Can i join the Navy and become a Helicopter pilot?

Question

I just turned 18 and i am a high school dropout pursuing my GED. I am willing to do whatever it takes to become a pilot. But by the rules and paperwork am i even allowed to become a pilot in the navy? Will they train me with everything i need to become one or do i have to do some of it on my own?

I just turned 18 and i am a high school dropout pursuing my GED. I am willing to do whatever it takes to become a pilot. But by the rules and paperwork am i even allowed to become a pilot in the navy? Will they train me with everything i need to become one or do i have to do some of it on my own?
Intelligence isnt exactly a problem. although i dropped out of high school it wasnt because it was difficult it was cause of family conflict.
I am a member of Mensa and i self educate myself on many things. I just dont have a GED because i havent taken the test yet

Answer 1

I'm glad you're taking some steps to pursue your dream. I've been an active duty officer for 7 years. Although I have a submarine background, I was a professor of Naval Science at my last shore tour and helped place midshipmen into active duty Navy service. I also started the application process to become a pilot and have 2 close friends who are Navy helo pilots. A lot of the answers so far have had some good info., but I'll tell you almost everything you need to know.

First of all, for the Navy, everyone who has said you need to be an officer and have a college degree is absolutely correct. There are 4 ways you can get a commission as an officer:
1. Go to college on your own, graduate, go to Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, FL.
2. Go to a college that has an ROTC program. You can join ROTC and the Navy will pay for all (or most if extremely expensive) of your education, fees, books, plus give you a monthly stipend for up to 4 years. In return, you have to take some additional classes, do some drilling, and agree to serve a minimum of 8 years (4 years activeduty 4 years inactive reserves). There is also a 2 year ROTC scholarship program, which might be the one you have to go for after proving a good student in college.
3. Go to the U. S. Naval Academy. This might not be possible in your case. VERY competetive to get in. Since you have a GED, that will look bad. They look for high GPA, lots of extra curricular, they love if you've been in sports, good SAT scores. Plus, you need a congressional nomination or higher. Everything paid for and you still have the same commitment.
4. Go to the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy. A not too well known federal service academy. A little less competetive than the Naval Academy, but looks at the same things as above, and still need a nomination. Roughly the same service obligation and all paid for.

That's how to become an officer...Here's the deal, though. If you get accepted into ROTC, the USNA, or the USMMA, there is NO GUARANTEE of you becomming a pilot. You'll be an officer of one kind or another (pilot, surface warfare, SEAL, NFO, etc.) but no guarantee for any particular field. For your best chance, you should major in some kind of engineering, be active in extra curricular and sports, take leadership positions, and do well on the ASTB (aviation selection test battery), which is a standardized test you take to be a pilot...there are lots of book to help you for this test, and it is not that difficult to do well if you spend a little bit of time preparing.

OK, so you are about to graduate after following choice 2,3, or 4. You put together your pilot application package. Now you are competing with thousands of other soon to be officers for maybe <200 pilot slots. They all have degrees, they mostly majored in engineering, participated in sports, etc. so you can see why you need to excel. IF you get chosen to be a pilot, congrats!

If you choose route 1. and go to college on your own, do extremely well like before, get your degree in engineering, and do extra activities, etc., you can go to OCS. Keep in mind, you won't get your college paid for, though. The only saving grace here is the fact that you can choose to be a pilot before going to OCS. That's right, going this route, you pay for college and graduate on your own, but you can apply to be a pilot and say you want to go to OCS to be a pilot and pilot only. Then when you are commissioned, you will go to flight training. The Navy can't force you to go a different route because they didn't pay for your college! In the ROTC or Academies route, the goverment paid for your school, so if you don't make pilot, they'll get their money out of you in a different field.

OK...this is getting long...NOW you have been selected to be a pilot from whatever route you were chosen. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE as to the type of aircraft you will fly. You put your preference, but the Navy needs to balance the fleet. A lot of people put F-18 as their first choice. Well if everybody flew F-18's there would be no-one to fly the dozens of other types of aircraft. If you put helo as number one choice, you probably have a better chance of getting some type of helo than if you said F-18, though...but no guarantee for anything. Another reason no guarantee is that the Navy wants to spread the talent evenly. Can't have you top 20% all helo pilots and a bunch of dummies flying E-6B's...etc. At any rate, always do your best, excel, and the Navy will usually but not always give the very top guys their first choices.

