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USMC I fly 5 hours a month and I want out.

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AllHatNoBattle

Member
Used this forum back in 2016 for ASTB/OCS gouge, fast forward to now and I am a junior fleet Marine helicopter pilot. The majority of the ready room flies 5 hours or less each month, my ground billet is 10-14 hours per day of meaningless, endless paperwork, meanwhile my peers in other branches (and in some other squadrons) are flying 20-60 hours a month. I believe I have wasted my twenties, and I'm way behind where I need to be. I am bitter the most at the fact that I don't get to do my MOS, just 4 random collateral bullshit hats that fell in my lap when I arrived. After 4 years of flying I have 300 hours total, and I am forecasted to accumulate 50-80 hours of larping per year until I move on from this squadron in 3 years.

The goal has always been to deploy, do my time and transition into a cush flying job. If I get out with <1000 hours I bet I'd be screwed. I don't know how to get out of this situation and into a better one, unless I find a time machine to go back and have myself join the guard/AF. Open to useful sea stories and advice, and if my perspective is retarded, please explain what I'm missing. If you don't have either, move to the next post.
 
JTS11

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
AllHatNoBattle said:
Used this forum back in 2016 for ASTB/OCS gouge, fast forward to now and I am a junior fleet Marine helicopter pilot. The majority of the ready room flies 5 hours or less each month, my ground billet is 10-14 hours per day of meaningless, endless paperwork, meanwhile my peers in other branches (and in some other squadrons) are flying 20-60 hours a month. I believe I have wasted my twenties, and I'm way behind where I need to be. I am bitter the most at the fact that I don't get to do my MOS, just 4 random collateral bullshit hats that fell in my lap when I arrived. After 4 years of flying I have 300 hours total, and I am forecasted to accumulate 50-80 hours of larping per year until I move on from this squadron in 3 years.

The goal has always been to deploy, do my time and transition into a cush flying job. If I get out with <1000 hours I bet I'd be screwed. I don't know how to get out of this situation and into a better one, unless I find a time machine to go back and have myself join the guard/AF. Open to useful sea stories and advice, and if my perspective is retarded, please explain what I'm missing. If you don't have either, move to the next post.
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What's your MOS, and what are your ground jobs?
 
FLGUY

FLGUY

“Technique only”
pilot
Contributor
Keep playing the game, try to keep your head up, and try your best to go to the VTs/HTs for one of your next tours. You fly around 30-40 hours a month on the lighter side, and 60-80 if you’re grinding your butt off. Read the room in your fleet squadron, and talk to your front office when you feel the time is right. We’ve had Marines ranging from WTIs, to dudes who were 450 hour Aircraft Commanders and nothing else. Some who went straight here from the fleet, some did a non-flying tour before coming to the VTs, some did a lap at a MAG staff job. Good luck!
 
JTS11

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
AllHatNoBattle said:
Judging by your profile picture, same as you. and I'd rather stay anonymous and leave out ground jobs
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That's fair. I wasn't trying to out you.

Where are you in your fleet tour progression? Co-pilot or HAC, instructor quals?

I ask those questions bc there can be a bit of feast/famine WRT flight hours depending on where you're at, and also where your squadron is at in the deployment cycle. Also, the health of the overall supply system that affects readiness is definitely a factor.

All that to say, keep your chin up, and I wish you good luck.
 
mmx1

mmx1

Woof!
pilot
Contributor
1. On the ground job, welcome to the suck. Your day to day weapons system as an officer is paperwork. Doesn’t mean you can’t use it to good effect, but if you imagined different here’s your first clue.

Also, your MOS isn’t just from planning to debrief. It’s also turning the many cranks it takes to run a squadron so you have an up plane and a mission to fly. Somebody’s got to check off the ground training boxes. Don’t be the guy that thinks it’s beneath them, because that’s how you don’t get trusted with more critical roles.

It’s the Marine Corps, the cranks are rusty and we insist on doing things the hard way half the time.

2. I checked my logbooks and I left 302 with just under 300 hours, 4 years after checking into MATSG-21, so it sounds like you’re sitting in the H2P pool looking down at 3 years of the fleet while not doing much flying. You wouldn’t be the first H2P in the community to grumble about their prospects.

Best I can say is that you have the best part of your career ahead of you and it’s not a linear projection from where you are today. You’ve got 3 years to progress and navigate your path, and if in 2 years time you’ve still got the same ground job and quals as you do now you’ve done it wrong.

The community has some real fallow periods. Little of that is in your control, but how much the front office values you, and whether you’re positioned to be a team player in your squadron for the hours and tasking that does come down the pipe, you can influence.
 
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BetterRidesElsewhere

Member
Bro… fly in your offtime while you still have a pretty decent paycheck. Want a “Cush flying job” when you get out? Unless you get to the HTs, you’re not going to hit insurance minimums for anything cush in helicopters. Hours-building your fixed wing quals though… that’s another story. If I had it to do over again, I would have spent some of my cash building my airplane time and qualifications before getting out. It would have saved me from a penalty-lap flying charter before i got to where I am now.

