At least in the early 2000s, there was the ARFORGEN cycle. That's my 2 cents. My formation barely ever conducts social events. It does have the potential to get him to the airlines more quickly, and hed do all of his military flying in the Guard or Reserve (with Quality of Life far superior to Active Duty, in most cases). I would also say if the Army wants to recruit more street to seat, I would require those people to attend Basic Training at FT Benning and intensify the military training for non-prior service WOCs. Ideally, you should enlist with one of those units as soon as youre old enough and serve part-time while you complete college. This puts you right at your commissioning ADSO plus the three-year CSP ADSO. You must understand, the Army has an ace in the hole when filling the Warrant Officer aviation pipeline. New ADSO order goes into effect 03JUN saying: "Hey, buddy, you wanna fly? (Read. Well look at three cases: Although each of these career paths has potential for almost infinite variation, this diagram represents likely versions of each: Looking at these side by side, its clear why #1 is the Ultimate option. That 10 year obligation doesn't start until you finish flight school. The AvB is essential to retain Officers with an Army aeronautical rating, who are critical to the overall success of the Army's mission. Its shocking that the Army doesnt have any institutional memory about what causes pilot shortage, which are primarily two broad topics: quality of life in the Army, and economic opportunities outside the Army. 2-4 more moves for assignments during his Active Duty career. I think that mindser still exists. Prospective warrant officers can see that the Army is having trouble retaining pilots, and they can also see that increasing the service obligation by four years works against their best interests. As a good mentor, I knew to ask lots of questions and take the time to dig down to the primary factors motivating this line of thinking. 4 years closer to RTAG if they're hiring. I wish thiswasa little more clear. Army is trying to get payback for their costs, but that will be increasingly hard to do if airlines are hiring. This could be a few weeks TDY, or a multi-month move. Unfortunately, it probably wont exist long enough for it to achieve the desired effects. F-35s in feature image: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/3982524/f-35-sky. Fly them that way through the instrument phase, and then conduct a rotary wing transition. Its a lot to ask. Clear editor. It only increases your overall training costs because typically you have less time available to retain these people. There are a lot more BCTs, SF groups, SFABs and NG/USAR units than there are CABs. After all, it is the warrant officer exodus to the airlines that has driven the Armys pilot retention focus. A regular Active Duty pilot career path. Before trying to add more pilots, or change quality of life (which I don't think they're trying to do), they should look at leveling the demands on pilots within the ranks. The 10-year service obligation is the result of a numbers-related calculus related to Army manning and will not address the problems that make Aviators leave. COVID has taken care of the airline hiring problem for the next three to five years, making the issueance of an increased ADSO redundant. Does anyone know the current selection breakdown of street to seat vs prior service? Unlike pilot deployments that can be as short as a couple of months, engineer deployments are usually 6-12 months. Raising the service commitment ignores the actual root causes. It doesn't matter that the WOFT contract I signed this week states that it is a 6 year ADSO - the Army can do and change what it wants. If I am a scholarship Cadet, I understand that upon completion of my initial 4 year ROTC ADSO, I . There are also discussions within the Army aviation community of additional changes that would make becoming a warrant officer even less appealing. Flying helicopters looks pretty dope though. We are always either training or deploying. The earlier you can Palace Chase, the less difference there is between a regular Active Duty pilot and someone following Stans plan. You incura 6-year ADSO for completing WOBC and also for completing Initial flight training. Starting in October, all personnel selected to attend the Armys initial entry aviation training will incur an ADSO of ten years upon graduation from flight traininga dramatic increase from the previous six-year commitment. Even just a year or two of delay erases any possible advantages of this career path. So now the prior Enlisted must do at least 11.5 years and advance to the grade of W3. The security accrediation level of this site is Unclassified FOUO and below. I don't know too many that would care to be told to mop the floor of the pilot's office, fill the refrigerator, go help wash the aircraft the things that junior warrants typically do when they are new to a unit out of flight school. Id always wanted to be a pilot and didnt know anything else, so I said the Doolie equivalent of Shut up and take my money! (There was a lot more Sir and Maam involved.) Service commitments are different for Warrant Officers in the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard. For most, Top Gun played at least a little bit of a role. If you want to fly the U-2, you must start on Active Duty. Paste as plain text instead, It is extremely frustrating to see some officers and senior NCOS make such short sighted decisions to solve complex issues without finding the cause, and not conducting any type of research. Furthermore, the Army should implement quality of life and quality of service surveys for every pilot who remains. There is no down time, no time to build family and relationships and the team. This can exceed a 6 year obligation. While the goal of the CSA's program was a well intentioned effort to make up for a dearth of aviation experience at senior ranks, it wasn't well received and Congress bit back. Just sign away your life until you're 34!". Army rescinds COVID-19 vaccination requirements, $84 million contract awarded for Excalibur replenishment, Army officer part of newly resumed cooperation for International Space Station, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sarah Stone is just one of four, Army CIO speaks at Army Europe and Africa 2022 Cybersecurity