Choosing between Army and Air Force

army2021 said:
For the pilot point I do have something to add on. If you want to be a pilot, what do you want to fly? If it's fixed winged aircraft, aka fighter pilot type stuff, even though you could end up flying a C130 or something else, Air Force is for you. If you want to fly rotary winged aircraft, your helicopters, such as a black hawk, apache, Chinook, then you need to go Army. And this is big too to think about. What if being a pilot doesn't work out? What would your next in line job be? If you don't like any job in the Air Force except for pilot, but there are a few jobs in the Army other than pilot you can see yourself doing, then go Army. Or vise versa for the opposite scenario. Really look into what job you want to do and alternates to help you decide. Hope this helps!
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Its hard to know because I've never flown anything, but I'm leaning towards helicopters...
 
A common theme through this thread has related to the pros and cons of choosing a Pilot Track between USMA, or USAFA. Obviously the opportunities for Flying are much greater with the Air Force since after all, that's what they do. Flying, along with the other Rated slots make up around half (I'm sure someone will correct me if my estimate is wrong) of the opportunities available, but there are so many more Non-rated career fields to consider. Example, after my DD (USAFA 2017'r) completes Grad School, she's slotted for the Space Lift program at Vandenberg, her dream job. As others have suggested, look to your own interests and Aptitudes to determine what career fields line up with your future Ambitions, then look at those fields available at both institutions. Hopefully, that will help you decide on which Academy is the best fit for your Military Career. Congratulations and good luck!
 
So many factors to take in. Attending a Military Academy is by no means free as you will pay it back through service to your country. Your degree will be in high demand. Forbes ranks schools based on earnings through your career which is the good measure of accomplishment. West Point ranked 14th of all schools and number one public ahead of Navy and Air Force. In 2009, Forbes ranked it the number one school above even Harvard. Just one more factor to consider while making a very difficult, but fortunate, decision.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalie...t-of-americas-top-colleges-2016/#1a22ab8d69a4
 
I completely agree with jl123 and Army2021. My son was USMA 2019. I have never ever failed to get an “oh wow” response when telling someone he was at West Point, even when others in my company have said their kids were at Navy or Air Force. That being said, they are all top notch schools, but West Point enjoys a certain name recognition the others don’t.

Also, which branch of the military has the most aircraft? The ARMY. And the point of thinking of a job if you aren’t a pilot should be taken seriously. I believe only about 20% Of Air Force personnel actually fly (admittedly I may be off there). What are you gonna do in the Air Force if you don’t fly?? My son wanted to be a pilot but it didn’t work out. So now he gets to play with Abrams tanks. Not a bad gig!!
 
USMA19DAD said:
I believe only about 20% Of Air Force personnel actually fly (admittedly I may be off there).
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Don't know if that number is good or bad but the relevant population is wrong. What's interesting here is not the number of folks in the Air Force who fly, but the number of Air Force officers who fly. I'm sure some Air Force honchos can tell us.
 
It’s actually only about 4% of AF officers are pilots.

Stealth_81
 
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To echo what others have said, the best advice for choosing what Academy you want to attend is figure out what you want to do after and go to the Academy that gives you the best shot at doing that. I want to fly helicopters so I went Army. The Army provides a more diverse range of mission sets to fly helicopters than the Air Force. That said, do your research and ask folks about the different communities you're interested in within the aviation communities you're aspiring to join what their day to day lives look like. In the Army, our warrants are our technical experts that will the pilots their entire careers. Our commissioned officers are pilots until we hit certain points in our career and move to more staff centric roles outside of the cockpit. You outgrow your time in a helicopter much faster than you will as an operational pilot in the Air Force. That isn't to say the job isn't worth it. Its just different. I wouldn't trade what I'm doing. Black Hawks rock
 
Casey said:
To echo what others have said, the best advice for choosing what Academy you want to attend is figure out what you want to do after and go to the Academy that gives you the best shot at doing that.
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Great advice. To build on this: Also ask yourself, if you don't get your preferred job, which branch gives you the best alternatives that you can get excited about? Because in the end, no matter what you want, the needs of the military come first.
 
My observation is that shared misery produces tremendous bonding and a great network. West Point grads (a family member is one) love to get together and commiserate how they missed out on a traditional college experience. They also help each other in post-military networking a good deal. (USAFA grads may do this also, but I cannot report having observed it.).
 
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