Crew Chief - MOS?

[LoCapitano]

I'm not sure that I would really qualify to "tell" anyone here anything but I will relate the way it went for my son who is a brand new “boot” CH-46 crew chief, awaiting orders to his first squadron.

The first thing that needs to be determined is “what” you qualify for. This will be determined by a combination of your education prior to enlistment and your ASVAB scores.

When my son enlisted he was told there were 2 aviation "slots" available from this area.
Looking over his form 1130-003, Enlistment Incentive Programs Statement of Understanding, the “Program Code” is AG. The Program Description is Air Crew / Flight Mechanic / Navigator. The MOS options are 6100 / 6200 / 7300. If after processing through MEPS, you still qualify for your agreed upon program, it’s off to MCRD you go. After basic training, and if you still qualify, you go to MCT. Upon completion of MCT if you still have no changes to your MOS, then you will most likely be sent to NAS Pensacola and assigned to MATSG to await assignment to a school. If you have qualified for air crew, your first school will be NACCS. Upon successful completion of NACCS, you will find out which platforms have slots open and be assigned accordingly. If you get a air crew slot, you will next go to SERE school. Upon successful completion of SERE, you move through the A and C schools for your bird.

Anywhere along the line if you either fail a qualification or otherwise disqualify yourself, you will be assigned per the (famous) “needs of the Corps“. In most likelihood, if you do not stay in the air crew program, you will most likely go to an aviation maintenance MOS.

That’s the way it went for one young Marine. However the best thing you can count on is that “nothing in the US Marines is ever a 100% guarantee”. A whole lot depends on YOU. IMHO just becoming a Marine is an accomplishment not everyone can do, but any one who makes it can be proud of.
Best of luck.

Semper Fi

Ham

Thats exactly right... I have actually just Graduated NACCS (Naval Air Crew Candidate school)

and have been assigned a slot for the MV-22 tilt rotor helicopter...

awaiting for my SERE class to open up.. in February...

Also Aircrew is a DOR MOS...(Drop on request.) which means that at any point and time you can quit and they will assign you a new mos...

As for the slots I have heard that they have 67 Huey, and 40 or so slots open the 46 this year... which i am actually going to be trying to switch over to hueys...

[ProudUSMCPop]

Congratulations!
Brunswick in February......SERE school.....Your gonna have fun !
My son was there last Feb. Leave it to say it was the first time in his life he had ever seen snow.
Good luck & Merry Christmas!

Semper Fi

Ham

[onux16]

I'm currently training at HMM(T)-164 to be a CH-46E crew chief. I have some information for the old timers and poolees alike.

The training you go through is as follows: boot camp; MCT; Naval Aircrew Candidate School in Pensacola, FL; and SERE in Brunswick, ME (or North Island, CA for C-130's).

After SERE, the following platforms go to their respective Mech school followed by Flight school. Only the 46's go to a different locale for flight school.
UH-1: MCAS Camp Pendleton
MV-22 and CH-53: New River, NC
CH-46: New River, NC; then MCAS Camp Pendleton

I do not have information for the C-130 platform except the candidate goes to SERE after the mechanic/loadmaster course.

You need Swim Qual 2 in boot camp to qualify as a 9972 - Aircrew Trainee; supposedly in MCT, you'll have one final chance to earn 2nd class before you receive your orders for your next school.

Pensacola's NACCS program is to prepare and qualify you for water survival. When I was there, the PT was very intense, but because of the numerous injuries candidates were facing, the intensity was dumbed down a bit. Towards the end of training, candidates are subjected to numerous simulations, most notably, the Helo Dunker, which is a night and day simulation of a helicopter crashing into open water and you must properly egress/escape. Another is nicknamed the Spin and Puke; the candidate experiences spatial disorientation through a multi-directional spinning mechanism.

SERE -Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape- is, for the most part, a classified school. A wikipedia article talks about everything you need to know about SERE. There is no prior preparation available/necessary.


