Posted on May 5, 2017
Gary Henson
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I am 25, have a college degree and im studying for the SIFT exam right now. I don't want to be a crew member, I want to be the Pilot. Also if y'all could give me some insight into your life as a warrant aviation pilot that would be awesome.
Thanks in advanced for helping a nooby like me guys.
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Responses: 15
CW3 Jim Lance
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First off, you're on the right track. Seeking info from those of us who have been there is an excellent start. I've been out of the Army for awhile now but find your way over to the airfield and introduce yourself to the aviation warrants there. Just like you did here, tell them your goals and seek their advice. If things are still the same, you're going to need a senior warrant officer or field grade officer recommendation for your selection packag. Go over to personnel and ask to visit the warrant officer there as well. He or she can help guide you on the requirements for putting together your packet.
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CW3 Jim Lance
CW3 Jim Lance
7 y
I was assuming you're already serving in the military, civilian transition is a bit more difficult and many recruiters are not aware of the process. Look at this and see if it helps.

http://m.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/current-and-prior-service/advance-your-career/warrant-officer/flight-warrant-officers.m.html
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SFC Platoon Sergeant
SFC (Join to see)
7 y
If your recruiter, or at least somebody in the office doesn't know about WOFT, they need to educate themselves. Talk to the Center Leader, they are usually the most knowledgeable.
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WO1 Network Management Technician
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if selected you will enlist just to go thur basic and be sent to Fort Rucker for Warrant officer candidate school, basic course and flight school which pending on aircraft is a.two year process
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WO1 Network Management Technician
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being a recent graduate of WOCS i did see a 7 week class that consisted of "street to seat" high school kids. pretty much 18 to 20 year olds with no army experience and their job is to just fly. Give me your email and i can shoot a message to peer of mine who i graduated with. He ended up recruiting a high school kid that turned out to be in the junior class below us.
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WO1 Network Management Technician
WO1 (Join to see)
7 y
Gary Henson - hey man I just hit him up sorry been busy moving.
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
No no I understand. I know y'all have lives and important things to do. I just wanted to give a small polite reminder. I can wait.
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Jack Halley
Jack Halley
>1 y
If this offer is still on the table then I'd love to get in touch. [login to see]
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Erik Mieckowski
Erik Mieckowski
>1 y
Hey I’m a student just about to finish college I have been trying for awhile how to become an aviation warrant officer. I could really use some help my email is [login to see] thank you.
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What can I do to make sure I get accepted to become an aviation warrant officer?
CW5 Sam R. Baker
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You're doing fine and just apply and soon! We need quality recruits in the branch as pilots as I just received a call from a 19 year old I put in 6 months ago as he signed into Fort Rucker this weekend to start WOCS after basic training. We are pulling as many as we can from the young ranks and civilian sector for longevity going forward to the branch as it is getting to old. There are other strings on RP that give guidance and ideas, get the latest recruiting smart book from the website and keep pinging the RP warrants when you have questions, we're here to assist.
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
How long did it take him to get in? Someone just told me that id have to wait for 2 years before I got in as a civilian and suggested that I go in as enlisted first.....
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
This is just by word of mouth... But They said that all the seats for the flight classes are booked up for 2018. I was wondering if I could first become a warrant officer for aviation and then just wait for a flight class seat
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CW5 Sam R. Baker
CW5 Sam R. Baker
>1 y
Gary Henson - WOCS qualifies you to be a warrant officer and then you wait for your school seat in flight school. Whomever you have talked to, obviously may not know, no one really knows the current status of the "white book" at USAACE and whether or not flight school is full. it is in your best interest to not listen to rumors of any kind and move out if you wish to go and apply and apply now. Can't shoot any straighter than that.
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PFC Griff Schoen
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Just gotta say. This thread is awesome! I wish rally point existed when I enlisted. You guys are really trying to help this young man become a pilot. After my ASVAB, I was leaning toward Apache crew member or patriot missle technician. Instead, I let the recruiter talk me into blowing stuff up. I don't regret it now but I was really bummed that he didn't try to steer me the direction I wanted to go initially. Not bagging on him cuz he was good to me otherwise and I know recruiters have stressful jobs. Any way, I wish I'd had a resource like rally point to help guide my decisions. Gary, listen to these guys and don't take no for an answer. Even SEAL candidates get do-overs sometimes. Good luck to you.
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
Thanks, that's exactly how I feel. I am very grateful to everyone on this forum. I hope I can give back someday.
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WO1 Network Management Technician
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Talked to my classmate in my WOBC and he just got off the recruiter trail. He said it is still around but you really need a strong LOR from a reputable aviation warrant. What I recommend is finding a Warrant officer on here and possibly do an interview with him/her and see if they will write you a LOR. Have something to provide to show forth that you are capable of taking on a huge role.

