Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 9/1/2009

Question
QUESTION: First off, I would like to thank you for your service to this great country.
My name is David and I am a high school senior looking at colleges. I wanted to pick your brain about Navy, AF, and CG in regards to flying. I would love to fly anything-helos, jets, props, etc. I have many questions and I apologize if it is a bit too much! I have loved to fly from an early age, but do to financial constraints, have been unable to pursue that interest as much as I would like. That being said, I want to serve my country after college in some capacity and I feel that flying would be the best way to do that (I do not want to join just to let Uncle Sam let me fly-I will serve my nation in any job but flying is the goal). As I look at colleges (Notre Dame, Villanova, Tufts to name a few), I am considering ROTC option but am not sure on the life of pilots in the different services. I have read that the Marines and Navy pilots fly far less and do much more admin related stuff as compared to AF or CG pilots. Is this true? Also, I am a bit confused on pilot deployments for CG and AF. I understand much of this is based on airframe and which service, but could you shed some light about how often pilots from AF and CG deploy? Finally, do you think my decision for a college major would impact my chances of becoming a pilot? I am looking at history or psychology but I heard many pilots have technical or engineering degrees.
Thanks so much for the advice,
David

ANSWER: David,
First off I commend you for planning ahead.  All too often I get the same questions from folks who have been in college for 2 years or more and are just then thinking about what they want to do with their lives.  You're wise to check into ROTC.  I myself went through Officer Training School, but if I had to do it over again I definitely go via ROTC.  Sound like you've picked some good schools also.  Have you checked out their ROTC programs yet?  Do some research and see if any appeal to you.

Here're some things to ponder:

- The USCG is in the business of saving lives while all the other Services are in the business of taking lives.

- The Navy and the Army each have more helicopters than the Air Force.

- The COAST GUARD has only two types of fixed-wing aircraft; the Lockheed HC-130 Hercules (of which there are only 27), and the Dassault HU-25A Guardian (of which there are only 35).  So as you can see, there's not much opportunity to fly in the USCG.

- Same with the ARMY.  They have mostly helicopters and very few fixed-wing aircraft, that they mostly use for transporting VIPs or supplies.  They have 3 types of cargo aircraft; UC-35's, C-12's, and C-23's.  The Army is not allowed to have fixed wing COMBAT aircraft.  That was decided by Congress way back in the late 1940's.  They used to have observation planes that carried smoke rockets to mark targets, but by law they are not allowed to have combat aircraft.

The MARINE CORPS has only about 420 fixed-wing aircraft of which there are 5 types.  The KC-130 HERCULES, the EA-6B PROWLER, the AV-8B HARRIER II, the F/A-18A/C HORNET, and the brand new F-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER.  Mostly the USMC has helicopters to support their beachhead assault mission.

The NAVY flys nine different types of fixed-wing aircraft of which there are approximately 1,700.  Exact numbers are classified.

The Air Force flys 38 different types of fixed-wing aircraft of which there are approximately over 3,300.  Exact numbers are classified.

So as you can see, the greatest opportunity to be a military pilot is in the Air Force.  The odds are better there.

As for flying time, USCG pilots are constantly on stand-by to fly real-world rescue missions.  As time permits they fly training missions, usually the bare minimum each month to stay current.

Navy and USMC pilots fly less because there are fewer airplanes and helicopters.  AF pilots fly a lot because they have much more opportunities.  Fighter pilots routinely fly sorties of 1 to 1 1/2 hours every other day, punching holes in the sky, and return home every day.  On the ground they have tons of paperwork and additional duties. (Safety officer, security officer, scheduler, ops officer, maintenance officer)  Transport pilots routinely fly 10-12 hours missions all around the world.  Because of crew rest limitations they stay away from home for several days at a time, laying over in places like Hawaii, Japan, Singapore, Korea, and all over Europe.  Tanker pilots fly circles in the sky, waiting for thirsty birds to come get a drink.  Bomber pilots fly quite a bit on training missions practicing terrain-following, precision bombing in the desert, and high altitude ops.  Spy plane pilots fly daily real-world missions on the fringe of outer space on photo reconnaissance missions, many hours at a time, and they always return home at the end of every day.  AF helicopters fly mostly Search and Rescue missions over land.  The Navy helos do it over water and also drug interdiction ops in the Caribbean.

