Army Credentialing Assistance Program for PPL through ATP/CTP

[sunyforreal]

Hey all, pushing this info out for those specific Active Duty, Guard and Reserve Enlisted Soldiers who have been thinking of putting in a packet for WOFT or becoming a pilot in general.

 The Army will pay up to 4,000 dollars a fiscal year to help Soldiers earn certifications and licenses including earning your PPL so for those who are thinking of putting in a packet, you have no excuse not to have at least a few hours of flight time to add to it! You DON'T have to become an Army Aviator to become a pilot on the Army's dime. If your goal is to be a pilot this can be your ticket if the 10 year ADSO has scared you away. Also for those who are commissioned you can earn licenses on here as well, though I assume you incur the same ADSO you would if you use TA. I don't know all the details on that.

The links are https://www.armyignited.com/app/ to apply and https://www.cool.osd.mil/army/index.htm for the index of credentials you can apply to. Some things to be aware of: from what I have seen there aren't many schools that are accepting Credentialing Assistance from the Army at this time so it's a bit luck of the draw if you're located to one of the few schools that are listed. What I am hoping for is that as time goes on more schools will learn about this opportunity to make a buck and will allow you to attend using your CA benefits. 

If you have any questions or if any of the information in my post is incorrect or changes some time after this post is up please let me know!

 

 

[jkray]

I actually just took my PPL Add on checkride yesterday using CA. It works exactly like TA where you incur a 2 year ADSO for using it but that runs concurrently with anything you currently have. The application is easy and your post education center can help walk you through it. Once I got approved they paid my flight school directly within 24 hours and I was able to start immediately. Also even if your school isn’t part of the program yet, you can apply for funding and put them down and CA will send them the paperwork to get approved, or you can work with the school yourself to get them set up. It’s still a new program (only went live army wide on 1 January) so people may not know about it. But the flight school I used increased their business 70% because of it. It’s great for both the school and the student, as they get mor business but the student pays a fraction of the cost out of pocket. All said and done I was only out of pocket $1,400 including the DPE checkride fee and aircraft rental. If you want to be a pilot this is a great way to get it done without the 10 year ADSO of IERW

[nil5038]

This is probably my favorite discussion. Thanks for the info guys

[jkray]

For those at Fort Rucker, the PPL can be done at any time, but I did it as an add on to the commercial helicopter so I had to wait until after graduation to take the checkride. 
 

Trident Aircraft out of Ozark Blackwell Field is the school and they have some really good CFI’s

[SBuzzkill]

Awesome stuff, definitely take advantage of it if you are somewhere that you can.  Both of my duty stations after flight school did not have good flight training options nearby and it wasn't until I left the Army that I was able to finish working on my fixed wing ratings.  There are folks who made it work, but it was painful for them and they had to get very creative in how they did their training.

Edited September 15, 2020 by SBuzzkill