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reserves/irr to woft


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Hi everyone, I am going to be attending college next year. I have my sights set on WOFT after I graduate. A recruiter told me that I should enlist as a 15t (Blackhawk maintainer) first and then go to college on the GI Bill and, after I graduate, put in my WOFT packet, and this will look really good on my application. I am hesitant to do this because then I would finish college at 26-28 years old, which I would rather not do. Would it be worth it to enlist as a 15t in the reserves so I can serve while in college and then put in my WOFT packet after I graduate college? Would being a reserve 15T look good on my WOFT packet? Also, would it be better to apply for WOFT while in the active reserves or the IRR?

Thank you in advance for the advice and I apologize if this question has been asked before.

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Having a degree would look good but not required. I submitted my packet only having like 7 college credits and I am a supply guy, never been around army aviation community before. At the end, I got selected after the board.

 

Question, are you trying to go WOFT for active or reserves/guard? If active, you can definitely apply as civilian. If reserves/guard, ask if your state does street to seat, if not, then most likely you would have to enlist.

 

As for the MOS, its highly suggested to be a helicopter maintainer but you can pick anything. I enlisted as supply in the guard because I didn't want to go to AIT again after my active duty days. I just told my recruiter to stick me in aviation unit that way, I can start networking with the aviation community in the guard.

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Thanks for the reply! I am looking to go WOFT for active after I finish college. I figured that one way to boost my packet would be to serve in the reserves while in college. this is beneficial because I can learn about the Army aviation community, build connections, possibly get flight time as aircrew, and get money which I can use to get private flight lessons. The only downside of this, that I can see, is that I will have much less free time then other students.

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Unfortunately it is impossible to project how competitive it will be 4 years from now. If it is like it is now, you should have no issue with or without the reserves/guard as long as you are a decent applicant. Its also possible demand for pilots will drop and you'll need to be a superstar to be competitive.

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I'm going on the assumption that my year will be a worst case scenario, meaning low acceptance rate. with that assumption, I am trying to figure out ways to be better then the next applicant. I don't want to do the reserves though and end up having a tough time transferring to active WOFT, so that is my big concern now.

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If your state Guard/Reserves has an aviation unit it might be worth joining. Worst case if you make yourself known around the unit and you aren't competitive for active WOFT, you may have a shot within that state. Keep in mind the Guard/Reserves side isn't a terrible place to be. You'll fly the same minimums (or more) and have a lot less tertiary stuff to do... but you'll need a real job unless/until you find a full time position in the Guard.

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I would much rather go active so if anyone knows if you can apply to active WOFT from reserves or IRR, please let me know. My recruiter of course said it would be super easy, but I'm going to take that with a grain of salt.

To my knowledge, with both IRR and reserves you would need a 368 conditional release. I have a few buddies who did it and it seems much easier to get from IRR compared to reserves.

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