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Hi everyone,

I am a high school senior who is very interested in the Army's high school to flight school scholarship/program.

A little about me, I an attending an instate university in the fall and participating in NROTC. The marine corps is my first choice of branch but I am looking for every opportunity where I can serve and lead the troops that keep our country safe, hopefully while flying rotary wing aircraft. I was not interested in the Army at first, but I have worked with a WO5 who will write me a LOR and who advised me to apply for the board. Let me be clear that I am NOT applying for this as a 'back up plan' if my other plans 'don't work out'- it is something that I am genuinely interested in and committing myself to whole-heartedly.

I have been in touch with a recruiter but we have not met in person yet, I am meeting with him next week

My high school GPA is 3.8, I took the pre-asvab and got a 91... I have not taken the APFT

What I'm really looking for is some advice on my application, anything I should do or know or prepare for before I meet with the recruiter... I have been working on physical fitness and studying for the asvab, but I don't know a lot about this program.

Thank you in advance if you read all of this.

 

edited punctuation

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This is how my WOFT application went starting back in May. I first talked with a recruiter who had me fill out the standard Army paper work, places you've lived, people you know, ever gotten a ticket Etc. Next, I went and took the ASVAB, then went to MEPS to get a basic entrance physical. Took some time to study for the SIFT test before returning to MEPS again to actually take the SIFT. Spent about two month completing both phases of the Aviation divisions flight physical, passed my PT test, then returned to MEPS again for my security clearance interview and battalion board. During this time I was also working on typing and writing my 1 page "Why I want to be an Army Aviator" essay, acquiring at least 3 letter of recommendation (max of 5), and building a resume. Got that all submitted about a month ago. Now just waiting for the call to hopefully let me know I have been accepted. I think that should be the basic run down of the program....

 

Main piece of advice is be prepared to hurry up and wait things go by the Armys timeline not your own. Also, most recruiters I have heard about have never done a WOFT application before. You will need to be the expert on the process. This forum amongst others on the internet are great to gather more information about what you need to do. That is just the general overview so if you have questions feel free to ask!

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Thanks everybody... I'm in it for the long hall, I doubt I could have a package together any sooner than July. The biggest thing with this, or any military service in my future, is going to be my medical because I went through a lot of surgeries as a kid following an automobile accident. But we'll see. I'll update how my meeting with the recruiter went. MC

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I just got back from meeting with my recruiter and all I have to say is wow. He really blew me away, he's seriously the best recruiter I've ever met with. I've talked to recruiters from various branches before and when I told them I wasn't necessarily interested in enlisting right out of high school, they basically told me to take a hike. But this guy was awesome. We talked for two and a half hours. His recruiting office is a bit of a commute but it's worth it to me. We also talked about different paths to aviation, including enlistment. I'm open to enlistment, I've always been open to enlistment, as long as I can get my bachelor's eventually - which I know I can.

 

I took the pre-asvab and got an 85, next thursday I'm taking the piquette (not sure how you spell it? But it's the proctored asvab) and then next Friday I can do the confirmation test. After that it's MEPS and the PFT, and I need to start contacting people for letters of recommendation. My god, that's going to take forever.

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Slow down man... The "street to seat" program does not require your enlisting in the traditional sense. You will need to take the ASVAB and everything, so that much I'd keep working on... And It's worth it to study to be as competitive in every area as possible. Be aware, however, that "enlisting" in another MOS first is NOT the street to seat program, and very well could wind up with you doing something else for 4 years. Make sure you and he are talking about the same thing.

Best of luck

 

Mike

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All are great options, although for active army aviation I don't know that enlistment will get you there faster. A lot of posters here have been keeping the forum up to date on selection rates and "resumes" for street to seat. The more experienced members should chime in shortly, I'm just reiterating what I've read.

 

If enlistment doesn't bother you and you want/need to bolster your resume to get selected, consider the national guard to pay for your state school tuition and consider doing an aviation related job. That will also allow you to get boot camp out of the way and gain some familiarity woth your future job.

 

Mike

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If enlistment doesn't bother you....consider doing an aviation related job. That will also allow you to get boot camp out of the way and gain some familiarity with your future job.

 

Mike

Full disclosure, I am about 50% complete with my packet so take this as you will.

 

Mike has a great point. I was enlisted in the Navy as a maintainer(AM). Having the aviation related job has made the learning curve less steep. Most of my time was fixed wing, but I spend about a year on MH-60S. Helicopters are completely different animals. There is a lot to them and I'm glad I have a basic understanding of them, albeit limited.

 

I finished my enlistment, went to college on the GI Bill, now going for WOFT. I took the loooooong route. A lot of it was my own fault, but if flying is what you want to do, there are some great programs. Army has WOFT, USCG has CSPI and WiFi, USN/USMC has STA-21. USAF is weird, they are short on pilots but don't want to let anyone in(I'm sure there are reasons I am unaware of, they didn't like me, but I'm "old"). Being young you have a variety of options.

 

Enlistment isn't a bad move, but be careful and keep your eye on the prize. Anyway, that's my two cents. There is a breadth of experience on this forum and I have learned a ton in my short time here so stick around, and read a lot.

 

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

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You also may as well start studying for the SIFT along with the ASVAB. Grab a study guide, there will be some overlap with the math, and grab the FAA helicopter flying* manual and read it so you understand it.

 

There is a good thread with info on study material. Remember, with both these tests you need a minimum, but with anything in the military you always want to be as competitive as possible.

Mike

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I just took the piquette (not sure how you spell it but it's the official ASVAB) and got a 92. Next week I'm doing the 20 question check test (not sure the official title for it, but it's just to make sure you get the same score). After that its MEPS and the PFT.