That being said I have a prior Navy WO in my class that went thru WOCS at a different time and he had tons of street to seat people. So the opportunity is out there, now it is up to you how bad you want it!
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
That's Excellent info to know. Thanks
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CW3 Tacops Officer
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>1 y
LOR must be from CW3-CW5
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SFC Platoon Sergeant
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Gary Henson I have now processed 3 WOFT packets while in recruiting. The process can be lengthy if you have any "speed bumps" along the way. Also the boards usually only happen once a quarter, so if you miss 1, you have a 3-4 month wait till the next one. The whole process is realitively simple, it's all a paper competition. They will look at your Letters of Recommendation, PT score, SIFT score, ASVAB score, Photo, and board appearance score. As long as you do the best you can in each, you should have a good shot at being selected.

Talk to your local recruiter, there should be somebody with knowledge on the WOFT process, at least the Center Leader. If nobody knows, ask them to go up their chain and ask their First Sergeant.

Most of the advice on here is good, just be weary about what you read on the internet, not everybody is fully informed. Or they say they are but are mistaken.
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
I am fully confident I can make above 60 on the sift test I have no criminal background and Im fine physically. Some guy that's in aviation I spoke to said that all the seats for the 2018 fiscal year are booked and that I should just go enlisted because I won't even get in until the end of 2019. I guess I'll just have to go to a recruiter. I just wish I had better guidance.
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SFC Platoon Sergeant
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7 y
"Some guy in aviation" might have heard that from somebody else, or doesn't fully understand. Or he could be correct, that is the bad part about recruiting, we have next to no idea about some things. As far as I know from USAREC (Army Recruiting Command) they have not said WOFT is closed. We will usually get emails about jobs being closed, whether it's for the fiscal year or just a month or 2. Right now there are only 9 jobs which are closed for the FY (the FY ends in October). As it stands you are most likely looking at a board in the Fall-Winter time (the next cut off is July, so unless you rush you wouldn't make it now). So even if it is closed for this FY, you are already looking towards FY2018 anyways.
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
This is the information I was looking for. If I understand correctly I have to put in my packet by July unless I will have to wait until after October? Or will I have to wait until next year to be seen by a board. Still new at all this.
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SFC Platoon Sergeant
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Gary Henson The next board cut off (when everything is due) is in July, I don't have the actual date on me. After that, there is not one scheduled for next Fiscal Year yet. The FY starts in October, so a schedule is likely in September, it all depends on when the higher ups want to publish it. So your best bet is to make this coming board, or at least have all your packet ready for when the next one is announced
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SFC David Xanten
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It's not rocket science for a Recruiter to be able to enlist someone, who is qualified, to enlist for the WO flight program. Most any Recruiter ought to be able to work it out. The most important part is the flight physical.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
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Edited 7 y ago
First, you seem to be doing all the right things, and you're not a nobody. That said why not go for the Air Force? I've got way over 2000 hours in the air and not too humble to admit that the only time I've been scared in the air was as a passenger in a helicopter. While helicopter pilots are well trained, the majority are day VFR flyers. Sure some get trained in night IFR ops, but not all. The air force will train you to fly in any conditions and environment. Spend some extra time, see how your degree fits and go for becoming an Air Force pilot, the helicopter track is still there if that's what you really want to fly.
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CW3 Tacops Officer
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>1 y
Yep, in 64's we practice IFR all the time, both sim and in the AC (aircraft). And if you want to fly, the Army has more AC than all the other services put together. Way easier to get into an army AC. And you can go Street to Seat or High school to Flight School. I have flown fixed-wing (not jets), and to me they are boring. Helicopters are very engaging and enjoyable to fly (maybe like a manual vs automatic), and Army AC are very maneuverable. That being said, it's a job and the military will make it so. We don't go out and "hot dog" with a 30 million dollar AC. Every flight, your primary mission is to make it home safely and take care of the equipment.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
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CW3 Tacops Officer
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>1 y
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen - Great answer, sir. AC time to a large extent is AC time. There is currently a route with AA through Envoy Airlines where they will take RW pilots over like 700 hrs and pay your transitions to fly for the airlines. But inital civilian aviation jobs pay a pittance. You might raise a cat on it, but not a family. Most guys will come out of Rucker having done the equivalency tests to get their commercial, heavy, mutli-engine IFR ticket. Getting the fixed wing rating on that is much cheaper than the other way around. You will be able to do Tour and VIP jobs after, with between 1200 and 2500 hours. Army usually requires 100+ a year minimum AC/SIM. 64s are 140 minimum. Our hawk unit is about 100. That being said, lift guys do their real jobs stateside and down range, attack is all notional till you deploy, which gets old.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
>1 y
There was actually a fatal commuter airline crash a few years back attributed to pilot fatigue due to the extra jobs/hours worked. Commuter airlines are where a lot of folks get their initial jobs, so you're spot on about pay. Even with the major airlines you start out at low pay, relatively speaking, and long hours. Lot of my friends went to civilian airlines and got quickly disillusioned, but stuck it out because everything is based on seniority.
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CW2 AH-64D Attack Pilot
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Hey,