Also, I talked about the minimum service time for getting the Navy to pay for your college. Keep in mind that depending on the officer path you go through, that time changes. For a pilot, your minimum active duty time is about 8 years after you get your wings, which is almost 10 years. It is very possible that you can get out closer to 8 or 9 years, but, generally speaking, plan on 10. So you will be in the Navy into your 30's. Keep this in mind.

If you choose to go into the Navy, you can have a wonderful career and will be well compensated. You will also be set up at your 8-10 year point to have fantastic civilian opportunities if you want to get out and not just aviation--leadership in general...businesses LOVE Navy officers. OR stay in for 20 or even 30 years and have a fantastic pension.

Hope all this helps. You can talk to a recruiter to help you out. Be sure the recruiter is an OFFICER recruiter. Go to www.navyjobs.com to find out more info on how to join the Navy (go to www.navy.mil to find out more on the navy in general)...once at navyjobs.com, click on various areas to explore officer opportunities and look at the pilot info. There's a form you can fill out asking for more info., etc. somewhere and some phone numbers, etc.

Note, the last way to go and probably the hardest route to become a Navy helo pilot, is to enlist. Go to bootcamp, be in some field and kick *** on everything you do. Be the ideal sailor, promote early, do extra duties, get outstanding evaluations, be as close to perfect as you can be. Then you can apply to be selected as an officer under the STA-21 program. This way, you will have a couple of years of enlisted time under your belt first. If you get selected, you will go to a college and be required to get a 4 year degree in about 3 years usually. During this time you will get paid as whatever rank you were when selected, plus have college paid for. (There are other programs that will allow you to go ROTC or go to the USNA.) If you go STA-21, the time you spend in college also counts as time served and you will get that time counted for pay, retirement, etc. I'm pretty sure if you enlist and then get picked for ROTC or the USNA as opposed to STA-21, the time doesn't count. Lastly, follow the same application process to be a pilot as you would before graduating if you went regular ROTC, USNA, or USMMA (although I'm not too familiar with this route so may be slightly different).

OK, now I'm done. Good luck to you.

Answer 2

Navy Helicopter Pilot

Answer 3

If you truely will do anything it takes and have the drive and motivation all the way through the proccess, you have a good chance. Being a high school dropout will look bad initially on any application but get your GED and do well on your SATs...like above a 1300 would be ideal but not mandatory...i think a 1050 is the min for an officer program like ROTC or the Academy.
To be a pilot ( I am a F/A-18C Pilot for the Navy) you must have the following
1. Have a degree...any will do, i was poli sci
2. Be an officer; The academy and Nrotc will do both 1 and 2 for you..the academy is not the way to go in my opinion, youl want to have fun in college and Nrotc allows that..i went to SDSU!and it was paid for by the navy!!! You can also go through OCS (officer candidate school)..this is 13 weeks i belive and you apply to this after you already have a degree.
3. Must be selected for pilot training; this occurs at the end of the academy of nrotc, but before OCS. Being competitive for this means having a GPA above 3.0, do well on the ASTB..the aviation aptitude test, be physically fit and free from migranes, have 20/40 vision or better correctable to 20/20 with contacts/glases. and other more weird medical things i cant remember...oh cannot be color blind at all.
4 Go through 2 years or so flight school...maybe 18 months for helo training...lots of study, stress and hard work..but lots of fun also...it was the best time of my life so far...

so thats the process...if ur not doing so well in school.ur gpa is low, sat scores low then OCS might be better for you...u can take ur time through college ( something u cant do in nrotc or academy) and then apply using ur college grades.

Naval aviation...yes helo included is an amazingly rewarding career..and the people the best in the world.

Answer 4

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RE:
Can i join the Navy and become a Helicopter pilot?
I just turned 18 and i am a high school dropout pursuing my GED. I am willing to do whatever it takes to become a pilot. But by the rules and paperwork am i even allowed to become a pilot in the navy? Will they train me with everything i need to become one or do i have to do some of it on my own?

