Army Aviators and Officers, advice?

[JB1842]

Might have interacted with a few SF Warrants as well. They're rare but they're out there.

I knew one when I was an embassy guard at our embassy in the Republic of Georgia. Knew him for close to 4 months before he told us he was SF. Took another month to find out he was a WO. Never wore a uniform, and demanded we call him by his first name.

 

[Velocity173]

I knew one when I was an embassy guard at our embassy in the Republic of Georgia. Knew him for close to 4 months before he told us he was SF. Took another month to find out he was a WO. Never wore a uniform, and demanded we call him by his first name.

Embassy guard huh? You're one of those squared away Marines. Impressive. I didn't meet the height requirements for that stuff.

 

[JB1842]

Embassy guard huh? You're one of those squared away Marines. Impressive. I didn't meet the height requirements for that stuff.

Height requirements? Don't think we had one. To be on the Silent Drill Team, I think they had the height standards. Wouldn't say I was that squared away, even though I was the Honor Grad of my class . It's not for everybody, but it was worth it for me.

 

[Henning]

In order to turn around some of these hell holes I've been to such as Afghanistan or Iraq, it'll take more than money and advice from developed countries. You're talking a complete cultural change. We tried that in both countries and it didn't work.

Same as Mexico or Honduras. It'll take more than assistance from us to want to keep them in their own country. No to mention, we don't have the resources to help every country that wants a hand out. Strife will always exist in impoverished countries. No way around it.

It takes food, it takes water, it takes energy, and it takes shelter and safety and fair treatment for their families. We could have built all the required infrastructure for less than the cost of the F-35 program and bult it into Aircraft Carriers instead of the ability to from bombs on those people.

Understand that the miserable conditions they suffer under are brought to them directly by the despotic powers our services put into place in those lands so the financial industry could reap the maximum profits. 70% of the improvement comes from quitting the damage.

Why do you think radical Islam calls us The Great Satan? Look what we have become, we spread death and destruction to trade them IOUs for their real resources, and we give all those IOUs to despots who wreak havoc on their societies. This really is pretty obvious if you just open your eyes and honestly assess what is going on. I think it's obvious enough to a lot of young soldiers that they kill themselves for what they have done rather than face the damnation they are suffering.

We are taking every gift God has given us, and we use it to slaughter each other for money, because we love to covet. That is what we need to change to survive and continue evolving again. Right now we are in evolutionary entropy, and it is caused by our choices, Free Will, not God's will.

 

[James331]

In order to turn around some of these hell holes I've been to such as Afghanistan or Iraq, it'll take more than money and advice from developed countries. You're talking a complete cultural change. We tried that in both countries and it didn't work.

Same as Mexico or Honduras. It'll take more than assistance from us to want to keep them in their own country. No to mention, we don't have the resources to help every country that wants a hand out. Strife will always exist in impoverished countries. No way around it.

Yeah, but thing is some folks like their culture, and there is a big difference between flying some dude off his roof in the US and drone striking a 16yr old US citizen on foreign soil, or being a occupation in the country of the month in the Mid East.

Also Washington didn't invade France or the Mid East or etc. No issue with having a militia or guard type military, it's when you have forces in almost every country and are in the culture changing, regime changing business, thats where you start to have some issues.

But some folks are SOO ingrained and dependent on being part of the millitary there is little point in mentioning anything, no more so then trying to tell a sucide bomber he isn't making a smart choice ether. I think folks should take their leaders blinders off.

Most leaders of religions use them to control the populous, they also tend to be the least religious at heart, same with military, the people doing the killing do much better when they don't have large thoughts in their head, just keep to the mission.

 

[Velocity173]

Height requirements? Don't think we had one. To be on the Silent Drill Team, I think they had the height standards. Wouldn't say I was that squared away, even though I was the Honor Grad of my class . It's not for everybody, but it was worth it for me.

I thought there was a min height requirement. I remember there was some limit on tattoos though. I knew a few guys who wanted to try embassy guard but none ever applied. It seemed like a sought after assigment with some prestige to it.

 

[N3368K]

Poor color vision kept me out of military aviation. I did get to play in OH-58As as a Field Artillery Aerial Observer 2LT in the 80s. Ended up doing 22 years and retired in 2003. Glad I just fly for fun. When I think I'm missing it, I just remember living in the damned field and I get over it.


Jim R
Collierville, TN

N7155H--1946 Piper J-3 Cub
N3368K--1946 Globe GC-1B Swift
N4WJ--1994 Van's RV-4

 

[Henning]

Yeah, but thing is some folks like their culture, and there is a big difference between flying some dude off his roof in the US and drone striking a 16yr old US citizen on foreign soil, or being a occupation in the country of the month in the Mid East.

Also Washington didn't invade France or the Mid East or etc. No issue with having a militia or guard type military, it's when you have forces in almost every country and are in the culture changing, regime changing business, thats where you start to have some issues.

