coastie to wo, need answers!!

[phxcoastie]

I'm a 26 yr old coast guard aircrew on hh-65's. Want to apply for warrant rather than OCS and flight school in the CG. Have around 60 college credits, but also had to withdraw from all my classes last semester due to increased deployments (hurt gpa a little). I want the general info. What are my chances of flying Apaches? How is S.E.A.R, and is it required. What is the day to day life of a warrant like? If I'm single, do I have to live in barracks or a BOQ? For lack of better terminology, how often to you get f#*ked? Say out of liberty, leave, that kinda stuff. I know these are the simple/stupid questions, but as a CG aircrew who has a pretty lax lifestyle( deployed maybe 2-3 months out of the year tops, and only one in four duty and only the overnighter if you're the ready crew), I want to know what I'll be getting myself into if I go through with this. I am a dedicated individual and an outstanding performer despite my nagging q's, but I want the skinny. Thank you for any amplifying info..

[mcm114]

You'll get more answers on this forum:

http://forums.military.com/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/3241924461

[cjpino]

If I was you, I would find out which of your pilots are the most recent DCAs (Direct Commision Aviators). Most of them are former Army pilots, with some USMC and Navy. They should be able to answer everything for you. It has been a while for me, but coming from Army to CG, I still laugh at what people bitch about. Everything is relative. As far as the lax lifestyle, yeah, it is nice, but unlike the CG, the Army is actually "military." I tell some of my friends tht in some ways the CG is better, some ways worse, and in some ways it is the same crap, different uniform. After all, it is still the govt. (If you are deployed 2-3 months out of the year, I'm guessing you're in Miami, ACY, or the Great Lakes. I don't know many places that deploy that much in the CG.) You won't stand as much duty as you know it now, unless you end up a medevac pilot. You may not be "deployed" but you will still have FTXs (field training exercises) where you aren't home. Army Warrants are no where near as anal as CG Os, but you will still have to deal with that some with some of the Commisioned types. Like anywhere, people are different, and everything is what you make of it. You will definitely enjoy the flying more in the Army, and I'm sure almost all of the DCAs will say the same thing. I got so bored right away flying 65s.

If you want to fly Apaches, there should be plenty of openings, if things haven't changed much. If you end up in Apaches, plan on going to Korea a couple of times in your career for 12-18 months at a time, without your family. (That was before Iraq and Afghanastan.) It was so bad for them a number of years ago, that a lot of them bailed. The Army ended up offering bonuses for Apache pilots because they were getting so thin. What acft you fly will depend on your grades, both academic and flight, in flight school. SEER is not required, but any similiar training is valuable if you can get it.

As far as ciollege, that requirement has changed so many times that you would need to talk to a recruiter. Try this website:

http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/

You should also try what you can to get your GPA changed due to military circumstances. See if your ESO or legal can talk to the school. You may end up still eating the cost, but at least your GPA will be better. Depending on if the school is used to dealing with military or not, they might have policies in place for that.

Housing depends on the base CO/regs, availability, etc. If you already have a household full of furniture, tht might weigh in your favor. Again, everything is different, and it has been a while.

Hope it helps, one way or the other.

[phxcoastie]

thank you sir/maam for the reply. . good guess ..i'm stationed in miami lot's of DCA's. For me, it's either, OCS, WOFT, or the CIVI world. Personally, I think WOFT seems the most rewarding, as well as practical. I'm friends with a few O's that I'll drink beers with on the weekends, and they think I'm nuts for considering WOFT/, but the prior E's as well as prior warrants like to talk it up like christmas. We actually have two pilots prior enlisted coastie, went warrant, and back to the latter. But it was a while ago for both, and I need better stories of personal experience. I honestly feel the CG can't deliver what I want, and I feel I can be more of service to my country as an army pilot, but at the same time, it would be nice to meet a nice girl and settle down a bit, but I've learned through experience that is not always the case...either way, thatnk you so much for the info..

[cjpino]

No problem, it is my pleasure. The closest Army Aviatin unit to Miami is probably at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. If you have any friends there, maybe you could call and set up a visit to a unit and talk to some of the Warrants there.

Good Luck,

Craig