Is it possible to go from active duty to reserves to go to school full time?

2019-11-25T23:38:13-05:00

I've been in for 2.5 years, I have no prior college education, and do not like my job or enlisted life. I would like to go to an aviation college to get my rotary pilots license/ bachelor degree and commission. If anybody has any incite on this I would love to hear it!

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 26 at 2019 2:28 AM

2019-11-26T02:28:41-05:00

SPC Adam,

You have a few options. You could wait until your current contract expires and attend college to get your pilot license. Also, you could get into the Green to Gold program. There’s a 2, 3, and 4 year option depending on how much college you have. Since you don’t have any college you’ll have to do the 4 year option should you choose this program. Look into it and see if you could do that. I’m almost sure that if you do this program, the Army won’t pay for a pilot license, but do the research. I don’t want to give you erroneous information. Last option you have and I highly recommend doing this one, use your TA of pay out of pocket for some flight time either fixed wing or rotatory and put in a Flight Warrant packet. You could put one in right now without any flight time and might get selected. If your ultimate goal is to be a helicopter pilot in the Army I would suggest my last option. If your ultimate goal is to become a pilot in the civilian sector, wait until your contract expires and got to college. What’s your ultimate goal?

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 26 at 2019 4:23 AM

2019-11-26T04:23:28-05:00

Talk to your career counselor. They'll have the most current information.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Nov 26 at 2019 8:57 AM

2019-11-26T08:57:58-05:00

OK 1. Maybe green to gold would work- look into it. 2. You will have to normally serve out you enlistment, or close to it. 3. No college yet- you don't make it , then you're gone. 4. Very few colleges have aviation classes along, and there are no degrees in just flying, so you would have to major in some aviation engineer science.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 26 at 2019 10:54 AM

2019-11-26T10:54:08-05:00

If your goal is to fly you should be looking at WOCS. There is no wait time to submit an application and you'll leave the Army with plenty of logged flight hours, which can be hard to accrue on the civilian side. If you became a commissioned officer who branched aviation, you would be looking at 5-6 years from now till you started flying. Either route you take you'll owe some time to the Army after you commission. As for just separating, no there is no such thing as separation for education. You can only transfer into the Reserves after your ETS.

Response by SPC Brent Melton made Nov 27 at 2019 3:19 PM

2019-11-27T15:19:13-05:00

At the discretion of your commander, you can also go to college while on active duty. The Army will pay for this and it won't eat in to your GI bill.

https://www.goarmy.com/benefits/education-benefits/financial-aid-programs.html

Financial Aid Programs

The programs you will find on this page are the most commonly used financial aid programs used by Army Soldiers.