While I continue to assert this is far better than becoming an Active Duty pilot through the USAF Academy, ROTC, or OTS, I worry that Ive done people a disservice by making the Active Duty pilot career path seem too unattractive. This! It's a great time to apply to become a pilot, and [Soldiers] can get in with a high school degree. I have a high schooler who is applying to engineering programs for school and is interested in an ROTC path that might include aviation. Yes, that is 11 combat stripes. Can you imagine thesmile on more than a few faces of the last graduating class in Fy 2020 in September. It will harm recruiting and we will continue to bleed talent into the civilian aviation market. b. One year dedicated to reset, one to training, one to deployment. I transitioned from infantry to aviation and have had off-and-on heartache with it ever since. NO WOFT POSTS. Full disclosure, I was a street to seat Warrant that served for 24 years. The Army likes to have a balance between the two but they can change that over night. Sounds great! 6 years is a masters degree, 10 years is 2 years longer than a PH. I assume if you're not in flight school by that date, your commitment is just as long as the Air Force if not a little bit longer. Can't be branched aviation. For the next decade of your life, you will deploy a lot and have little or no control over your assignment locations. Aviation: dude it's a 10 year ADSO, so I hope you like aviation, cuz you ain't going anywhere else. I believe you must pass SERE and another leadership course before phase 1 flight. Not difficult for the Army in finding 300 additional NCOs for the WOFT program if need be. The ARMY should allow ATP for all prior service men willing and fit to fly. Would they do it with a 12-year commitment? The Graduate School Option (GRADSO) portion of the CSP program continues to be suspended since YG2014 pending officer corps reshaping efforts. That is completely and totally gone. The pay and benefits arent bad, and patriotism also factors in for most of us. How long is Army Warrant Officer School? The Army has more career Enlisted willing to cross over for the opportunity in being an Officer and increasein pay for the family, with or without a degree. There are some other prerequisites they have to meet. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. The increase in the ADSO will have profound affect on USMA/ROTC cadets. The DoD report to Congress included a description of Air Force efforts to assess the problem: The Air Force gathered data on what drives separations from an October 2015 Fighter Pilot Retention Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century event, the 2015 Air Force Exit and Retention surveys, the August 2017 Dedicated Aircrew Retention Teaming Summit, and a series of three aircrew retention crowdsourcing surveys sent to 9,000 aircrew members that culminated in March 2018. While Stans Option #3 seems to bypass a lot of this, lets look at what hed have to do: This plan assumes that Stan can get hired by a Guard or Reserve unit at this point. The US Army is missing the boat by not letting seasoned professionals into flight school. There are also discussions within the Army aviation community of additional changes that would make becoming a warrant officer even less appealing. This plan assumes that Stan can get hired by a Guard or Reserve unit at this point. Unfortunately, it will likely not have the opportunity to do so due to the negative impact it will have on retention in the near term. Like it or not, you need to accrue that experience one way or another, First, as we just mentioned, you only have to worry about one job flying one aircraft for Uncle Sam. Brennan Randelis a captain in the United States Army and is the former commander of Alpha Company, 4-2 Attack Battalion stationed at Camp Humphreys, South Korea. 9 month rotations are followed by field time, followed by gunnery, followed by EIB, followed by a CTC, etc. Plus, you will also be earning full GI Bill benefits AT THE SAME TIME. Just to end it and walk away.. victorious..? They might be stuck on Active Duty slightly longer than Stan, but hed have to spend at least a couple of years at a regional airline to even start competing for major airline jobs. Thereafter, the ADSO incurred pursuant to the Army Branch for ADSO Program will be served concurrently with any other non-statutory ADSOs. And yet, theres a certain logic to questioning that 10-year commitment. Did ROTC, then Aviation, allegedly 6 years upon completion of flight training. These trips have to be funded at his own expense and would require him to use leave that wont be available for family trips. Posted on . Pasted as rich text. This means that aviation formations get screwed doubly they have to support everyone's demands, while being vastly outnumbered. Anything and everything related to or affecting US Army Aviation. (Well assume a move to the Guard or Reserve after completing your initial 10-year UPT ADSC. 10 U.S. Code 2114: Graduates of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences incur an ADSO of at least 7 years. However, I dont think its worth passing up a nearly guaranteed Active Duty. However, has he really had a better home life than them? Clear editor. If he didnt go to AFIT, hed have to move for a second assignment anyway. Well also see some advantages of Active Duty and some options for cutting your time there short. While I continue to assert this is far better than becoming an Active Duty pilot through the. