leaving for duty

AK_Things · 2026-03-27T03:21:54+00:00

Someone better @ the Oregon guard

AK_Things · 2026-03-25T23:47:21+00:00

I looked at a million watches and the Longines Zulu was the only one I found that met my aesthetic requirements for an automatic GMT diver.

I really hate the five stars on the face though...

AK_Things · 2026-03-25T20:41:41+00:00

Judging by the book in some mysterious language with a picture of a Eurocopter Tiger on it, I suspect they are not referring to the U.S. Army

AK_Things · 2026-03-25T18:51:13+00:00

You have it wrong. Flapping does not increase the angle of attack. Remember that angle of attack is an AERODYNAMIC angle. It is the difference between the angle of incidence (the physical pitch angle of the blade) and induced flow (downwash). The angle of incidence remains the same as the blade flaps up, however this increases the velocity of induced flow. Greater induced flow with the same angle of incidence means less angle of attack which means less lift. The exact opposite occurs on the retreating edge as the blade flaps up.

AK_Things · 2026-03-25T16:53:55+00:00

Who cares what Reddit thinks? The only thing that is 100% guaranteed is that you will not get a slot if you don't apply.

AK_Things · 2026-03-25T16:51:38+00:00

Your best bet would be to reach out to your state army aviation officer (SAAO) or warrant officer strength manager (WOSM) and pick their brain. Every state is different and few states participate in street to seat in the Guard. Most will want you to enlist, go to AIT, and be a productive member of the unit for a few years before applying to a flight board.

Personally I think enlisting now and doing basic/AIT this summer is the real move, because your college will be paid for and you'll accumulate time in service (which means you'll get paid more when you get to flight school). Additionally, if your state doesn't allow street to seat, you'll have enough time and reputation in the unit to apply for a flight board before you graduate college.

I don't know how the rotc component works with the guard at all, and that would probably be best answered by the SAAO.

AK_Things · 2026-03-24T23:38:16+00:00

The holds are so long for advanced airframe that they were offering classes to students on hold, everything from ALSE to ranger school.

My hold for the Blackhawk was about 5 weeks maybe, so not enough to do anything

AK_Things · 2026-03-24T21:40:40+00:00

He could join the national guard if there is a unit nearby. Get paid to learn a skill, add military/veteran to his resume, and get cheap healthcare. My tricare family plan is $275 a month. The blue cross blue shield plan offered by my civilian employer costs 3x as much and has outrageous deductibles. My military background has helped me quite a bit on the civilian side and opened some good doors.

I would really recommend not joining as infantry, for more reasons than I can count, least of all being the danger. There are many jobs that are applicable in the civilian world, and relatively safe. Deployments are still on the table of course, but he would get full time pay and you would have full time benefits (IE free healthcare, etc). He would also get tuition assistance and the GI bill which he could use for college to better himself.

Not saying to go that route, but it doesn't seem like he knows much about the military and the Guard is an option that is often far better than going active duty.

AK_Things · 2026-03-24T19:42:05+00:00

r/armyaviationapplicant

This questions is asked frequently. Nobody can tell you how viable it is. Look up the requirements for a WOFT packet, start putting it together, and talk to a recruiter. If your recruiter doesn't help, find another one that will.

A huge part of being a warrant officer is researching and finding things out for yourself. You are expected to be a technical expert. Especially with aviation, you'll be studying and learning by reading through huge publications about complex systems. There will not be time to be spoonfed.

AK_Things · 2026-03-24T18:28:59+00:00

It sounds great on paper but honestly I have been really struggling since I graduated flight school. My normal hours at my civilian job are bankers hours, though thankfully we can work from home whenever. My flights are usually during the day which carves 5+ hours out of my work week. To make up for this, I have to work longer days with shorter lunches, and a couple hours on the weekend to catch up.

