Army Aviation - Active vs. Guard vs. Reserves

zero610 · July 19, 2010

All,

I was hoping someone could shed some light on the different aviation paths with the Army. After doing research myself, I know there is a lot of information out there but I feel like I'm on information overload right now.

My questions are as follows:

1. I know "street to seat" positions are available in the active duty Army for Warrant Officers; however, I can't tell if that same path is available in the Reserves and National Guard.

2. If there are "street to seat" positions available in the National Guard or reserves, what is the difference between them? Do I have a better chance of getting into one or another with NO prior military experience?

3. What is the length of deployment usually for Warrant Officers? I thought I read no more than 24 months overseas (out of your 6 year ADSO). Is that true?

Thanks in advance for any help.

heloidaho · July 20, 2010

It is hard to be super specific on some questions, but here are some quick answers:

1. Street to seat positions are not available in the Guard. The Reserves could be different, but I can't chime in on that. For Guard people, you have to enlist first and spent about a year in your MOS to be elibigle to apply.

2. Guard applications and requirements for boards are slightly different from active duty. Here in Idaho, the board was made up of my future bosses. They evaluated packets and made selections. The number of slots and challenge to get one will vary from year to year. Some years the Guard gets more slots than others. Some years they get more applicants than others. It will vary state to state, unit to unit, and year to year.

3. I dont have any good information for this question. Our local Guard unit hasnt been spending 2 out of 6 years deployed as far as I know. Im sure some airframes and units deploy more than others, and this Id also guess that this also varies greatly depending on military status.

If you want more information about the Guard, the best way is to contact the local recruiter for the state you are interested in. Personally, I love the Guard, but it isnt for everyone and it has its own advantages and disadvantages. Id look at those qualities when picking between active duty and the guard more than I would look at the ease of getting a slot. Both sides of the house take time and effort to join.

Hope that is as clear as mud now.

Edited July 20, 2010 by heloidaho

zero610 · July 20, 2010

Well, it is clearer mud now at least. Certain aspects of the Guard do sound appealing. I'm going to look into the Texas Guard. If any posters on here have experience with TX, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it. Thanks.

zero610 · July 20, 2010

Found this today through some searches.

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/blarenlistmentprogram-11.htm

Is the best place to find out about this program to talk to a normal army recruiter? Anyone know if it is even still in effect? I feel like I hear stories about recruiters trying to push you away from joining as a Warrant Officer - so I can only imagine if I go in there asking about Army Reserve WOFT.

RagMan · July 20, 2010

Deployments for Army aviation units are typically 12 months at a time, and that is Active/Guard/Reserve. For a majority of the Active units right now they are doing about a year on/year off deployment schedule. I'm not sure about about the Guard or Reserve.