Scrappy

Senate I have been in the Navy for 14 years and was an E-6 when I got selected for OCS. I am actually waiting to start Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) right nowas a Naval Flight officer. I agree with bird it is very competitive to be selected for an Officer program. Here is a good site to check out for questions about applying www.airwarriors.com
There are tons of threads about what you need to do to apply and how to become and Officer. Good Luck Scrappy

LT Malice

iTrader: (3)

AIRWARRIORS!!!

That is a great site for info. My flight instructor is a super-mod there.
Scrappy: I finished API in november. Do you have all the current gouge?

Disturbed Bird

iTrader: (9)

cool i will deff look in to it

JonPMH53

Be very wary of all recruiters...their primary job is to ENLIST people. So, to him...yes getting you enlisted and then applying for a pilot slot is ideal. He gets what he wants right away...then MAYBE you get what you want. Granted, being a prior E does shed a little shining light on your package when you apply to OCS or similar programs...but getting a degree on your own first never hurts your chances with anything.

Weigh your options carefully, fortunately you are starting young enough to have many of them in front of you. But remember...needs of the service always come first, just ask a couple Army guys about a little thing called "Stop-loss". When you enlist, there is never a "guaranteed" job no matter what they tell you or what you sign. Think about if you get hurt or have some benign health problem that disqualifies you from pilot training...then you are stuck with a service commitment and no hope of flying.

If it was me at that age, I would second the motion of getting the degree...study your *** off, get a killer GPA, even maybe get some flight training. Then, you will still be young enough to apply to OCS and pilot training 4 or 5 times before you even come close to the age limits. Education never goes bad, degrees last forever, but kudos for having such a clear focus and great direction in life already. I wish I had been that smart when I was 19

01CamaroZ28

iTrader: (9)

Im in the same boat i guess. I am thinking of being a pilot. But ill tell you what my dad told me. He went to the naval academy and one of the guys he used to work with was the commandant. It is soooo much easier to be a pilot if you attend a service academy. i.e. naval academy, af academy. Out of all the people that get selected for flight school they have the most. That will be your best chance, plus they pay for it! The second best would be through rotc which still gives you a full ride for school as far as tuition is concerned. Like they were saying earlier in this thread. there are very few enlisted guys that get selected for ocs let alone flight school. Recruiters will tell you anything to get you to signup. My vote would be either a service academy or rotc. If you want to know any more just pm me. BTW my dad is a pilot. flew f-14s and f-18s. So again pm me if you have anymore questions

Scrappy

LT Malice I have some gouge but any additional would be a welcome addition.

Disturbed Bird

iTrader: (9)

alright new question. im going to get my 4 year degree first. what degree would be best to become a pilot for the navy. or do u just need any 4 year degree?

01CamaroZ28

iTrader: (9)

any four year degree. it doesnt matter. To give you an idea. The pilot who flys the number one jet in the Blue Angels has an english degree. So any 4 year degree.

Scrappy

My degree is in Resource Mgmt. My advice is get a degree in something that is marketable once you get out and that you enjoy doing since the type of degree has no bearing on being a pilot. The only thing is do as well as you can because they will look at your GPA. I had a 3.79 and I know that definitely helped in the selection process.

Disturbed Bird

iTrader: (9)

alright thanks!

pontiac_racr

i agree with scrappy, get a degree you can use in the civilian world, it wouldn't hurt if i applied a little to the navy. i'm not staying navy, but im getting a computer degree and plan on tryign to fly Apaches. i know a guy who is going into STA-21, everyone told him that making E-5 would help his chances on getting in. do your job well and try to stand out, that should really help you get noticed.