National Guard Pilot

Im considering joing the national guard. I would love to be a helo pilot. Im a freshman in college right now. What is the process and chances of me becoming a pilot for the national guard?

Your first step might be to see if your college has a Reserve Officer's Training Corp program (ROTC).

Good luck!

As suggested look into ROTC. Aside from that you'll have to score high enough in the ASVAB test. See here for example and explanation: http://www.military.com/ASVAB

Assuming that works out there will need to be an "opening" for the MOS (military occupational specialty) or "job" you want. from my experience being in the NG if you wan to be a helo pilot there has to be a need. They don't take people in for positions that are full. Just be sure to make that clear and get details before signing anything. I think most recruiters are on the level but like any group of humans there are always bound to be a few bad apples.

Yeah i just started ROTC this semester. After college i a very seriously considering joining active. Im going to talk to the local recruiter here on Thursday. From what ive been told he is a real good guy.

Good luck. Hopefully he'll be able to find something that works for you. Just be leary of signing on into a role that you might not like full time, in hopes that the one you want will open up. We had several people in my unit that either through their own fault or that of the recruiter ended up in and MOS they were clearly not interested in. I was a medic and luckily all of us wanted to be medics.

I can't imagine serving with someone who was in a role they did not want when you could be activated and depend on them. Fortunately for me it was never an issue but there were clearly people who were there for the extra $$$ or some other reason that I could never fathom. Pretty scary stuff.

If you want to actually fly a lot, you'll want to go to WOCS (google it). You'll go to basic training first, then WOCS, then flight school at Ft. Rucker. At least, that was the process last time I checked.

Typically, most of the flying is done by WOs, so ROTC wouldn't help you there.

JM-99

You also have to have pretty good eyesight to become a pilot.

Wow...very good point Jump! I forgot that all the helo guys were misters. WO seems the way to go if you can. All the "perks" of being an officer with almost none of the headaches.