Best way to fly military?

[s32]

Hello folks,

20 year old male here, want to fly for the military.

What's the process consist of? How long would it take?

A buddy of mine told me about RMC, what are your thoughts on that?

TIA

[Embraer190]

This pretty much sums it up:

Pros:
1) They pay for your education and flight training (About $80,000).
2) Decent salary
3) Good benefits
4) Excellent training.
5) One-of-a-kind airplanes.
6) Good job security (once you get in)
7) You will be employable once you're done your service.

Cons:
1) You have to serve for certain amount of years (It could be a good thing depending on how you look at it)
2) Pilot positions are extremely sought after and there are no guarentees that you will even get a pilot position, but you'll still need to work for the military for a certain amount of year.
3) You might be asked to fly a chopper.
4) There is very little freedom about where you get to live.
5) You have to have perfect or very near perfect eyesight (may have changed)
6) You can potentially be flying in very dangerous places where you can be shot at. (duh!)
7) You'll have to go through basic training and do fitness tests (you have to be fit to be a pilot either way, but you must be EXTRA fit to be a military pilot.)
8. Once you're in, there's no getting out. Whether you like it or hate it, you have to serve your time once you're in.


If you want the straight facts go to http://www.forces.ca/v3/engraph/jobs/jo ... =32&bhcp=1

Caution: the Forces website is pretty biased, obviously. If you want to REALLY learn about working as a pilot for the Canadian Forces, I suggest http://forums.air-force.ca/

Good luck and don't sign up for anything before reading the fine print!

[Hedley]

Worth what you paid me for it:

The (Canadian) military wants people who are officers
first, pilots second.

If you're not happy being an officer and not a pilot for
years at a time (eg driving a desk), think hard about
this choice.

[just curious]

To put that in perspective, a friend of mine just retired after 30 years in the CF. He spent most of his time on either coast with Auroras, and some on the middle instructing. He became a staff officer, and a CO during this time. Over thirty years, he flew not quite 5000 hours. While he enjoyed the work he did, if he was just in it for the flying, that's 3.3 hours a week. Since you work an average 40 hours a week... be prepared to pass the time in other ways.

[Hedley]

N.B. multi-engine (transport) military pilots will often fly
MUCH more than fighter pilots.

I don't think there is a single fighter pilot in the entire world
that has 5,000 hours in the F-18. IIRC an extremely senior
fighter pilot at Cold Lake might have a 2,000 hour patch.
Even 1,000 hours in an F-18 is quite an accomplishment!

I remember hearing about an American pilot that logged
3,000 hours in the F-16 - he was quite the international
celebrity.

Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, USN Capt (retd) - great guy, ask
him about the PT-22 Ryan dachsund story - is the world's
highest-time F-14 pilot, with 4800 hours on type. Keep in
mind that Americans typically fly a LOT more than Canadians.

[mcrit]

Couple of items here:
If you want to go to RMC you have to apply for the Regular Officer Training Plan (ROTP). You may go to RMC under that plan or you may get sponsored to go to a civilian university. If that is what you are thinking go to the recruiting centre TODAY as the selection board for that sits in Feb. Under ROTP you will be offered a spot on "Air Operations". What that means is that you will be an Air Force officer; ie a Pilot, Air Combat Systems Officer [formerly known as Navigators], Aero Space Controller, or Engineer. You will be assigned your trade (from the preceeding list) after your first year at RMC. (Not sure how they do it for people who are sponsored for Civi U). If you are thinking that you want to make a career of the Air Force (ie. command a squadron/wing/or the entire CF one day) then this is going to be your best bet. If you are happy to be a career captain and you just want to do the maximum flying possible, then ROTP might be more headache than it is worth.
The other option is Direct Entry Officer. This is for people that already have a degree, (having one in the hard sciences/math/engineering will be a plus). I know the forces also takes people with an Aviation Diploma under as program similar to DEO, but I forget the name of that program. The main advantages here are that you will be offered a pilot position right off the bat (assuming you make the grade and there are positions open) and you don't have to spend 4 years at RMC. The major downside is that you have to pay for your own degree.
There is a third program, Continuing Education Officer Entry Plan, that the CF uses to recruit pilots. You don't have to have a degree, (you just have to promise to get one before your initial 9 year hitch is up). Last I checked this plan was closed, and I really doubt that it will open up for pilots any time in the near future. It is used as a bit of a stop gap to make up numbers in trades that are really short on guys. (Anyone interested in becoming a Combat Arms officer you could get in on CEOTP).
As for flying in the CF, yeah, you're not going to get the number of hours that a civi guy gets, but the flying that you do is likely to be a lot more fun, and you are likely to be paid much better for doing it. Let's look at your options: On civi side you can do some interesting flying (Survey, Pop 'n chip runs, crop dusting), but your job security is pretty minimal, your pay is also likely to be pretty minimal, as are your pension and benefits. You could also head for an airline. If you make it to the top of the airline food chain the pay can be pretty good, but you will never have job security (just ask the guys that work at Air Canada), and the flying is pretty bloody boring ("V2...auto pilot on....get coffee from stu..cruise....cruise...cruise...LOC capture......50' over the threshold-auto pilot off, flare, taxi in") Don't get me wrong, the airline guys do a lot of hard training and they certainly earn their pay when something goes wrong, but I think its much more fun to be below 500' and above 200kts (which is what the Hercs do for tactical navigation and what the Auroras do when attacking a sub). If you become a military pilot the flying that you do get to do will be FLYING.
It all comes down to person taste. I'd rather spend 3 hours a week doing military flying (and knowing that I'm still going to have a job next week) than 40hrs a week hauling pop n' chips into the boondocks for peanuts.
Oh yeah, when you not flying in the military you are doing other worth while things such as sports/fitness, marksmanship, and learning organizational skills.

