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Slims · 03-11-2009, 02:00 PM

Send me a PM if you are serious, and let me know what career paths in particular you are interested in.

If you want to fly you will need a degree...flat out. You can join and be crew on a transport plane, etc. as you are now, but you will not be a pilot.

If you want to fly helicopters rather than large planes (it's my understanding that fighter pilots are a very small minority and most of those slots get grabbed up by academy graduates) join the Army. You can go in as either an officer or as a warrant officer (warrants typically get to fly the most and for the longest period of time). You will still need a degree to become an officer, but I don't think a degree is necessary for warrants.

If you enlist you can serve in another MOS and after a few years apply to the warrant officers course and try to become a pilot that way. I don't think a degree is necessary initially, though it likely is before promotion.

For what it's worth, when was the last time you heard of the US being involved in a real air-to-air dogfight? It almost never happens nowadays, and even ground-attack pilots are very detached, operating from very high altitudes. Helicopter pilots are right in the mix when it comes to providing close air support....

It's also the size of the helicopter pilots balls that can very easily make the difference between a unit getting in/out with few casualties or bogged down and torn apart.

Why do you want to be a pilot in particular? The Army is a big place and there are a lot of other options as well if you decide that you definitely want to serve.

03-11-2009, 02:00 PM	#11 (permalink)
Slims Eccentric insomniac Location: North Carolina	Send me a PM if you are serious, and let me know what career paths in particular you are interested in. If you want to fly you will need a degree...flat out. You can join and be crew on a transport plane, etc. as you are now, but you will not be a pilot. If you want to fly helicopters rather than large planes (it's my understanding that fighter pilots are a very small minority and most of those slots get grabbed up by academy graduates) join the Army. You can go in as either an officer or as a warrant officer (warrants typically get to fly the most and for the longest period of time). You will still need a degree to become an officer, but I don't think a degree is necessary for warrants. If you enlist you can serve in another MOS and after a few years apply to the warrant officers course and try to become a pilot that way. I don't think a degree is necessary initially, though it likely is before promotion. For what it's worth, when was the last time you heard of the US being involved in a real air-to-air dogfight? It almost never happens nowadays, and even ground-attack pilots are very detached, operating from very high altitudes. Helicopter pilots are right in the mix when it comes to providing close air support.... It's also the size of the helicopter pilots balls that can very easily make the difference between a unit getting in/out with few casualties or bogged down and torn apart. Why do you want to be a pilot in particular? The Army is a big place and there are a lot of other options as well if you decide that you definitely want to serve. __________________ "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." - Winston Churchill "All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act out their dream with open eyes, to make it possible." Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence