dlaw89 Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I hear wildly different things on how much weight civ flight hours hold in the selection process. Any ideas? And can a PPL help to offset a low SIFT? Does the guard tend to focus more on flight hours vs. AD? My SIFT wasn't exactly great so wondering if I can offset that somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsey Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Look, anyone can go and get a few hours of flight time. A PPL and above, however, is different. It requires dedication and demonstrates that you are committed to aviation, as opposed to just merely interested. If you already have a PPL, it's obviously not going to hurt you, so it will certainly help--but it's not something that is so rare it's going to completely override something egregious. If you don't have flight time yet, do NOT go out and pay for it if you are actively pursuing WOFT. A few hours isn't going to wildly sway anyone. I'd say 85-90% of folks here didn't have any previous flight experience. And of those that did, 9/10 of them didn't hold anything more than a PPL. That said, I *highly* recommend taking a 30 minute demonstration flight in a helicopter. They usually run for $100 or a little more, but you get to take the controls and it'll be good for you to see if flying captures your attention like you think it does. That's not too much money for trying something that you're about to commit to doing for the next ~8 years. As for the Guard, I can't speak to that; they use a different process. Yamer or someone can hopefully chime in on that front. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlaw89 Posted March 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 I hear what you are saying. I suppose I'm just surprised because I would think a Helo PPL would give people more confidence in your ability to succeed in flight school than say a SIFT. In the Air Force, they won't even look at you unless you have a PPL. What am I missing here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamer Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Guy in my class had a ppl in r22 and still took him 4 days to figure out how to hover the mighty AH67 Comanche... I had none prior and hovered before him... Instrument rating however will help a little but not worth the expense. As far as packet strengthener I wouldn't know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Pig Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) hydraulics are a B---- Going from the 500E to the 58 wasn't pretty. Edited March 18, 2015 by Flying Pig 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shainbourassa Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 I'm no board member or even close to it, however I think you are assuming the SIFT to me much more of a final decision factor then it really is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RagMan Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 (edited) It's not about whether you're a good stick. It's about whether you are a leader and a good individual. Flight hours don't mean squat. The military could care less whether you have 10 hours or 200 hours. Your background and attitude will speak for itself. Join to serve. Don't join to fly. Edited March 19, 2015 by RagMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StockTrader Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 It's not about whether you're a good stick. It's about whether you are a leader and a good individual. Flight hours don't mean squat. The military could care less whether you have 10 hours or 200 hours. Your background and attitude will speak for itself. Join to serve. Don't join to fly.The board will look at the "whole person" concept. What can you bring to strengthen the army? What is your motivation for joining and how can you make us better kind of deal. To strengthen what RagMan said, I dont think flight hours count as much as you think. We have what appears to be a 50/50 split in my wocs class of those with flight hours, and those without. Everything seems to level out though. Example, someone without flight hours/certifications will have a degree and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zVo Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 Here's the skinny -- No one cares how many flight hours you have, if any.With no frame of reference, Joe Interviewing Officer, who thinks rotor blades are propellers, is going to wonder why you having 10 hours of flight time is impressive since he just spent 10 hours writing OERs. Even better is if there's a pilot at your board: he's going to want to hear about the traffic patterns you did and why pay-to-play makes you qualified for combat. Certifications are just resumé fodder. The only service that actually cares about your ratings and/or flight hours is the Air Force -- it actually counts towards a quantifiable score in your application. They're also the only service that's completely aviation-orientated. Your certifications really don't mean a lot to the Army. Be well-rounded. The two biggest things that carry weight are your recommendation letters (e.g. what they say and who they're from) and how well you do on your board interview. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apacheguy Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 It seems that having a BS in an engineering discipline helps too. And (hate to say it) being a woman or a minority helps a lot. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cantankerously Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 I had strong letters of recommendation, and bit of flight time. With the flight time I had FAA certificates, I think, if anything they are looking to see you can actually complete what you start. In my FAA certs and flight time helped me get selected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 When I applied, the "preferred prerequisite" was a private pilot certificate. Since then, that has been removed from the application process. As others have said, no one, including your IP, cares about how much time you have prior to going to WOFT. The program is designed to take a 0 hr student to graduation. If you want, take a few lessons and buy a book on helicopter aerodynamics. You'll be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 (edited) It seems that having a BS in an engineering discipline helps too. And (hate to say it) being a woman or a minority helps a lot. Edited March 19, 2015 by Velocity173 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted March 19, 2015 Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 It seems that having a BS in an engineering discipline helps too. And (hate to say it) being a woman or a minority helps a lot. Oh no you didn't. 