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The Army lowered the max TIS to 8 years for WOFT applicants a few years ago without a waiver. In a worst-case scenario, hes looking at: Wow, thats a lot of moving and time away from home! However, I dont think its worth passing up a nearly guaranteed Active Duty UPT slot in hopes of possibly getting a Guard or Reserve slot 5 years from now. One problem with pilots is that we don't age well (I'm not a military aviator, just a private pilot) so there would be an issue of reaching a physical condition expiration date at some point. His answer was, Of course not. im hopeful the army can fix this problem ASAP. Then it gets worse: Over the past 19 years, an Active Duty pilot has also been likely to spend half or more of those operational assignments deployed. My family got to live in England for three years and it was fantastic! It seems the 10 year ADSO is now official. At least 70% are not degree holders and they come from all 5 branches of the military. What a joke. I remember similar drama during my Fourth Class (freshman) year at the USAF Academy as we were forced to sign a paper accepting a similar ADSC increase in case of getting an Air Force pilot slot. I think that mindser still exists. In my next 6 years I flew a total of 50 hoursAnd it's not for lack of trying, I was just in assignments (that I didn't ask for and tried to get out of) where there were no aviation units around. Whatever path you end up taking, please consider taking a UPT slot when offered. It explains how to perform well in your training, I dont hold back when people ask me the best way to become a. is to get hired directly by a Guard or Reserve unit and let them send you to UPT. Id always wanted to be a pilot and didnt know anything else, so I said the Doolie equivalent of Shut up and take my money! (There was a lot more Sir and Maam involved.) 1 Sacknuts93 3 yr. ago Probably not. I just want to stop leaving my family all the time! The Army should be able to meet their quota through CAREER Enlisted personnel ONLY if they must. For more information, please see our They run concurrently, butthe latter takes precedence, so your 6 (or 10) year ADSO begins the date you graduate Flight School. Unlike pilot deployments that can be as short as a couple of months, engineer deployments are usually 6-12 months. The US Army recently changed its aviation Active Duty Service Obligation, from 8 to 10 years and created an absolute uproar. Think they will pay the bonuses and flight pay like the other branches? I ended up discovering that Stan was most worried about frequent moves and long deployments stressing his family during an Active Duty flying career. Finally, the thing not being said about sending senior NCOs to flight school is the socialization at the company level piece. Ive also called this the, Stans idea (Do 5 years as an engineer, then fly for the Guard or Reserve), Looking at these side by side, its clear why #1 is the Ultimate option. Air defense branch offering $60,000 bonus for warrant officers, New aviators to incur 10-year service obligation, New Aviators to incur 10-year service obligation. While its not impossible, and, BogiDope can absolutely help you get there. If I am reading this correctly, this applies to officers that attend initial flight school after October 1st 2021. You'll be a WO for three-ish years. That's not what I am talking about. (USASOC) Commissioned and warrant officers who enter flight training starting in October will incur a 10-year service obligation once they become rated Army aviator s, according to guidance. for a discussion of these options and their advantages.) This can exceed a 6 year obligation. The pilot shortage is not in applicants it is in mid career. I'm very healthy and fit, I would like to fly helicopters. The report focused on the unmet demand for pilots in the commercial aviation sector that has attracted military pilots. Change flight school where primary flight training is done by civilian contractors via fixed wing. If youre worried about frequent moves disrupting your family life, picking a community with few basing locations is a viable option for Active Duty. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense. I don't know if there are enough Officers getting out that would be willing to revert to WO to solve the pilot shortage, but maybe it would help. . In order to figure out the pros and cons of these different options, we first need to compare the timelines side by side. This ADSO will likely cause a sharp decline in recruiting among cadets selecting their branches and enlisted soldiers and civilians interested in becoming Army pilots. I was under the impression that the bonus went away when they upped the 10+ year flight pay. My ORB says a date 6 years from my AD start date, which Im pretty sure is wrong. With survey data in hand, the Army will likely find that it needs to continue to invest in its aircraft fleet to ensure pilots receive adequate flight hours to remain proficient. I'm roaring and ready to go. After all, it is the warrant officer exodus to the airlines that has driven the Armys pilot retention focus. As long as hes getting a lot of flight time, Stan should have enough hours for a Restricted ATP rating and a shot at a regional airline job a couple of years before his Active Duty pilot peers. Just sign away your life until you're 34!". I remember similar drama during my Fourth Class (freshman) year at the, Now that Im older and wiser, one of my many. Check this post out on Reddit:https://www.reddit.com/r/Armyaviation/comments/gxcx3o/10_year_adso_is_official/. Prospective warrant officers can see that the Army is having trouble retaining pilots, and they can also see that increasing the service obligation by four years works against their best interests. "Army Aviators don't want to stay in the Army even though we pay them less, deploy them more, and treat them worse than their peers in other branches and civilian careers, so we will just force them to stay in longer. The Army can increase this to 100% with no problem whatsoever if needed. . USMA graduates accepting an appointment in the Regular Army incur a 5-year ADSO (10 USC 4348). The big gotcha of the Active Duty pilot career path is that on the day you earn your wings, you also get hit with a 10-year Active Duty Service Commitment (ADSC). Reading your first paragraph and skimming the rest I couldn't agree more. There's an easy answer to this the oblivious, tone-deaf culture of "readiness" that GEN Milley fostered while serving as the CSA. Meanwhile students don't do touchdown autorotations and other traditional flight maneuvers. One can just see all those 2LTs cringing when the folks at the bottom of each class are forced to take Aviation during the branching ceremony. Instead, the aviation branch has proposed to boost aviation career incentive pay, or flight pay, which can retain more qualified aviators, he said. The rest are grandfathered in. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. In congressional testimony it was stated that at that time (2019) around 40% of the pilot population was within 3 years of being retirement eligible. It is the cheapest method for increasing retention rates, delivers a long-term investment in human capital, and provides a more predictable model for pilot production requirements. The report included a figure showing that the Army faced a shortfall of 330 warrant officerswho comprise 70 percent of the Armys pilot ranks. We dont have good measurements out there right now to tell us why an aviator is getting out of the force. Without useful data, the Army cannot implement targeted retention solutions. Many aviators got tripped up by it in the last few years in the push to get to the airlines. The views expressed are those of the authors, and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense. I'm retiring in two years and it's not even to go to the airlines! Looks like I'll be doing 10 years insteaddang. Soldiers pilot a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a training flight over the city of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, May 23, 2020. It must continue to remove burdens that plague the warrant officer community, such as non-pilot-related duties and frequent deployments to combat training centers. This means a steady paycheck and decent home life, except that as the newest pilot in the unit Stan is at the top of the list to deploy if the squadron gets sent downrange. He was thinking about turning down an Active Duty UPT slot and fulfilling the alternative 5-year USAFA non-pilot ADSC as an engineer or something, then pursuing a UPT slot with a Guard or Reserve unit. , this is far from guaranteed. I was enlisted for 6 before I moved over. You make an excellent point..I'm a twice retired CW4 (did a voluntary retiree recall three years after my first twenty). F-22 crew chief: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4798866/f-22-europe. Fiscal Yr 2021 starts Oct 1, 2020. So 6 years from ALE graduation day? Due to the flight school ADSO and timeline, you will be on active duty for about 7 years in order to fulfill the obligations incurred through flight training. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. I have done more CTC rotations and in general "useless bs" since being aviation than I ever did infantry. What are the chances of getting picked up. The earlier you can Palace Chase, the less difference there is between a regular Active Duty pilot and someone following Stans plan.