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So I'm enlisting and my goal is to be a Helicopter Pilot and so becoming a Warrant Officer is in my future (hopefully). I'm aware of the requirements at least 18 years of age (I'm 19), 50 or higher on the ASVAB (studying like crazy), 110 on the GT (again, studying) and a 90 on the AFAST plus pass the physical tests and all that (I'm in pretty good physical shape).

So anyway I'm just curious if there are any Warrant Officers on dakka? If so any advice you could give me? tips? experiences you'd like to share etc.

Not a warrant officer, just a lowly grunt, but I can tell you one thing: don't stress over the ASVAB. If you did well in high school... no scratch that, if you did well in middle school you'll be fine. The ASVAB is a joke. I walked out of there with a 93 and a GT score of 128. I gave it all my effort, but I never studied for it.

I hear the best way to get on the path to becoming a pilot is by being a helicopter mechanic.

When I first showed up to the eighty deuce one of the guys had taken the AFAST, passed with flying colors and now he's in Fort Rucker learning how to fly helicopters and not break them (he was notorious for breaking weapons, poor guy). He studied his ass off for the AFAST. So find as many learning aids as you can.

Don't worry if you fail the AFAST the first time, you can keep on going back and retaking it as long as your commander OKs it.

OH! And one last thing! Don't believe the BS people say about Basic Training. Like you I went into the Army in great shape and I breezed through that mess, actually enjoyed it. And mine was 14 weeks long versus the usual 9 weeks.

Sorry I'm not a pilot, but I can give you advice on what to look out for and what not to listen to about the army, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

DickBandit wrote:Not a warrant officer, just a lowly grunt, but I can tell you one thing: don't stress over the ASVAB. If you did well in high school... no scratch that, if you did well in middle school you'll be fine. The ASVAB is a joke. I walked out of there with a 93 and a GT score of 128. I gave it all my effort, but I never studied for it.

I hear the best way to get on the path to becoming a pilot is by being a helicopter mechanic.

When I first showed up to the eighty deuce one of the guys had taken the AFAST, passed with flying colors and now he's in Fort Rucker learning how to fly helicopters and not break them (he was notorious for breaking weapons, poor guy). He studied his ass off for the AFAST. So find as many learning aids as you can.

Don't worry if you fail the AFAST the first time, you can keep on going back and retaking it as long as your commander OKs it.

OH! And one last thing! Don't believe the BS people say about Basic Training. Like you I went into the Army in great shape and I breezed through that mess, actually enjoyed it. And mine was 14 weeks long versus the usual 9 weeks.

Sorry I'm not a pilot, but I can give you advice on what to look out for and what not to listen to about the army, so feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

This is all pretty good advice. Don't sweat the ASVAB, like DickGrunt I didn't study one bit for it and walked out with a 99.

BCT isn't hard at all, especially if you're in good shape. All you have to do is what you're told, when you're told, in the right uniform. The hardest part was dealing with the plethora of mouth-breathers that infested my platoon.

^
Oh God, not the mouth breathers!

Oh I'm not too worried about any of the tests or boot camp or anything. The only test I'm really worried about is the AFAST since I don't have any prior aviation experience besides what I've read but I got a nifty little guide thats pretty easy to understand, that being said I'm studying just so I can be absolutly sure I get what I want. Nah the biggest stress has been my family.

Anyway I was just curious to hear if there where any Army pilots I could get some feedback from especially on the AFAST.

@DickBandit: I'm pretty sure that if your a chopper mechanic you either fix the craft and/or opperate as a door gunner depending on what part of the crew you are which is all fine and dandy but I want to actually pilot the bird

Being a pilot is my main goal right now but I'm also interested in being a UAV opperator or an MP if that dosen't work out and this may sound like I'm not commited but IF I don't score well enough to get what I want then I'm not enlisting. (Although I'm pretty sure you take the AFAST test after you've enlisted).

I'm by no means an expert on the AFAST, but from what I've heard from friends who have taken it, and what I've seen in the course of a quick Google search, if you have basic spatial perception skills you should do fine.

In fact, if the sample tests are any indication, I would bet that the biggest obstacle is the low fidelity of some of the images used to test instrument comprehension. But, then again, I'm color blind, and so don't qualify for aviation MOSs.

Well I know what test layout is going to be and all of that because like I said I have the study guide for it. The only problem is the quality of the diagrams, some of them are hard to tell which direction the chopper is supposed to be looking etc. The pictures are black and white so it's kind of hard to tell what's what. But if I can get what the pictures are the rest should be easy such as which way would you have to move your controle stick to match the position of a chopper in each pic etc.

