Army Warrant Officer Flight Program

[Firebird2XC]

Is it possible to join the Army or Guard and go straight to flight school as a WO?

Absolutely, and don't let enlisted recruiters tell you otherwise.

They get no quota or bonus credit for those who join officer programs, so it's in their very best personal interest to get you to enlist instead.

They're full of baloney. Talk to a warrant officer recruiter and get the straight dope.

 

[Turbo Mcfloat]

Funny that is exactly what happened today when I talked to a Guard recruiter. I mentioned being interested in flying as a WO, have a couple years of college and about 2100 hours fixed wing. He said I would have to enlist (I'd be a E-3 I think), and then apply to be a WO once at E-4, which would be at a minimum of a year after enlisting for me. As fun as being enlisted sounds, don't wanna if I don't have to kinda thing.

What's your advice on what to do? Find another recruiter and stop talking to this guy or call him out politely? He more than likely knows he wasn't being completely honest.

Anyway sorry for the thread hijack but thought it was related enough to the OP's question

 

[Bwatz]

I don't think you can go from the street to flight school in the guard. I think you have to be enlisted first. I know you can go from the street to flight school in the reserves. You may want to look into that as an option. I remember seeing the South Carolina guard had quite a few openings. The way it was explained to me is you enlist then they send you to a quick MOS school then WOCS. I think the guard unit was on baseops.net under the jobs section. Look here for some great information. http://www.aptap.org/

 

[Firebird2XC]

Funny that is exactly what happened today when I talked to a Guard recruiter. I mentioned being interested in flying as a WO, have a couple years of college and about 2100 hours fixed wing. He said I would have to enlist (I'd be a E-3 I think), and then apply to be a WO once at E-4, which would be at a minimum of a year after enlisting for me. As fun as being enlisted sounds, don't wanna if I don't have to kinda thing.

What's your advice on what to do? Find another recruiter and stop talking to this guy or call him out politely? He more than likely knows he wasn't being completely honest.

Anyway sorry for the thread hijack but thought it was related enough to the OP's question

Tell that recruiter exactly what he's full of, etc, and go talk to a warrant officer recruiter. Google "US Army Warrant Officer Recruiting" and check it out. They've got their own whole setup.

Enlisted recruiters are snake oil salesmen. Treat them as such.

 

[Firebird2XC]

I don't think you can go from the street to flight school in the guard. I think you have to be enlisted first. I know you can go from the street to flight school in the reserves. You may want to look into that as an option. I remember seeing the South Carolina guard had quite a few openings. The way it was explained to me is you enlist then they send you to a quick MOS school then WOCS. I think the guard unit was on baseops.net under the jobs section. Look here for some great information. http://www.aptap.org/

Wrong.

See above post.

 

[Bwatz]

I don't think that I am wrong.. I was told from multiple sources (current warrant officers in different units) that you could not enter WOFT from civilian directly to the guard... They told me you had to be enlisted first.. They didn't specify how long you had to be enlisted in the unit, but that you had to first be in the unit.. He said the last guy they sent him to a quick month long MOS school then he went to WOCS soon afterwards. I am talking warrant officer not a commissioned officer in the guard. I am talking about the Guard, not the Reserve.

I was also told that a civilian could enter WOFT in the reserves no problem.. I got that from a ranking officer in a reserve black hawk unit...

I am not making this stuff up. It was told to me by ranking officers in 3 different units.. Unless 5 different people lied to me, then I am wrong.. I was just passing on what i was told.

 

[Blackhawk]

I don't think that I am wrong.. I was told from multiple sources (current warrant officers in different units) that you could not enter WOFT from civilian directly to the guard... They told me you had to be enlisted first.. They didn't specify how long you had to be enlisted in the unit, but that you had to first be in the unit.. He said the last guy they sent him to a quick month long MOS school then he went to WOCS soon afterwards. I am talking warrant officer not a commissioned officer in the guard. I am talking about the Guard, not the Reserve.

I was also told that a civilian could enter WOFT in the reserves no problem.. I got that from a ranking officer in a reserve black hawk unit...

I am not making this stuff up. It was told to me by ranking officers in 3 different units.. Unless 5 different people lied to me, then I am wrong.. I was just passing on what i was told.

It depends on the Guard unit. Normally you do not have to go to MOS school. Some Guard units may have it as a policy to do this, but it is not required.
Now technically you will enlist. You then go to basic training first. Then, however, you go to WOCS.

 

[ozziecat35]

What are the education requirements for WOFT? I'm a 4 yr active duty Army vet (ETS Aug. 06.) with about 47 credit hrs. Though I've seen you need a BA. I'd like to go back in with the economy the way it is, but only to fly, I'll never go in as enlisted again. I'd like to go straight to WOCS and then to WOFT, basically a guaranteed slot...(starting small I know...)

Thanks.

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

Need a 2 year degree, I believe -- although the requirements dont list any degree requirement on the website that I saw.

 

[Turbo Mcfloat]

Need a 2 year degree, I believe -- although the requirements dont list any degree requirement on the website that I saw.

Where did you hear/read that? I'm about to start the process for a WO spot with 2yrs college no degree. I read it's pretty competitive right now since they aren't hiring too many people atm. A figure was thrown out on another website that said 40 people were brought on in each of the last two boards. Right now I'm past the point of being deterred though, can't win if you don't try. Plus it's cool you can apply more than twice now.

