Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 8/26/2007

Question
QUESTION: Mam, My name is Daniel and am currently in high school. My dream has always been to belong in the sky. Growing up in a military atmosphere, I naturualy have come to want to fly/operate fighter jets. More precisley, the F/A-18 Hornet( D Model 2 seater). I wanted to pilot these but my vision is not 20/20. Therefore I have chosen to settle for WSO, Weapons and Sensors Officer( Rear Seat)MOS#7524 . My current plan goes as follows:
-Graduate HS with college acceptances in hand
-Enlist in Marine Corps Reserve
-Enroll in a 4 year college and enter PLC (Platoon Leaders Class)
-Earn BS in Luinguistics or Aeronautical Engineering
-Earn Cammission as a Marine Corps Officer
-Atend API(Aviation pre-Flight Indoctrination)
-Continue Flight School
-and finally earn wings as A WSO/NFO aboard F/A-18Ds'
 Now my Questions:
1.)What are the vision requirments to become a WSO and to get into the training to become a WSO?( I Understand that Pilots and NFO/WSO dont have the same requirements)
2.)Once out of High School, is there a good MOS that i can chose to keep me around aircraft?
3.)Do I have to have College acceptances in hand before I go to basic, because I will go to basic in the summer of 08' right after graduation. Would this not allow me to make it to the start of classes for college?
4.)Will I apply for PLC before I ship to basic training or after?
- I am sure more questions will arise in the future. I thanl you for your time Mam. Semper Fi
-Martinez

ANSWER: Dear Daniel --

You have a great plan, but why don't you try for an ROTC scholarship?  Navy ROTC is most likely to allow you to branch into the Marines.  As a matter of fact, you can ask for them to guarantee it, if you fulfill your ROTC requirements.

You could also apply to one of the military academies and in your senior year apply for your commission into the Marine Corps when you graduate.

As for your other questions, you can be a rear seater, usually if your vision is correctable to 20/20 with lenses.  The actual details vary from year to year depending on how easy or difficult recruiting new candidates is.

Any flight line work, and aircraft mechanic work will keep you near aircraft when you are serving in the USMC reserve.  However, you want to choose a specialty that will allow you to be successful in college, and not just be on the flight line all the time.  A college degree in any engineering or a science will help you in your goal to fly or work in the cockpit of an aircraft.  Linguistics, while very useful elsewhere, is not your best choice if you want to fly.

If you are going the USMC reserve route, I recommend you have your college acceptance letter in hand when you talk to your recruiter.  You should get a clause in your enlistment contract that guarantees you Officer Candidate School if you do well in basic training.  You should also insist on a boot camp start date that allows you to graduate in time to start your college classes in the autumn.

One point to consider -- Putting off your enlistment until you have a year of college completed will make you a higher quality recruit candidate. Recruiters will make high quality candidates better offers about training dates, military occupational specialties, officer candidate school guarantees, as well as monetary enlistment bonuses.

Consider all your options carefully.  Ensure any enlistment contract you sign has every clause you were promised in it.  Verbal promises from your recruiter are unenforceable.  Get everything in writing.  Have a parent or a friend come with you and read the contract carefully with you before you sign.  

Please write back, if new questions come up.  I wish you the best of luck,but enjoy your senior year of high school too.



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

QUESTION: Thank You SO Much Mam. Your advice is both helpfull and eye-opening. As a matter in fact, i was just talking to an Oficer Recruiter and he opened a new path for me. There is a program out for high school graduates called, "The 92 Day Program". In this program, I finish my senior year and leave for basic training. Normaly after basic, one goes to MCT or SOI and then to their MOS school. In the 92 Day Program, as soon as one is through with basic, one starts their first year of college that same week!(Month or whatever). In that first year, the reservist gets OJT(On the job Training) for their reserve MOS. After completing the first year of college, that summer the reservist attends 6 weeks of OCS. Once through with the first half(six weeks), the reservist no longer reports to their reserve unit for drill. The reservist id now " Officer Candidate". Then the second year of College begins and once through with that year, in the summer one finishes the rest of OCS. Once completed one is now officer selected. The following summer can be used for OCS makeups or can be free for the reservist. At the end of year four, one receives their BA and Commission at the same time.
 After being commissioned, the officer attends TBS(THE BASIC SCHOOL) for six months. At TBS, the oddicer choses wether they want Air, Ground, or Law. Once there, one is sent into the fleet and to their MOS school.
   It sounds great for me because the other route I would take as long as 8 months to get through all Marine Corps training Battallions, and by that time I would be wasting 1 year of valuable school time.
   About my vision; it is correctable to 20/20 with lenses. So at the moment everything looks great, and there is a possiblity that I may be heading down to Los Angeles to DEP in! im very excited.
    I Will get all these things in writing as you advise mam. Better safe than sorry right!
   Again I thank you for your help! I suppose I would say " Army Leads the Way" but for Now I'll say Semper Fi! Lol
-Martinez
ANSWER: Daniel --

All the best to you, I am glad my advice was helpful.  Please feel free to write any time and use me as a mentor or coach as you go through your training and school.

Semper Fi!



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

QUESTION: Colonel,
 I just returned from MEPS and have some sort of bad news. I passed all my exams, no problem, but my vision had a problem. The doctor recomended that I return to MEPS to undergo a follow up test with an Agency here because of the possibility of Keratoconus. Its a mis-shaping of the eye lens that blurs vision. Unfortunatly its a disqualifying factor. On Monday I return to take this thourough exam and see wether or not I have this deseise. A good thing is that my vision was 20/30, which is very close to pilot requirements that undergo the PRK surgery. So if I test NEG for the Teratoconus, then I might have the possibility of becoming a Naval Aviator. Its hard to feel happy though. i'd rather be in the back seat than not at all.
-Martinez

Answer
Dear Daniel --

If you have this disease, you may be able to have your diseased lens removed and get an artificial lens (like people with cataracts get when they have their cataracts and lenses removed).  You could then apply for a waiver with a good chance of success (not 100% guarantee though).

I hope your next exam goes well, and you pass your physical with no need for eye surgery.  Best,