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Private School vs. Military


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I am 24 looking to graduate with a BA in business. I was planning on getting my commercial license and hopefully becoming a helicopter salesman/pilot or possibly EMS pilot. I have looked into many schools, but with today's economy I doubt I'll get the financing nor do I really feel comfortable taking out a $50,000+ loan. I've been thinking that maybe the military might be a good option. I doubt the military will be going out of business. I would also like to get an MBA. The only problem is that I'm not really the military type and most require a 10 year commitment. Does anyone know much about this? How frequently would I be flying? What venue is best? Air Force, Navy, Army, etc.???? Please help!!!!!! Where do I start?

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I am 24 looking to graduate with a BA in business. I was planning on getting my commercial license and hopefully becoming a helicopter salesman/pilot or possibly EMS pilot. I have looked into many schools, but with today's economy I doubt I'll get the financing nor do I really feel comfortable taking out a $50,000+ loan. I've been thinking that maybe the military might be a good option. I doubt the military will be going out of business. I would also like to get an MBA. The only problem is that I'm not really the military type and most require a 10 year commitment. Does anyone know much about this? How frequently would I be flying? What venue is best? Air Force, Navy, Army, etc.???? Please help!!!!!! Where do I start?

 

I would say your first step is to really figure out what you want. If you want to be a pilot, focus on that. If you want to get an MBA and work in a field more closely related to that, perhaps look into school over flight school.

 

The military is a good way to get some training, funding for future education, and overall the chance to do something important and improve yourself as a person. However, weight these benefits against the costs, specifically the cost of the time out of your life. I'm not sure as to the commitment they are looking for but it seems to me that if you're already 24, 10 years down the road may be a little late to transfer over and get into the civil pilot pool. Add to that the time spent getting your MBA after you get out...

 

In the end the choice is yours, but I'd carefully consider the path you'd like your life to take and then decide which is the right choice for you.

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I am 24 looking to graduate with a BA in business. I was planning on getting my commercial license and hopefully becoming a helicopter salesman/pilot or possibly EMS pilot. I have looked into many schools, but with today's economy I doubt I'll get the financing nor do I really feel comfortable taking out a $50,000+ loan. I've been thinking that maybe the military might be a good option. I doubt the military will be going out of business. I would also like to get an MBA. The only problem is that I'm not really the military type and most require a 10 year commitment. Does anyone know much about this? How frequently would I be flying? What venue is best? Air Force, Navy, Army, etc.???? Please help!!!!!! Where do I start?

 

 

I've said it a few times before, but if you don't want to go into the military or you don't see yourself adapting well to the military lifestyle, it's going to be a very difficult route for you. Everything is mission oriented and I've heard many pilots complain about it. In the military, you're a pilot, but you're also a soldier. You are expected to preform dangerous missions that put you in harms way. I love it because I really believe in what I'm doing, but a lot of people get burnt out on it.

 

If you want to go to OCS and become a commissioned officer (in the Army anyways), you're not going to be flying as long as you would as a warrant officer. I have a lot of pilots in my company that gave up their commission to go warrant because they just didn't like it. There are other posts on here about going "street to seat" (basicly coming in as a warrant officer and going straight into a pilot slot), but typically they recruit out of people who are already in the military and bust their a$$es going through a long processes to become a warrant officer. Basically, the military route is doable, but its difficult if it's not where you want to be. The National Guard can also be a happy medium you might want to look into if you decide to go the military route.

 

As far as how much you would be flying, it can vary, but generally you can rack up a lot of hours... Especially if you deploy. It's also a good chance to get trained in external load operations, turbine aircraft, NVG operations, search and rescue, and a whole bunch of skills that employers look for on the outside.

 

The civilian route works better for some people, but as you said, it's expensive and trying to get financing is a nightmare right now. It's all a matter of whether you'd rather put in a whole bunch of work to get there or pay a whole bunch of money. Either way, you're paying your ass off for your flight training. Whether it's from blood sweat and tears or from eating Top Ramen for a few years... You're going to end up with an uphill battle on your hands.

 

But hey... If it was easy, everyone would be a helicopter pilot B)

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Whether you choose to go civilian or military, you're going to dedicate a lot of time to flying. The truth of the matter is that flying becomes your life. You need to know all aspects of flying helicopters; aerodynamics, aircraft limitations and emergency procedures, regulations, etc. The list goes on and on.

Should you choose military, Army is flat out the best way to go. Its the way you can guarantee you'll be flying helicopters and really get the most flying time. "Street to seat" program, becoming a warrant officer is how its done. The committment? As a warrant officer you have a 6 year obligation, that starts after you complete flight school. Right now, it'll take you a little over 2 years to go from basic training to graduating flight school. That may change as they work to shorten hold times in flight school.

Not the military type? People in the military come from all walks of life. Just because you weren't into JROTC in high school doesn't mean you aren't meant to be in the military. As stated above, its a great way to better yourself, challenge yourself, and just maybe find something you really enjoy. Worst case, you spend part of your life serving your country and still come out of it ready to fly on the civilian side.

People are concerned with the economy, and the military definitely has some security. Everyone who's done the civilian flight training can say how nice it would be not to have that big school loan to pay off, too.

It will certainly vary depending on what aircraft you fly, what unit you end up in and how much you deploy, but its safe to say that come the end of your commitment you should have at least 1000 hours that will get you a job flying on the civilian side. Army pilots have to maintain 48 hours of flight time every 6 months, so much of that is NVG flying, Instrument flying, etc. that 48 hours is the minimum.

 

If I can be of any help, feel free to PM me. I'm currently at Fort Rucker going through flight school. I'm also a CFII that did my time teaching in an R-22. I'm in the National Guard, so after I finish here, my resume will be going out looking for a full time flying job and my part time job will be a UH-60 MEDEVAC pilot.

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Thanks everyone for your help. The information you have shared has been very useful. Working on the business side, such as sales, in most cases requires a comm license so either way I have to do my flight training. Its just a matter of how. Thanks again!

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