Navy BDCP/Naval Aviation

T

turbojet28

Well-Known Member
Hello,

If anyone here has gone through, or has some insight for me that would be great! I never really had my heart set on going to the military, but I really have come to have a burning desire to fly for the Navy. I have given it time, to see if the desire was just a "phase", but I find myself wanting to do it more and more. Here is my situation:

I am currently in my senior year in high school. I recived my PPL last year and am getting hours in the book slowly, but surely. I am planning on attending Western Michigan University for an Aviation Flight Science degree. I also hold a great part-time job at a corporate flight department on line service/aircraft cleaning. I have such determination to succeed as a professional pilot, and now have come to the point where I feel the Navy is my best fit. I have absolute determination that I could do well in the Navy as an officer and pilot. I have excellent grades and am in good physical shape. My question is, what do you think about applying for a pilot slot in the BDCP program while a sophomore in college? What are your experiences with the program? What are the competetive qualifications? I have discussed this in-depth with a recruiter, but I would like to see if any of you have any input as to the "reality" of it. Thanks!
 
Why not the Air Force? An uncle of mine who retired as an officer in the Navy said "real men land on aircraft carriers." How about, "real men land in crosswinds!"
grin.gif
-- you know, since they turn the carriers into the wind . . .

. . . sarcasm, I do not for once question the skill and balls it takes to land on an aircraft carrier.
 
Dont hold me to it but I think Western Michigan has a cross town agreement with U. Michigan's NROTC program, just something to think about. As far as BDCP gpes from what I understand its not that easy a program to get into. Hell, who wouldnt want to be in it, they pay you E-5 pay to go to college plus BAH and MAYBE even COLA.Also your time in BDCP counts as time in service so when you finish OCS your making the same as an O-1 with 2-3 yrs of service. Theres a website, www.aiwarriors.com, that has a TON of information about BDCP and just about any other Navy/Marine commissioning(sp?) program you can think of. If you have any other question you can ask me, this is something I've done alot of research on.
 
As a Navy Pilot, I have no experience with BDCP, in fact I don't even know what that is. The best route to go in my opinion is to get your degree, with ROTC if possible, or go through OCS after getting your degree, and then you're off to flight school. Please PM with any questions.

Good luck!
 
I haven't heard of BDCP either. I was stationed as a NROTC instructor on my last tour.

Since you are a senior in high school, you still have about 2 months left to apply for a 4-year ROTC scholarship with any service, Air Force, Army, or Navy, if you want to do the ROTC route.

After January, the application process is closed and then you'd stuck with all the high school seniors I saw Jan-May of their senior year asking about how to get a ROTC scholarship and I'd have to turn them away and tell them to come back in the fall to compete for a 3-year scholarship.

If you want to do Naval Aviation, most pilots come out of the Academy, ROTC, or OCS.

Recruiters at the recruiting offices aren't really geared to point people towards being an officer. They have quotas to fill that are hard enough to fill when they're not steering people to the officer programs.
 
Thanks all for the info and advice. Thanks for the website, Jimmy, there is a lot of info on there that is very helpful.

For those of you unfamiliar with BDCP (Baccularate Degree Completion Program), it is a program in which you are enlisted as active duty, but you're only duties are to be a student and graduate. They pay you and help with tuiton, etc. Then (as part of being accepted into the program), you are set up with an OCS class and then Primary Flight Training if you were selected for pilot through your BDCP application. I really don't know a whole lot about it, but that is my basic understanding.
 
[ QUOTE ]
For those of you unfamiliar with BDCP (Baccularate Degree Completion Program), it is a program in which you are enlisted as active duty, but you're only duties are to be a student and graduate. They pay you and help with tuiton, etc. Then (as part of being accepted into the program), you are set up with an OCS class and then Primary Flight Training if you were selected for pilot through your BDCP application. I really don't know a whole lot about it, but that is my basic understanding.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, I know the program you're talking about now...all the branches have these programs.

Unfortunately, you really don't qualify for that, I'm 92% sure. That is designed for an enlisted Sailor that has some college, but never finished.

You want NROTC, as stated above...
 
Navy BDCP
--Go all the way to the bottom of the web page.

Thats interesting, Lloyd, thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'll have to look into that. The recruiter, however, and many people on the boards at the site which Jimmy posted (http://www.airwarriors.com) never seemed to mention being an enlisted sailor beforehand, and it doesn't say anything on the Navy's website (the one I posted above). I'll have to look into it. Thanks!
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
For those of you unfamiliar with BDCP (Baccularate Degree Completion Program), it is a program in which you are enlisted as active duty, but you're only duties are to be a student and graduate. They pay you and help with tuiton, etc. Then (as part of being accepted into the program), you are set up with an OCS class and then Primary Flight Training if you were selected for pilot through your BDCP application. I really don't know a whole lot about it, but that is my basic understanding.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, I know the program you're talking about now...all the branches have these programs.

Unfortunately, you really don't qualify for that, I'm 92% sure. That is designed for an enlisted Sailor that has some college, but never finished.

You want NROTC, as stated above...

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that was originally BDCP's purpose, but everyone I know of whos been accepted had no military experience. Most prior enlisted guys I know of do the Seaman to Admiral program
 
There was a similar program called NAVCAD back in the late 80's (early 90's?) for those under 24 of age (I just missed it) with a 2-year degree or 2 years of units at an accredited university. If accepted, one didn't get his commission until he got his wings. (I never found out what happened if you tanked flight school...I shudder to think about it). I believe the obligation was 5 years after getting wings. At that point, if you wanted to stay in the Navy (and they still wanted you), you went back to school to finish your 4-year degree. For every 6-months in school, you owed the Navy a 1-year commitment. Altogether, the initial obligation was about 6.5-7 years. There are probably many airline pilots hired during the 90's who went through this program (assuming they didn't finish their degree and recommit to the Navy).

Regards,

JR
 
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