Enlisted in the Coast Guard after High School

I'm hoping to get into the airlines/regionals as fast as possible, but I want to know if I can realistically enlist in the Coast Guard straight out of high school (as an E1, not an officer), pay for a flight school with some saved USCG pay and my GI bill (something like ATP), and then go into the regionals for a few years (then the majors.)

Main questions:
1. Can I go through the Coast Guard and ATP, not go through a four-year college, and still get into a good paying Major Airline job (i.e. 100k+)?
2. How long could I expect to stay in a Regional airline before I jump to a Major?
3. Are there better ways to do this? I've considered doing flight training at a mom-and-pop without the coast guard, but that would take too much time at a min-wage job. I also can't do the ROTC program; i'm past the deadline. I also can't apply for a loan for ATP (and it would be a not-so-good idea, anyway).

Thanks you any/all replies! I'll clarify anything if needbe.
 
If you want to be competitive at any major airline you'll want a 4 year degree.
here's an idea I had; What if I use/redeem my licenses earned at my flight school towards an aeronautical science degree? Then I'd just have to finish up the basic math/science/english courses and be on my merry way.
 
GI Bill doesn't cover ATP flight school.

GI Bill covers come aviation brick and mortar colleges

Right now a 4 year degree isn't required for Atlas, or AAs wholly owned subsidiaries (which flow to AA). I haven't checked into anyone else but look at their APC profiles to see.

You'll spend a good bit of time at a regional (read: years) before getting to a major. It's taking 5 years to flow to AA currently (allegedly) from the WOs. I've got buddies who were at their regionals for 5 years before being interviewed by atlas

Where do you want to go to college? Have you considered a service academy? ROTC has partial scholarships/ advanced standing options.
 
GI Bill covers come aviation brick and mortar colleges
Thank you for confirming that.

Right now a 4 year degree isn't required for Atlas, or AAs wholly owned subsidiaries (which flow to AA). I haven't checked into anyone else but look at their APC profiles to see.
Does that mean if I get into one of their regional subsidiaries, I can level up to the major (flow in, like go jet does for Delta I believe), WITHOUT going through a four-year?

Where do you want to go to college? Have you considered a service academy? ROTC has partial scholarships/ advanced standing options.
I can't do the ROTC because I missed the application deadline. Service academies are out the window too.
 
You'll spend a good bit of time at a regional (read: years) before getting to a major. It's taking 5 years to flow to AA currently (allegedly) from the WOs. I've got buddies who were at their regionals for 5 years before being interviewed by atlas

Keep in mind as well, there is no assurance that the flow program will still exist by the time you get to that point, or that regional will still exist, or the major you were thinking you would even flow to will exist for that matter.

TWA, Pan Am and Eastern were all places you would want to go when I was a kid. Now, not so much. Regionals come and go even faster.
 
Thank you for confirming that.


Does that mean if I get into one of their regional subsidiaries, I can level up to the major (flow in, like go jet does for Delta I believe), WITHOUT going through a four-year?


I can't do the ROTC because I missed the application deadline. Service academies are out the window too.

For AA, right now you can- Delta and United still require separate interviews from regionals and still require degrees.

You can go to a school whew there's an ROTC and be a non-scholarship student starting out, and you can re-apply for the academies next year.
 
I also can't do the ROTC program; i'm past the deadline.

Unless you are already enrolled in college, you haven't missed the deadline to enroll in ROTC. If you are a high school senior, yes you missed the deadline to apply for an 4-year ROTC scholarship. The time to apply for 4-year ROTC scholarships is the spring semester of your junior year in high school, with the final deadline being the fall of your high school senior year. They are awarding scholarships during the spring semester of your senior year in high school.

You can still go to a college, and apply as a walk-on ROTC student at any time while you are in college. The preferable time is before the fall semester of your freshman year starts. You won't have a scholarship and you will have to pay your own way for that first year in college through student loans, mom and dad, etc. But once you are enrolled, you can complete for a 3-year ROTC scholarship on equal basis to all other non-scholarship ROTC students or as someone else suggested apply for a service academy. Your ROTC instructors and commanding officer's evaluations will have a large bearing on your competitiveness for a 3-year scholarship.

If unsuccessful for a 3-year ROTC scholarship, you can still apply for a 2-year or 1-year ROTC scholarship during your sophomore and junior years in college. However if you enroll in ROTC for your junior year without a scholarship (or sophomore year with a scholarship), you automatically obligate yourself for required military service in the event you don't commission as an officer. That time service is done as an enlisted service member. You'll get orders to report to boot camp somewhere.

Anyways as your stated goal is to get into the airlines as soon as possible, then any military service will delay your entry into the airlines.
 
