So, I want to join the military...

[thehstrybean]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: thehstrybean
Iraq really wouldn't bother me. I just don't care, really. There are lots of guys in my classes who have been...


I added another poll question, too....

Meh, you'd be fine as an aviator in terms of safety. Note that you will take contact...but you'll be fine.

Basically, just consider it as one year of your life completely erased from the calendar.

BTW, your poll choices are a bit off:

"Enlist the regular way..." would imply you drop out of school to join and become a private. I imagine you want to join ROTC and finish school. At which point, you would be commissioned.

.·. Commission the regular way...

Fixed the poll...

 

[BoomerD]

Unless they're SERIOUSLY relaxed their standards, you have to have a minimum of a bachelor's degree to become a pilot of any kind. Officers only. You CAN become a member of the air-crew, but not a pilot.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: da loser

Originally posted by: sandorski
Iknow crap all about how the Military works, but if you want to learn to fly helicopters you're best bet is to go to a civilian flight school. You *might* get the opportunity to do so in the Military, but whether that opportunity arrises or not is almost entirely out of your hands.

that's BS, seems like you know crap about flying helicopters as well. most commercial helicopter pilots are from vietnam/ex military.
commercial guys are paid very little and the competition is fierce.
plus the military training is much better.

if you're interested in going commercial go to your local airport and talk to pilots, maybe take some classes, but i guarantee that road is much tougher if you want to make it a career.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=23

Like I said, I know crap about how the military works. OTOH, how many people joinging the Military with a particular goal in mind(in this case Piloting Helicopters) get to do what they wanted? I've heard of people wanting to become Fighter Pilots who ended up as Mechanics or in other support roles, I'll assume that similar things happen to those wanting to Pilot Helicopters.

My point was that if Piltoing a Helicopter was a lifelong dream, going the Civilian route was likely the best way to be sure you learned Piloting a Helicopter and not ending up being a Fuel Jockey, simply because it is entirely up to you to choose.

 

[jimmyj68]

Hang in there at college - do the AFROTC thing and keep your grades and physical condition up.

If you don't wear glasses (I think vison correctable to 20-20 is acceptable for some flight assignments, not fighter pilot) go for pilot training, not everyone gets to fly a fast shiny jet fighter. Somebody has to fly fast big not so shiny bombers and transport aircraft and - yes - the helicopters (by the way - there are no longer any shiny aircraft in the military, too easy to see).

If you get through pilot training you can ask for helicopters. If you are the hottest thing to hit Air Force flight school in the last ten years you can get what you want. If you don't want to be a fighter pilot the Air Force is smart enough to know better than to put a guy in a 100 million dollar airplane that doesn't want to be there. You have got to want to be a fighter jockey. It's a busness with a lot of opportunities to die.

On that subject, Infantry, either Army or Marines is not all fun gun shooting. Sometimes there is someone shooting back. Again there are lots of opportunities to die. A hellavu lot more than being a fighter jockey or a helicopter pilot (unless it is Army).

With the subjects you are majoring in you can try for Air Force intelligence (or Army, or Navy). In other words, excell in school, keep your self physically fit, avoid like a passion the dorm/frat booze and pot parties and you can write your own ticket.

One last thing - though the military seems like a real fun adventure - it is and it isn't. You can have a lot of fun but you are sworn to die if necessary for the call of your country. Lots of young Americans are dying in Iraq and Afganistan, and wherever the next call comes in the world situations we face today. Keep that in mind as you pursue your dreams.

Oh, by the way, except for navy pilots (landing 50 tons of fast moving airplane on 500 feet of pitching aircraft deck), the Navy is about the safest service right now. If you really like water, love sleeping in bunks above or below with fifteen or twenty other guys in real close quarters, are simply mad about being away from home and loved ones 6 months or more at a time, and think a storm at sea is a real thrill - go Navy. But don't become a medical corpsman because you travel with and patrol with the marines (you can get shot - or blown up by an IED).

Be sure of your choices as you pursue your dreams.

Jimmyj68 - 20 years USAF, 19years six months DOD Civilian Service

 

[destrekor]

im an MS1 (Military Science I), a first year at Ohio State, in Army ROTC... I must say, its challenging so far (PT that is), and we've only had 2 PT's so far, but I am simply out of shape, and I think I've been dehydrated my whole life because I rarely drank water, so I'm incredibly sore. Now I am workin on that, and things are lookin up.
I figure once I get in shape, it will still be a challenge, but it won't be horrible. And I don't dread it at all, simply for the fact that I know in the back of my head it's what I gotta do to get where I want, and that to get what I want I gotta bust my ass so I can get that position (want to be a Military Intelligence Officer in the Army, and I gotta stay on top to have the best chance of getting that branch). it's willpower, but willpower I have. That and its good for my body, get my body in shape and just generally be healthy.

 

[Journer]

air force, ROTC.../thread

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

A little info: I'm a freshman at the University of Tennesse Chattanooga, but I might transfer next year to UT Knoxville. They have AFROTC, FWIW. I'm an anthropology (concentrations in cultural anthropology and archaeology) or history (concentrations in prehistory, ancient near east, and classical) major. Can't decide quite yet...

Only as it regards to the military, take the course where you will get the best grades because your GPA is one of the criteria for deciding whether or not you get your first choice of branch (I got my 2nd choice getting a low GPA in a hard major at a hard school). Of course, there are many, more important reasons to choose a major and you should use those reasons....

I don't know that I would agree with this. I had a .012 gpa out of high school, and a 2.2 gpa in my high school completion portion of college. I was offered pretty much anything I wanted in any branch (mostly due to test scores and some independently gained skills I think). Many of the people I was going through meps with had extremely low gpa's as well, and yet had gotten choice fields. The people who got stuck with crap fields seemed to be the people with low test scores and no extra-curricular boosters, not low gpa.

Of course it could have changed in the 14 years since I went through it all.

Oh no, I'm talking about officer branching when done through ROTC (or through the academies for that matter)

Going the enlisted route, it's all about your ASVAB and what's available

OHHHHHH, ok. Sorry, I misunderstood.

 

[Balt]

ROTC is probably the way to go. You will still be able to get your college degree to fall back on if the service doesn't work out for you (and you will need to get your college degree to become an officer anyway). Officer Candidate Schools are extremely competitive and probably harder to get into than ROTC.