JAv Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 Advice needed. I am a E-5 soldier, currently in Illinois ARNG. I want to become an airline pilot and I want to continue serving in ARNG. Option1. Recently I became very curious on how to become an Aviation Warrant Officer in ARNG. From what I understand an aviator is busy, more than one weekend a month. Putting together a packet for WOFT will take me at least 1 year. Graduating Ft. Rucker and coming back to my unit - another 2 years. So, in about 3-4 years I will have ~ 200 hours of rotary wing experience. And slowly start getting my ratings for fixed wing (2 years maybe). Option 2. I will continue doing the one weekend a month, doing what I am doing, and start throwing my money and get my fix wing PPL. After that, with my money and GI Bill (on VA website they said VA will pay only $12k - $13k a year) I can get all my ratings and qualifications up to multi engine with in about 2 years of hard work. Probably I will have ~ 280 - 300 hours of fix wing experience. Option 3? Is there any way I can combine option 1 & 2? Is being an aviator in the ARNG a bonus, or will drag me back for whatever reason (schedule, responsibilities, etc...)? If God knows how and I get those 1200 - 1500 hours and I I can apply for airlines, they will have a problem hiring me knowing that they have to share me with the ARNG and mess with their schedule more often then they like to? Are there any pilots here that are doing both, ARNG Aviation and flying for airlines (if this is a thing) and would like to share their experience, I will greatly appreciate it. I am missing something? I don’t mind any corrections if I said something that is not true or real, I am looking for advice for my specific situation. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbussma Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 Last I saw, you'll graduate from Rucker with ~130 or so flight hours. If the airlines are your end goal, pick the option that is going to get you there the quickest. Seniority is everything. A significant piece you missed is the R-ATP you will be eligible for by attending a military flight training program. Instead of the usual 1500 total hours (that you will have to have by going with option 2), you will only need 750. By the time you graduate flight school, go through progression, and get all of your add-on ratings, you will probably be over 500 hours. If you're really desperate for money, airlines are offering up to $50k bonuses up front to military pilots to use for flight training expenses. I know of one of our younger guys who is already at a regional less than a year out of flight school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAv Posted January 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 9 hours ago, rbussma said: I know of one of our younger guys who is already at a regional less than a year out of flight school. By flight school, you mean Ft Rucker? That means is possible to combine ARNG Aviation and a regional airline... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedude Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 It’s possible but you will need 750 hours minimum to get your RATP. You’ll come out of flight school with about 150 hours and will generally fly 150ish hours a year for the Army, plus or minus depending on aircraft availability, motivation and deployments. You’ll either need a couple years to build hours or will spend a significant amount of money on civilian flight training to meet the 750 minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAv Posted January 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 16 minutes ago, Thedude said: It’s possible but you will need 750 hours minimum to get your RATP. You’ll come out of flight school with about 150 hours and will generally fly 150ish hours a year for the Army, plus or minus depending on aircraft availability, motivation and deployments. You’ll either need a couple years to build hours or will spend a significant amount of money on civilian flight training to meet the 750 minimum. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrhoodhimself07 Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 I have a buddy in the NG that went in the WOFT program. He was prior active duty with me at Bragg. He said he literally took the SIFT and Flight Physical and that was it. I am putting my packet together and he did not have to do ANY of that. He is in the Indiana NG though. Shoot me a DM and lets talk about some options, maybe I can help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbussma Posted January 10, 2020 Report Share Posted January 10, 2020 On 1/7/2020 at 10:45 PM, JAv said: By flight school, you mean Ft Rucker? That means is possible to combine ARNG Aviation and a regional airline... Yes, and yes. You will be a traditional part time pilot in the National Guard unless you specifically pursue and apply for full time positions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAv Posted January 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2020 2 hours ago, rbussma said: Yes, and yes. You will be a traditional part time pilot in the National Guard unless you specifically pursue and apply for full time positions. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike0331 Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 We have a seemingly increasing number of pilots in my state doing it. Some say it is totally manageable, others say it is not. I think like most things in life, your mileage may vary and a lot will be your attitude and flexibility. From what I understand, there are also some creative ways to utilize the GI bill for add-on fixed wing ratings (and hours) after getting your ratings from IERW. Almost everyone does say that being a pilot in the Guard with most traditional jobs is difficult. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM1 Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 First of all most of you have the 750 hours confused with what they need to be in. It’s 750 hours total flight time with generally 250 being fixed wing. You can conditionally be hired on by most regional airlines the day you graduate IERW which starts building your seniority and they will pay for ALL of your ratings to start instructing and once you hit 750 hours you start working with your R-ATP that they pay for as well. It doesn’t have to be 750 military flight hours. The only requirement is being a military pilot. Join the RTAG groups on Facebook for concrete evidence of what I’m saying and how it works. If you have questions message me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted February 14, 2020 Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 Which airlines are allowing you to build seniority before starting? That's pretty cool if true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GM1 Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 Skywest for sure but it’s for company benefits not base seniority. So like bonuses and profit share benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 Ah yeah I've heard of a couple that do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbussma Posted March 7, 2020 Report Share Posted March 7, 2020 On 2/12/2020 at 4:16 PM, GM1 said: First of all most of you have the 750 hours confused with what they need to be in. It’s 750 hours total flight time with generally 250 being fixed wing. You can conditionally be hired on by most regional airlines the day you graduate IERW which starts building your seniority and they will pay for ALL of your ratings to start instructing and once you hit 750 hours you start working with your R-ATP that they pay for as well. It doesn’t have to be 750 military flight hours. The only requirement is being a military pilot. Join the RTAG groups on Facebook for concrete evidence of what I’m saying and how it works. If you have questions message me. While there are a couple of exceptions, this is not really true. Most won't talk to you until you have 500 hours. You need 250 PIC hours in airplanes, not just 250 hours of total time. There are also half a dozen or so other requirements that have to be met. Republic will let you train with them in their in house flight school and let you use your sign-on bonus there, but you'll still be paying a fair amount. It would be make more economical sense to do it yourself and not tie yourself to one airline. RTAG does have a lot of good information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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