If he wants to fly helicopters, he should consider the Army as well. The Army used to have a program called “High School to Flight School”. He should at least call an Army recruiter and see if the program is an option. He would go to Basic, then Warrant Officer School, then flight school, and be flying helicopters before he is old enough to buy beer. All without any college.
MOS= Military Occupational Specialty; his specific job
Another thing about college. Not only will plenty of colleges give him credit hours for his military training, the Army will pay his tuition each semester that he attends. This is seperate from the GI Bill, which most people are familiar with. The Army encourages continued education while still serving, so he could easily complete a degree before he is even finished with his Army service. Then he can use his GI Bill to get an advanced degree.
Lots of good information here. I’m feeling more comfortable about our future talk with the recruiter.
If he does go with a contracted MOS, make sure to see it in his contract. Have the recruiter show it to you in the contract, and also have an independent serviceman/woman confirm it.
Recruiters sometimes make mistakes or, (dare I say it?) lie. It happened to me in 1980 when I enlisted. Not about MOS, but for length of active service.
I was in the room with the other recruits-to-be, about to sign my contract and ship out to boot camp - the absolute point of commitment - when I asked to step out and have my recruiter show me where it defined my length of service. He pointed to somewhere in the paperwork that made sense at the time to me, so I went back to the room and signed it. Fast forward to four years later when I thought my enlistment was ending, and my unit admin told me my enlistment was for six active years, not four. I had my records pulled from (Kansas City, I believe it was) and right there in black and white they showed me where it said six, not four years. Man, was I bummed. But it all turned out good, because those next two years were excellent ones and I reenlisted a few times and happily stayed in and retired. Had my contract been only four years I would’ve definitely gotten out. And I would be echo4tango, not echo7tango. It’s funny how things work out.
Good luck to Hallboy!
This. My uncle flew choppers for the Army. No degree. Awesome! I was artillery. If I had it to do again, flying choppers would be way cool.
I finished my degree while serving, and it was a great way to go.
When was that?! Vietnam era?
Here are two articles about “High School to Flight School”, which seems to be a current program.
IMO, the most relevant part of the first link suggests the Air Force recruiter may be bullshitting your son. Apparently one must be an officer to fly an aircraft in the military, and that is not something your son is going to be right out of boot camp.
Apparently one must be an officer to fly an aircraft in the military, and that is not something your son is going to be right out of boot camp.
It goes on to say the exception to this is getting into this program, which has its own series of hoops to go through in order to get in.
Oh, and from the horse’s mouth, the US Air Force website, stating that for the job of pilot the minimum educational requirement is a bachelor’s degree. Also notes that pilots must be officers – which involves getting into a very competitive program and then getting through it.
I am a college professor and I applaud your son’s decision to forgo college at the present. We have too many kids in college because they think they should be there, not because they want to be. A lot of kids aren’t ready for higher ed at age 17 or 18. They’re better off working, gaining skills, seeing the world, gaining discipline - something he’d get in the Air Force.
It’s not a decision to take lightly, and there’s always the possibility of being deployed. But it’s not the Marines or the Army.
Without question, the best students I have in my graduate program are those who are returning to school after starting a career. They know what they are there for, they have a maturity and stick-to-it-tiveness that those right out of school sometimes lack.
My dad served 26 years in the USAF. He got to see the world, and gave our family the opportunity to live overseas and attend some of the finest public schools in the nation. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the military (and I did JROTC, very nearly did ROTC in college). I agree it’s good that he’s being challenged on his decision, because he should think it through very carefully.
As I say often, college will be here in 2, 5, 10 years. Better to gain some great life experiences that will help you successfully get into the program of your choice than to just go because that’s what everybody else is doing…