Hi so I'm 18 (19 this July) and looking to become a pilot for the USCG. I have no degrees but am working on my GED. I am aware that the Army could take me on but would not like to serve 10-12 years contract with the times we are in right now, That is why I'm looking at the CG. Would any of you know the best route for me to take to become a pilot fixed or rotary?
USCG Pilot
- Thread starter Nomad7678
- Start date
-
- Tags
- ged pilot requirements uscg
To be a Coast Guard pilot, MUST be an officer. To be an officer, must either 1) graduate from USCGA, or 2) graduate from one of the Coast Guard Officer Candidate paths (either need to be a college graduate, or prior Coast Guard enlisted). Seems like from your current position, the total time will be similar - enlisting in Army, going Warrant Officer, flying Army to end of contract, versus graduating college, becoming Coast Guard officer, flying CG to end of contract.
27BearDad
DD USCGA '27
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2022
- Messages
- 480
In general, unless you’re already a pilot and direct commission into the Coast Guard, you’ll need to commission as an officer in the coast guard and then apply to flight school. Some primary ways to commission are attend the Coast Guard academy, go to college and apply for OCS, or the college CSPI program.
After that, you’ll need to be picked up for flight school. That doesn’t always happen on the first try. There’s also a service commitment for all these things, and even more years for flight. For instance the academy is a 5 year commitment, plus I believe 4 more for flight, so your looking at 9 plus the 4 at the academy so it’s a 13 year process to do it and get out.
I think OCS has a a 3 year commitment, plus 8 more for aviation, so there’s 11 years on top of how ever long you were in college.
The whole pilot path requires lots of dedication and determination for sure!
After that, you’ll need to be picked up for flight school. That doesn’t always happen on the first try. There’s also a service commitment for all these things, and even more years for flight. For instance the academy is a 5 year commitment, plus I believe 4 more for flight, so your looking at 9 plus the 4 at the academy so it’s a 13 year process to do it and get out.
I think OCS has a a 3 year commitment, plus 8 more for aviation, so there’s 11 years on top of how ever long you were in college.
The whole pilot path requires lots of dedication and determination for sure!
Okay so in my current situation its about 13 Years for both? if any of you have been to USCGA how hard was it and am I correct in saying its 4 years of study? Put short id prefer to not be in a AH-64 Going the Army route. If I went the Army route are there any options to go rotary as a med evac helicopter? thanks sorry if Im asking too much with it being a life long career I just want to know what Im getting into. Either way Im looking to serve 20 Years be it Navy or USCG. At the end of the day 13 years isn't too bad out of 20 years.
If it helps I have no useful degree in the USA and am not a student either I would be taking just the GED and ASVAB I was looking into It and started a Degree for 30 Credits but I was also Homes Educated and the pandemic sent my SAT'S and Exams out the door as no one wanted to take Home Ed's in for Exams.
Herman_Snerd
5-Year Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2017
- Messages
- 1,629
You can follow this official link to learn more about Coast Guard Pilot requirements, and some entry options/paths. You can also connect with a recruiter via a link on this page. Just be skeptical for any "should be OK" assurance from a recruiter - validate all details. It is certainly possible to enlist and apply to OCS and then apply to flight school, but it's a path that may take more than one try/ years of service. You could also explore taking courses toward a college degree remotely/ globally, including some very affordable community colleges in the US who offer this. In that regard you could earn a degree/ pursue OCS for USCG as an officer path. Further you could explore taking flight lessons and gaining a foundation/ certs in fixed wing or rotary wing flight, though before you take a single helicopter private lesson, be sure to research what you can do with that commercial license, and what you cannot. Research what flight certs/ x hours of experience do for a direct commission path option, if at all, with the CG or other US military branch that has pilots. Confirm if it's only military pilot training they are interested in. Lastly, explore DEA paths for pilots as a career path, too.
Assuming you'll be a US citizen (Dual or other) when you apply?
Good on you for getting your GED. The ASVAB will help for an enlisted, not officer path fyi. Were you one of my children I would recommend you pursue remote coursework after you get your GED, confirm all path options so you can work toward your goal. Good luck to you.
Assuming you'll be a US citizen (Dual or other) when you apply?
Good on you for getting your GED. The ASVAB will help for an enlisted, not officer path fyi. Were you one of my children I would recommend you pursue remote coursework after you get your GED, confirm all path options so you can work toward your goal. Good luck to you.
Thank you, yes I will look into the routes you have shared and yes I am a US citizen. The main reason I didn't contact a recruiter is it seems the chat system is down plus the normal reasons like you had stated.
