Expert: Aaron Shifferly - 6/15/2009

Question
I want to become an army apache pilot. I have been considering to options that are open to me. There is warrant officer and then there was ocs.  I was wondering how long is the training process for both of these routes. How many different schools do I have to attend and how long is it till I will be squadron ready. Any advice would be great.

Answer
Chris:
Here is the process and I'll explain to you the differences:
First. you need to have a college degree or almost a complete college degree for either program (I recommend the entire degree). Then you need to pass the Army Flight Aptitude Skills Test (AFAST) which is given at most recruiting offices or MEPS stations. If you pass that, you qualify for flight training.  You then need to pass a flight physical to ensure you meet the medical qualifications to fly. Assuming all of that is good you can take either route, officer or warrant.  The chief difference is that officers are paid more and will eventually get promoted out of flying.. they will manage the fliers and fly not as often.  A warrant officer will be paid less but has the potential to fly helicopters nearly all of his career because we treat our warrants as technical experts in their respective fields. I dont know what your status is now, but if you take ROTC in college that will qualify you to come into the army as a 2LT and that will bring you to your next phases of training. A warrant would have to do army basic training and then Warrant Officer Basic Course. Regardless of the way you get there, you'll end up at Fort Rucker, AL for flight training which takes about 18 months. The first 12 are standard and will give you the basics of flying and train you on how to do it. The last 6 are where you will have selected your preferred airframe (or if you rank low in the class have it dictated to you) and then you will train on flying in the specific airframe.  Once you graduate you will owe a significant amount of time in service to the Army, but have a very valuable skill.  Hope this was what you were looking for and feel free to ask follow up questions if you want.