You're already doing it. We had a 19 year old kid who was accepted street to seat. He had good text scores, but that's really it. He graduated flight school as 21 year old AH-64E pilot. You'll be fine. Get with a recruiter(you'll probably know more than he does about WOFT) and just be consistent.

I did enlist as a 15U, Chinook Helicopter Repairer because my wife was not a citizen. I didn't need to do so. It was bad information from my recruiter, but I went and was selected for the 160th SOAR(A). It had really helped me and I wouldn't change it.

Just be persistent. The hardest part is the packet. PM if you need anything.

Good Luck!

Fly Army!
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
I will avoid speaking about others.... I just wish you met this guy.....he barely could tell me ANYTHING. He said he had been doing it for years and I knew more of the job "codes" then him. He didn't help me much, so I would go to his superiors for help, and they would but he would get mad at me. He blamed me for his mistakes in front of his superiors and never spoke about how to help me or the other recruits, only about how he wanted his new Chevy truck in 19 inch rims. I don't blame him for not knowing what WOFT is, I blame him for not being able to help me in anyway shape or form. He was a bad salesman....and an even worse guide. Any way who cares I'm sure I'll meet plenty of people like him in the future so I might as well just get used to it and stop talking about them
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Gary Henson
Gary Henson
7 y
WO1, how long did it take that 19 year old kid to get in? I spoke with some guy that said he is in army aviation and he said that I would not be able to get in until the end of 2019 because all of the flight training seats are taken for the 2018 fiscal year.
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CW2 AH-64D Attack Pilot
CW2 (Join to see)
7 y
Gary Henson - I've never known the Army to plan well enough to definitively say that you could or couldn't get in by a certain date. They routinely underbook and overbook the number of flight slots available resulting in training bubbles.
He may be right. What of it? If you want to fly for 25-30 years, might as well start now! In the end, it only matters if you get accepted. Once your packet has been accepted, they're not going to kick you out unless you do something stupid(DUI, beat your wife, or cheat on her).

Focus on the only thing you can control. Get your packet in. Don't wait. Don't give up. It's the only thing holding you back. If you have questions, you know where to ask.

Good Luck!
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CW4 Brian Haas
CW4 Brian Haas
7 y
2LT James Montgomery...I disagree 100%. 1) he is not in the military 2) there are incompetent NCOs out there, as every other rank structure. 3) it is their professional duty TO know these programs. Like he said, they have brochures about it in the stations.
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