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Yes but when they complete there training they become warrant officers. They do the same thing in the Army as well. 90 percent of my pilots were prior enlisted who applied for Warrant Officer Flight Training. Upon selection they go to Warrant Officer Candidate School for 6 weeks and then after graduation from that they report to Flight School as WO1's.
Infact most pilots in the Army were prior enlisted...
You are very correct. I've always felt there was nothing wrong with enlisted pilots.Why not? Rank does not make the man...
...all the flying with none of the other career path B.S. Sweet!!!!
well Joe just like WW 2.
Unteroffiziers, Feldwebels in the Luftwaffe, some of the best Reich defense pilots offered. Even a few corporals didn't do so bloody awful at all with several kills to their credit. so are we going back to times of old ?
"What's a matter sir, you don't think enlisted guys could fly an airplane, are we worried about job security?" He didn't think that was very nice and actually avoided ever talking to me again!
Great about time I wish our military would take the same path .
I think how it started in the RCAF was WW2 that sometimes the pilot was a Flight Sergeant and if others in his crew were officers it was hard to mingle in the different messes which P...off most of the crews paricularly siince most of the ADMIN types who made the rules were BritsYou guys would look great - Sgt. Stripes on that uniform - just like WW2!!
...all the flying with none of the other career path B.S. Sweet!!!!
As Adler noted, the Army has mostly enlisted pilots and that works very well.
I think it is a good idea. A lot of billets available in the Navy that involve flying and my guess is that they are having a hard time filling them and KEEPING them filled.
Aussie pilots to fill helicopter vacancies - Military News, Navy News, opinions, editorials, news from Iraq, photos, reports - Navy TimesIn the coming months, four Royal Australian Navy pilots will arrive in the U.S. for a new duty assignment — to serve as co-pilots aboard Coast Guard helicopters.
The Coast Guard and the RAN cemented an agreement May 24 for a unique "loaner" program, one that will put RAN pilots in cockpits in San Diego, San Francisco, Miami and Cape Cod, Mass.
The pilots will serve with the Coast Guard for three to four years. Two will fly the HH-60 Jayhawk; the other two will be assigned to the HH-65 Dolphin, officials said.
All will train to become aircraft commanders.
"We came up with a great deal. [The RAN] was looking to relieve a bottleneck in their program and, we, with our projected growth in aviation, have shortages projected," said Rear Adm. David Pekoske, assistant commandant for operations.
All four pilots hail from the same unit, 723 Squadron based in Nowra, Australia. They are trained on the Eurocopter Squirrel and S-70B-2 Seahawk, a version of the Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk, and normally do logistics operations.
The loaner program will allow the RAN to retain pilots and maintain their skill sets even without positions for them, U.S. and Australian officials say.
"From an operational perspective, we'll be giving them additional skill sets — search and rescue, aids to navigation," Pekoske said.
Lt. Ben Wenban, 25, of Orange, New South Wales, was the first to arrive in the U.S. When he touched down in Boston in late May in summer whites — a uniform of white shorts, long white socks and white shoes — he received curious stares, but he's rapidly settling into the routine at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, he said.
"It's a beautiful area. I don't think I should have come to a nicer place in the United States," Wenban said.
In late June, he'll deploy to Mobile, Ala., for two months of training on the HH-60 Jayhawk platform.
When he returns to Cape Cod, he'll be inserted into the regular co-pilot rotation.
"The weather here is said to be very extreme. Combining doing the operational work with the harsh conditions, I think it's going to be a good experience," Wenban said.
In Australia, Wenban's squadron did mainly logistics support work and maritime patrolling.
At Cape Cod, he'll likely participate in search and rescue, homeland security, law enforcement and maritime interdiction missions, as well as some aids to navigation work.
"I'm very excited to do search and rescue. It will be extremely challenging but rewarding at the same time," Wenban said.
Like all pilots, Wenban and his mates will take on collateral duties, too, such as flight scheduling, flight standards or flight safety positions.
'We need to fill cockpits'
In the next decade, the Coast Guard will expand its aviation program, adding new aircraft including at least two RU-38B Twin Condor reconnaissance planes, as many as 30 CASA-235 maritime patrol aircraft and six HC-130J aircraft.
Although the expansion is limited to fixed-wing aviation, Coast Guard pilots are cross-trained in both fixed wing and rotor aircraft. Thus, the service needs additional pilots as the new programs come online.
"We need to fill cockpits. We have a projected shortage on pilots over the next six to 10 years," said Capt. Mike Moore, former chief of aviation forces.
Mindful of its tight budget, the Coast Guard jumped at a chance to bolster its pilot ranks without paying additional salaries. Plus, the loaner program gives the Coast Guard and the RAN a chance to work together and forge ties for future cooperation, officials say.
"This is a small community; you're likely to see each other again," Pekoske said.
The Coast Guard has pilot exchange programs with the United Kingdom and Canada. However, the agreement with Australia is more of a loan: The Australian pilots will receive their salaries and allowances from the RAN while training, and operations will be financed by the Coast Guard.
"It's a win-win situation," Pekoske said.