😬 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_P148 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Oh no you didn't. 😬He can say that cause he's out now, while the leadership in the ranks mask it behind their politically correct rhetoric. I recently had a brief from an officer, this officer specifically was disapointed at the lack of minorities in the warrant officer ranks. Credibility instantly lost. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_P148 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsey Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 He can say that cause he's out now, while the leadership in the ranks mask it behind their politically correct rhetoric. I recently had a brief from an officer, this officer specifically was disapointed at the lack of minorities in the warrant officer ranks. Credibility instantly lost.Hahahaha. Unbelievable. Maybe there's a lack of minorities because we're/they're...in the *minority*? Isn't that the very definition? Whatever happened to just picking people based on their merits, and whatever color/gender they happen to be, so be it. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlaw89 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 It seems that having a BS in an engineering discipline helps too. And (hate to say it) being a woman or a minority helps a lot. Why is it that all the degrading posts on this website get the thumbs up from others? This has become a trend on VR ...geez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsey Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Why is it that all the degrading posts on this website get the thumbs up from others? This has become a trend on VR ...geez.You might need some thicker skin. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_P148 Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Why is it that all the degrading posts on this website get the thumbs up from others? This has become a trend on VR ...geez.I think this forum is generally positive. First off, that was not a degrading post. Aviation is a rough place man, there is no politically correct sanctuary when you get to your unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamer Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 My thumbs won't let me type what I want to say.... Psst, I'm still in.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Pig Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Hahahaha. Unbelievable. Maybe there's a lack of minorities because we're/they're...in the *minority*? Isn't that the very definition? Whatever happened to just picking people based on their merits, and whatever color/gender they happen to be, so be it.I don't think that world has ever existed. At least not in the last 100yrs. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted March 20, 2015 Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Yikes. Anyways, when it comes to the packet flight hours might not help you, but they can't hurt either. I focused my packet on my aviation background/aptitude. I'm not a well rounded person, I knew that, so I played to my strengths. I showed my work ethic, my persistence, and my aptitude through my letters of rec, my resume, my logbook, my test scores and my essay. I showed them that I was incredibly driven to make it into a seat and that I wasn't going to give up, and that I had a passion to serve my country in the process. It helped them overlook my academic record (barely passed high school) and my marginal PT score. Anyway, I'm not sure why well roundedness is such an attractive trait for a warrant officer, seeing as we are supposed to be are highly skilled, single-track specialty officers. My oblongness must cause me to overlook the necessity of it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apacheguy Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Why is it that all the degrading posts on this website get the thumbs up from others? This has become a trend on VR ...geez. Not sure why you found that degrading, I was merely relating some observations I made first hand. Joe's correct - I'm out of the army now and free to speak the truth. Boy does it feel good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stearmann4 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 dlaw, Civilian flight time isn't one of the factors that will "push you over the top". In fact, the expense you'll incur isn't commensurate with the little benefit you'll gain, and it most likely won't make up for a low SIFT score. The SIFT, along with your PFT is one of the discriminators the board uses to decide whether your packet goes on to be competitive or goes in the Q-NS pile. The historic board consensus is, if you have 500+ hours, or advanced ratings (instrument, commercial, CFI, etc) your hours have some real merit to the board as demonstrated "aeronautical potential". This can be a tie breaker. 50-100 hours and a private license won't do much for you, and as someone else mentioned, the fellow students who've never flown will have caught up to you by the time you start instrument phase. Army flight school is a very specific curriculum designed to take students of every experience level and standardize the finished product. If you're going to spend money on something to boost your board packet, get more college, even better a degree, that holds more merit than flight time. Yes, warrant officers are supposed to be "Technical and Tactical Experts", etc. Once you get past CW2, you start filling PLT LDR, XO positions, operations officer, and even company commander positions, so our professional education, and thus screening criteria now closely resembles that of our commissioned officers. We're starting to be utilized more like "officers" than warrant in some respects. You'll probably be able to be an untracked pilot/PC up to senior CW2, but expect to not make W3 and get your walking papers. The flying is great, and some assignments fly more or less than others, but it ends up being about 20-30% of what you do during a given work week. Mike- 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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