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Total Hours at end of service commitment WOFT


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  • 4 weeks later...

Well in addition to merely graduating from WOCS, my new goal is to get through the course without drinking a single cup of coffee :D

 

It's very possible. I was one of several in the class that never had coffee. Had Mello Yello a couple times though.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I had to register to post on this forum just to clear up some bad info that's being posted!

 

Flight hours will depend on airframe but I can assure you that 90% of the time you will significantly exceed your minimums. At the end of my initial six years I had just over 2300 hours. Granted there were some high hour deployments factored in. That being said I have been an Army Aviator for 9 years and I have at LEAST doubled my minimums every year.

 

As far as promotions the 3 year requirement for promotion to CW2 IS IN EFFECT. This is per CW5 Mike Reese, the current aviation branch CWOB. In addition it is now 5 years time in grade to be boarded and pinning in the sixth year for promotion to CW3-CW5. These policies are currently in effect now. For you guys that are W1s now I am not sure how this will effect you, you may be grandfathered in, but I can assure you it will effect your peers. That being said whether you realize it or not this is a good thing, you will now have time to learn at your unit as "just a W1" if you screw something up people cut you some slack. That goes away when that second dot shows up. Now from outside the unit you look the same as the CW2 IP / MTP with three deployments and 2000+ hours. Guys were showing up to units as CW2s and never getting the opportunity to just learn.

 

Finally a small piece of advice, if you are currently in flight school or waiting to go, flight hours should be your LOWEST priority. Focus on getting through flight school, getting to your unit and making RL1, then becoming a PRODUCTIVE member of your unit. The flight time will come. There are always pilots who sit around the planning room complaining about not flying. These are the same guys that never get off their assess and do anything. These are the guys that complain about not becoming PCs when they can barely perform their assigned extra duties to standard. Trust me the flight hours are there, who earns the right to fly them is up to you and your motivation level. When you get to a unit, find the test pilots and tag along with them like a lost puppy. You might work all day and get to fly a .5 but your peers and superiors will notice. Then when it comes time to do some real flying whose name do you think is going to be at the top of the list? I can assure you that its not going to be the guys sitting around watching youtube videos. You may never want to be a maintenance pilot, but the things you will learn early in your career by just absorbing what they are doing and being around the aircraft will eventually pay huge dividends.

 

Sorry if I sound like I'm on a soap box but I really want to set up guys for success. I see it all the time where guys have no clue what they are in for once they go to a unit, some seem to think they are entitled to tons of flight time and they end up getting disenchanted, and some never recover and get out. Your success as an Army Aviator is dependent on your attitude and work ethic, those two factors alone will take you further then any natural ability to wiggle the sticks or memorize 5 & 9 ever will.

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^ Well put! I just returned from Rucker with 134 hrs total with a handful of UH60 hrs. I play the role of "johnny on the spot" whenever the IP's need anything in my unit. They can tell I am motivated and it has translated into more flight hours (slightly) than my peers. Just trying to get to RL1!

 

All the newbie Aviators (like me) are hoping for a deployment. That seems to be where the flight time is. Good luck at Flight School!

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Navy-Marine students in flight school get about 70-80 hours fixed wing and about 150 hours rotary. I have to go check my logbook but I think thats in the ballpark. I came out of flight school with my commercial pilots license, ASEL, rotorcraft, and instrument airplane and helicopter ratings. Coming out of your first tour under 1000 hours (all turbine) is uncommon.

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