Army ROTC aviation

[Treycraft11]

I am currently a senior in high school and i am in the process of getting a scholarship through ROTC to attend embry riddle. It has been my dream to be a helicopter pilot in the Army. The issue I am running into is that flight fees are around another $20,000-$40,000 on top of regular tuition. I have heard of cases where the Army will pay the cost for flight training and i'm wondering if there is any truth behind this, and if so what it entails?

 

[Jcleppe]

If you receive a scholarship through ROTC it will cover either your tuition or room and board. The scholarship will not cover flight fees or civilian flight training.

If you are interested in Army Aviation through ROTC then your best bet is to work hard in school, have a good GPA, a great APFT and test scores and do well in ROTC and try and be ranked high in your battalion. If you complete ROTC in the top 10% of the Active Duty National OML then you are guaranteed your choice of branches such as Aviation. If you are not in the top 10% then you compete with the remaining cadets for your branch selection.

There is no need to have any flight experience to branch Aviation through ROTC, in fact civilian flight experience will not be a factor in branch selection.

There is another option, you could skip ROTC, and apply for the Army WOFT program and enter the Army as a Warrant Officer and attend Flight School. You can apply as a civilian without a college degree but a degree would help make you more competitive. This would be the only process where civilian flight experience would be an advantage.

 

[Treycraft11]

If you receive a scholarship through ROTC it will cover either your tuition or room and board. The scholarship will not cover flight fees or civilian flight training.

If you are interested in Army Aviation through ROTC then your best bet is to work hard in school, have a good GPA, a great APFT and test scores and do well in ROTC and try and be ranked high in your battalion. If you complete ROTC in the top 10% of the Active Duty National OML then you are guaranteed your choice of branches such as Aviation. If you are not in the top 10% then you compete with the remaining cadets for your branch selection.

There is no need to have any flight experience to branch Aviation through ROTC, in fact civilian flight experience will not be a factor in branch selection.

There is another option, you could skip ROTC, and apply for the Army WOFT program and enter the Army as a Warrant Officer and attend Flight School. You can apply as a civilian without a college degree but a degree would help make you more competitive. This would be the only process where civilian flight experience would be an advantage.

I have heard of cadets finishing ROTC and going in as an LT2 and then requesting to drop to WO status so that they may attend flight school and overall get more flight time. Could this be a decent option?

 

[inSANEmom]

My husband went through AROTC at Embry-Riddle on a 4 year scholarship and majored in Aeronautical Engineering. He was branched Aviation and went to flight school as his first assignment. I can say that the vast majority of pilots in the Army do NOT have flight as a major, and most had zero flight experience at all when they arrived at flight school. Also note that most of the commissioned pilots leave flying positions at about 12 years or so when they are assigned their Functional Area. Some do stay on by getting a Functional Area of Operations, but it's not everyone.

If flying is your ONLY goal, then go for the WOFT program. Once accepted, you can spend a full career flying for the Army.

http://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-j.../warrant-officer/flight-warrant-officers.html

 

[Jcleppe]

I have heard of cadets finishing ROTC and going in as an LT2 and then requesting to drop to WO status so that they may attend flight school and overall get more flight time. Could this be a decent option?

This is not something you would be able to count on. Some commissioned aviation officers apply to switch to WO when they reach Captain, it's not easy and doesn't happen that often. If WO is what you want then it would be best to start on that path from the beginning.

Adding to what inSANEmom posted; Both my sons branched Aviation, the older son commissioned 2012, completed flight school and selected the OH58 Kiowa, two month after he graduated flight school the Army announced they were retiring the OH58. He flew for about 3 years before the helicopters were removed from the 2-6 Cav. Instead of trying for a transition to another airframe as a Cpt. he applied for Civil Affairs and is now at Fort Bragg going through training.

The point is that if you branch aviation as a commissioned officer there are many options that may come down the road that you never thought of when you commission. I echo her statement. if you want to just fly then WOFT may be the option for you.

 

[Treycraft11]

This is not something you would be able to count on. Some commissioned aviation officers apply to switch to WO when they reach Captain, it's not easy and doesn't happen that often. If WO is what you want then it would be best to start on that path from the beginning.

Adding to what inSANEmom posted; Both my sons branched Aviation, the older son commissioned 2012, completed flight school and selected the OH58 Kiowa, two month after he graduated flight school the Army announced they were retiring the OH58. He flew for about 3 years before the helicopters were removed from the 2-6 Cav. Instead of trying for a transition to another airframe as a Cpt. he applied for Civil Affairs and is now at Fort Bragg going through training.