But some folks are SOO ingrained and dependent on being part of the millitary there is little point in mentioning anything, no more so then trying to tell a sucide bomber he isn't making a smart choice ether. I think folks should take their leaders blinders off.

Most leaders of religions use them to control the populous, they also tend to be the least religious at heart, same with military, the people doing the killing do much better when they don't have large thoughts in their head, just keep to the mission.

Right, but that is actually a good trait, these are people willing to sacrafice for their society, that is what they want to do, either that or get a job and an education and are willing to trade a few years of their life, and potential loss of, in trade.

We already have a great industrial and technical capacity with some of the best leaders our society has to offer within our military. Greed has very little play below the flag ranks. Below that most people are there because they want a job that benefits society, and they do it for minimal remuneration.

Why not take advantage of good people and good capability to do good things rather than bad things with the same budgets providing not only trickle down benefits, but overflow benefits as well that bring the entire base up with th entire social pyramid on top of it. Everyone ends up better off,even the extremely wealthy.

 

[Henning]

Military helo drivers, would you rather be flying a tank of hydrogen into some remote mountain village or troops? It costs the same money either way.

 

[Velocity173]

It takes food, it takes water, it takes energy, and it takes shelter and safety and fair treatment for their families. We could have built all the required infrastructure for less than the cost of the F-35 program and bult it into Aircraft Carriers instead of the ability to from bombs on those people.

Understand that the miserable conditions they suffer under are brought to them directly by the despotic powers our services put into place in those lands so the financial industry could reap the maximum profits. 70% of the improvement comes from quitting the damage.

Why do you think radical Islam calls us The Great Satan? Look what we have become, we spread death and destruction to trade them IOUs for their real resources, and we give all those IOUs to despots who wreak havoc on their societies. This really is pretty obvious if you just open your eyes and honestly assess what is going on. I think it's obvious enough to a lot of young soldiers that they kill themselves for what they have done rather than face the damnation they are suffering.

We are taking every gift God has given us, and we use it to slaughter each other for money, because we love to covet. That is what we need to change to survive and continue evolving again. Right now we are in evolutionary entropy, and it is caused by our choices, Free Will, not God's will.

Well that's a noble theory Henning but very few people from industrialized countries are going to give some of what they've earned so some kid in Afghanistan can go to college.

Fact is, in these countries they lack the basic tools to succeed. They don't care about achieving Self Actualization in Maslow's Hieracy of Needs. You're looking at people who are mostly illiterate. For the vast majority of them all they know is farming and fighting amongst themselves. That's how it's always been. They wouldn't have the slightest clue what to do with wealth or industry there.

Afghanistan has over 1 trillion dollars worth of minerals in its soil. Has one of the largest copper and lithium reserves in the world. Its people, outside of the educated in Kabul, have no concept of wealth. That's why I say it's a cultural thing. It's not a democracy. They don't strive for materialist things like we do. They exist. That's it.

The groups that we label as terrorists and cause the problems can't be bought off either. The Taliban have radical religious beliefs that could be best described as anti modern. How are you going to turn them around to something malleable? You can't. It's just a stubborn, warped culture. We can build X number of hospitals and schools there but it the end it's always been a lost cause. The Taliban will just tear them down.

The heart of the problem is a failed culture. Lack of education and radical religious beliefs contributing to that problem. Of course lack of resources as well. Resources that can't be supplied in a growing world population.

What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, go Guard and the fixed wing route. Easy life.

 

[Henning]

Understand that the populations we are currently fighting are starving, and they are starving because of us, and then we bomb them when they revolt against us starving them.

We really need to step back from all the patriotic rhetoric and cultural anger and ego and honestly assess what our cultural impact around the globe is. In the Mid East we spread misery to assure our financial interests are best served, in China we spread misery in pollution and wage slaves, in Africa we ignore genocidal levels of death, misery, and suffering because our financial interests are secured or non existent.

We could end all that for the same budget we spread misery wth, and in the process create an economic revolution in America and the world protecting the necessities of life from the tyranny of greed. That is the final step that eliminates the leverage of the greedy from the masses, the requirement to have to compete for financial business at the level that allows for best social out come. Only then will we have a true "Free Market Economy", the whole Cold War was fought to prevent that economic challenge.

 

[gitmo234]

I had a talk with several guard aviators.
I had a talk with my wife.

The results? I'm going to get my packet together. There are several hurdles I have to jump and any one of the could trip me up by fault or no fault of my own. I have to take the SIFT test, which i hear is too easy anyway, need to pass the flight physical, need to get through the board and get an age waiver.

Then, I still need to be very competitive to be an O and an aviator. No reason to rule myself out. The system may rule me out and I wont ever ask myself "what if"

If it comes to be, my wife will get a temporary reassignment at work to the near me (and probably have a long commute), as we're planning for kids soon, and we dont want to be apart that long if the situation is in our control. Those days will come eventually but not if we can help it until then.

We also will take all the pets, maybe rent the house out for the year or so I'm gone.


