MiserDD

4 year as an E in the reserve
Almost 20 as an O, active
Naval Aviator
(Oh the fun I had at P-Cola... but I digress...)

Find the money and get guaranteed air. The OSO should be able to make thaw switch without too much difficulty, especially if you still need to finish college.

tjav8b

Choxy...Go back to the OSO and talk to him and get an Air slot. The Marine Corps is hurting for pilots and there are medical waivers being thrown around all over the place. Now is the perfect time since they are coming up on the end of the fiscal year. If you have any aspirations of a pilot career than do not even think about going NFO. Do not go enlisted and don't believe anything a enlisted recruiter tells you. If not Air, at least go Officer. You will have more job opportunities in the future.

Good luck!

choxy

Yeah, thats kinda where the problem is..My eyes.. thats why I settled for a NFO contract first time I contracted with the Marines. I don't have the $$ to fix em, and I figured that backseating is still a good way to go to be in some hot military metal. I was looking at enlisting reserve to learn a skill, but like you guys were saying, that I would be looked at kinda weird because I would be the "old guy" at 24 enlisting with a career and a college eucation. How is any military experience viewed in the civilian world? I know that when one goes the officer route, everybody loves the officer because of managerial capacity, but what about the E guys? I never hear anything about the E side of things in the civ world? thoughts welcome.-Choxy

USMCFLYR

The enlisted of the Corps are Leaders. You've heard the saying that "the NCOs are the backbone of the Marine Corps" or maybe the recent term "the Strategic Corporal"?

You would learn invaluble leadership skills and possibly a very useful technical skill if you enlisted.

I have also known quite a few NFO to pilot tranistions in my time. Sometimes it is about getting a foot in the door and then sucessfully competing for a slot from the inside - against other insiders - so it is still tough.

You have been given quite a bit of goood advice on this thread. In the end - you have to make the decision and press forward. Ever wondered why they don't talk about officers in the recruiting commercials? They expect you to be self-starters and someone with the capacity to follow through without having your hand held at every turn.

USMCFLYR

tjav8b

USMCFLYR is correct in saying USMC enlisted are leaders but that doesn't necessarily translate that way in the civilian world. Good jobs out there for aviation maintenance guys. Like I said before, if your eyes are waiverable, than there will be a slot that will open up for you. You are already a pilot so being an NFO and never touching the stick will probably drive you nuts not to mention you will have a long contract. Just figure out what is most important to your future. Is it setting yourself up for a career as a pilot or becoming a Marine?

FlyArmy

Guard/Reserve WOFT if you want to be a soft army dude and still make a difference. Ground pounding and kicking in doors gets very old very quick. Flying helicopters doesn't. After going through ranger school I realized if I did anything in the military other than flying I would hate my life all the time instead of just part of the time. And if I worked on maintenance all day fixing aircraft and not flying them I would also hate my life. That's just me though. Just my $.02 that I like to share anytime anyone asks about potential military jobs. I think being a flying warrant is one of the best kept secrets in the military.

choxy

Cool, Thanks guys for all your input. I'm still going over everything and doing my pro's and con's.