Hey Everyone,

This is my first post, and I became a member of this website for this reason... I need help. I am a 16 year old student still attending highschool with good grades, and am planning to go to a descent 4 year college. I have hopes to one day fly helicopters for a living. This is something that interests me very much, and I think I would love to have as a career. Before I fly as a civilian, I am interested in flying for the Marines. I figured I could get learn to fly, get some flight experience, and serve my country all at the same time.I do not know much about flying for the Marines other than the requirements of good vision, hearing, and your education. So here are some questions I have...

-Must you be an officer to fly a helicopter?
-If you do have to be an officer... How long would it take to become one? (Without going throught ROTC)
-How long does it take to become a pilot in the Marines?
-How many years do you have to serve as a pilot?
-How difficult is it to become a pilot in the Marines?
-Would it be easier to fly for the Navy/Army/Airforce?
-What is it like?

Thanks.

Yell for the Gunny

MOS 7558 through 7568, Pilot HMH/M/L/A (I)

a. Summary. Pilots HMH/MIL/A operate rotary wing aircraft on observation, transport, rescue, utility, and fire suppression missions.

b. Requirements/Prerequisites

(1) Must be a U.S. citizen.

(2) MOS 7558 - FRS Basic CH-53D Pilot. MOS 7560 - FRS Basic CH-53E Pilot. MOS 7561 - FRS Basic CH-46 Pilot. MOS 7562 - Pilot CH-46 Qualified. MOS 7563 - Pilot UH-1N Qualified. MOS 7564 - Pilot CH-53 AID Qualified. MOS 7565 - Pilot AH-1 Qualified. MOS 7566 - Pilot CH-53E Qualified. MOS 7567 - FRS Basic UH-1M Pilot. MOS 7568 - FRS Basic AH-1 Pilot.

(3) Must have a secret security clearance.

c. Duties

(1) Performs missions, such as observation, message pickup, transportation of troops and equipment, laying wire, hoisting, rescue, and fire suppression.

(2) Operates aircraft from land or sea with helicopter facilities.

(3) Operates aircraft from small fields in close coordination with ground troops.

(4) The HML/A pilot also performs spotting for naval gunfire and field artillery.

(5) Commands or may assist in commanding an aviation unit.

OK, the above is the MOS or Military Occupational Specialty discription of a USMC Helicopter Pilot. Anything that mentions the word 'fire' relates to gunfire.

Becoming a Marine Corps Pilot is and can be a very rewarding experience for those that have the desire and drive to do what it takes to be one.

Your first step will be to speak to your parents. I know you expected me to say go see the recruiter, but your mom and dad are your first step due to your age. Get them behind you and things will go alot smoother for you to actually do this.

You will need a degree to be a Marine Officer.

Your intial questions:
-Must you be an officer to fly a helicopter? YES
-If you do have to be an officer... How long would it take to become one? (Without going throught ROTC) All Marines must go through Marine Corps Boot Camp first to become a MARINE. That lasts 12 weeks, could be longer if you injure yourself in the process. Once you graduate boot camp, you would get orders to report to US Naval Academy. (this is providing you obtained your degree (Bachelors) and it is written up in your contract. All non-prior service Marine Officers go here. Want to know what they go through? While I'm not a fan of Richard Gere, watch the movie 'Officer and a Gentleman' and leave out all the parts with women in it and you'll get a general idea.

-How long does it take to become a pilot in the Marines? After completing Officer Training School or Platoon Leaders Class, an aviator candidate will have a guaranteed spot in flight school in Florida, where his or her training will proceed in stages:
Pre-indoctrination: This six-week phase includes an introduction to aerodynamics, aviation physiology, engines, navigation and land and sea survival in classrooms at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla.

Primary flight training: A candidate’s first in-air experience is at Whiting Field in Milton, Fla., in a T-34C. Prospective pilots each spend 67 hours in the air, including four solo flights, as well as 27 hours on a flight simulator. Another 166 hours of classroom work attending flight support lectures round out the instruction. At the close of this training, candidates are picked, partly based on grades and aptitude, for flight training on one of three aircraft: jets, helicopters or turbo-props.

Those selected to fly helicopters or turbo-props will receive an additional 26 hours of instruction on the T-34, with emphasis on radio and navigation training. Those selected to fly jets will proceed to the Naval Air Station in either Kingsville, Texas, or Meridian, Miss. There, they will take five weeks of ground school, including instruction in meteorology, visual flight rules and safety. From there, trainees will progress to the T-2C or T-45 for hands-on training in aerobatics, gunnery, radio communication and catapult take-offs.

