USMC/USN flying

[Piperpilot2004]

Hey everyone I have a question. I am still in high school, but seriously thinking about becoming a pilot someday in the military. I have wanted to since I was really little, and there is no stopping me now. I really want to decide soon which service I want to go so I can start preparing for the aptitude tests to get into Pilot Training and take the proper ROTC programs in college. Someone recommended me on baseops.net to look into the marines to win a pilot slot. Has any of you gone that direction? How much more competitive is it than the other services (also I am not a big guy-5'4"-5'5" tops and only around 130lbs.) I am very athletic so I think I would do alright though physically for the marines..maybe haha. I heard that if you really want to be a pilot, they will pretty much take you if you meet the requirements, and if you want to fly jets, thats the place to go since basically everyone in the program wants helos. I know Air Force is going to be hard for me. AFOQT sucks I heard and I am not one for tests like that. So basically interested in USN or USMC route(yes I know there are still tests, but heard they arent nearly as bad). Any oppinions. I know things change over time, and thats awhile off, but any help is appreciated! Thanks.

 

[skidkid]

Ok where to begin,
#1-Search this site there is a lot fo info out there.
#2-Your size wont matter jsut be in shape you'll be fine
#3-Pilot slot availability ebbs and flows. The Marines have a lot right now but in a few years it may eb very different.
#4-The Marines have a pretty good mix of desires when it comes to platforms. Not everyone wants helos and slots for most platforms are very competitive and there are few guarantess that you will fly waht you want. The onyl way to be assured of something is to be number one all the way through.
#5-There are many on this site who have gone tht route and love evry minute of it. I cant really speak to how comptetive the other services are except some of waht I saw training witht the Navy but Ill let someone on the blue side talk to that. The road to being a Marine aviator has a lot of swamps on it (figuratively and literally). You will spend a year or two training wihtout really seeing an aircraft at first but it si worth it.

Search the site and if you ahve mroe questions let us know.
Good luck

 

[Piperpilot2004]

Thanks man. Yeah I am new to this site basically. I have only posted one other time so I will have to check it out. I'll do some more research and see what I come up with. Again, thanks!

 

[scotty008]

You're smart getting everything set up while you're in high school. I was selected BDCP in college, but didn't accept in order to pursue another opportunity with the thought that I could just apply for OCS afterwards. Of course, air slots became scarce soon thereafter and I had to sweat it out worrying about getting selected after school (also missed out on the $$). Luckilly things worked out alright-though I would have saved myself some serious worrying. Do some research and find out as much as possible about each service and the options available to you. The people on this site have been great about helping me prep for OCS, and there probably isnt a question that you could ask that someone here can't answer. Good luck with everything-