Daughter wants to become a pilot!?

So there is no way to join a service with the provision that you want a flight spot or don't want to serve?

Sounds like a huge gamble if all you are looking for is flight experience..
 
dans2992 said:
So there is no way to join a service with the provision that you want a flight spot or don't want to serve?

Sounds like a huge gamble if all you are looking for is flight experience..
Click to expand...

Not entirely familiar with other service programs but Army WOFT is a flight slot. It's in contract and unless they fail out of the program, they will fly. Since warrants don't have all the extraneous duties / schools that "commissioned" attend, they generally spend their entire careers in the cockpit.
 
dans2992 said:
So there is no way to join a service with the provision that you want a flight spot or don't want to serve?

Sounds like a huge gamble if all you are looking for is flight experience..
Click to expand...

I just described one such arrangement in my previous post. Air National Guard/ Air Force Reserves, hired off the street. Pilot or go back to civilian.
 
If she's 12, a significant part of the aeronautical war machine will be just that by the time she's entering... Machines. Drones are where it's headed. And they'll happily give her a "pilot" slot where she flies a desk with a joystick.

If she wants to fly, she'll be best served by simply learning to fly.
 
dans2992 said:
So there is no way to join a service with the provision that you want a flight spot or don't want to serve?

Sounds like a huge gamble if all you are looking for is flight experience..
Click to expand...


Some people with very competitive scores on all the pre-lims can get an OTS slot with a pilot slot attached. In the USAF (pretty sure for the other services as well), you are first an officer then a pilot which means you are still an officer if you wash out or quit flight school and will serve at least the min time req'd of an officer. (4 years last I heard). Obviously the WO's are a different thing for Army aviation. IMHO, joining the military ONLY for flight training is a horrible idea. It's not an easy life and if you don't have other motivations besides "free" flight training your life is going to suck.

To the OP: encourage her to fly whatever she wants (even if it's just a toy around the back yard). We need young pilots that want to chase their dreams and be different than the video game crowd. What an incredible gift to be able to share with your daughter, have fun!
 
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I think serving is the primary reason young folks seek out military aviation. Or at least it should be. To be honest, when I was a kid military flying was the only segment I was interested in. I don't think 12 yrs old is too young either. If you've seen Speed and Angels, both the subjects of the film dreamed of flying in the military at that age and they both made it happen.

Once you're in, the dream kinda fades and it now becomes a job. Other things become more important such as family and life outside of work. Serving and being patriotic is great but it's still a job that pays the bills. In fact, I made almost twice as much as a warrant as I do in my current flying job.

I also wouldn't discredit using the training for future flying jobs. Military life gets old and it wears on ya over time. Plenty of people join and serve the min 6-10 yrs and get out. You can look at all the AF pilots turning down bonuses right now to get out. Even for those of us stupid enough to stay until retirement, you need the training in order to get a job. Can't fly in the military forever.

Drones will rule ISR in the future, but you'll still need attack, fighter and transport pilots. Even the Army's future lift platform will be manned:

http://suat.bellhelicopter.com/en_US/Military/BellV-280/Bell_V_280.html#/?tab=highlights-tab
 
If I had a daughter...... Oh, wait, I have two of them, I would encourage her interest in flying, ALONG with about another 100 interests, including arts, music, team sports, individual sports, hobbies, sciences, and anything else that I can get them involved and seeing.

My girls wanted to be school teachers in 1st grade...... Then, after we went to SeaWorld, they wanted to be Whale Trainers and Marine Biologists. A bit of time around horses had them wanting to buy horses, trailers, and go to Vet school. And about another 100 things as they grew up.

Age 12 is too early to pick a career path, but a great time to expose them to many areas of potential interest.


(Sidenote, I used to coach basketball, I can tell a 100 stories about kids giving up soccer, football, band, etc to focus on getting a college scholarship in hoops. Some of them never grew another inch (well, maybe a couple more inches) after age 12, and there narrow focus eliminated other opportunities for them. ).
 
Very few of us know what we want to be when we grow up, and we're middle aged now. Heh.
 
hindsight2020 said:
I just described one such arrangement in my previous post. Air National Guard/ Air Force Reserves, hired off the street. Pilot or go back to civilian.
Click to expand...


Got it, I think we posted almost at the same time.
 
Pilots for the USAF and Navy require a 4 year college degree to even apply. Great grades and character recommendations. The Army uses Warrent Officers for the helo program with 99% having a college degree. With the military cutbacks there are 50-100 qualified people for each slot. The PPL would just show an ability but wouldn't be a major item to get selected.
 
Don't forget medical qualifications. For guys, especially, color vision is a big problem. I was a ground pounder Artillery officer for 20 years due to poor color vision.


Jim R
Collierville, TN

N7155H--1946 Piper J-3 Cub
N3368K--1946 Globe GC-1B Swift
 
dans2992 said:
So there is no way to join a service with the provision that you want a flight spot or don't want to serve?

Sounds like a huge gamble if all you are looking for is flight experience..
Click to expand...

The Marine Corps offers a flight contract option too. If you meet the requirements (physically qualified, pass the aviation battery/aptitude exam, etc), they'll provide you a seat in flight school...if you get cold feet at any point prior to beginning TBS, then you can back out. The flight school seat is yours unless you can't cut it, then you either take a different job or they release you from your service contract altogether.
 
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