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    I'm still a junior in high school and I'm considering the military to be one of my career choices (preferably air force). What are the requirements for becoming a helicopter pilot? anyone here one? The official website is very vague. It doesnt go too indepth into the job. any help, appreciated. And mods move this if it is not in the right section.

  • #2
    Originally posted by giggs88
    I'm still a junior in high school and I'm considering the military to be one of my career choices (preferably air force). What are the requirements for becoming a helicopter pilot? anyone here one? The official website is very vague. It doesnt go too indepth into the job. any help, appreciated. And mods move this if it is not in the right section.
    Giggs,
    I'm not sure of the requirements to be a helo pilot in the USAF, but you have a very small helicopter pilot population in the USAF - they are all special ops and it is a very small community. If you want to fly helicopters, the Army is the best bet to go. If what you want to do if just fly, the enlisting and once you make E-5, putting in a packet for warrant officer is the way to go. The other route is to go ROTC/USMA and get commissioned as an officer - less flying, more leadership responsibility, more $$, and less flying. Getting warrant is not a guarantee, nor is getting an aviation branch slot if you go the officer route. If you do want to fly special ops helos, you best chance is through the Army, that has the 160th Special Ops Aviation Regiment (SOAR).

    What I do know is that physical qualifications are less for flying helos. Also, there is a Flight Aptitude Exam that you should be able to find in the references section of your local bookstore. If you can't find it, call an Army recruiter.

    Good luck with your decision.
    "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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    • #3
      For an Apache pilot, you have to have pretty good eyes (I think it's correctable to 20/20), since you have to kind of focus on two things at once (where you're driving, and the gun camera).
      How long are you planning to stay in the military?
      I'm a freshman in high school right now, and I'm planning to go for 30 years in the Army.

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      • #4
        Thank you shek.

        Originally posted by sniperdude411
        How long are you planning to stay in the military?
        As long as I can or allowed to.

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        • #5
          You can go for as little as 15 months, or as long as you are physically able to.

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          • #6
            15 months?

            The shortest enlistment when i was in was 2 years.

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            • #7
              I've heard form a recruiter that you can go 15 months; of course you get less than half the pay as a 2 year contract.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by sniperdude411
                I've heard form a recruiter that you can go 15 months; of course you get less than half the pay as a 2 year contract.
                15 months sounds questionable to me as well. You need to have 12 months retainability (left on your contract) in order to PCS (permanent change of station). Basic and AIT is longer than 3 months, which means you wouldn't be able to PCS from your OSUT/AIT duty station, which means you aren't very useful if you aren't in a deployable unit.
                "So little pains do the vulgar take in the investigation of truth, accepting readily the first story that comes to hand." Thucydides 1.20.3

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by sniperdude411
                  I've heard form a recruiter that you can go 15 months; of course you get less than half the pay as a 2 year contract.

                  Shek and Snipe are more than likely correct.
                  My ex-roomie was a recruiter in the Navy and he'll be the first to tell you that recruiters will lie, cheat, steal and sell their own fathers into slavery (if they knew who they were) to get people in.
                  “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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                  • #10
                    My son is almost certainly going into the AF after college. He has been raised military his whole life, and he just naturally gravitated that way (Neither Lt. Bluesman nor I pushed him that way AT ALL - his choices, every step of the way).

                    He was in a blue uniform from the time he was 13 years old, and I recommend it to you MOST highly, giggs:

                    Civil Air Patrol is a terrific organization, and my son went all the way to his Billy Mitchell Award (Cadet 2nd Lieutenant). He served as Flight Sergeant and Squadron First Sergeant. He was on Group Staff, and went to Glider Encampment and State Encampment twice each. If you are considering making it a career, START HERE.

                    Even if you decide on something else between now and then, you won't regret the time you spend in CAP. Check it out.

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                    • #11
                      CAP is a great organization for future Blue Suiters
                      A good buddy of mine growing up back in IL was in the Civil Air Patrol at a very young age.
                      I often wonder if he ever joined the USAF like he always wanted.
                      “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by TopHatter
                        CAP is a great organization for future Blue Suiters.

                        And other services, too.

                        My son's squadron XO and commander became a Marine FO and Army infantryman, respectively.

                        It's a terrific place to get a jump on a military career, and can actually shave some weeks off your time in Basic Training (like my wife did), or get you an additional stripe upon graduating Basic.

                        My son is getting a boost in his ROTC money because of his CAP achievements.

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                        • #13
                          Bluesman
                          You've most likely said this before, but my brain is having an out of body experience.

                          You are USAF enlisted correct? What is your grade?
                          And your wife is an O-2?
                          “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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                          • #14
                            Bluesman:
                            Wow, all your family in the military, and you've been serving for 19 years... What's it like?

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by TopHatter
                              Bluesman
                              You've most likely said this before, but my brain is having an out of body experience.

                              You are USAF enlisted correct? What is your grade?
                              And your wife is an O-2?
                              I'm an E-7 / Master Sergeant, and my wife is an O-1 / 2nd Lieutenant. She gets promoted in August.

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