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July 2015 Board


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Oh what the hell (I was avoiding posting stats; superstitious...)

 

Age: 31

AFQT/GT: 99/135

SIFT: 75

APFT: Taking tuesday. doing about a 250-260 right now...stupid situps...

Civilian Education: BSN (nursing)

Flight Physical: Complete and waiver free (waiting on rucker stamp, should be this week)

Flight Experience: 10.9 hours helicopter

LOR's: College prof, Army Capt. Recruiting commander (friend), fellow RN colleague. Just could NOT get a local WO on the darn phone! Gerr....mumble grumble...

Waiver: None

Occupation: Registered nurse of 7 years.

Other: CCRN certified.

I'm still not clear on this whole thing....so does USAREC have a separate board after battalion for us "long hairs"? I was under the assumption that the battalion level board is sort of a "screening" and the final decision is USAREC (in this case, that would mean monthly board still happens and the USAREC board is still taking place in September, which means we are still waiting even after battalion).

Is this accurate or does passing the battalion board mean the applicant is definitely going to WOCS? I'm all escited 'n stuff. :) Best of luck to everybody, AD, RES and CIV. May the odds be ever in your favor.

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Oh what the hell (I was avoiding posting stats; superstitious...)

 

Age: 31

AFQT/GT: 99/135

SIFT: 75

APFT: Taking tuesday. doing about a 250-260 right now...stupid situps...

Civilian Education: BSN (nursing)

Flight Physical: Complete and waiver free (waiting on rucker stamp, should be this week)

Flight Experience: 10.9 hours helicopter

LOR's: College prof, Army Capt. Recruiting commander (friend), fellow RN colleague. Just could NOT get a local WO on the darn phone! Gerr....mumble grumble...

Waiver: None

Occupation: Registered nurse of 7 years.

Other: CCRN certified.

I'm still not clear on this whole thing....so does USAREC have a separate board after battalion for us "long hairs"? I was under the assumption that the battalion level board is sort of a "screening" and the final decision is USAREC (in this case, that would mean monthly board still happens and the USAREC board is still taking place in September, which means we are still waiting even after battalion).

Is this accurate or does passing the battalion board mean the applicant is definitely going to WOCS? I'm all escited 'n stuff. :) Best of luck to everybody, AD, RES and CIV. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Get a CWO, a LOR from one is really big.

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Get a CWO, a LOR from one is really big.

Would LOVE to have one! So far no luck. Getting contact info for a CWO is confusing enough, then when you are able to leave voice mails, no call backs. With all the comments about how common obtaining LORs from CWOs is for civilians, I'm really wondering if this is accurate. Everyone I've physically spoken to gets this very confused sound to their voice "but...they don't know you..." And honestly, YEAH! That's correct! They don't know me! Why it would matter to the board that a stranger is recommending me really makes no sense IMHO. It just doesn't seem to be the common or well known thing so many forum posts claim it is...

 

Interesting anecdote: the only reason I was able to get a CWO5 to talk to me was because of a work friend of my wife's who set up a phone call. Yup! My wife is the big cheese at the moment :). But now no call backs from him either or the CWOs he directed me towards (and yes, I dropped his name when I called them, still nothing back). Really kind of frustrating. But we shall see. Really shouldn't sweat it I suppose, Just want to have done everything possible for this packet. I will pray to the swash plate. Perhaps the spirit of the teeter bearing shall shine blessings upon me. But I digress.....

 

I've heard of applicants hanging around the hangar till someone sees them and directs them to the appropriate office. Is this really how people go about it? Just seems...odd....

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I contacted a USAR AH-64/UH-60 pilot I was acquainted with over on reddit.com/r/army, and he hooked me up with a CW4. That's not the norm, but it is one way to go. Contact the nearest NG/USAR aviation unit and ask for a senior warrant for an interview. Try the nearest federal base that has aviation assets as well.

 

I can't stress it enough, a LOR from a CWO is big.

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Won2be,

 

When you get a hold of a CWO for the purposes of obtaining an LOR, I would maybe approach it from the verbiage of "If possible I'd like to interview with you for the purpose of obtaining a Letter of recommendation for my WOC application." For a WO that doesn't know you, it's much less pressure than "I need an LOR".

 

Like any other job interview, I'd offer to email your resume, photo and any other pertinent information for him/her to review at their leisure, then follow up with a call or email a week or so later. This eases the transition from "stranger stalking me for an LOR", to someone a WO has had at least a few hours to get to know on paper. And frankly, the more familiar the WO is with you, the more passionate and convincing your LOR will be.

 

By the way, these are not WO trade secrets, you can read up on these techniques from just about any reputable job hunting/interview books.

 

I just realized, I have 2LTs, and 2 WO1s at Rucker right now that I had a hand in. Its pretty cool to see your replacements in action.

