Crossroads.....

[Zagato]

Here's the deal, I am recently enlisted as an 11x and I'm scheduled to ship out to Ft. Benning August 16.

My ultimate goal is Warrant Officer Pilot. My initial plan was, serve 3 years in the Infantry, then when my contract was up, apply to WOCS. I decided to go this route because I wanted to cut my teeth, so to speak, in the Infantry, gaining the experience and skills I would need as a Warrant Officer and prior service would help as well.

I scored fairly well on my ASVAB- QT=86 GT=124 (the important one for what I want to do)

FAST score of 110= pass

just so you get an idea of where Im at....

Today, I'm talking to my dad who was at a family get together on the 4th, he tells me my cousin, who is an officer with a lot of pull in my desired career path, is willing to basically give me a slot as a Chinook crew chief. Possibly even a WOCS slot.

This is where Im at, in a bit of shock over this bombshell that could change my life and completely torn about what path to take.

Part of me wants to start from the ground up, earning everything myself, with no help just because I might know someone.

The other part is saying "You are a *******ing idiot if you pass up this opportunity!"

Basically this would speed up my chosen career path by at least 3 years(if i can get a WO slot) or one hell of a leg up if I get a crew chief slot.

So I ask the soldiers of GlockTalk; What would you do?

[Zagato]

nothing? is it obvious to most of you and Im just over thinking it? At this point Im leaning toward option 2 because logically it makes the most sense, but Im not sure I feel all that good about it.....

[NYS Ret.5763]

My question is this: If you already enlisted as 11X...how are you going to void that enlistment? I've been in both the RA and the Guard as an 11B, and once you sign a contract I think you're stuck. My advice would be to speak to your recruiter and see if they could change your contract to the 15-series MOS you need,THEN once trained on the CH-47 have the relative with the pull get you to his unit. As a crew chief, you probably have an even better shot at flight school. Good Luck!:supergrin:

[Zagato]

I wondered the same thing. Apparently that can be changed with a phone call.

[NoyzeeGlocks]

If your talking about doing this after your initial active duty contract is up it's easy. When your unit desk jockeys ask you if you wish to reenlist tell them yes but only if you can re-class. I'd imagine the worse case scenario is you can't pass the classes or tests for the new MOS training @ AIT and you serve a few more years in your primary MOS.

I'd do option 2, your still going to work your way up and learn a lot, but your probably going to cut out a large chunk of time between right now and becoming a pilot.

[Paraiso1]

have fun with it

[SAM88A]

If you already enlisted as 11 series you will have to go back to meps and re-contract as a "crew chief" which is recruiter speak for mechanic. You only become an actual crew chief after you have a couple years experience turning wrenches. Either way it will take you roughly a year to put together a packet for WOCS and wait for the board to be convened and results to be published. So do whichever you will be happy doing in the meantime because it will not be a quick process either way and the Army just announced they are reducing the number of OCS slots by half for FY 2011 so I would look for WOCS slots to decrease as well. It took me about 15 months from the time I turned in my OCS packet until I started training so while it is a little different for WOCS it may or may not take longer. 3 Guys in my unit were trying exactly what you are talking about and I was done selected and went to school before 2 out of 3 of them got looked at. Either way do what you will enjoy long term if it doesn't work out.

[Zagato]

Ive decided to stick with the Infantry. Paraiso1s post is pretty well in line with my thoughts on the experience and knowledge Ill gain.

I went to school briefly to be an auto mechanic. It is not for me. Ill take my chances and start building my packet ASAP.

ETA: thanks for your advice.

[n8up]

While you're waiting to ship out, take a look at warrent recruiting site so you know what you'll need to get your packet together.

http://www.usarec.army.mil/hq/warrant/index.htm


Keep your head down, listen to your NCOs, and good luck.