Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 2/27/2009

Question
I've been thinking about joining the Marines after i graduate college in the future. My ideal job would be piloting a helicopter, but i want to know  what happens if I join wanting to become a pilot and don't qualify in some fields necessary for a pilot position? What would be my alternate choices? Would I be stuck in aviation? There are not too many jobs that i would want to do besides piloting, and I wouldn't want to be stuck behind a desk for my length of service in the military. Is there a possibility i could switch to infantry? thank you for you time and response.  
                                sincerely,
                                     Kyle

Answer
Kyle,
You deserve a thorough answer so you know what you're getting into.
Short answer - it's a crap shoot.  Read on and I'll explain.

Some of my best friends are Marine helicopter pilots and they all absolutely love it.  My good friend Col Hayward led the attack on Granada in 1983 via helicopter and said he wouldn't trade his job for anything in the world.  So to answer your question very accurately I consulted him.  First of all he said the Marines only fly 5 different helicopters.  The AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter, the UH-1 Huey, the CH-46 Sea Knight assault helicopter, the CH-53E Super Sea Stallion (the largest helicopter in the US inventory), primarily used for heavy lifting, and the new MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor VSTOL used for medium lift assault  operations.

What's your college major?  Job preference is always given to someone who has a degree related to the job, such as aerospace.   If, by chance, you have a private pilot license you can skip the initial screening flights, etc. and go right to OCS and then pilot training.  Otherwise they'll send you to separate screening for about 9-12 hours flight time before you enter Officer Candidates School (OCS) just to see if you are cut out to be a pilot.  It's here that some people find out they're afraid of heights or get airsick, etc.  The USMC requires pilots to qualify in fixed-wing aircraft (the training is cheaper) before proceeding to helicopter school.  Believe me, the instructors will turn that aircraft every which way but loose in an effort to see if you can take it.

At OCS you will complete the equivalent of enlisted recruit training for 10 weeks.  The reason being, every Marine is just that, a Marine first and foremost.  Any particular job he does in the Corps is incidental.  Ask an Army guy what he does and he'll answer, " I'm a tank driver", or an aircraft mechanic, etc.  Ask any Marine, officer or enlisted, what he does and he'll simply say, "I'm a Marine."  Upon completion, you will be offered an officer’s commission and proceed to The Basic School (TBS) at Quantico, Virginia for 6 months. At TBS, you will be first trained to lead as a rifle platoon commander and will be assigned a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) in either Air or Ground.

If you get accepted for Air, upon your commission you will go to flight school in Pensacola, FL where you will train for up to 16 months (depending upon your aircraft type).  Upon graduation you'll be assigned to an aircraft in your area of expertise at a real-world squadron as a USMC 2nd Lieutenant.

A helicopter pilot has to serve a minimum of 6 years.  If you do not get accepted for Air, then they will assign you to another career field (of their choosing) in a Ground environment.  In that case you'd be "stuck" for 4 years, but as an officer there's not really any "bad" jobs.  To view a list of all available USMC jobs, see the web site:
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/officerj3/a/officerjobsmenu.htm

It's possible that you could be assigned to Aviation Logistics or Aircraft Maintenance, but those are only 2 of about 40 fields you could be assigned to.  If you have an aviation-related college degree there's a good chance they'd use your expertise there, but there's no guarantee.

Best of luck and thanks for considering a career in the USMC.  You'll love it.
Colonel H