Scout

No waiver required if your a rated aviator (any U.S. branch). You would be limited to the catagory your rated in unless you go to the RW course for rated aviators. The Army Reg 95-1 covers that question.

FlyArmy

OH-58Ds and their pilots get the most flight time of any airframe both deployed and in garrison for a few reasons: cheap to operate (only single engine aircraft in the Army which leads to much lower cost per flight hour (fuel/mx), and there are no flight simulators for the aircraft (except for the 2 new ones at Fort Rucker), so you need real flight hours to meet semiannual minimum flight hour requirements.

Budget cuts are here. Once the wars are over, flight time will be way harder to come by, especially for the maintenance hogs (AH-64Ds and CH-47s).

Fun mission too...

SunSherpa

Trying to mesh the typical Air National Guard Air Expeditionary Force 90-120 day C-27 rotations with the typical 1 year deployments that were the standard for C-23 deploying assets will not be an easy one. The Army fixed wing assets are used to being embedded for the long haul whereas the Air Guard have not had the same type of stomach for such long deployments. By the time a typical AEF rotation crew has figured out all the intricacies of operating within the AOR, it's time to pack up and head back to the US. There needs to be a certain level of continuity in these type of protracted military operations.

SunSherpa

There's a current C-23 Sherpa divestiture plan being implemented by the National Guard Bureau that has all the C-23's in the ARNG retired by the first quarter of FY15 (i.e. by the end of 2014). The affected units are supposedly reverting from a fixed wing cargo mission to a fixed wing utility mission (whatever that means). So either those losing units are getting a C-12 as a replacement airframe or something else is coming down the pike in the future where the Army Guard might be reconsidered as a buy-in to the C-27 program.

ChinookDriver47

Oh how true this is. I am already working on making an airframe jump. Interesting how the writing on the wall can be seen much more clear after you have been in a while and understand how "things" work.

cargo hopeful

ChinookDriver47, which airframe are you looking at? Why?

exnavy

Must second that one. Having been a -64D guy that just made the jump to fixed wing, I feel like I have made it to the promised land. Hopefully, this side of the fence will have some duration to it. Time will tell.

sowchinook

Hey all,

Been a while since I posted the FW ?'s on the board but here's my take on the whole rotor to FW transition. The C-12 army gig sounded nice initially with getting a flight safety king air type and multi time but got the run-around from multiple army FW units, my own included, that advertised "needing pilots" and so not fooled by that "carrot" that many friends have chased to no avail, decided to look into Air Guard. The grass is greener there for sure. There are opportunities to fly the coolest jets in the military, shorter deployments, military flight training universally accepted by all branches and of course, if you're an officer, you don't have to revert to WO1. Keeping or earning a hard earned commission is very rewarding in the Air Force aviation community. The AF is a PILOT oriented service and treats their aviators very well. Lots of perks that the Army would never allow; trips, budgets, equipment , allowances , quality of life etc... The downsides are that the Air Guard slots are very competitive to get, warrants will have to get a commission and recently because of some issues transitioning Army guys to AF flying, the AF fixed wing qual (gentleman's course) was cancelled so it's full up UPT if you're under 30. Also the Air Force is very regulation heavy. The AF version of 95-1 is several different pubs and a quite a long read. Oh but they let you wear flight suits Flying FW for any service would be great and if it's airlines you're after the multi turbine is all the same but for the big picture and quality of life I would highly recommend interested eligible RW guys to go blue. I'd start working at it before your 6 are up so you aren't close to an age limit. PM me if you got ?'s on it.

Later

pcharron

What do you mean by carrot? Even though the units are hiring, are they not giving the fixed wing assignments to new recruits?

Thanks for any info.

PC

sowchinook

carrot=fixed wing slot. Usually a reward for putting in time as a RW guy. I have heard of a few people getting FW right out of IERW so it does happen, just wouldn't bank on it. Got some friends that were forced into FW slots that they did not want while others spend years trying to no avail. Timing is everything.