 

Mike-

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Thank you for the advice gentlemen. Its funny, I even made up a script before calling each lead so I wouldn't forget anything; analyzed it beforehand, ensuring thoroughness and respect. I was referred by the CWO5 of the state hoping his reference would act as an "icebreaker." No dice.

 

Making a CWO reference as a de facto requirement regardless of if they actually know the applicant has always seemed odd to me. I understand that active aviators know better than anyone about what makes a good applicant. Still, it makes the process smell of the "who you know, not what you can do" corporate style variety. I'm probably over-thinking the thing (what with the constant drone of "get a CWO reference! You'll really be glad you did" all over this forum) its hard not to. I'm hoping that some people have gotten the opportunity to serve without that particular reference.

 

I guess I'll find out soon enough. And at the pace this endless application process is going, "soon" is probably anywhere from 6-12 months. :)

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Thank you for the advice gentlemen. Its funny, I even made up a script before calling each lead so I wouldn't forget anything; analyzed it beforehand, ensuring thoroughness and respect. I was referred by the CWO5 of the state hoping his reference would act as an "icebreaker." No dice.

 

Making a CWO reference as a de facto requirement regardless of if they actually know the applicant has always seemed odd to me. I understand that active aviators know better than anyone about what makes a good applicant. Still, it makes the process smell of the "who you know, not what you can do" corporate style variety. I'm probably over-thinking the thing (what with the constant drone of "get a CWO reference! You'll really be glad you did" all over this forum) its hard not to. I'm hoping that some people have gotten the opportunity to serve without that particular reference.

 

I guess I'll find out soon enough. And at the pace this endless application process is going, "soon" is probably anywhere from 6-12 months. :)

Have to stay after it. Took me a few months to get in touch with a CW5 through networking. Remember, the board only has a few minutes to look through your entire packet. Having a senior warrant officer LOR shows that someone in the ranks got to see you or speak to you for more than 3-5 minutes. Essentially "vetting" you. One of the things you will learn if you get selected, warrants are responsible for stewardship of the profession. This applies through many avenues such as mentorship and helping good people join our ranks. On the reverse side it also helps steer away those that dont possess the right qualities that are wanted in warrant officers. So its not so much a "who you know" type thing(it can be), but getting a LOR from a senior warrant shows that you were able to find a way and show that you were at least deserving of the time taken to write such letter.

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Think of it like this... It isn't about who you know, it's about how far you will go to get this packet done the right way. No, lacking a CWO LOR won't kill you - but having one will show the lengths you'll go to in order to have the best application possible.

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Its really not a "who you know" thing. senior WOs are reminded periodically that it's in our best interest to assist aspiring WOCs in an effort to strengthen the WO Corps with good folks.

 

A good LOR doesn't;t need to be written by someone who knows you intimately (not THAT kind of intimate). A good corporate quality interview prefaced by a well written resume tells me pretty much all I need to know about a candidate.

 

Mike-

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Not sure why this part of the process always seems to be the one that a lot of prospective applicants get hung up on. I think it's because people concentrate on LOR's before they even have a packet together. It's really simple: Get your packet completed, not "I'm waiting on my college/boss/whatever to send me a crucial document", but absolutely solid by the checklist. Then contact a Senior WO and state "Sir, I (looked you up on global, googled your CAB's unit page, am a friend of your wife's brother's uncles sister's neighbor's cousin twice removed, etc etc) and I want more than anything to become an Army Aviator. I have completed a WOFT packet and I was wondering if you would be willing to review it and recommend me as an Aviation Warrant Officer should you decide that I am what Army is looking for. I am available any time for a face to face interview. It really is that easy. You can always give them a WARNO, but understand that nobody is going to want to interview you until your packet is done.

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Not sure why this part of the process always seems to be the one that a lot of prospective applicants get hung up on. I think it's because people concentrate on LOR's before they even have a packet together. It's really simple: Get your packet completed, not "I'm waiting on my college/boss/whatever to send me a crucial document", but absolutely solid by the checklist. Then contact a Senior WO and state "Sir, I (looked you up on global, googled your CAB's unit page, am a friend of your wife's brother's uncles sister's neighbor's cousin twice removed, etc etc) and I want more than anything to become an Army Aviator. I have completed a WOFT packet and I was wondering if you would be willing to review it and recommend me as an Aviation Warrant Officer should you decide that I am what Army is looking for. I am available any time for a face to face interview. It really is that easy. You can always give them a WARNO, but understand that nobody is going to want to interview you until your packet is done.

Yup. That about sums it up lol.

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  • 1 month later...

Well, this week would have been the week of the selection board. Honestly, considering how things went down last November, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. November got cancelled last year, but some civilians still got looked at and pick up for WOFT, so I am hoping that they may do the same this time around. If not... well here's to another 2 months of waiting.

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