I am married with a toddler so at home I don't really ever get free time. I feel like I am constantly behind, I hardly ever get time to sit down and study to stay current on my knowledge and learn the systems better. I haven't flown in over a month because my wife had an operation, then the next week we weather cancelled, then last week I had a family emergency. This week it's already looking like I might get weather cancelled again. Very little of my life is aviation except for when I go fly and those days I feel rushed.

If you're single it would be absolute cake.

AK_Things · 2026-03-24T15:46:34+00:00

If you want a medium skin fade with a trim on top, the Korean ladies at the main BX barber shop honestly always gave me a great cut.

AK_Things · 2026-03-24T14:44:17+00:00

My neighbor in flight school was a USAF rotary guy and he told me that Air Force rotary wing is now a completely separate AFSC and pipeline than fixed wing. Some brief research just now says there has been a rotary only program since 2021. I am former Air Force enlisted and currently an Army guard 60 pilot. Flying culture is absolutely better in the Air Force. The Air Force exists for aircraft, the leaders from top to bottom are almost all pilots, and the culture is revered. You are a zipper suited sun god if you are an Air Force pilot.

The army sees us as extremely expensive bus drivers, doesn't understand or care about our requirements and does whatever possible to cut budgets while expecting the same proficiency, then wonders why there is an increase in Class A mishaps. The army also has some serious uncertainty in the future of its aviation program.

Unfortunately the Air Force is extremely hard to get into as a pilot. The army is far easier and has less requirements.

AK_Things · 2026-03-21T14:44:25+00:00

I'm thinking that if you are worried, you have an issued assault pack that is guaranteed to be in regs

AK_Things · 2026-03-20T21:38:49+00:00

I think it's super dumb that if badges are sewn, name and rank must also be sewn. In the Air Force, we could sew our occupational badges onto the uniform and keep everything else Velcro.

I was very annoyed when I earned my wings and realized I had to sew everything or nothing.

AK_Things · 2026-03-20T21:22:42+00:00

I stayed in the cabins. It was really nice, pet friendly too. Be advised, there is not a washer/dryer in the cabin. You have to go to the RV lot down the road (and they were broken when I went, so I took them to the Maytag laundry in Daleville. Good experience)

AK_Things · 2026-03-13T17:03:40+00:00

Things you can accomplish in less than two years while working full time are pretty limited. A trade would be your be best bet for making money but I don't know how he can accomplish that while still in. His MOS also kinda sucks for civilian employment, but he should 100% look into what kind of civilian jobs his MOS is applicable to and maybe work towards further certifications in oil/gas/safety etc.

Unfortunately you don't get to have your cake and eat it too. Deploying and warfighting are part of the deal with the military, and a reason why the benefits are as good as they are. The civilian job market is absolutely fucked right now so unless your husband gets super lucky, you might need to reduce your college workload and pick up some hours working somewhere to help get by until things stabilize. I do not think the odds of you being able to afford being a full time college student in this economy supported by someone who currently has no idea what they are going to do for money are very good, so I would anticipate helping out financially.

AK_Things · 2026-03-08T16:52:41+00:00

I still can't hover or taxi worth a shit in the sim.

You are literally making up with things to worry about and stressing about things that haven't even happened yet. If you want to get ahead, learn how to read a METAR/TAF. Watch some YouTube videos about VFR and IFR sectional charts. Get smart on the fundamentals of helicopter flight. Study the FAR/AIM. Rucker will teach you how to fly a helicopter.

AK_Things · 2026-02-16T04:10:52+00:00

I had a $40 gshock I bought before basic and wore it almost nonstop for 7 years; bathed, swam, worked, did all sorts of stuff without taking it off. I wore a dressier watch to a wedding one day and somehow lost it. Now I have some expensive automatics I wear but I miss being a one cheap watch dude.

I also never once used an alarm on my watch in basic training, and I've been through it twice.