As for college majors, they're as varied as can be.  My buddy the A-10 pilot has a degree in forestry while my buddy the helicopter pilot has a degree in music.  Be advised that to become a pilot your biggest competition comes from the Air Force Academy graduates where it's mandatory to have a degree in aeronautical engineering.

We in the military use the term "deploy" to represent going off to war somewhere.  Is this how you meant to use the term deploy?
Whenever there's a war, the rules of warfighting is that you send in airplanes first to knock out lines of communication, radar, and surface to air weapons.  Then you bomb the daylights out of heavy industry such as aircraft manufacturing, oil refineries, airports, railroads, etc.  Only then do you send in ground troops, after you have control of the airspace.  This way ground troops can come in and clean out remaining insurgents who may have escaped "death from above" and secure the battlefield, city, etc.  So since airpower comes first in any war, then you can see that pilots deploy a lot.  A Navy pilot's main job is to fly cover over a carrier battlegroup, protecting the ships.  They knock out any threat within a 100 mile radius of the carrier, which is the center of the battle group.  The Marines job is to establish a beachhead and clear the way for Army troops to come in and mop up the area.  Therefor USMC pilots provide top cover for the grunts as they move inland from the water's edge (littoral warfare).  So a Marine pilot has an important job but it lasts only a short time.

Is this the kind of stuff you were looking for?  If not, or if you have any more questions please
send me a follow-up.
Thanks for considering the military as a career.
Colonel H


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Colonel H,
Thanks for the quick response! I really appreciate your answers. They have cleared up a ton of questions which I have had for a long time but have been unable to get a real answer.
The only other question I had was regarding the deployment section; I failed to really articulate what I was talking about so I apologize. I was curious to see how often AF pilots or CG pilots would travel away from home for other things not including the Iraqi war or War on Terror. You gave an awesome in-depth run down for the different AF pilot communities' flying time but I was curious if they had a predetermined training schedule where they would leave to train for 3 weeks every several months or so. For example, I heard that navy and Marine pilots go on a carrier for 6 months at a time and are home for 6 months at a time. Do AF pilots just fly sorties around the bases they are stationed at then deploy to the Persain Gulf for a set number of months then return home, or is there a regular training schedule that takes them to different bases say, every 3 months? Basically, how often are you at home when you are not deployed to a warzone as a pilot?
Thanks so much again!
David

Answer
David,
I'm glad my first answer helped a little.  As for your second question, you're exactly right about the Navy and USMC pilots going to sea 6 months at a time.

Q:  Do AF pilots just fly sorties around the bases they are stationed at then deploy to the Persian Gulf for a set number of months then return home, or is there a regular training schedule that takes them to different bases say, every 3 months?

A:  AF and USCG pilots don't often leave home, except to attend training schools, like AF Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun).  Those type of schools are for a few months every 3 or 4 years.  Most AF bases have a designated practice area nearby where they fly to and practice various maneuvers.  The practice zone is usually a 30 minute flight, just to get away from civilization in case something should go wrong.  Pilots fly there, practice for a few hours, and then fly home, about every other day.  There is a minimum number of hours that a pilot must fly every month to remain current.  (It used to be 12 hours and 3 hours at night.)  Practice makes perfect.  You don't want to fly into combat some day when you haven't practiced for awhile.  That how the U.S. was able to dominate the skies in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War.  The other side had more planes and more pilots, but we had better trained pilots, giving us a kill ratio of 10 to 1.

Q:  Basically, how often are you at home when you are not deployed to a war zone as a pilot?
A:  Fighter pilots are almost always home.  Air Transport (cargo) pilots are an exception.  They're gone on long overseas flights at least one week a month.

Since the USCG doesn't have fighters or long-haul transport planes, they're always home.  Those poor guys have a rather boring life, sitting around waiting for an accident to happen.

Colonel H