JAH2002
2025 Cadet
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2020
- Messages
- 56
For the officer path, specifically the academy, reach out to the admissions officer for your territory. They’ll help get you started. https://uscga.edu/admissions/admissions-officers/
So I've found a route that should/will work. Go enlisted get to E-5 and serve 4 years while getting CLEP's, Apply for officer do well show my worth and apply for USCGA study for 4 Years do the best I can to get into the top 15% (15 or 20 of 300?). Go to Pilot Academy and earn my wings then serve remaining years. My next big question though is how hard is USCGA for a Pilot and or what is it like, I've looked at the website but struggling to see courses for pilots other than the pilot academy. Thank you All for your help.
27BearDad
DD USCGA '27
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2022
- Messages
- 480
The Academy isn’t easy to get into in general. There tends to be a couple prior enlisted in every academy class. If you are enlisted and have a solid package, it may take a couple admissions cycles to possibly receive an appointment. You need do be persistent if that’s what you want to do.
This academy is pretty much the same for everyone. You’ll choose a major, and follow that curriculum. Often cadets who aspire to be pilots choose an engineering major, but not necessarily. You can put in for a flight school billet senior year, but you won’t know if you get into flight school until a couple months before you graduate. If you intend to be a pilot, you need to try to focus all of your efforts from the time you get there toward aviation, get involved with any aviation activities the academy offers and get involved in the local aviation community. While most billets are awarded based on class rank, flight billets have a more in-depth selection process with interviews, more strict medical screening, etc.
After all that, you still may not get flight school, which means you have to go out on your first tour somewhere, probably on a cutter, and keep reapplying for flight school.
That’s pretty much a high level overview. You need to prepare yourself that it may take several attempts to not only get into an officer accession program such as the academy, but then it may take a couple attempts to get flight school. Because of that, you need to ask yourself if you’re ok with your choices if those things don’t work out in your favor.
So my plan now is to go Enlisted and go to A-school for AMT to Get Aviation Behind me there. Study and get CLEP's done and get into the Aviation Community. then get To Petty Officer 2nd Class (E-5) apply for USCGA Engineering or Something else useful to aviation from there AD until I get accepted then serve for remaining and keep going till I'm done. You were saying as well that the USCGA hosts aviation activities what are they and I assume this is on the main website? Again thank you for helping I just want to make sure I understand the Route I have to take and be ready for(Not bothered if I'm AMT for 20 years its still something I like).
Just so you know all service academies: at least 17 years old, but not have passed the 23rd birthday. I think it would be challenging to make E-5 in an Aviation rating (or any) and meet that criteria. You can go enlisted and earn (45?) college credits and apply for Officer Candidate School then try for pilot. That would be a more straightforward route than enlisted to Academy. OCS is somewhere around 13 weeks, versus 4 years in the Academy.
Hi so considering 27BearDad liked this and coming from someone joining or already in the CG I take it this would be my best path? what I've read elsewhere I thought you couldn't do this as someone with no Degree I do have 30 Credits from a UK University though in IT. Sorry if this keeps dragging on the USCG.mil keeps giving me Error 504 so not reliably able to gather info from it. Thank you!
So just got to the page for OCS and EDU requirements are:
- A bachelor's degree or higher.
- American Council on Education (ACE) recommended scores on the five general college-level examination program (CLEP) exams; or
- 30 semester hours or 45 quarter-hours of college with at least one college mathematics course (or ACE recommended score on the college mathematics CLEP exam)
I’m sorry I don’t know a lot of these answers. You may want to check if some pilots come through OCS, and if there is an age limit to flight training also. I would assume enlisted aviation ratings would give you the best experience to eventually get a pilot slot. In the past, aviation ratings move slowly so making E-5 may take more than 5 years. When I chose my rating (20years ago)the wait for technical school was more than 36 months for AMT and 3 months for machinery technician MK. So I was an E-2/3 for one year then made E-4 after graduating MK A-school. An AMT graduating would already have 4 years of service and would still have to wait at least 6 months then compete for E-5. I have no idea what the current timelines are unfortunately. This may not be the best forum to ask as this is about service Academies. A recruiter could give you a better idea and also let you know if your plan for OCS is workable.
Last edited:
Okay well thank you for at least helping where you can I can take it from here now. Thank you all for helping where you could its been a big help!
Sort of. Officer Candidates put in their wish list BEFORE finishing OCS. But, there are a couple extra hoops to jump thru for people who want to fly, starting with Medical. Stricter standards than other billets. If a person can’t pass the flight physical, they aren’t going to flight school.