The point is that if you branch aviation as a commissioned officer there are many options that may come down the road that you never thought of when you commission. I echo her statement. if you want to just fly then WOFT may be the option for you.

I have heard it is somewhat difficult to get into flight school after being commissioned through ROTC. I really would like to go through ROTC in college but i don't want it to hinder by chances to be able to fly in the future. My goal is to fly for the military and be able to fly in a civilian setting after i get out.


p.s. Thank you both so much for helping me out and answering my questions, I have researched a tremendous amount on this and both of you guys have cleared up a lot and I really appreciate your input and suggestions; it is a huge help!

 

[Jcleppe]

I have heard it is somewhat difficult to get into flight school after being commissioned through ROTC.

Do well in school and ROTC and you'll give yourself the best opportunity to branch Aviation.

 

[Treycraft11]

Do well in school and ROTC and you'll give yourself the best opportunity to branch Aviation.

You seem very knowledgeable, in your opinion what do you think would be my best shot at getting to fly?

 

[metsycats]

I have heard of cadets finishing ROTC and going in as an LT2 and then requesting to drop to WO status so that they may attend flight school and overall get more flight time. Could this be a decent option?

This is exactly what my brother in law did. 4 years at Notre dame doing ROTC, commissioned as an army officer, now he's a WO in the reserves flying helos in addition to his civilian job.

 

[Jcleppe]

You seem very knowledgeable, in your opinion what do you think would be my best shot at getting to fly?

Impossible to say, it all depends on how well you do in school and ROTC, or how good of a packet you can put together for WOFT.

 

[inSANEmom]

Let me also add this... but you probably already know it... there are ZERO guarantees about getting ANYTHING you ask for when branching time comes.

My husband's roommate in college was a flight student at ERAU on full scholarship... this was almost 30 years ago when the Army still paid flight fees along with tuition. He was about to graduate cum laude. He was one of the top leaders/performers in ROTC. He asked to go active duty Aviation as his first choice. Everyone assumed it was just a given. Then the branching ceremony rolls around... he received...

Military Police in the Reserves!

At first he was really upset... but then landed a job within a week flying for UPS and paid back his commitment over weekends and summers and eventually a couple of short deployments.

Does this happen a lot? I don't know the exact numbers but I know that it DOES happen and I know that "needs of the Army" sometimes don't make a lot of sense to the individual soldier. If you go through college on a scholarship, you need to do your very best, but know that you will have to accept whatever branching/job they give you. A lot more people want to fly than get selected. It's a risk you have to be willing to make in exchange for a paid for education.

 

[AROTC-dad]

This is exactly what my brother in law did. 4 years at Notre dame doing ROTC, commissioned as an army officer, now he's a WO in the reserves flying helos in addition to his civilian job.

Did your Bro-in-law graduate on Army scholarship? i.e. are there any restrictions against an AD or reserve Army scholarship officer shifting from 2LT to WO for more flight time?

 

[metsycats]

Did your Bro-in-law graduate on Army scholarship? i.e. are there any restrictions against an AD or reserve Army scholarship officer shifting from 2LT to WO for more flight time?

Reserve army officer who shifted from 2LT to WO to get more flight time. He went to flight school after he went to law school - so I'm not sure if that had any influence on his slot.

 

[Renegade13]

Treycraft, I was a 4 year scholarship winner many years ago. I accepted my scholarship and was a junior preparing for advanced camp (old term) when I got an interest in flying in the Army. With ROTC, I was able to take a field trip and get some simulator time and talk to many of the aviation officers and warrant officers. I was not 100% sure I would branch aviation, so I took a chance and applied for the WOFT program. It took me about 4 months to get my packet together and submitted. I had a recruiter who had already earned all his rubies (again antiquated term) for his recruiter badge, so he was able to spend time helping me. I was fortunately accepted and spent 20 years flying in the Army. Things today are much different than when I joined. There is now an emphasis on commissioned officer flight time. They are flying much more than minimums. No one can tell you what is the most important thing to you. There is never a guarantee that you will get your branch choice. There is also no assurances of being accepted in the WOFT program. If you look at the requirements and the recommendations, 60+ hours of college is a big thing. The medical is also different as an RLO, you can be correctable to 20/20, for WO it is 20/20 uncorrected. If you are truly interested in doing the WO route, let me know. I know a guy. He is the current CWOB and I can ask him offline what the board is looking for. BTW, WOs are now commissioned after CW2 and can take on extra duties like Property Book and Survey Officer. Just be aware, that especially early in your flight career the difference between RLO and WO flight time in negligible.

 

[Moodies1]

Embry is great school with awesome flight instruction.