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WOFT after foreign military service?


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In a nutshell, I am an American who spent 5 years in the French Foreign Legion, with no prior service in the US military. For those of you who aren't familiar, it's a branch of the French Army open only to foreigners. I have a college degree, can score a 99 on the Asvab and am physically fit. However, there is the BOARD.   

  In my mind, there is no way a board would accept me based on my foreign military service. Am I correct in this assumption? I imagine that all it takes for my application to be rejected is one hardliner who considers me to be some sort of a traitor. 

   Undertaking this would require a lot of time and effort on my part; moving back to the states, getting a PPL-H to make my packet more competitive, scraping together LORs, etc. It would be foolish in my situation for me to go through all of that if the answer was always a flat out NO from day 1. Anyone with any insight on this? 

   Thanks for reading and I appreciate any info you might have. 

 

 

 

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Needless worry. 4 quick questions. Are you an American citizen? Are you in good health in passing a flight physical? Are you younger than 32?

Last question and the most important one, are you willing to Protect and Defend the Constitution of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA against all enemies both foreign and domestic with your life when called upon to do so?

Really no need in obtaining a helo ppl unless money is no object. More than a few are selected without flight experience as young as 18.

Drop your packet and you shouldn't have a problem. Unless you have piss poor LORs from the FFL. If I was on the selection board, I would be very interested in hearing your experiences in the Legion.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were US Army recruiters in Europe, especially Germany. Dependent US children in Europe can enlist in any service. Need not return to the states in doing so.

By the way, how many years you must serve in the FFL before eligible for French citizenship? Is it 12 years?

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41 minutes ago, zaurus said:

Needless worry. 4 quick questions. Are you an American citizen? Are you in good health in passing a flight physical? Are you younger than 32?

Last question and the most important one, are you willing to Protect and Defend the Constitution of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA with your life when called to do so?

Really no need in obtaining a helo ppl unless money is no object. More than a few are selected without flight experience as young as 18.

Drop your packet and you shouldn't have a problem. Unless you have piss poor LORs from the FFL. If I was on the selection board, I would be very interested in hearing your experiences in the Legion.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were US Army recruiters in Europe, especially Germany. Dependent US children in Europe can enlist in any service. Need not return to the states in doing so.

By the way, how many years you must serve in the FFL before eligible for French citizenship? Is it 12 years?

Thanks for the response. I could get a good LOR from a capitain here, as I haven't been a troublemaker, although it would be in French 🤷‍♂️. My plan for the other 2 would be to get one from an instructor during flight school in the US, then find and beg a CWO to interview me for one. 

    You can begin applying for French nationality with 3.5 years of service(the initial contract is 5 years), but the reality is that you will be made to resign at least a couple of years for them to get it done for you. If you decide to go civil after 5 years, it's actually very easy to get it done on your own, granted that you're willing to stay and work in France another 1-2 years as a civillian. That was my initial plan, but if I decide to try for WOFT I will probably be forced to renounce the French citizenship for the security clearance (this i the case with officers I believe?). 

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That was one of my concerns if you were a French citizen.  You must renounce your French citizenship. Time to get back on the right team, USA.

Since you have your 4 year degree, have you thought of the other services for flight training?

USN max age 32,  commitment 8 yrs after winging.

USAF max age 32, commitment 10 yrs after winging.

US Army max age 32, commitment 10 yrs after winging as you well know.

Since you are applying as a non prior US soldier, you aren't required in having a CWO LOR. It can't hurt if you wish to do so.

Personally, I think it will be an added plus in being a former FFL regarding selection. But then again, I'm a guy that likes warm beer and a cold toilet seat in the morning.

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If citizenship and clearance are no issue, I don't know what would cause them to shoot down your packet. Don't worry about flight experience, they expect you to suck when you get here either way. Hell, there are foreign instructor pilots contracting at the school. That in mind, why the interest in the Army? Or U.S. forces versus French?

Maybe most don't share my opinion, but I feel like your background makes your more qualified/desirable than a rich 19 year old who has been flying for years.

Curious to see how this turns out for you. 

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12 hours ago, zaurus said:

That was one of my concerns if you were a French citizen.  You must renounce your French citizenship. Time to get back on the right team, USA.

Since you have your 4 year degree, have you thought of the other services for flight training?

USN max age 32,  commitment 8 yrs after winging.

USAF max age 32, commitment 10 yrs after winging.

