Expert: John L - 9/15/2009

Question
John Lewis,

Hello, I am a soon to be college graduate with a good GPA and a great set of references/resume lines I have built up over my four years here. I have always been interested in the military, and found myself spending much of my free time during my summers researching the various branches as best I could. I have recently been talking to various recruiters but have so far been unable to get a meeting to work with the Wisconsin National Guard recruiter in my area.

Basically I am wondering what kind of flight options the National Guard has. For example, are most NG Aviators prior Active Duty? I know it is possible for the NG to send members to flight school, how common is that? How exactly does that process work?

I am closely looking at the Army as they have the WOFT, A.K.A. "street to seat". To my knowledge the National Guard does not have a similar program. If I wanted to fly for you guys, I'm guessing I would have to enlist, get trained in an MOS and then submit my package for flight school?

Finally, I should point out that I am talking about the Warrant Officer route. If I join the armed forces to fly I would rather take the slight pay cut and miss out on the "RLO" responsibilities for the exchange of flying for the entire career.

Any information at all is appreciated.

Thanks for your time
-Andrew


Answer
Street to seat candiates rarely make the cut due to no military experience unless they already are civilan pilots.  In the Guard, as long as you qualify, anyone can try out to go pilot, there is usually always a need.  In the Guard, your best option is to join an aviation unit as a 15T or 15P, then right after school training, apply for pilot.  In the Army, if you fail pilot school, you canbe stuck in a job you wont like.