Summit, Transcript: Media Roundtable with Mr. Douglas Bush, ASA for AL&T, July 27, 2022, Transcript: Media Roundtable with Dr. Raj Iyer, Army Chief Information Officer, and LTG John B. Morrison, Jr., Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-6 June 09, 2022, Vietnamese-American service members parallel paths to the American dream, Bengali chief warrant officer finds the American dream through serving, Soldiers inspire new Army directive on parenthood, pregnancy and postpartum policies, U.S. Army STAND-TO! Once he identified some units in which hes interested in, hed need to start. Yes, life there is fantastic, and its important to get there as quickly as you can because Seniority is Everything. The. In the report provided to Congress, however, increasing the service obligation was not mentioned as a possible solution to pilot retention shortfalls. Proponents of the new ADSO have suggested that the Army is catching up with the Air Force and the Navy by matching its pilot obligation with theirs. I will still try to join but maybe that's because I'm retarded, Guess my packet will go back on the share drive. Lets assume though that Stan can get hired by a unit, and is scheduled to start UPT as soon as his regular ADSC is up. I ended up discovering that Stan was most worried about frequent moves and long deployments stressing his family during an Active Duty flying career. They run concurrently, butthe latter takes precedence, so your 6 (or 10) year ADSO begins the date you graduate Flight School. Army Aviation Leaders should. The Modern War Institute does not screen articles to fit a particular editorial agenda, nor endorse or advocate material that is published. The service obligation begins on the date an officer attains an aeronautical rating of Army aviator or is removed from attendance, whichever is earlier.. Excerpt from your enlistment contract which every one of has (or will, if selected) signed. If I am branched Aviation, this ADSO will begin upon completion of my flight school ADSO. The pay and benefits arent bad, and patriotism also factors in for most of us. Given the pandemic's direct and indirect effects on the aviation industry, is that even going to a concern going forward. I just want to stop leaving my family all the time! Age should be liftedI'm in my mid fifties and still fly helicopters (civilian market) for a living. The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the United States Military Academy, Department of the Army, or Department of Defense. Can you imagine thesmile on more than a few faces of the last graduating class in Fy 2020 in September. But Army aviation is better than sitting behind a desk and possibly dying of boredom. This used to be unheard of. I remember similar drama during my Fourth Class (freshman) year at the USAF Academy as we were forced to sign a paper accepting a similar ADSC increase in case of getting an Air Force pilot slot. So got word that it only affects WOs that complete WOCS after 1 Oct 2020. Traditionally, the Army has not struggled to recruit pilots. Also get's a TS which is money, but dealing with army IT infrastructure is frustrating. The OPTEMPO is higher now than it was at the height of GWOT. An ADSO twice as long as other branches (for academy grads) or 6+ years longer than ROTC counterparts is only going to deter quality officers that view an additional obligation as a loss of opportunity for careers beyond the service. C-17 formation from the ramp: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6100141/c-17-air-drop. It is for anyone graduating flight school and should be based on your graduation date. The extended ADSO is intended to increase Army pilots retention in the future. Ironically, the reason why Congress established a limit on entry into flight training is because the Army in the late 60's and early 70's started to funnel relatively large numbers of maneuver General Officers through flight school. It involves no effort to understand the underlying factors that cause Army pilots to depart and is nothing more than a surface-level solution to a fundamental problem. Often times these decisions being made do more harm than good, and cause a tremendous amount of work (just look at our administrative packet processes). Across the force, warrant officer recruiters are actively on the lookout to fill their ranks. Deployed Civil Engineers https://www.dvidshub.net/image/491088/deployed-civil-engineers. Powered by Invision Community, https://www.reddit.com/r/Armyaviation/comments/gxcx3o/10_year_adso_is_official/. No products in the cart. The future of Army aviation depends on retaining the pilots in whom it invests so much. I know there are exceptions to the rule, and I know some people haze junior warrant officers. You make an excellent point..I'm a twice retired CW4 (did a voluntary retiree recall three years after my first twenty). How long is Army Warrant Officer School? Laws and regulations that govern military personnel may This used to be unheard of. We need people with your background, dedication and professionalism in the warrant officer cohort. But, we want as many people as we can get to apply. Even during a deployment when demand for flight hours was high, the more senior Warrant Officers were flying double that of the more junior pilots. That hesitation will open up slots for others further down an OML or with less stellar accomplishments, potentially creating other issues related to performance or aptitude. With this data, the Army can tailor solutions to address the issues that cause pilots to leave. Regarding the future Army Commissioned Lts in wishing to branch aviation, that will be an issue next year. There's the technical expertise that goes along with it as well. The policy also applies to Army Reserve and National Guard components, but their obligated service will remain part-time, he said. People are tired. There's definitely a balance issue, and I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side. Why or why not? If the civilians don't want to join, not a problem. Subject to the needs of the Army, newly rated aviators should be used in operational flying duty positions immedi-ately after their successful completion of Army aviation flight training. Another anecdote, when I was deployed there was a desire to have experienced cockpits on higher risk/higher visibility missions usually two pilots with 1000+ total hours. In regards to our flight school length, the AF and Navy actually won't recognize our flight school as a valid flight school for earning wings if we try to branch transfer as part of it which I do find amusing. and our Not sure. If I am reading this correctly, this applies to officers that attend initial flight school after October 1st 2021. The Armys blind spot with retention data is further highlighted by comments made by Brig. Many aviators got tripped up by it in the last few years in the push to get to the airlines. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The articles and other content which appear on the Modern War Institute website are unofficial expressions of opinion. The Army will continue to honor all GRADSO contracts for officers from YGs 2006-2013. The Department of Defense released a report in July 2019 that laid out the challenges the military faces with pilot retention and included plans of action from each branch. While its not impossible, and BogiDope can absolutely help you get there, this is far from guaranteed. The disparity grows as pilots continue service, with a difference of $1,560.80 per month in favor of a major with fourteen years of service compared to a chief warrant officer 4 with fourteen years of service. For anyone facing a 10-year military pilot ADSC/O, this means asking yourself: What is it about military flying that made you want to do it in the first place?. This mindset is far from universal, but its prevalent enough that the Academy actually had pilot slots go unfilled a few years ago! It's kinda like a Yelp! Im a turd for putting 2021. Anything and everything related to or affecting US Army Aviation. Brennan Randelis a captain in the United States Army and is the former commander of Alpha Company, 4-2 Attack Battalion stationed at Camp Humphreys, South Korea. I dont agree with this decision at all but mean forcing people to stay helps retention because you know, they are forcing you. These trips have to be funded at his own expense and would require him to use leave that wont be available for family trips. I think it would be a great idea to leverage senior NCOs to enter pilot training with a waiver. (Yes, they say ADSO instead of ADSC because the Army and the Air Force refuse to do anything the same since they divorced back in '47.) Instead of giving bonuses of several hundred thousand dollars to keep pilots like our Air Force brethren get, the Army decides the best course of action is to just make it mandatory 10 years like them but not receive the pay. Deployments are great flying, but terrible on a family. I'd love to see credit for the photo. Once Stan finally gets qualified in his aircraft, hed get seasoning orders with his Guard or Reserve unit. F-22 crew chief: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4798866/f-22-europe. The Army lowered the max TIS to 8 years for WOFT applicants a few years ago without a waiver. im hopeful the army can fix this problem ASAP. For example, if there are 100 ROTC Aviation slots, only 20 can receive the Graduate School Option. I greatly appreciate the responsiveness of this community and the depth of feedback y'all have provided, but I want to be sure that the consensus expressed herein is not just the culmination of a bunch of bad experiences but is actually a systemic issue. NG will have 10 years. , you must start on Active Duty. My family got to live in England for three years and it was fantastic! Its important to note that Stans theoretical plan might have allowed him to obtain the 750 hours needed for an R-ATP about 7 years after graduating from college, but thats not competitive for getting hired at a major airline. Im in shape, arguably intelligent, and have at least ten good years of service left in me yet an age waiver will not be considered for aviation for either OCS or WOCS. This is the second part of a series about choosing between military and civilian career options. It will give you a recruiting advantage because a person out of high school or a year of college could position themselves for later on in life. But ifonline discussions are any indication, this ADSO will turn away a lot of prospective pilots. Such changes may affect my status, If you receive the Grad School option, the option costs you nothing because GrADSO runs concurrent with your flight school ADSO. Actually, the option to revert to Warrant Officer does exist. Armed Forces REGARDLESS of the provisions of this enlistment/ The Army may producean averageof 1200 Warrant Officers pilots annuallyincluding the Guard and Reserves. Gen. McCurry also said, People still want to fly. Graduate School Program: Only 20% of the Aviation Branch allocation for ROTC and West Point can receive the Graduate School Option. West Point graduates have a 5 year commissioning ADSO. I see three and four star Generals with less, HOW?! As several others have said, this policy fails to address the root problems high OPTEMPO, poor quality of life, irrelevant mandatory training, etc. They might be stuck on Active Duty slightly longer than Stan, but hed have to spend at least a couple of years at a regional airline to even start competing for major airline jobs. Did ROTC, then Aviation, allegedly 6 years upon completion of flight training. Ideally, you should enlist with one of those units as soon as youre old enough and serve part-time while you complete college. First, as we just mentioned, you only have to worry about one job flying one aircraft for Uncle Sam. What if Stans 5-year ADSC runs out as the next SARS/Swine Flu/COVID-type pandemic puts hiring on hold? Air defense branch offering $60,000 bonus for warrant officers, New aviators to incur 10-year service obligation, New Aviators to incur 10-year service obligation. (Well assume a move to the Guard or Reserve after completing your initial 10-year UPT ADSC. Army directive, AD 2021-31, approved Sept. 10, 2021, and effective Oct. 1, 2021, will reset the time required for aviator warrant officers (military occupational specialty 152 through 155) to. I'm very healthy and fit, I would like to fly helicopters. for a discussion of these options and their advantages.) Im a senior NCO with two decades of experience and proven loyalty to the nation and her army. This of course will do nothing to fix the problem of toxic leaders, poor assignment choices, or any of the other issues.