Another civilian new guy.

[Dougw133]

Another bunch of questions about WOFT from a civilian. I read through the forums as much as I could. I am posting to ask a few questions I didn't feel my reading fulfilled. I appreciate any insight/opinions/answers.

 

I am a 27 year old male. I am a Philadelphia Fire Department FF/NREMT-P. I currently precept PJ's as all have to pass through our Department for their ride a long trauma training. That is the closest to military I have been .

 

I have wanted to be a pilot since I was a kid like everyone else. Rotocraft in particular. I have always dabbled with the idea of enlisting at least as a reserve in the army. Most of my research yielded a hard truth that to be a pilot in the military you must have a degree. I do not. I have a certificate as a Paramedic. One last ditch effort found me here, as I see it may be possible to pursue this without a degree as of yet. I do not plan on staying with the Philadelphia Fire Department as it was not my intention in the first place. I came here for experience and boy did I get it.

I believe I posses a few unique qualities and experience related to Emergency services, discipline and para military/military structure. I am very good with technology. I build computers, program code, anything that interest's me I seem to do well with.

 

As a civilian off the street Is it truly realistic to get a shot at a seat? Obviously provided I work as hard as possible at it which I intend to do. I don't expect to jump right in and I understand work, time, and patience is paramount prior to anything else.

 

My fear is following a recruiter down the wrong path or ending up some where I do not want to be and not getting a shot.

 

So...

 

No college degree. Ok/Not ok?

National Guard or Amry, I truly don't know the difference in requirements for flight.

Step 1, recruiter?

Is the App packet prior to enlisting/basic training? Or is it packet, tests, board, basic, flight school?

Are there reservist pilots or do you have to be active?

What should my very first step be?

 

I appreciate anyone looking at this and more over any responses. Thank you, Doug

[TxAg08]

Hey Doug,

 

The answers to most every question you will have have been answered in these forums. You can also go to USAREC Warrant Officer Recruiting to get a lot of information.

 

Some quick answers for you though

 

No you don't need a degree. But it could help since getting accepted to WOFT has been very competitive for the last couple of years. There have been people taken without one though.

 

You can do national guard or active duty. I believe to fly there is a 3 year active duty requirement unless you enlist in the national guard and apply for WOFT from there. Be aware that it is a 1-2 year process from BCT to Pinning. So you're going to basically be active anyway from my understanding.

 

Recruiter shouldn't be your first step as you will see if you READ THE POSTS HERE. They typicaly know very little about WOCS or WOFT. You should gather as much information as you can, probably make contact with some active or former WO's and decide if this is really what you want to do. Then go to the recruiter and basically use them to schedule your appointments. Once I'm 100% go for it I'm going to have as much done as I can by myself then go to the recruiter to minimize my interaction with him. I've heard some horror stories.

 

You can drop your packet and get all the tests, physicals, interviews, and acceptance before ever enlisting. Once you are accepted though I believe the rule is 3 days to contact your recruiter and a very short time after that you need to have enlisted.

[ripperoo]

Welcome and yes you have a chance. Everyone does, being a EMT IMO would be a great asset to the army.

 

I will attempt to answer your questions to the best of my ability, anyone who is more knowledgeable feel free to correct me.

 

College is not required, its good but I would still go for it. You have real life experience.

 

Decide what you want to go for, active duty (full time) or national guard reserve (part time). I do not know about the steps for the guard or reserves. I am going active duty.

 

First step look at the US Army recruiting website see the requirements for a Warrant Officer Flight packet. My advise is to do a bit of research before you head to the recruiters. Learn about what needs to be done. You are going to have to be proactive with your recruiter.

 

You can put together a packet together as a civilian or enlist and put together a flight packet.

 

 

Persistence is key when putting together a packet. Like i said you have to be proactive and follow up. You have to do a lot of the work yourself, I started my packet like 9 months before I was accepted, from start to finish. I was lucky some of the people here took a bit longer. Some people take less time.

 

Everyone in the recruiting office knew my name after the first week. I am heading to WOCS soon but I will answer any questions that I know. Good luck!

[NorCalHeliKid]

I have a very similar backround, same age and no college. Im here, and most Warrants do not have college degrees but some do. Active Army will get you the full-time job, reserves and NG will be part-time, so youll want to keep your current job. Find a recruiter who is willing to help you organize the packet, the rest is easy, take the AFAST, ASVAB, and PT test and then Flight Physical from Army Physician, and send it to the recruiting BN via the recuiter. Youll get an interview and if accepted you can enlist and head to BCT, WOCS, BOLC, SERE-C, HOST, and then ...flight school! You can PM me or email me if you have specific questions but as first impressions go, you seem qualified. Anything you need to know is fairly easy to find on the internet as well. Ignore the Warrant Recruiting Website, all info is for prior service.

[Dougw133]

Thanks for the insight guys. After some serious thought I feel reserve or guard would best suit me. I'm not ready to give up being a Paramedic completely as it is something I love doing. I also don't want to be a medic in the army because I've honestly seen enough carnage for a life time and don't need anymore. I am trying to now research differences, positives, negatives between NG and Army Reserve. Thanks again guys. Good luck to both of you. Stay safe.

[Pogue]

Thanks for the insight guys. After some serious thought I feel reserve or guard would best suit me. I'm not ready to give up being a Paramedic completely as it is something I love doing. I also don't want to be a medic in the army because I've honestly seen enough carnage for a life time and don't need anymore. I am trying to now research differences, positives, negatives between NG and Army Reserve. Thanks again guys. Good luck to both of you. Stay safe.

If you go Aviation in the Guard you will do combat deployments, or at least contingency operations (Kosovo, Kuwait, etc). We go about every third year now. How intense the combat is will depend on platform, with the Scouts being most up close and personal, followed by the Apaches. Black Hawk and Chinook are generally people and equipment movers. While they do happen there aren't that many air assaults - it's mostly ring route kind of stuff.

 

If you're looking at the Guard each state has different kinds of units, so unlike the regular army you will know what kind of helicopter you'll be getting in to. Guard generally wants you to enlist and then apply to flight training, but I've heard of people getting in directly to flight training - I think it's a state kind of thing. Keep in mind that just because you're in Philly doesn't mean you can't enlist in the NJ, NY or MD National Guard if they have the platform you want. Each state operates a little differently and has different needs. You will be on your own to make drills and additional flight training periods so bear that in mind if you look out of state.

 

Do not talk to a recruiter until you already know the answers. Once you talk to them they expect to be your single point of contact and due to their anti poaching rules it can be very difficult to talk with anyone else. They also generally know very little about the various flying programs. You should be able to make arrangements to talk to the local units on your own. Call them during the week and schedule a visit. Don't just show up on a drill weekend as they'll be too busy. If you and a unit decide that you're a good fit, they'll be able to hook you up with a recruiter and you'll already know people to help smooth things out. You will still have to do all the packet preparation and selection process.

[Dougw133]

A lot of good information above, I thank you. I am prepared and understand deployment is going to happen. One piece of information I am trying to find out is length and schedule of Flight School. I understand Basic is general 9 weeks, and WOCS to be 6-7 weeks. I also understand flight school at Ft. Rucker to be 2 years? What kind of opportunity is there to go home during flight school? Weekend here and there type thing or none at all? What's the schedule like?

 

Also, LOR's.

 

How many? I really don't know many Army Aviators. I can my Philadelphia Fire Department Station Captains and Battalion Chief's to write as well quite a few Firefighters that are also Military. I am unsure of their ranks at the moment. Do I have to have a high ranking individual write a letter?

 

As always, Thank you.