lot, so if you could reference me to a topic similar to this please let me know.

 

Well, I'm a 17 year old kid, about to be a senior in high school. I have pretty good grades (gone from 3.3-4.1, just fluctuating), I got a 25 on my ACT and a 1820 on my SAT, which I know don't apply. I am interested the Army's high school to flight school program, where I would go from high school to basic, then to WOCS and then to WOFT. I have great vision in my right eye, but my left eye has a slight stigmitism. I don't have any family in the aviation field, and my only real LOR would be from a retired Marine Major who was an infantry company commander in Vietnam. When I was younger I was in a program called the Young Marines. I have also done a considerable amount of community service. So what I'm wondering is, weighing these things, how bad are my chances of getting into the program? I'm a dedicated individual, and a lot of the things I've read on the internet say that my chances right now are good, but just today a recruiter told me I have about 1 in 1000 chance. But I've also read that recruiters are full of sh*t, so I am asking for your input. I have other options from joining the military, but I feel that being a pilot would be the most fulfilling thing that I could do with my life, and I also want to serve my country. Thanks so much for any advice or input you will give me.

[apiaguy]

he's probabally right.... any negative from a recruiter could be the truth. Go to college, get a 4 year degree... any degree. Then apply, your chances will be much greater.

[1badz32]

^^ agreed, time is on your side, dont waste it. It seems there are many more door's that open to a person that has atleast some college.

[FredR]

Clean,

I was in the same boat as you when I was in high school (a few years back) and really wanted to learn to fly helicopters. I ended up joining the National Guard while a senior and initially started out as an E1 private OH-58 helicopter mechanic. I started college after returning from Basic and AIT (Advanced Individual Training). I applied for flight school through the National Guard and ended up attending a state OCS program and left for flight school at Ft Rucker two months after my 21st birthday. I finished my 4 year degree after returning from flight training. I now work as an EMS pilot and am retired from the National Guard (Major). It took a great deal of effort but was well worth it. No debt, great training and some great experiences. A long winded statement that you might want to check out the National Guard. Good luck to you.

Bob

[IWannaFly]

Clean,

In my class at flight school we have an 18 year old that just graduated high school this past spring. It can definitely be done. Are the chances high? Probably not. They're not really high for anyone right now. They keep telling us here (to keep us on our best behavior) that for each of us, there are about six more-highly qualified people waiting to take our spot. I definitely think you should put your packet together. The worst they can do is say no. Read a little more on this forum from people that have come from similar circumstances too. One last thing (and some people may disagree with me on this). Joining active duty enlisted, the National Guard, or the Reserves are not bad options either. I think there are a lot of benefits to come from understanding how things are on the enlisted side of the house. I won't say that understanding is absolutely a must have but it never hurts. So anyway... to wrap this up, I think you should give it a try. It does happen. Your chances are zero if you don't put in a packet. Good luck.

 

Blake

[Wally]

1000 to 1 against? Pretty good odds, actually. I wouldn't put my last buck on a bet like that, but it's worth a shot to get in that game if you'll make a determined effort. The payoff - Uncle Sam pays for and pays you to learn to fly; then provides valuable experience towards your becoming civilian-employable- makes taking the chance and putting in considerable effort worthwhile, at least in my opinion.

The military isn't the only way, or even the 'best' way into the field. I know lots of very good civilian pilots.

Edited May 21, 2009 by Wally

[ErOk_OnE]

They're not really high for anyone right now. They keep telling us here (to keep us on our best behavior) that for each of us, there are about six more-highly qualified people waiting to take our spot.

LOL---THats all B-CO nonsense. Not even a month ago the commander of Flight School was like "...we need to more and more people through cause were falling behing our goals." As a class we even asked him if it was true that the branch was over strengthed or if there were too many WO's or LT's here in Flight School. He plainly said and i paraphrase "No that's not true...and we need more people.

Even Secretary Gates was like, yup lets bring more money here to put more people through. LOL B-CO scare tactics LOL...

almost as good as the Saturday morning dog chains and id check. LOL

 

They say things like that b-co to scare people straight...

 

but your right...enlisted experience is good...and as you said, not necessary.

 

CLEAN,

Any way if you want to fly for the Army---GO FOR IT. bottom line if you dont try you wont know if you'll make it.

 

DO your packet, invest the time and effort and see where that gets you. Part of the process in applying is seeing if you have the wherewithal to finish the process.

 

Good luck.

[Clean]

Thanks for all the input guys. I'm going to give the recruiter a few more days as he said he really didn't know much about the program at all, and then I'm going to start working on my packet. After doing more research I've found that recently they've only been training 1200 a year when they normally train around 1500, so the odds may be good. Again, thanks everyone.

[Linc]

That's not total BS. There are higher and higher numbers of FQ-NS on each board. So much, that they are now restricting applicants to the old standard of applying once each year, that's two boards a year that you can get looked at rather than letting the packet ride for the whole year. The stipulation is that if your qualifications change, then you can apply for a waiver to the 1-year wait time.

 

The bottleneck is training, an unforeseen quality of FSXXI that has everyone else backed up in the IERW feeder.

 

Clean,

 

Apply.

 

Go to college.

 

Apply the next year.

 

Continue going to college.

 

Apply the next year.

 

Continue going to college.

 

Apply the next year.

 

Graduate from college.

 

Apply the next year.

 

Get the point? You have 10 years from the time you graduate and are old enough (11 if your parent's permit you to sign before you are 18). You can enlist if you want to, and do the same thing; earning new skills and experience as you go. If you let the odds intimidate you, they will beat you.

 

Good luck!

[GSXR750Pilot]

WOW...much good advice has already been said so I suppose I'll just tell you my story so you have an idea of some things they are looking for.

 

I graduated in '04 and went straight to college. At the time I thought I would become an airline pilot but honestly I just wanted to fly. I majored in aviation and got all my certificates and ratings that would get me hired at an airline but after graduating last August the economy just didn't work with me. I couldn't find a single airline that was hiring and most guys I new that had been hired recently were getting furloughed. (let go with the chance of getting hired back at a later date) That's when I started doing some heavy thinking, it took me a few months but I ultimately decided on joining the Army after finding my way to a recruiter one day. I started putting my packet together back in January and it just recently was accepted and I ship out for basic in August. Basically for me I like to think I had everything they were looking for out of a civilian, I had a degree and previous flight experience. Not to mention a pretty good LOR from a retired Col. helicopter pilot for the guard.

 

My advice is similar to Linc's, apply, apply, apply, and then apply again. It never hurts! Go to school if you can! If you don't have the money then go get some student loans. If your goal is to join the military they will pay most of it off. If you can, try to major in aviation or at least get some flight training at a local airport. Even though a degree isn't as big as it used to be, it still says a lot!

 

Ultimately I would say no choice is the right or wrong one. You just have to take the gamble on what you will think is best for you and what you think will work out. I have known people that got accepted to WOFT right out of highschool (they went National Guard), I know people that have enlisted then applied to WOFT, and I have done the college route and then applied. Some don't get accepted and some do. You just have to be willing to through the bait out there and hope they take it!