US Army max age 32, commitment 10 yrs after winging as you well know.

Since you are applying as a non prior US soldier, you aren't required in having a CWO LOR. It can't hurt if you wish to do so.

Personally, I think it will be an added plus in being a former FFL regarding selection. But then again, I'm a guy that likes warm beer and a cold toilet seat in the morning.

I wasn't aware before that the Airforce and Navy had raised their age limits for pilots, so on paper I could still apply. However, my bachelor's degree isn't in a math or science related field, plus I didn't have a 4.0 grade average, so my resumé would be a lot less competitive for OCS and OTS. WOFT is probably my best shot at becoming a military aviator, which is fine since it's the program that interests me the most anyways. +1 for the warm beers 🍺

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3 hours ago, KennyO said:

If citizenship and clearance are no issue, I don't know what would cause them to shoot down your packet. Don't worry about flight experience, they expect you to suck when you get here either way. Hell, there are foreign instructor pilots contracting at the school. That in mind, why the interest in the Army? Or U.S. forces versus French?

Maybe most don't share my opinion, but I feel like your background makes your more qualified/desirable than a rich 19 year old who has been flying for years.

Curious to see how this turns out for you. 

Thanks for the insight. Long story short, before anything else I'm an American. If I still can, I want to set things right and come play for the home team. 

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LIH

Don't count the Navy and Air Force out. They prefer STEM degrees but that has never been a requirement. A good GPA/LORs and good test scores will put you in the running. Let them tell you NO. Can't be accepted if you don't apply.

All services have helos if that's your desire.

You can apply to fly part time in the AF ANG/Res (OTS/SUPT). The plus side is deciding on the location and aircraft, therefore not leaving it to chance. There just may be a F-22A or C-17 in Hawaii in your future. Some AF Lt has to do it.

Unable to fly in the Navy/Marines Reserves unless already a rated pilot.

Good luck and happy hunting.

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Well i guess I’ll be the devils advocate here again.  Speaking clearance issues, what made you join the FFL over the US Army?  At face value joining the FFL looks like you either wanted out of the US, or you’ve got some skeletons in the closet back here.  Dont waste money on a PPL.  Its minimal in the scheme of things if going WOFT.  I got picked up with zero flight time.  At some point you’ll have to answer why you want to come back now.

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2 hours ago, StockTrader said:

Well i guess I’ll be the devils advocate here again.  Speaking clearance issues, what made you join the FFL over the US Army?  At face value joining the FFL looks like you either wanted out of the US, or you’ve got some skeletons in the closet back here.  Dont waste money on a PPL.  Its minimal in the scheme of things if going WOFT.  I got picked up with zero flight time.  At some point you’ll have to answer why you want to come back now.

You hit the nail on the head with regards to what I was thinking. These are the thoughts and questions that will be on everyone's mind. I'm not going to babble about my life story on here, but the point is that no matter what reasoning or justification I give, there are people who will never find it sufficient, people who will have those doubts. Considering the enormous responsibility of a military pilot (not to mention the $), those doubts and reservations about my FFL past might be enough for an automatic NO from any board. I think I need to find a CWO or someone who has sat on one of these boards to get the scoop on how it would go down. 

     That's another reason why I wanted a PPL going in, as any positives on my dossier just go to help counter balance those perceptions. But going to flight school and becoming a pilot on the civillian side is my plan B anyways, so the PPL wouldn't be a waste in my case. 

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47 minutes ago, LIH said:

You hit the nail on the head with regards to what I was thinking. These are the thoughts and questions that will be on everyone's mind. I'm not going to babble about my life story on here, but the point is that no matter what reasoning or justification I give, there are people who will never find it sufficient, people who will have those doubts. Considering the enormous responsibility of a military pilot (not to mention the $), those doubts and reservations about my FFL past might be enough for an automatic NO from any board. I think I need to find a CWO or someone who has sat on one of these boards to get the scoop on how it would go down. 

     That's another reason why I wanted a PPL going in, as any positives on my dossier just go to help counter balance those perceptions. But going to flight school and becoming a pilot on the civillian side is my plan B anyways, so the PPL wouldn't be a waste in my case. 

You'll have the opportunity in the essay and resume to explain your thought process behind joining the legion and now wanting to return to the US and the Army. I would expect your experience gained in the legion coupled with a good reference letter from your commander reflecting on your character, performance and continued leadership potential would go a long way. 

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