Just enlist in the Coast Guard, stay focused and use your spare pay to get a private in your off time, get out in 4 years and use your GI Bill to go to the UND or ASU aviation BS program.

Get an entry level job to get up to 1000 hours and then go work for a regional. You should be debt free if you go this route.

Alternatively, next year you can get an ROTC scholarship and skip enlisting, but the downside is that you'll be expected to be an officer for a given amount of time. If you become a military pilot, you'll be stuck for 8-10 years which is a long assed time.

The third option is to join the national guard in the state that you want to go to school at. A lot of states will waive your tuition for a state university if you serve in their national guard.

Either way, not going to college will hurt you in the long run, so you might as well knock it out while you can.
 
Just enlist in the Coast Guard, stay focused and use your spare pay to get a private in your off time, get out in 4 years and use your GI Bill to go to the UND or ASU aviation BS program.

Get an entry level job to get up to 1000 hours and then go work for a regional. You should be debt free if you go this route.

Alternatively, next year you can get an ROTC scholarship and skip enlisting, but the downside is that you'll be expected to be an officer for a given amount of time. If you become a military pilot, you'll be stuck for 8-10 years which is a long assed time.

The third option is to join the national guard in the state that you want to go to school at. A lot of states will waive your tuition for a state university if you serve in their national guard.

Either way, not going to college will hurt you in the long run, so you might as well knock it out while you can.

I don't know of any states that wave tuition for national guard soldiers or airmen. That's what the GI Bill is for.
 
Once again, I stand by what I said. I have even posted a link to prove myself. The OP can do what he wants with the information. Good luck, OP, and make sure you post once you're done to let us know how it went.
State Tuition assistance is different than waving tuition. Often times you still have to pay upfront for your courses then get reimbursed via State Tuition Reimbursement (STR) and Federal Tuition Assustance (FTA). At least in MN they don't just let you go for free.
 
Just enlist in the Coast Guard, stay focused and use your spare pay to get a private in your off time, get out in 4 years and use your GI Bill to go to the UND or ASU aviation BS program.

Get an entry level job to get up to 1000 hours and then go work for a regional. You should be debt free if you go this route.

What he said, but I'd add Auburn to that list of schools (You'd come out with a business degree plus all ratings). I used the Post-9/11 GI Bill at a community college (already had a BS by then), but if I could go back in time I'd have worked on my PPL as a joe and then gone to Auburn or ASU after getting out. Good luck in whatever you choose, but please don't short-change yourself on the college education and experience.
 
I'm hoping to get into the airlines/regionals as fast as possible, but I want to know if I can realistically enlist in the Coast Guard straight out of high school (as an E1, not an officer), pay for a flight school with some saved USCG pay and my GI bill (something like ATP), and then go into the regionals for a few years (then the majors.)

Main questions:
1. Can I go through the Coast Guard and ATP, not go through a four-year college, and still get into a good paying Major Airline job (i.e. 100k+)?
2. How long could I expect to stay in a Regional airline before I jump to a Major?
3. Are there better ways to do this? I've considered doing flight training at a mom-and-pop without the coast guard, but that would take too much time at a min-wage job. I also can't do the ROTC program; i'm past the deadline. I also can't apply for a loan for ATP (and it would be a not-so-good idea, anyway).

Thanks you any/all replies! I'll clarify anything if needbe.

1. No. You have almost NO chance of getting hired at a major airline without a degree.

2. Who knows? Some do it in a couple of years. Some do it in a couple of decades. Some never make it.

3. There is no "better easier or quicker" way. Graduate high school. Graduate college. Complete flight training. Build your skills, qualifications, and your experience. Stay focused. Stay out of debt. Stay out of trouble.
 
As another data point, I finished high school, then spent the next 2 years completing a part 141 flight program. After that, transferred to a 4 year university, and arrived as a sophomore in terms of credit hours transferred (I had done some lower division calc/physics while doing flight school). Applied to NROTC the spring before, and started in the fall as a "college program" midshipman…..ie no scholarship, but I was a regular member of the NROTC student body. Grades were good enough that fall/winter/spring to get picked up for a 3 year scholarship starting the following academic year. That basically got me through graduation and commissioning. So it can be done; you don't have to get in on the train right at the start of 4 years. Coast Guard is a little different since they don't to my knowledge have an ROTC option, just the academy and their OCS/OTS, both of which are highly competitive. However, all the other services have some options for a guy already in school or even done with school. I'd look into those options, as enlisting is going to be somewhat of an un-needed detour in your journey, particularly if you already have some college under your belt. Not saying it isn't a great option for some, but if your goal is flying for the majors, and you are considering military service, why not let the military pay you to fly and log those first couple thousand hours?
 
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