 

And as of yet I don't have any letters of rec from the military folks that I asked.... So I just need to keep working on that and keep waiting.

 

And if I don't get WOFT, I'm going to go into the reserves.

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I'd caution you against that. If you don't have much else going on in life, the reserves won't be that satisfying, and without a deployment, won't pay for college. The Guard on the other hand will usually cover your tuition and fees at an in-state school. Guard units also have aviation components (I believe there may be a couple in the reserves) where you could be a mechanic, and then apply to be a pilot from within.

 

Mike

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Be mindful that regular Army recruiters handle Reserve and Active duty. Guard recruiters are a separate entity that you will need to talk to if you decide that is the route you want to go. The regular recruiters have an interest in you going Reserve or Active, you going Guard isn't something they are likely to encourage.

 

Mike

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  • 3 weeks later...

A little update, recently I learned that I got an internship with my local congressman's office for the summer. At the end of the internship, I can get a letter of recommendation from the congressman. He's a politician now but before this he was a Naval pilot flying F-18s.

 

I think having a LOR like that would be a huge asset to my WOFT packet. From what I understand, it's really important to have good letters of rec from military aviators and currently the lineup I have for letters from military people isn't stellar.

 

The internship isn't over until the first week of August. I'm going to ask my recruiter his advice but I really think my WOFT packet could benefit from this type of LOR.

 

So in that case, I wouldn't be boarded until September, which is fine by me. Everything is still up in the air right now though. Just wanted to share. MC

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello everyone,

 

In reference to this thread (WOFT) I have a question for the guys/gals who have or are currently going through the process.

 

I've started my packet early March and have taken the ASVAB and MEPS physical. I am good to go with everything else as far as qualifications (college creds, PPL, plenty of fixed wing time, no waivers for anything, etc.)

 

The real issues I believe I'm facing right now pertain to my recruiter. I am on my second recruiter as the first one got the boot for treating me like a second rate guy, obviously because he would have to do "extra work" for a WOFT candidate. No beef with recruiters, just slightly irritated with the way the Army lays no responsibility on these guys for ensuring WOFT candidates are taken care of.

 

Anyways, I am trying to evaluate is my recruiter is currently yanking my chain right now; I was supposed to be scheduled for the SIFT test on May 9th at MEPS. Today (one day before the test) I reached out the recruiter to figure out when to show up for the test. Couldnt get ahold of him all day, then I called the recruiting station CO to figure out what was going on. Didnt get much information other than to show up at a random time in the morning, but I subsequently (and probably wasn't a coincidence) got a text from my MIA recruiter saying that "MEPS has decided to cancel the SIFT for this week and hes waiting to hear when the next date will be".

 

Now normally my BullS*** detector wouldn't be going off, but I checked in with him like two weeks ago to make sure he scheduled me for the test only to be told "I don't want to schedule you more than a week out because you might drop from the system" - What ever the heck that means but OK.

 

Anyone else deal with these issues? This isn't an isolated incidence either, I've notice this recruiter has tried throwing me off on other people "like being driven to meps for the ASVAB/Etc. by someone else. Yeah hes cool as heck in person, but aren't they all? Not to mention that I was honest with him about not wanting to make a commitment to enlist if I dont get selected only to be told "well normally we won't even move forward with this process if you dont make a commitment to enlist since all this work may be for nothing, but ill make an exception" - Right you are making an exception to do your job, whatever.

 

Simple fact that needs to be cleared up: As long as you actually do everything to compile your packet (documents, letter, LORs, APFT, DA photo, etc.) on your own, and use the recruiter only to schedule your various test and appointments, then never listen to the BS about it being "no credit for doing extra work" deal. Fact- Recruiting offices receive credit for having enlisted 2 recruits if your packet is accepted. If not selected, then no harm done, as you wouldn't actually believe how many potential enlistees end up getting DQ'ed down the line for stupid sh*t like denied physical waivers and moral issues. So having a decent WOFT applicant try, and end up getting "Not Selected", is just part of life for recruiters, not a reason to act unprofessionally towards an applicant that just started the process.

 

Feel free to share your experiences.

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Damn, that sucks.... I have a pretty decent recruiter though so can't relate. He didn't talk to me about "enlisting" straight up, he never used that word specifically, but he did ask me if I was committed to pursuing other paths to aviation, which I'm sure includes enlisting. But I digress.

 

Anyone else?

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It is not that uncommon for MEPS to cancel special testing like the SIFT. I had it happen once or twice at least. Sometimes projections for tests don't go through either (late normally), which is also a possibility. I know it can be very frustrating having to go through a recruiter when you know you are not their top priority, but be persistent and don't rely on them for anything you don't have to.

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It is not that uncommon for MEPS to cancel special testing like the SIFT. I had it happen once or twice at least. Sometimes projections for tests don't go through either (late normally), which is also a possibility. I know it can be very frustrating having to go through a recruiter when you know you are not their top priority, but be persistent and don't rely on them for anything you don't have to.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

After I made that post, I ended up calling MEPS and talking with the test control officer. Turns out they actually had applicants sitting for the SIFT test that morning, the same morning I was supposed to be scheduled for it, the same morning my recruiter told me that MEPS cancelled all SIFT testing. LOL I'll tell ya, that was quite an interesting conversation I ended up having between my recruiter, me and his First Sergeant.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone,

 

So it's been a hot minute since I posted last. I've been pretty busy with working full time at my job plus I had a family member in the hospital. But just wanted to say that I have my first letter of recommendation locked down from a great CW4. Everything else is still in the works. MC

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