Then you get assigned to a Marine Corps Squadron and what you do with that depends entirely on you.


-How many years do you have to serve as a pilot? I can't answer this question, you'll need to speak to a recruiter.
-How difficult is it to become a pilot in the Marines? VERY.
-Would it be easier to fly for the Navy/Army/Airforce? No. Military Aviation is a very demanding and dangerous profession regardless of branch of service. Each branch of service has its pros and cons. As you progress further into this, you will reach certain conclusions about it.
-What is it like? Do you like riding roller coasters? Imagine that times 50 without the rails and you controlling speed and direction.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: thegunny,

Wow. Thats alot of information. Thank you very very much. This helped very much.

Cdeyo...I would agree with Gunny except for a slight correction. After Basic,if selected, you would receive orders to Officer Candidates School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, not the Naval Academy (unless that has changed in the last couple of years. The reason I know this is because my buddy in college chose to become a Marine officer after college. I chose NROTC, and was I ever happy I did. ROTC is like boy scouts compared to Marine OCS (I think Gunny would agree with this).
As for difficulty between the services, I believe Navy and Marine pilot training to be more difficult than Air Force. My grandmother,after sufficient training,could land a plane on a stationary mile long landing strip. Try landing a jet on a 60 ft wide-600 foot long bobbing carrier.

quote:

Originally posted by thegunny:


-If you do have to be an officer... How long would it take to become one? (Without going throught ROTC) All Marines must go through Marine Corps Boot Camp first to become a MARINE. That lasts 12 weeks, could be longer if you injure yourself in the process. Once you graduate boot camp, you would get orders to report to US Naval Academy. (this is providing you obtained your degree (Bachelors) and it is written up in your contract. All non-prior service Marine Officers go here. Want to know what they go through? While I'm not a fan of Richard Gere, watch the movie 'Officer and a Gentleman' and leave out all the parts with women in it and you'll get a general idea.

Are you serious? Not a single aspect of this post has any truth in it whatsoever. I'm sure that you're good at your job but that doesn't mean that you go and make shit up. Officers do NOT go through boot. All Officers do NOT go the the Naval Academy. I know this thread was started a while ago but if anyone is looking at this thread for advice, go elsewhere. Gunny, you are a moron.


-Capt W

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mar7566,

Capt W, your ass is the one thats showing. Burner corrected my post previously. If you are or were a Marine Officer, is this your introduction to this forum?

For being here one day he sure is picking the wrong subject and the wrong guy to mess with. What a shame to start out on the wrong foot.

Yeah, I was a little taken back by his first post in here. As for the subject post he chose? Gave the best answers I knew about, but then again, never having been a Marine Officer myself, I thought my response was reasonable. The post itself was directly from the USMC Officer requirements page that I copied and posted. I did throw in some of my own observations.

I would ask him a few questions: At what point in your Marine Officer training were you addressed as Sir and being saluted as a Marine Officer? Odds are it was after your commissioning as a 2nd Lt. Up until that point you were a recruit. I doubt seriously that the Marine SNCO's who were training you, saluted you everyday while in your Officer Candidate training. I could be wrong, heck it's happened before and I can live with that.

Mar7566/Capt W....Tell us about your experiences in becoming a Marine Officer. Obviously it would be better coming from someone who has lived it than from one who hasn't. We are in here to help those with questions about joining and only want to give them good information.

While it's just semantics, guys at OCS are called officer candidates, not recruits. Going to boot is not a requirement at all. While I did see the prior correction, it did not address the entire post. I am glad that you want to give them good future Marines good information and my same desire was why I responded angrily. I would advise any aspiring officers to take a trip over to MarineOCS.com however if anyone has any specific Q's about commissioning in the Marine Corps or about life as an O feel free to ask away.

-Capt W

I would say that if young people want to see the real deal then take the trip and see what happenes there, I know that the different branchs run their programs different but I think the will give you the real view on how you become an officer. just my .02

Mar7566

Glad we are on the same page. Likely wasn't the first time a gunny pissed you off, probably won't be the last. There aren't any (if there are, then they are lurking and ain't talking)regulars in here that went through Marine Officer training, and you are a welcome addition to the site. Stick around and get to know the crew, I think you'll be impressed with the quality of the folks in here.

Welcome to the site Sir.

Leave it to an officer to come hard-charging in. Leave it to a Gunny to smooth it over. Hey, I feel like I'm back in.

Welcome Skipper. Nice to have an officer join the knuckle draggers.