Interested In Becoming a pilot for the USMC through NROTC

[Future Pilot619]

Hello all! I just made an account on this awesome site and had some very important questions to ask. I am currently a Junior in high school(about to be a senior) and I have been thinking about joining the military, I am a Navy brat who's interested in flying for the military. I have decided to go USMC because I figure that even if I don't become a pilot, I could possibly go Infantry, which I'll address later. First of all, I have heard that you can get your pilot slot guaranteed through NROTC Marine Option, I was wondering how I would go about doing this. I also have researched the PLC during college that potential Marine Corps Officers can choose during college, are these two programs connected, the NROTC and the PLC that is. And I'm bringing it up again, if for some unforeseen reason I don't make it through flight school, can I still go Infantry? I'm currently in Civil Air Patrol and one of the officers there is a Naval Aviator in the Marine Corps who went through OCS out of college and he said he had friends who were washed out of flight school and they still ended up with jobs like Artillery and Tank Officer, I was wondering if the same applied to the Infantry Officer position. Thank you for your time and advice!

 

[Future Pilot619]

And a side note! My parents are going to transfer the post 911 GI Bill to me so that my tuition is paid for, so I don't really need an NROTC scholarship per-say and I was wondering how that would factor into the equation and my overall quest to become a pilot for the USMC.

 

[Slingblade]

Possible but it's kind of hard to show up to an infantry battalion as a first lieutenant because you have been spending all of your time as a 2nd lieutenant washing out of flight school. Infantry officers grow up quick and by the time they are first lieutenants the ones that are good are already picked to go on to bigger better things find themselves as company XOs or weapons platoon commanders before they put on captain .....do a b billet go to resident PME and come back as company commanders as mid to senior O3s. So what I'm saying is the career progression timeline as an aviator is different than it is for an infantry officer especially early in your career and that if you want to be an infantry officer go do that and if you want to be a Marine aviator go do that. Infantry officer is not a next best thing if this flying thing doesn't work out. It's two very challenging career tracks either way. If anything I believe being an infantry officer requires a great deal of maturity early on where you are instantly in charge of and responsible for Marines as a platoon commander. That doesn't happen right away in aviation.

 

[Renegade One]

^^^ Good stuff, Slingblade…good stuff.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Slingblade hit the nail on the head. If you attrite out of flight school, much depends on manpower needs and your reputation as an officer. You can expect an MOS less glamorous than infantry - but still important - such as supply, logistics or Intel. If the Corps is overmanned, there exists the chance you could go directly to the reserves. If way overmanned such as in '91-'92 timeframe, attrited students were just let go.

 

[Future Pilot619]

Well, crap, now I have a decision to make... Infantry or Aviation life is never simple I guess.

 

[Slingblade]

Go aviation then serve as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) after you have earned some street cred in your airframe. Best of both worlds. Supporting the grunts is a lot better life than being a grunt if you ask me. Knew that for sure at The Basic School right after some CH53s dropped us off for the beginning of a week long excersise and sleet and snow began to fall from the sky. Those guys were going home to warm beds that night. We were staying in the freezing rain for another week in a hole I would be digging poorly with my e tool. Then again someone has to be a grunt just not this guy. I do find it very rewarding fixing their problems from the air.

 

[HUDcripple]

Slingblade covered the aviator to infantry question, so a couple nuts and bolts...

Yes, it is possible to get an aviation contract via NROTC Marine Option. The best person to explain the details is the Marine Officer Instructor (MOI) at the school you are likely to attend. Schedule an appointment with him/her when you do a campus visit.

Apply for the scholarship now. Don't wait until you're 100% certain you prefer NROTC to PLC or OCS. You don't have a decision to make until you have a scholarship offer.

If the NROTC scholarship lets you save your parents GI Bill, even better. It will be a great safety net if you drop from NROTC for any reason, or you could use it for a Master's Degree later. Your parent could even decide to go back to school themselves, once they know your education is covered.

PLC is not officially affiliated with NROTC, but most likely the MOI and the PLC Officer Selection Officer (OSO) communicate, and send prospects to the other program if it is more appropriate.

Post-college OCS is very competitive; there are just more interested, qualified candidates then slots. If you know now that you want to serve in the USMC, joining via NROTC or PLC is the way to go.

Good luck!

 

[Future Pilot619]

Ever since I was little I've wanted to be a soldier, and now I have to decide between that and a pilot for the military... oh well, I still have some time before that decision even comes up, however, if I want to be a part of the USMC at all I need to work on my PT and my diet, I know I could stay in shape if only I ate better, and practiced my pull ups, I personally think so far that I'm doing pretty good on my running and my crunches, any advice on training for PFT's and what not?

 

[Slingblade]

If you want to be a soldier join the Army. Just saying. As far as PFT if you want to get better at crunches do crunches. I used to just time myself for two minutes and do multiple sets of as many as I could do in two minutes until I got to the point that 100 in 2 minutes was easy. For pull ups Google Armstrong pull up program. Stick with it and eventually your pull ups will increase. I can do well over 20 now at age 37. Might be old man strength. Once you are at 20 it is pretty easy to maintain. The run takes a little more maintenance to keep where you want it. Running insane mileage isn't always the answer but running quality mileage is key. Like at the pace you want to cover your 3 miles in. Initially work on mileage to get a good base established but then you will need some speed work. Search around here and I'm sure there is some running programs here. Or any 5k training regime should get you headed in right direction. Focus on being able to max the crunches and pull ups though. One pull up is 5 points or 50 seconds on the run. Taking a minute off your run is significant compared to getting and extra pull up especially when you start going sub 20 minutes in the run. Oh and we have the CFT too.

 

[TEP801]

You're a Marine first, Officer second, and Naval Aviator third. Yes, the Marines make it "easier" to get a pilot slot, but overall the process is harder. It's physically demanding and you're expected to lead Marines.

This speaking from previous experience with the PLC program. From a fairly recent chat with the OSO I was working with. they usually have a ton of kids who want to go ground and I mean a ton of kids. Seriously they had a waiting list for the ground side, even through PLC. Now going for the Naval Aviator Route its much easier. However thats through one specific office/region. Getting an NFO spot was very easy as far as getting selected. As long as you have a 2.0, could knock out the PFT in a decent range, and could pass the ASTB. The spots are open. However like I said, that was one specific office/region.

Once selected. Getting through OCS, and boot camp is no joke..... Thats where the real challenge is at. You really have to want it to say the least.

As a side note I would say try for the NROTC spot if you can. Decide which route is better. Being a Marine Officer is a completely different lifestyle from what I've seen.