Also, I hate to sound preachy, but please keep in mind that the Marines under your care deserve good leadership. I can see why you’re getting bitter. I’ve been there. But don’t let your bitter overshadow their wants and needs.
 
Odominable

Odominable

PILOT HMSD TRACK FAIL
pilot
As others have said if hours are your endstate CNATRA should be your goal. I’ll add that to best enable that you must put your best effort forward even when the flight hours and quals are in a real famine period. That includes the collateral billets, which suddenly become a bigger deal than you’d like to imagine come CGRI. Nobody likes the dude with a chip on his shoulder about flight time when most everyone in the squadron is also hurting. I recognize that can be easier said than done (and I’m sure this post is mostly a vent and not how you’re actually talking in the ready room), but being a grouch certainly isn’t going to HELP your post-fleet aspirations.

Also, if it makes you feel better, I flew precisely 0.0 hours in my first three months at the squadron (right during the W-Z transition). Left a few years later with nearly 1500 total. Flight hour accrual isn’t a constant value.
 
Hotdogs

Hotdogs

I don’t care if I hurt your feelings
pilot
AllHatNoBattle said:
Used this forum back in 2016 for ASTB/OCS gouge, fast forward to now and I am a junior fleet Marine helicopter pilot. The majority of the ready room flies 5 hours or less each month, my ground billet is 10-14 hours per day of meaningless, endless paperwork, meanwhile my peers in other branches (and in some other squadrons) are flying 20-60 hours a month. I believe I have wasted my twenties, and I'm way behind where I need to be. I am bitter the most at the fact that I don't get to do my MOS, just 4 random collateral bullshit hats that fell in my lap when I arrived. After 4 years of flying I have 300 hours total, and I am forecasted to accumulate 50-80 hours of larping per year until I move on from this squadron in 3 years.

The goal has always been to deploy, do my time and transition into a cush flying job. If I get out with <1000 hours I bet I'd be screwed. I don't know how to get out of this situation and into a better one, unless I find a time machine to go back and have myself join the guard/AF. Open to useful sea stories and advice, and if my perspective is retarded, please explain what I'm missing. If you don't have either, move to the next post.
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You’ve been in your squadron <= 1 year. I’d be surprised if you were a HAC - which means your utility for squadron production is low. While 5 hours a month sucks - It is not super unusual for young guys depending on the squadron lifecycle. Did the squadron recently come back from a deployment? Do you have Dets chopped out? Are you slated for the next pump? If not, are the hours going to the guys getting ready to deploy? Who’s the priority for the next quals or school? What external support requirements does your squadron have right now and what are they forecasted for? How many aircraft do you have supporting WTI? Collaterals are dumb, but everyone is rowing in that boat, and until some one makes changes outside of your control, they’re not going anywhere. Most collaterals are tedious at best and not very hard to do on a day to day basis. If you’re working 10-14 hours on collaterals alone - you’re doing it wrong.

Lastly, what have you done or not done to improve your situation? Have you preformed in the aircraft when given the opportunity? If not, what have you done to rectify it? Are you showing continuous improvement in your T&R progression? Have you been an asshole about your current predicament? Have you shown up ready to fly and maximizing your sim usage at this point? Have you vocalized your concern to your PTO or OpsO? Are you volunteering to CP on every available opportunity to include FCF CP?

There are so many variables to account for with regards to your question, It is hard to discern the actual issue causing your flight hour woes. CH-53E readiness, while not as good as other TMS, isn’t anywhere near the old days of putting together low hour senior qual crews to fly basic missions. DC AVN still tracks tactical flight hour hard decks for all TMS, so I don’t think it’s a TMS specific issue.
 
JTS11

JTS11

Well-Known Member
pilot
Contributor
Hotdogs said:
If you’re working 10-14 hours on collaterals alone - you’re doing it wrong
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Yeah, I can't think of any H2P job where this is the case. Maybe if you're working in the S-4 and there's a somewhat short notice deployment?
Hotdogs said:
Are you volunteering to CP on every available opportunity to include FCF CP?
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This is a great point. Be the guy who's always available for a HAC to grab when maint needs a ground turn, or ops needs a turning back-up...especially when you're in a bit of a flight hour famine.
 
A

AllHatNoBattle

Member
BetterRidesElsewhere said:
Bro… fly in your offtime while you still have a pretty decent paycheck. Want a “Cush flying job” when you get out? Unless you get to the HTs, you’re not going to hit insurance minimums for anything cush in helicopters. Hours-building your fixed wing quals though… that’s another story. If I had it to do over again, I would have spent some of my cash building my airplane time and qualifications before getting out. It would have saved me from a penalty-lap flying charter before i got to where I am now.

Also, I hate to sound preachy, but please keep in mind that the Marines under your care deserve good leadership. I can see why you’re getting bitter. I’ve been there. But don’t let your bitter overshadow their wants and needs.
Click to expand...
The Marines I have the opportunity to interact with are often the only thing I look forward to day-to-day. It's a people business and they're more valuable than anything else in the squadron! That is not lost on me
 
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