[s32]

Thank you for all the responses. I appreciate it.

I was wondering, say I get a flight degree from Seneca college. Would I be able to apply under the DEO category?

Again, thanks for all the responses - I will consider everything that has been said.

[AuxBatOn]

You want to make sure you get in for the right reasons. We are looking for dedicated people. Days are long, are whining is just irrititating everyone else. Getting in as a stepping stone for Air Canada is far from the good reasons and it's been proven in the recent past with people wasting tax payer's money (lots of it) and 2 years of their life once they learn they'll fly Helicopters and not Multis.

While he enjoyed the work he did, if he was just in it for the flying, that's 3.3 hours a week. Since you work an average 40 hours a week... be prepared to pass the time in other ways.

When you fly, this is much more than jump in the plane, start then go. It (at least in my community) involves planning, a lenghty briefing, dressing and strapping in (don't laugh, in the winter it can take more than a few minutes!), flying, come back down and debrief. Debriefs are usually longer than the flight itself. For a 1.2 hr flight, the briefing starts 1h15 minutes before take off. Prior to that, we need to prepare the domestics aspect of the flight (how to get to the training area, how to get back, again don't laugh, it can be a pain in the ass when it's not clear to the million). We walk to the airplane 30 minutes before take off, fly for 1.2, come back down and debrief for 1-1.5 hr. So, for 1 single flight, that's 4 hours.

Also, you have secondary duties outside flying that needs to be done.

N.B. multi-engine (transport) military pilots will often fly
MUCH more than fighter pilots.

Maybe in terms of hours, but I can guarantee you that at equal stage in careers, the fighter pilot and the transport pilot will have the same number of lines filled in the logbook.

All in all, the flying is the best I've done, you fly top notch airplanes that most people dream of flying with 200 hours (A few friends of mine are FO on the C-17, Airbus and Challenger respectively with 250 hours) and you get a great salary (even when you train).

[mcrit]

I was wondering, say I get a flight degree from Seneca college. Would I be able to apply under the DEO category?

Not sure if its DEO or some other program, but yes, a degree from there will get you in. However, if that is the route you want to go, I'd suggest Confed or Sault. They make good pilots. (the guys I know from those programs got selected fighters). The Seneca grads I know don't have a good track record in that department.

[looproll]

CEOTP is the entry plan to ask about, if it is still open

[Highflyinpilot]

Does anyone know if they still have the 20/20 eyesight requirement?

[mcrit]

There was a change to the vision standard about a year back. Applicants for pilot can have V2 vice V1, which means your eyes need not be perfect, but the only way to know which category your vision falls into is to have a recruiting medical.
The program that flight college pilots come in under is not CEOTP. One of the guys I know is a Confed grad and he is not in under CEOTP (I think he might even be DEO).

[jetflightinstructor]

("V2...auto pilot on....get coffee from stu..cruise....cruise...cruise...LOC capture......50' over the threshold-auto pilot off, flare, taxi in")

Auto pilot off during the flare? I am not too sure about it... Automatic landing or manual landing, better choosing well before the flare...

[samm3]

I was wondering, say I get a flight degree from Seneca college. Would I be able to apply under the DEO category?

Not sure if its DEO or some other program, but yes, a degree from there will get you in. However, if that is the route you want to go, I'd suggest Confed or Sault. They make good pilots. (the guys I know from those programs got selected fighters). The Seneca grads I know don't have a good track record in that department.

I was under the assumption that the only ways to become an officer in the Air Force is to have a degree and enter as a DEO or to enter the CEOTP.

Are you sure the program you're talking about is not CEOTP?

[mcrit]

Pretty sure it's not CEOTP, I seem to recall seeing something along the lines of Community College Entry Training Plan when I was working in recruiting. The gist of that program was that if you had an aviation diploma you could apply as a pilot. I am on vaction until the new year but when I go back I will ask some of the College guys what program they got in under.

[AuxBatOn]

I was wondering, say I get a flight degree from Seneca college. Would I be able to apply under the DEO category?

Not sure if its DEO or some other program, but yes, a degree from there will get you in. However, if that is the route you want to go, I'd suggest Confed or Sault. They make good pilots. (the guys I know from those programs got selected fighters). The Seneca grads I know don't have a good track record in that department.

I was under the assumption that the only ways to become an officer in the Air Force is to have a degree and enter as a DEO or to enter the CEOTP.

Are you sure the program you're talking about is not CEOTP?

You can join:

-DEO (Direct entry, you have a degree and join)
-CEOTP (You don't have a degree, but start your training right away, and you "have" 9 years to finish your degree)
-ROTP (You don't have a degree and they pay your university before you start flight training)
-CCETP (You have an aviation diploma from an approved aviation college and you start flight training right away)