That's a good basic plan. We may have to tighten our belts a bit due to the drop in pay I'll take while I'm on active duty but we'll get by.

If between now and application deadline or board date something comes up, then something comes up and no harm, no foul.

My state requires a few years of UH-60 flying before moving along to fixed wing, but fixed wing would be the goal

 

[gitmo234]

Gitmo (Don't know your real name),

Plan for 15-24 months for Initial Entry Rotory Wing (IERW) and then Flight School XXI. Especially if you get the FW course after FSXXI. The TAG is promising you the world and that's great. Be prepared to not get all of his promises if something happens to him.

I had branch transfer CPTs in my BOLC course. They didn't have to do all the BS we did but most of it.

I'm going to be extremely blunt... I love my job and I love flying the 64 and killing things, but we all know the Army can suck the fun out of a BJ... A lot of that happens regardless of your rank or airframe. I bought an Arrow because I love to fly and flying my plane is relaxing to me where flying the 64 takes a lot of brainpower and work (mission prep, not the actual flying.)

I look forward to talking to you and will gladly help anyway I can.

Thanks,
Bill

This is probably the most accurate description I've read of the Army. I was prior USAF enlisted to Army officer. Big transition. I dropped you a message. I'm basically going to start the process and see what comes. If I end up in Alabama, then I know what I'm doing for the next 7-8 years.

 

[Gucci Pilot]

The results? I'm going to get my packet together.

I don't think you are gonna regret it! It seems to me the only thing holding you back is the long distance relationship for a year. I know a bunch of guys that did it. It is totally doable if she is supportive(which it sounds like she is).

 

[Warlock]

I had a talk with several guard aviators.
I had a talk with my wife.

The results? I'm going to get my packet together. There are several hurdles I have to jump and any one of the could trip me up by fault or no fault of my own. I have to take the SIFT test, which i hear is too easy anyway, need to pass the flight physical, need to get through the board and get an age waiver.

Then, I still need to be very competitive to be an O and an aviator. No reason to rule myself out. The system may rule me out and I wont ever ask myself "what if"

If it comes to be, my wife will get a temporary reassignment at work to the near me (and probably have a long commute), as we're planning for kids soon, and we dont want to be apart that long if the situation is in our control. Those days will come eventually but not if we can help it until then.

We also will take all the pets, maybe rent the house out for the year or so I'm gone.


That's a good basic plan. We may have to tighten our belts a bit due to the drop in pay I'll take while I'm on active duty but we'll get by.

If between now and application deadline or board date something comes up, then something comes up and no harm, no foul.

My state requires a few years of UH-60 flying before moving along to fixed wing, but fixed wing would be the goal

Sounds like you figured it out...good luck age waiver is probably the biggest issue so start immediately as your not getting any younger...

 

[Velocity173]

I had a 40 yr old NG student in one class. Had a few mid 30s NG students as well. Age waivers for AD are pretty non existent right now but NG seems pretty open about it. Just depends on how short they are on pilots.

 

[JB1842]

I thought there was a min height requirement. I remember there was some limit on tattoos though. I knew a few guys who wanted to try embassy guard but none ever applied. It seemed like a sought after assigment with some prestige to it.

I got tattoos on my forearm while I was in Tokyo. Some standards are more stringent. Unless you are the Detachment Commander, you can't have any dependants. You also had to have a 3 year obligation left on your enlistment to go, so you either have to re-up or sign a contract extension. You also had to be an E-4 or have strong command recommendation and close to promotion if you were an E-3. You won't even get looked at as an E-1 or E-2. I'm sure things have changed since I went through the school in 2000. When I went through it was 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM training 6 days a week, couple hours on Sunday. The attrition rate was hovering around 50%. I heard rumors at the time it was the 3rd hardest class the Marine Corps had at the time, Recon and Scout/Sniper were, and should be, harder.

 

[Velocity173]

I got tattoos on my forearm while I was in Tokyo. Some standards are more stringent. Unless you are the Detachment Commander, you can't have any dependants. You also had to have a 3 year obligation left on your enlistment to go, so you either have to re-up or sign a contract extension. You also had to be an E-4 or have strong command recommendation and close to promotion if you were an E-3. You won't even get looked at as an E-1 or E-2. I'm sure things have changed since I went through the school in 2000. When I went through it was 5:30 AM to 9:30 PM training 6 days a week, couple hours on Sunday. The attrition rate was hovering around 50%. I heard rumors at the time it was the 3rd hardest class the Marine Corps had at the time, Recon and Scout/Sniper were, and should be, harder.

Yeah I heard it had a pretty high washout rate. Heard Recon and C-130 navigator were two of the toughest. I qualified for C-130 navigator but decided on ATC instead.

 

[JB1842]

Yeah I heard it had a pretty high washout rate. Heard Recon and C-130 navigator were two of the toughest. I qualified for C-130 navigator but decided on ATC instead.

One of guys I was in Ireland with was ATC.