I Want to Fly Military Helicopters!

John Yasar wrote:
boB wrote:


I wouldn't be a source of current information since I retired in 1995
but talk to a recruiter and see what your options would be. When I
joined the Army back in 1970 I had no idea I could be a pilot. I could
kiss the recruiter for pushing me toward that goal. I flew for 25
years, it was great.

A warants job is TO FLY, FLY, FLY, yes they have some additional duties
such as fire prevention officer, safety officer, but those are side
duties not their job that it prevents them from flying actively.

What types did you fly?



UH-1B,D,H of course, transitioned into OH58A's in 1972 and I love that
aircraft. Even though I transitioned into Cobra's in 1974 I was able to
maintain currency in the scout throughout the 25 years of flying. Flew
OH58C's until 1988 then went to Stuttgart where we trained the unit in
the OH58D's and deployed to Desert Shield/Storm in Dec 1990. These
OH58D's were not Kiowa Warriors, we were unarmed. I did fly most of the
Cobra models as a maintenance test pilot/evaluator. AH-1G, Q (1st TOW
Cobra), S modified, S ECAS, and S Modernized. But the scout was always
the best. I retired in 1995 and went to the Grand Canyon and flew Bell
206's over the Canyon for a season. That's it for helicopters. Flew
some SEL's and a Sprint II Microlight and want to buy an enclosed
gyrocopter if I am able sometime in the future. The medication I take
now would not allow me to fly legally. A sport pilot legal Gyro would
be great.




So much crap those recruiters give to kids when they want to go civilian
to warrant, hard to find one recruiter that would work with you for that
specific route. I always suggest getting in the Army as enlisted and
then applying Warrant as the best route but it has its disadvantages also.


I discourage that because I've written many letters of recommendations
for great crew chiefs, who would make great pilots, (we already taught
them to fly) but watched all the rejections because they were in a
critical shortage MOS. Right now I believe all jobs in the military are
critical and I don't think many Warrant packets will get approved until
it gets better. That may be a long time.

But a person has an advantage as a civilian. The recruiter has a quota
and if he/she won't work with a person to get through the requirements
and guarantee flight school, I say there's another recruiter in the next
town. Don't listen to a recruiter that advises going in first and then
apply, you will be disappointed.

--

boB
Wing 70

U.S. Army Aviation (retired)
Central Texas - 5NM West of Gray Army Airfield (KGRK)