Expert: Rod Powers - 7/21/2006

Question
Hi, My name is Mob, 23 years old. I`m taking u.s.army r.o.t.c. in the university. Here, i want to maintain my self, and, to hear something about pilot as much as possible from you, which i extreamely want to be. first, my major is mathematics. honestly, i`m not really better than the others in the class, however, i like it.(my present math course is multivariable calculus<i`m just tell you that for let you prove a way and find my problem easier, not the reason of proud myself>, also i`m taking university physics. how those condition will be work for the pilot? ) second, my eye sight is fit on 20/20, and my physical fitness score is over 230, such push up ,sit up, 2 mile run. so i guess it is not the problem.. third, i don`t have any idea about pilot test. is there a test prep. booklet i could buy from bookstore, so i can prepare for the test? fourth, if i fail the test, still i could take a chance such as civilion pilot training course deplome or certification?
and if so, how that way can works in the airforce? fifth, one day i imagine that if i`m an enlist pilot, it still have a chance to be an officer later on? because i just want to learn first and leadaway later. sixth, let me say, i`m a pilot in the u.s. airforce, how can i transfer to the naval airforce?
  
i doubt that i can be a pilot. many people told me that is complicate to me. even you think so?
thanks for read.  

Answer
Hi Movius,

There are no such things as "enlisted pilots."  Except for the Army which uses warrant officers as pilots of helicopters (the Army has *very few* positions for fix-wing pilots), all pilots in the services are commissioned officers.  This means (except for Army helicopter pilots), you need to first finish your college degree.

Having a civilian pilot's license can help with the application process.  The application process (for all the services) is competitive.  In other words, each year, thousands of people apply (everyone and their brother wants to be a military pilot), and only a few hundred are accepted, in each of the service branches.

Things that are taken into consideration are college grade point average, and tests on the various military flight aptitude tests.  There are books available about the various military flight aptitude tests (do a "search" on Amazon.com).

You also have to meet the vision requirements (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/genjoin/a/pilotvision.htm) for the particular service you're applying for, and meet the requirements of a Flight Class I Medical Examinaation (see: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforce/l/blflymenu.htm).  Note:  This link is for the Air Force, but all the services are pretty much the same when it comes to flying medical examinations.

There isn't any such thing as the "Naval Air Force."  I know what you're trying to say, however.  You're asking if you become a pilot in the Air Force, can you later transfer to become a Naval aviator (pilot).  The short answer is "no."  First off, if you are accepted for Air Force flight training, you are obligated to stay in the Air Force for 10 years (following completion of flight training).  It costs the Air Force a couple of million dollars to train a pilot, and they want a return on their investment, if you are accepted for the program.

If you first become a Navy pilot, you would incur a service obligation of 10 years (following graudation from flight training).

It's not that easy to transfer from one service to another, especially as an aviator.  If you're a pilot, the branch of service you joined probably spent big bucks on training you to fly military aircraft of that service, and they are not going to be very willing to lose that investment by allowing you to transfer to fly aircraft for another service.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my military information website at:  http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com