 

[ppragman]

I thought very very strongly about this, got a packet pretty much built, got references, worked a bunch on my "Why do you want to be an army aviator" etc. Talked to IanJ on the phone. I was really hyped for awhile on this until I realized that in some cases, the application process can take up to 2 years or more, even with all of your ducks in a row. Make sure your debt is negligible, as a friend of mine is still waiting to even get his security clearance. Not that I don't want to do it anymore, but honestly, when I could finish off college in two years, then apply for a commission, the pay combined with the fact that WOs are pretty much just pilots (which is both good and bad, its nice to fly, but I would enjoy the progression of attaining higher leadership roles I think) is something that eventually dissuaded me from going for it for now, instead I moved to Juneau to finish school.

Be advised about the enlisted recruiters building your packet, mine hadn't ever done one before, and had no idea what the standards for passing anything were, I don't think that they were particularly snake oil salesmen, I just tend to think that they were slightly unawares as to the details and finnesse required to succesfully complete a packet. Regardless, I think its a great program if you can sucessfully navigate the hoops, and the people I talked to here at JC, and on base were an incredible help.

 

[Lefty]

As a current Active Duty Warrant Officer, I can tell you that a degree is not required. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. If you have any questions regarding the O side of the house IanJ is a great source of info. Also Warrants receive a full commission upon reaching CW2. The only difference is ours are given, by warrant from the President.

 

[Low_Level_Hell]

I started WOFT four months out of high school with three college credits so no, a degree is not requried. However a degree will greatly improve your chances at being accepted.

I thought very very strongly about this, got a packet pretty much built, got references, worked a bunch on my "Why do you want to be an army aviator" etc. Talked to IanJ on the phone. I was really hyped for awhile on this until I realized that in some cases, the application process can take up to 2 years or more, even with all of your ducks in a row. Make sure your debt is negligible, as a friend of mine is still waiting to even get his security clearance. Not that I don't want to do it anymore, but honestly, when I could finish off college in two years, then apply for a commission, the pay combined with the fact that WOs are pretty much just pilots (which is both good and bad, its nice to fly, but I would enjoy the progression of attaining higher leadership roles I think) is something that eventually dissuaded me from going for it for now, instead I moved to Juneau to finish school.

If you're in the right track and the timing is right WOs can make just as much or more than COs. Currently our senior CW4s are making more than our battalion commander and our maintainence guys are making more than a commisioned guy with the same amount of time in.

And the real down-side of being a CO in the Army is having to put up with Warrant Officers.

 

[surreal1221]

What percentage of Army aviation is FW?

That said, it's my understanding that to fly FW you have to do the whole whirly-bird magic dance for a while.

 

[ozziecat35]

Any Arizona WO's hovering around the desert have any input on current positions either in the guard or reserves? I live in PHX and would prefer being based out of Papago...perhaps Marana...

 

[Blackhawk]

What percentage of Army aviation is FW?

That said, it's my understanding that to fly FW you have to do the whole whirly-bird magic dance for a while.

Very small. I would guess a larger % are in the Guard/Reserves.
Yes. I can't remember ever seeing an active duty FW WO below the rank of CW3 although there may be a few out there.

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

IMHO the Air Force should have relented and let the army operate the A-10s -- the army would have produced a ton of them. Or maybe that new Air Tractor with guns... I call it the Air Cannon, affectionately. Only thing cooler would be a Cessna 208 that drops bombs... you'd call it the Care-a-Bomber

 

[SpiraMirabilis]

Where did you hear/read that? I'm about to start the process for a WO spot with 2yrs college no degree. I read it's pretty competitive right now since they aren't hiring too many people atm. A figure was thrown out on another website that said 40 people were brought on in each of the last two boards. Right now I'm past the point of being deterred though, can't win if you don't try. Plus it's cool you can apply more than twice now.

I just saw army recruiters at my community college a few years ago and they had a booth specifically for the WOFT program and they were telling people to consider it after they graduated. Assumption on my part, I guess that was just more politic than 'drop out now and apply'

 

[Blackhawk]

IMHO the Air Force should have relented and let the army operate the A-10s -- the army would have produced a ton of them. Or maybe that new Air Tractor with guns... I call it the Air Cannon, affectionately. Only thing cooler would be a Cessna 208 that drops bombs... you'd call it the Care-a-Bomber

Not sure about the truth, but I was once told by a GO that the Air Force did relent... as long as the guns were taken off and the Air Force got to keep the money it was using to operate the A-10.

 

[Low_Level_Hell]

IMHO the Air Force should have relented and let the army operate the A-10s -- the army would have produced a ton of them. Or maybe that new Air Tractor with guns... I call it the Air Cannon, affectionately. Only thing cooler would be a Cessna 208 that drops bombs... you'd call it the Care-a-Bomber

As much as it pains me to say it I think the A-10's better off in the hands of the Air Force, by their nature they're way better than the Army at managing aircraft. Also the A-10 is always going to have to recover to an airfield where all the other Air Force equipment is anyway. As for integrating with the ground forces that's an aquired skill regardless of what branch the aviator's in.