So no Warrant Officers? (so far)

Ha, well yeah I know you want to pilot it, I'm just saying that's how a lot of people get on the path to aviation school. They learn all about the bird as a mechanic, ace the AFAST, and breeze through aviation school.

You could do anything and still qualify for aviation school. Me as an infantryman could take the test (after I get eye surgery) and get accepted into flight school.

Not a warrant officer, but best of luck to you. I may be going that way myself once I graduate (college) at the end of this year. They offered me a spot at WOFT right out of high school, but I (foolishly) turned it down in favor of an education (and the hopes of a commission as a USAF pilot).

Eh turning it down when you did isn't a bad thing, when you go in (if it works out that way) you'll most likely have an increase in rank when you go in. I'm planning on using the post 9/11 GI bill to help me out with school.

@DickBandit: That is actually a very good point that I didn't think about, I'll give that some more consideration. I do know I've got my work cut out for me though because personally I would want to fly a Blackhawk or a Chinook (I don't know why I think they're cool). Now the Chinook isn't that popular (that I've heard) but I have heard the most saught after Army MOS are Blackhawk and Apache pilots.

I almost decided to go warrant as an antenna jockey, but I got out instead. That said, from a pure soldierly standpoint, warrant (pilot or not) is the best rank (any of them) in the army. Enlisted have to respect you 'cause yer an officer, and most of them don't mind since as a warrant, you actually know yer ass from a hole in the ground; and officers are a bit in awe of you for the preceding reason. I actually got to shoot the gak with a CW-5 once when I was in - if I recall, the 3rd rarest rank in the army- and it was pretty cool. As far as helicoptas, my old room mate was a mechanic on one - the ones the pres flies on (Marine 1 I think), and it is a b- word load of work. I believe he had a few choice words, few complimentary, on the chinook.

Yeah the Army has a modified Blackhawk design used to transport VIPs like government officials and such and the Blackhawk used by the President has the code name of Marine 1. Kind of cool your friend was the mechanic for that specific chopper! There usually is alot of work anyway because you'll be assigned to a group of choppers and they need regular check ups since the vibrations of a chopper can knock everything out of sync. I don't really mind a large work load, it's better for me then sitting behind a desk.

I think you mean HMX-1, the Marine squadron tasked with transporting the president/etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMX-1

As far as becoming an Army Warrant Officer, here are some useful links:

http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/wogeninfo_enlmos.html

http://www.goarmy.com/about/service-options/enlisted-soldiers-and-officers/warrant-officers.html

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armytrng/ss/rotarypilot_6.htm

Have you thought about holding off on enlisting and applying to the warrant program? Alot of enlisted guys talk about "dropping their warrant packet" but many seem to have the time/motivation after a long day at work.

Also, consider the fact that you will be joining an organization from the bottom, and will need commanders' approval to go to warrant board/school. That said, they typically do not sign paperwork to allow a soldier to go who has not been with the unit for some time or proven themselves as a soldier. Privates aren't sent to Warrant school, its normally the NCOs who are S.M.E in a field.

It could be potentially 2-3 years that you spend before you are able to submit a packet. This time would include if your unit is facing any deployment, your ability to get promoted, etc.

dogma wrote:I'm by no means an expert on the AFAST, but from what I've heard from friends who have taken it, and what I've seen in the course of a quick Google search, if you have basic spatial perception skills you should do fine.

Yeah, I don't think you can teach spatial awareness, you either have it or you don't. I remember a TV programme a few years ago following people wanting to become fighter pilots and they only got of couple of goes to prove it came naturally. Some ended up flying through the flight path, or firing path, of friendly aircraft, though they were imaginary for the test; that wasn't the point because you were supposed to know where they should be in relation to you of course. The programme made the mistakes look a bit silly but only a handful got to that stage so I'm sure it's really very difficult.

Not a Warrant Officer, just a disgruntled Lcpl.

The tests are a joke. You'll be fine.

whitedragon wrote:I think you mean HMX-1, the Marine squadron tasked with transporting the president/etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMX-1

No I mean Marine 1, the actual Blackhawk used to transport the President not the Marines who acompanies him

As far as becoming an Army Warrant Officer, here are some useful links:

http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/wogeninfo_enlmos.html

http://www.goarmy.com/about/service-options/enlisted-soldiers-and-officers/warrant-officers.html

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armytrng/ss/rotarypilot_6.htm

Thanks but this isn't what I'm asking for. I've done my homework on it and actually have each of those exact pages saved to my favorites plus about 5 more


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rryannn wrote:Have you thought about holding off on enlisting and applying to the warrant program? Alot of enlisted guys talk about "dropping their warrant packet" but many seem to have the time/motivation after a long day at work.