Answer 5

Why do some many people think that you can join the military and just check off a box on your career?

You can join the military allowing that you have no criminal record. To be any kind of pilot requires that you be an officer. To be an officer requires that you have a college degree and then military training (ROTC, Academy, boot camp and then a commission). The chances of you becoming a helicopter pilot in the navy; slim and none.

Looking at some of your answers...

Hate to break it to you, it is not about your intelligence. It is about your degree. Without a degree, you can't become an officer
I know this. I was a nuc, IQ 147

Navy veteran <<<<<

Answer 6

I don't know much about the Navy but if it's anything like the Air Force, you have no chance in hell. In the Air Force officers are pilots and officers have to have a high school diploma and then a college education plus then you get all that military training. Just join the Army and do the grunt work like every other high school drop out, you screwed yourself buddy.

Answer 7

Nope, you need a college degree to be a helicopter pilot in the Navy.

Even the Army prefers a college degree for thier warrent officer pilot candiates.

Answer 8

Helo Pilots in the Navy are Officers with a 4 year degree. you will have to get the degree on your own first.

the Army trains people to be Warrant Officers/helo Pilots without a 4 year degree, however, you may have to have a HS diploma instead of a GED.

Answer 9

You wrote, "I am willing to do whatever it takes to become a pilot."

Fine. Here's what it takes.

1. Get your GED.
2. Enroll in a 4 year college and get a degree in physical science, mathmatics or something equally difficult.
3. Graduate from college with a good GPA... something over 3.0

Now, you're prepared to speak with an Officer Recruiter from the Navy.

Answer 10

Get the GED first and then get with a recruiter if you have questions. You have to take the military equivalency exam and see where you sit on their list.

You might only qualify for a job in the militray as that of a cook.

If you couldn't make it through high school you may have a difficlut time of it in boot camp and life in the military. Someone dictating when you get up, when you go to bed, when you go to lunch and what you wear and how you cut your hair. There's no calling in sick or taking a day off to hang at the beach. You belong to them 24/7 standing watches, digging holes, whatever it takes.

Answer 11

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Pilots in the ADF are mainly recruited directly into the ADF off civvy street - ie, phone Defence Force Recruiting and inquire about joining as a Pilot. It's possible to apply for pilot training after having joined in another role in the ADF, but it's less common and no preference will be given to in-service transferees over civilian applicants. The minimum education requirements for Pilot roles are passes in Year 12 English, Maths and two other subjects. Simply put, if you don't get at least Cs for all of your subjects at Year 12, you're not going to be considered. I'm curious as to whether these pilots you're talking about genuinely are pilots, and if so, whether or not they've since got Year 12 equivalency via tertiary studies or promotion courses. I'm not your mother telling you to go for good grades so I can be proud of you, I'm a member of the ADF advising you to go for good grades so you have a better chance of being accepted into the ADF. Pilot selection is extremely competitive - the process includes interviews and assessments as per general entry into the ADF, basic flight training and screening at Tamworth, and an Officer Selection Board. You're being assessed for your suitability to train as an Officer foremost, then as a pilot. If you rock up to DFR with Year 10 qualifications wanting to be a pilot, you'll be told to finish school. If you rock up with poor Year 12 grades, you'll be advised against applying as a pilot. If you get as far as your assessment day or OSB with poor Year 12 grades and/or a negative ethic towards studying, you will verbally torn to shreds by the Officers and Psychologist assessing you. If you make it to the end with your C in Year 12 English, guess what - the few pilot trainee positions are going to go to A and B average students. In addition to maximizing your grades, it will also be a good idea for you to get some basic civilian pilot training and experience. Although you can apply without prior flying experience, ultimately you will be seriously disadvantaged during the flight screening at Tamworth, and most likely overlooked in favour of applicants who already have pilot licenses. A couple of friends of mine have attempted pilot selection - one of them had civilian flight qualifications and did well at Tamworth, but was passed over for having average Year 12 results - the other was a university student who didn't have flight training, and couldn't keep up with those that had.