USMC Aviation Question

[Sundown]

I was wondering if anyone can confirm that getting excepted as a Marine Corps pilot currently is much less competitive then for the Navy. I work with a MC E-4 who is currently enrolled in NROTC @ USF and this is information that he relayed from his XO to me. I'm going to enroll in NROTC Spring '06 (graduate '08) and was wondering if in fact the MC is my best option for wings.

 

[T-man]

From what has been posted on this board, at this very moment, that rumor is true (from what I've read on this board, Navy is overstaffed in pilots). However, come '08, who knows, the exact opposite could be true.

 

[Fmr1833]

PM me and I will give you the XO's email address. From experience though I can tell you that your info is pretty much spot on, mate.

 

[Whalebite]

W has it really been that many? Of course 'lost' often means rolled back.

 

[riley]

Lost means they aren't there any more. Only a handful have been rolled back from TBS.

Right now it seems like it is "easier" to be accepted as a pilot in the Marine Corps. There is a Marine in Charlie Co. at TBS that has his wings already because he was in the Navy and volunteered to change services. It seems the Navy has a backlog of pilot hopefuls.

It is "easier" to be accepted into any pilot program if you are still in college vice a college graduate. Also, you will graduate in 2008. The situation then could be a whole lot different than what it is now. The Marine Corps could have a backlog of pilots and the Navy might be looking for anyone with a heart beat. If you want to fly - look into the service that is right for you, not what appears to be "easier". Since you are still a long ways from graduating, the Navy might pick you up pretty quick.

Your best option for wings? Michael W. already covered that. Do you want to take the "easier" way of being accepted? Or should you look at the whole picture......12 or 13 weeks in Florida vs. 10 weeks of hell in Quantico, VA (or two 6 week sessions) and another 6 months of suffering through unbearable weather before you even begin to think about a cockpit. (And that is if you make it through Marine OCS)

Figure out what service is best for you, then apply. Don't go by what seems "easier" to get accepted.

 

[Ajax]

So it seems once accepted it would be much easier to become a pilot in the Navy, but it would be easier to be accepted to the Marine Corps though harder to become a pilot.

 

[evade6317]

Be a Marine, you can do it.

 

[Sundown]

Thanks for the input guys. I just wanted to throw that out there to see if y'all had heard anything a/b the excess of Navy pilots and the need for Marines. I still have a semester to decide what I'm going to do but most likely I'll go Navy, unless of course one of the officers convinces me to go Marines; they are pushing it pretty hard right now.