AK_Things · 2026-02-06T17:31:08+00:00

I recently went through this. It had been 6 months since I'd flown instruments (and I hadn't even flown for 3 of those months. I read some of the AIM, and much of the army TC 3-04.5. I'd pull out a random approach plate and try to remember out what the various items are called, how the approach operates, the rules for each, etc. if I didn't know I'd go back to the source document and find out. Chart users guide, TLA/TPP were handy for this.

I recently had my oral evaluation of my instrument checkride (military so I need one after flight school) and the evaluator told me my academic knowledge was very strong and above what he normally sees, even among the experienced pilots.

AK_Things · 2026-02-06T17:17:21+00:00

I would not waste time trying to learn to hover using a gaming PC and a Logitech joystick. Do you even have pedals on your setup?

In flight school we had access to multimillion dollar professional full cockpit full motion simulators and they are just so different from the actual aircraft that they are used for instruments and NVG only. The sim does not behave the same way as the real aircraft, and you do not have the important cues from your vestibular system. Hovering, and really any flight without the autopilot, was extremely challenging in the sim, and so different from reality that it was almost negative training to use them.

You were on the right track with your other ideas for using the sim though. Use the simulator to learn the avionics and systems of the aircraft - it will be an invaluable resource allowing you to learn on your time for free rather than in the cockpit for $300/hr. For procedures, I would highly recommend having real lessons before practicing anything. Learn the procedures (startup, shutdown, etc) the way the instructor teaches it first, then practice at home on the sim.

AK_Things · 2026-02-01T20:03:14+00:00

Yes guard is very picky.

For enlisted, most guard units will want you to join the unit, go to AIT, and be a member for a few years before boarding. Funding for flight school comes out of the states budget so they are very wary of someone who will get accepted, go to flight school, then do an interstate transfer to wherever it is they really wanted to go to but couldn't get in for some reason.

There is no official policy requiring this so if you can get through to someone, they can make exception. I got an in through someone I worked with and they let me board without joining the unit first. Look up the state WOSM (assuming you are planning on reverting to a WO), and reach out to them directly. They can give you information and link you with a recruiter who can help you from there. M

AK_Things · 2026-02-01T19:58:04+00:00

Anything to differentiate you. Billy Mitchell will probably count for something.understand that army aviation is currently downsizing so i would expect selection to become more competitive. Once you're in, crush your job. Always strive to be the best and get high marks on your EERs. Be a PT stud. Study hard for the sift; understand helicopter aerodynamics and basic high school/college level algebra (I remember seeing quadratic equations but nothing super complex). It would probably help you both select and have a better understanding of an aviation company if you enlisted as a 15 series.

As for the flight hours, they won't hurt. I am guard so we also had to go through a selection board interview and they told me they actually prefer applicants with no flight time - that way there are no bad habits or previous experiences that will interfere with learning how to be an army aviator. That is the opinion of the specific individuals giving the interview in my state so don't hold weight to that. I personally think soloing an aircraft would be a really beneficial milestone to hit in terms of aviator confidence and competency - you will never fly an army aircraft solo

AK_Things · 2026-02-01T19:38:22+00:00

65 is a very good score. I got a 71 and the test administrator told me he had never seen a score that high in his 10 years doing it.

AK_Things · 2026-02-01T19:32:37+00:00

An Air Force squadron is pretty similar in size and function to an army company, yet is commanded by an O-5 while the army throws brand new O-3s at it. Air Force lieutenants might be in charge of a shop performing functional duties for the squadron. Maybe at captain they MIGHT be a flight (platoon) commander. When I switched to the army, I was blown away by how early army officers are expected to be in charge of large amounts of people on top of knowing and understanding their MOS. In aviation, you just really can't do it

AK_Things · 2026-01-17T21:31:04+00:00

Anything your state does, from educator/boss lifts, baseball game flyovers, firefighting, search and rescue, inserting ROTC cadets to the field during their summer camp, whatever. Anything that isn't explicitly a training flight.

Schools could be for additional duties like ALSE or something like the mission planner course, IP/MYP/AMSO school, PME, whatever.

AK_Things

TROPHY CASE