The Warrant Officer program is a MOS speciality so you have to be enlisted to join.

Also, consider the fact that you will be joining an organization from the bottom, and will need commanders' approval to go to warrant board/school. That said, they typically do not sign paperwork to allow a soldier to go who has not been with the unit for some time or proven themselves as a soldier. Privates aren't sent to Warrant school, its normally the NCOs who are S.M.E in a field.

Warrant Officer is an entry level program, as long as my ASVAB score is high enough to enter the program it will be included in my contract and I don't need a COs approval to submit unless I tried to do it later on.

It could be potentially 2-3 years that you spend before you are able to submit a packet. This time would include if your unit is facing any deployment, your ability to get promoted, etc.

Again this is if I waited to join the program (if I'm able to via my ASVAB scores) instead of joining directly upon enlistment. Being a Warrant Officer isn't something you have to wait to do.

Warboss, I think what whitedragon is getting at is that its not the Army that flies Marine One. The Army hasn't had the responsibility of helicopter transportation for the president since the 1960s IIRC. Marine One is flown and crewed by Marines, and its a Marine helicopter.

I get that but Marine 1 was only mentioned in that Bromsy has a friend that was a Blackhawk mechanic who may have worked on Marine 1. Whatever branch the chopper belongs to is irrelevant since we where talking about the possibility of being a mechanic before going for an actual pilot and I can't see how being a Blackhawk mechanic in the Marines is going to be that much differant vs the Army. So it just isn't that important as to which branch or unit Marine 1 belongs to.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also note that I didn't say that Marine 1 was a Army chopper just that the Army has modified Blackhawk used to transport VIPs.

Oh, whatevs. I wouldn't enlist personally. As someone who is going through a lot of the same things right now (in regards to OTS/OCS), enlisting makes things complicated. Go in directly or not at all, unless you're willing to do a few years of something other than flying a helo while you wait for an opportunity to apply. If WOFT is anything like OTS/OCS, then the chances of going from enlisted to (warrant) officer are slim. For whatever reason, they aren't giving very many enlisted folk the chance to commission, instead preferring civilian applicants.

See after DickBandit brought it up I do like the idea of being a mechanic prior to applying but I do think I'll have a better chance of getting into the program if I go directly in. I'll get it figured out

Well, don't talk to a recruiter then. Talk to people that have some experience with it. The standard recruiter response will be to enlist and that is your best option, etc. even if thats not true.

It'll take a couple of years and a lot of hard work to even get into the program, let alone through it.

Amaya wrote:It'll take a couple of years and a lot of hard work to even get into the program, let alone through it.

Is this from experience or what because if I join directly from being a civilian then it won't take long to get into and the program takes months not years. The longest training session in the army takes a little less then a year and the Warrant Officer program isn't it.

You're not going to go in as a WO.

Edit: Scratch that, I was unaware of the fast track program for potential helicopter pilots.

Even on the fast track program it wouldn't surprise me if they made you pick an MOS in case you wash out, so find a job you like, just in case. Nothing sounds worse than getting stuck in for 4 years as something like a mailroom clerk after trying to be a pilot.

I could be wrong though, I just know that is what the Navy does to people trying to get into BUDS (SEAL training)

It seems odd to me that they would have that program in the first place unless you had civilian experience with helicopters.

I would imagine the army is really hurting for recruits atm so why not lead some in with a carrot on a stick and maybe find a few good pilots along the way

Hardly. The Army needs to lose 20,000+ personnel by 2015-2016, they are seeing a 16 year high in retention rates, and something like a 9 year high in recruitment rates. They are not pressed for people at all. I don't know about the Army, but I know the Air Force isn't recycling people anymore. If you mess up at flight school or other job related training, you're pretty much done. Likewise, the Navy is kicking people out that fail flight school (in the past they would be dropped to backseater training).

Grabzak Dirtyfighter wrote:Even on the fast track program it wouldn't surprise me if they made you pick an MOS in case you wash out, so find a job you like, just in case. Nothing sounds worse than getting stuck in for 4 years as something like a mailroom clerk after trying to be a pilot.

I could be wrong though, I just know that is what the Navy does to people trying to get into BUDS (SEAL training)

Oh trust me I've already got back ups in the end it all depends on my ASVAB scores. If I get high enough to join the WO program (at least a 50 with a 110 on the GT) that's what I'm doing if not I'll either go for a UAV opperator or an MP and if I'm not able to do either of those (meaning they aren't in my final contract that will sign me over to the Army) I'm not joining at all no offence ment to anyone but I have no interest in being an infantrymen or getting a job I don't want so If I can't get one of those 3 (possibly 4) I'm not joing at all. I'll go with the AF and be a Aerial Gunner