Which is a better branch for helicopter pilots

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am looking at Army or Navy. (This is not to say I wouldn’t consider the other branches).
I am still in high school and I am planning to go to college and go the ROTC route. (Attending an academy would be nice, but so would winning the lottery). I would like to be a commissioned officer. And I know that a Warrant Officer does more flying and less paperwork, but if I chose to make a career it seems to me like this would be job security. No?

I have read that in the navy you are not guaranteed your “navy rating”. So, does this mean one could go in for the Seahawk and end up flying hawkeyes if need be? Or not even guaranteed aviation?

Now, as for Army. I know about high school to flight school, WOTC, and the aviation officer…MOS 15.
This appears to have more accessible, but does this outweigh the navy’s benefits and conversely does Army’s outweigh navy’s? Disadvantages? etc.

2

appears to be more accessible sorry

3

Injuries kept me out of the Navy, but roomie was a Black Hawk pilot in the Gulf War. (She was a WO.) Personally I would have chosen Navy. Family tradition. But one adage I’ve often heard is ‘If you want to fly, join the Army.’

Alas, I had to pay for my own heli license.

4

I suppose it would be worth asking yourself what do you want to fly, why you want to fly them, and how could you use those skills if you chose not to remain in the military.

There is quite a bit of ground between a Navy CH-53 pilot and an Army Apache pilot.

5

In the Navy, you’ll have to become an Officer, then get through the first phases of flight school, at which time you will list your requests as to what platforms you’d like. The Navy will take your requests and bounce it off of your performance in flight school and the needs of the Navy and assign you your platform. (The Navy has implemented a Warrant flying program, but right now there are only a handful of Warrants in it.) You may not get to be an Officer, you may not get aviation, you may not physically qualify for aviation, you may fail out of flight school, and you may not get the platform you want. You may wind up in another community (SWO, NFO, Intel, etc).

The bottom line is that you need to enter the Navy with the philosophy that a) You want to be a Naval Officer above all else, and b) Bloom where you’re planted.

If you want something guaranteed, the Navy is not for you.

6

I am partial to the uh-60 platform. Not saying I wouldn’t fly the stallion or the apache, just if i had my choice it would be a uh-60. I have talked to several pilots and they said that a good place to go after the military would be in the gulf flying to and from the oil rigs. Another opportunity is the local medical flights. Ie. Lifeflight, Lifestar…

7

Don’t forget about the Marine Corps, Air Force and the Coast Guard. They fly helicopters too.

Bri2k

8

This is a matter of opinion, but it may echo what flyboy said above:

Only join the Marine Corps if you want to be a Marine first and a helicopter pilot second.

I’m not sure what they’re flying now, but when I left they were still flying 30 year-old airframes, and nothing very sexy.

Coast Guard would probably be awesome, though.

9

Those old Coast Guard HH-65s are pretty old also (those red Eurocopter ones with the ducted tail rotor (fenestron). IIRC, they’re 25 or so years old (they were old when I worked at Eurocopter 10 years ago).

10

For any type of military aviation, you need to think service first and foremost, and airframe second or lower on your list.

You can stumble at any point - selection, medical, academic, flying skills, etc and not end up where you want to be. Be prepared for what you might do if you end up commissioned but don’t finish flight school.

I’m not trying to be a downer, but just trying to make sure you are realistic with your goals. Every aviation community has great people flying in it and will provide you with immense job satisfaction. You will come to, if not love, at least appreciate every airframe you fly, even if it isn’t one you “want” now.

Now, for more nuts-and-bolts stuff. The Air Force and the Marines are flying the V-22 now. I don’t know how much they are getting used operationally, but they are out there. Helos in the Air Force are Special Ops and Rescue, and do some really interesting and challenging flying.

Research what every branch offers as far as helos. Timing will play a factor as well. With budget cuts looming flight school slots might get cut and become much more competitive very quickly.

Do well in high school, get a technical degree in college (with good grades), stand out as a leader in ROTC, and hope that you don’t have some medical condition that will disqualify you down the road somewhere.

Good luck - flying for the military is one of the most exciting, rewarding and challenging things you will ever do.