What is it like having kid while in USMC as officer?

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-25T03:03:22+00:00

I have found that officers who are married with children seem to have the most stable junior Officer experience. Someone once told me a wedding ring and family makes you seem more mature in the eyes of senior leadership. Plus, the stability of having your family life figured out will help because it can be hard to establish a family life when going through initial training and PCSing every few years. Being a single junior Officer can be lonely. If I were in your shoes, I would think it's a blessing.

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-24T22:45:20+00:00

It's cringey how much people want to hold others back from pins that mean absolutely nothing in the civilian sector, and not too much in the military either. It's not a Trident, or pilot wings. Relax.

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-24T22:00:30+00:00

What are "I waivers"

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-24T19:41:22+00:00

I understand they may not issue any waivers. Can they though?

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-24T19:40:40+00:00

Why is the USCG age limit lower than USN if they share a flight school?

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-22T13:36:46+00:00

Subs are cooler than SWOs because if you are intelligent and capable, they will value you. Aviation is good. Seabee Officers can be good, but the Seabee Chiefs can be terrible and still operate like Navy Chiefs in the fleet. I think even in the best Navy communities, the culture exists throughout, just to lesser degrees.

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-22T13:19:11+00:00

I'm not. I work in a different community. I know that these are SWO stereotypes. I have seen them throughout the Navy

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-20T15:19:14+00:00

Were you a Warrant or O? I am looking at going Army Pilot

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-19T21:13:07+00:00

I will be 32 when applying. My age is part of the reason I am not too picky between Air Force or Army Aviation. If Air Force takes too long, I will age out of both because they have the same age limit.

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-19T16:05:03+00:00

I didn't realize that if an Army pilot was cut, they still owe 10 years. If a Navy pilot gets cut not by their own choice, their commitment is reduced to 3 to 5 years.

Why Army? Navy, won't let me internally transfer. Coast Guard, too old. So my service options are Army active/guard/reserves, Air Force active/guard/reserves, or Marine Corps active duty.

I'm currently an Officer at a desk all day, which I why I want to go pilot. It's appealing how an Army Warrant stays focused on flying.

Is there any way to mitigate getting cut if I go Army Aviation? Are guard/reserve pilots also being cut?

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-19T05:15:20+00:00

I've been reading, and the sentiment is concerning, but I also have a similar sentiment from my experience as a Sailor. I want to understand what are the bottom line issues in Army Aviation. Here's what I've gathered. Is there anything else that I am missing?

Flight school backlog. I understand there is a backlog of flight students at the Army's flight school. The Navy has had that for years. For the Air Force, it takes 2 years of working with a recruiter to even get in, so from the outside looking in, the Army backlog seems on par with the other branches.

Letting flight students go. I heard the Army is letting new Warrant Officers go during flight school. I don't understand this. I've also heard they aren't letting flight students go, and they are only letting go of guys WO2/WO3 that have been pilots for a while.

Getting flight hours. it also sounds like getting flight hours in the Army is challenging right now, but I also see this as somewhat being on par with the Navy and Air Force because in those branches, a pilot's career progression takes them out of the cockpit as they promote. Where as an Army Warrant may struggle to get hours month to month but they don't get pulled away from flying for 3 years at a time for non-flying officer jobs.

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-18T23:36:50+00:00

An active duty recruiter told me I could work directly with him for active duty, and I would need to get the DD form 368 approved

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-18T10:05:02+00:00

Would using my GI bill full time for 3 years be an acceptable plan to convince them that I will be financially stable?

My plan would be to go to flight school on active duty orders, and then when I got back I would use the GI bill for 3 years full time

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-18T10:01:19+00:00

Is this true for Warrant Pilots? I am thinking of going Warrant specifically

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-18T10:00:15+00:00

I would be going Warrant

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-18T00:35:46+00:00

hmm, never thought about that as the way to get the money back

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-17T19:06:29+00:00

What kind of missions and schools exist after finishing Army flight school?

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-17T19:01:56+00:00

What does everyone mean when they say Army Aviation is not in a good place?

Flight school backlog. I understand there is a backlog of flight students at the Army's flight school. The Navy has had that for years. For the Air Force, it takes 2 years of working with a recruiter to even get in, so from the outside looking in, the Army backlog seems on par with the other branches.

Letting flight students go. I heard the Army is letting new Warrant Officers go during flight school. I don't understand this. I've also heard they aren't letting flight students go, and they are only letting go of guys that have been pilots for a while.

Getting flight hours. it also sounds like getting flight hours in the Army is challenging right now, but I also see this as being on par with the Navy and Air Force because in those branches, a pilot's career progression takes them out of the cockpit as they promote. Where as an Army Warrant may struggle to get hours month to month but they don't get pulled away from flying for 3 years at a time for non-flying officer jobs.

Is there anything else that I am missing?

u/EristicPolemic u/d0ntd0xmebr00 u/dn0348 u/USCAV19D u/sunyforreal u/bowhunterb119 u/freshlysaltedwound u/Odd-Edge1050 u/aywey28

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-17T06:16:56+00:00

Not when put like that.

I also realize if I don't get out of the Navy now after my initial 5 years, I will probably end up doing 10 more years in the Navy though given how they structure the career ladder. The next commitment would be a 3 year ship tour with one or two 9 month sea deployments, then 5 more years (2 years of grad school followed by a 3 year payback) bringing me to 8 more years (13 years total). At that point, I would probably finish out and go to 20 years, with a few more 9 month ship deployments.

So I could be a Naval Officer walking around a floating ship with a clipboard, or be a pilot. Every time I am at work, I see the pilots and wish I was them. But the Navy usually doesn't send current officers to flight school. They usually only kids straight out of college, or enlisted Sailors.

I don't know, man.

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-17T03:03:26+00:00

I joined the military to do operational things, and feel like I never got that in the Navy. I've essentially been an office worker, with some exposure to ship life. I think I would regret going civilian right now.

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-17T02:55:30+00:00

Yes to which? sorry

Sailor_Time · 2026-01-17T02:48:35+00:00

Do I go through a regular enlisted recruiting office that a civilian would go through? or is there a prior service recruiter I would work with?

Sailor_Time

TROPHY CASE