Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Army Flight School Changes

US Army Flight School is an ever changing beast.  It has to be.  The Army is always changing, technology is always changing, and our adversaries are always changing.  It's only been a little over 1 year since I graduated flight school, and there are already some big changes.  I'll try to list all of the changes that I have heard of here.

WOBC
WOBC started changing when I went through flight school.  It is now a 2 part process, whereas it only used to be 1 class that was taken before getting into flight classes.  Part 1 is still before flight, but part 2 is after advanced airframe, right before graduation.  Part 1 and part 2 are both 3 weeks long.   

Primary, Instruments, and BWS
travelforaircraft.wordpress.com
Back when I went through flight school (I feel like an old vet saying that, lol), we trained on the TH-67...the Mighty Creek.  However, the Army is now transitioning to the UH-72 Lakota.  They started this year (FY16) with 1 of every 4 classes starting in Lakotas.  In FY17, every other class will start Lakotas, in FY18, 3 out of 4 classes will start, and in FY19 the Army will be fully transitioned over to the new airframe.

Primary used to be 8 weeks, instruments was 8 weeks, and BWS was 4 weeks.  Primary, Instruments, and BWS are going away.  The following is the proposed new system for flight school:
  • "Basic Rotary Wing Skills" (BRWS) will be up first.  It will be 6 weeks long and will include some simulator hours.  As you can imagine, this is your first time in a helicopter so it's all about the basics.
  • "Basic Instrument Skills" is next.  It will be 4 weeks long and is all in the simulator.  It is similar to the first part of the old Instruments phase.  It is followed by:
  • "Advanced RW and Instruments" (ARWS).  This phase will be 4 weeks long. It consists of IFR cross country flights, a couple of VFR cross country flights, and a few days doing EPs from both seats.
  • "Basic Tactical Navigation" (BTN) - 2 weeks including learning to fly low level and learning Army warfighter tactics.
  • "Day and Night Warfighter Skills" - 4 weeks which includes NVG time (which only used to be taught in your advanced airframe).
In addition to the change in aircraft and the course flow, with the new system, you would keep your IP the whole way through as opposed to having different IPs for each different phase like it used to be. 

Aircraft Selection
When I went through selection, they had just starting phasing out the OH-58.  It was available to select about a month prior to my selection.  The only options when I selected were the UH60, CH47, or AH64.  Active Duty UH60 students were all put through the M model course, CH47 students were put through the F model course, and AH64 students were still being put through the D model course.  64 drivers would get the E model transition if their gaining unit had E models.  In addition, some students got the opportunity to go to the fixed wing course, but it wasn't available for selection.  They selected UH60 guys and offered them the transition at some point during the 60 course.


www.helis.com
As of June 2016, the UH60 A/L model is available for selection again.  I guess the Army is realizing that a lot of units still don't have M models, and some units won't be getting them for awhile.  There are now AH64 E and D models available at selection.  Additionally, fixed wing is available at selection in the form of a C12.

Other Changes
The only other change that I know of that is somewhat related to flight school is the talk of changing time in grade (TIG) from 2 years to 3 years for the CW2 promotion.  Right now, you promote to CW2 2 years after you pin WO1.  The change would make it 3 years.  The other rumor that I've heard (not confirmed) is that they are looking at extending the first duty assignment by 1 year so that you have more time to make PC and track at your first unit.
 

21 comments:

  1. Great post. I'm here at B Co now and is pretty accurate.

    How many hours of flying have you flown at your first unit, and how's your progress towards PC going?

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    1. I got to my unit last May (2015), started flying in June and so far have gotten about 260 hours. And that's with about 4 months of not flying. My unit is unique and most of my flight school buddies have not gotten that many hours unless they deployed. I haven't made PC yet, but all the PCs I fly with said they'd vote for me in a PC board. The biggest thing holding me back is getting the required goggle hours since 95% of our missions are day missions.

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  2. I'm pushing a WOFT packet right now, coincidentally also in the Beaverton area (I work next door to HIO, but fly out of Twin Oaks mostly). I was wondering if you had any advice as far as getting a recommendation from a current/former Army pilot, as I don't have a lot of connections in this department, and worry my recommendations are going to be "too civilian".

    Very informative blog, keep up the good work.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't have any letters from current aviators. I would definitely recommend it though. The best way to do it for you would probably be to look up the number for one of the flight companies at JBLM (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) and schedule an interview with one of the pilots there. I would get the rest of your packet pretty much complete before that though. You might be able to do it at the same time as your flight physical. That's where I went for my flight physical.

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    2. Good idea, and thanks for the reply! I've got my flight physical scheduled for Nov. 2nd at Lewis, and I contacted someone who knows a few senior WOs up that that might be able to help me out, so I hope to get it an in-person interview with one of them done the same day.

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  3. Don't see any way to email you so I'll post here.

    After graduation and becoming a Warrant Officer 1, what is the deal with copilots and pilot? How is one assigned to each position and is it possible for a co-pilot to move to being a pilot? Thanks.

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    Replies
    1. Pilot/Copilot is a bit of a misconception. Pilot and Copilot aren't duty positions, they are seat positions. The pilot sits on the right and the co-pilot sits on the left. The duty positions are PC (Pilot In Command) and PI (Pilot). You begin as a PI and work your way up to being a PC. A PC is the pilot that is ultimately in charge of and accountable for the aircraft, the crew, and the flight. To become a PC you have to meet certain requirements set by your unit, be assessed by all of the other PCs at your unit (by way of a PC evaluation board), and finally pass a PC checkride. After you "make" PC, you can be the Pilot in Command of the aircraft. It is possible for 2 PCs to fly together. In that case, only one is assigned as PC for that flight, and for that flight the other pilot will be responsible for PI duties.

      Hope that helps.

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  4. Intersting blog. Lots of changes since I went through flight school at Fort Rucker! Please keep posting!

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  5. My packet was just approved by my BN board and heading up to USAREC. I'm street to seat as you were. I sat down today with two cups of coffee and read every word on this blog from beginning to end. I can't thank you enough for the insight you provided and the thoroughness of the process. I have so much better of an idea of what to expect going forward, and feel better knowing a detailed timeline and summary of my journey to becoming a Army aviator.

    The thing I'm dreading the most at this point is going through basic with a bunch of 17-year olds. I'm 28, and leaving a career for this. I can't shake my love of aviation. Did you find more was expected of you since your DS knew you were a WOCS/WOFT candidate? Singled out at all? Just curious.

    Thanks again. Please update us on your duty station sometime and how you're finding active duty life.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading and commenting. Congrats on passing the BN board! Now, all that's left to do is wait!

      For me, nothing more was expected at basic. I didn't really get singled out, except that the company commander wanted to talk with all of the WOCS/OCS candidates individually in his office at one point.

      I'm going to try and keep updating soon, so subscribe to updates, or check back. I'll probably have a few more posts up in the next month or so as work starts to slow down.

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