The mechanic school following SERE introduces the Aircrew Trainee to the basic mechanical concepts of his or her aircraft. It is the same school 6112's attend (6112 = CH-46 Mechanic)

The Trainee's flight school builds upon prior knowledge learned from Mech school. The training goes more in-depth to systems knowledge. The Trainee also begins flying and trains with qualified crew chiefs.

From personal experience as a CH-46 Trainee, what you get out of the school depends on how much you put in. All the knowledge a Marine receives from this school is based solely on his or her motivation to learn.

After graduating, the Marine in training earns his Aircrew wings and is sent to the fleet. Training doesn't end there, however. The new Crew Chief must complete a Plane Captain syllubus to become a valuble asset to the squadron. Some guys I know in Miramar are flying all the time because they are working hard at completing their syllubus. But another graduate I know personally hasn't done much to earn "signoffs" towards his Plane Captain qual and isn't given much opportunity to fly.

Training literally doesn't end there for some Marines. Marine crew chiefs who transfer to New River will eventually be sent to school for MV-22 mech/flight school.

At any point in your training after MCT, you have the option to Drop On Request (DOR) as mentioned in an earlier post. Flying is voluntary; therefore, if you do not wish to fly (or train to fly), you can drop out of the program at any time and receive a new MOS. Don't expect anything amazing, though. I have seen a lot of Marines DOR, and the top three I hear for MOS reselection are Parachute Rigger (not the official name), Admin, and one lucky Devil got LAV Technician.

Feel free to message me with any comments you have. I'd be more than happy to answer them =)

[onux16]

I'm currently training at HMM(T)-164 to be a CH-46E crew chief. I have some information for the old timers and poolees alike.

The training you go through is as follows: boot camp; MCT; Naval Aircrew Candidate School in Pensacola, FL; and SERE in Brunswick, ME (or North Island, CA for C-130's).

After SERE, the following platforms go to their respective Mech school followed by Flight school. Only the 46's go to a different locale for flight school.
UH-1: MCAS Camp Pendleton
MV-22 and CH-53: New River, NC
CH-46: New River, NC; then MCAS Camp Pendleton

I do not have information for the C-130 platform except the candidate goes to SERE after the mechanic/loadmaster course.

You need Swim Qual 2 in boot camp to qualify as a 9972 - Aircrew Trainee; supposedly in MCT, you'll have one final chance to earn 2nd class before you receive your orders for your next school.

Pensacola's NACCS program is to prepare and qualify you for water survival. When I was there, the PT was very intense, but because of the numerous injuries candidates were facing, the intensity was dumbed down a bit. Towards the end of training, candidates are subjected to numerous simulations, most notably, the Helo Dunker, which is a night and day simulation of a helicopter crashing into open water and you must properly egress/escape. Another is nicknamed the Spin and Puke; the candidate experiences spatial disorientation through a multi-directional spinning mechanism.

SERE -Survive, Evade, Resist, Escape- is, for the most part, a classified school. A wikipedia article talks about everything you need to know about SERE. There is no prior preparation available/necessary.


The mechanic school following SERE introduces the Aircrew Trainee to the basic mechanical concepts of his or her aircraft. It is the same school 6112's attend (6112 = CH-46 Mechanic)

The Trainee's flight school builds upon prior knowledge learned from Mech school. The training goes more in-depth to systems knowledge. The Trainee also begins flying and trains with qualified crew chiefs.

From personal experience as a CH-46 Trainee, what you get out of the school depends on how much you put in. All the knowledge a Marine receives from this school is based solely on his or her motivation to learn.

After graduating, the Marine in training earns his Aircrew wings and is sent to the fleet. Training doesn't end there, however. The new Crew Chief must complete a Plane Captain syllubus to become a valuble asset to the squadron. Some guys I know in Miramar are flying all the time because they are working hard at completing their syllubus. But another graduate I know personally hasn't done much to earn "signoffs" towards his Plane Captain qual and isn't given much opportunity to fly.

Training literally doesn't end there for some Marines. Marine crew chiefs who transfer to New River will eventually be sent to school for MV-22 mech/flight school.

At any point in your training after MCT, you have the option to Drop On Request (DOR) as mentioned in an earlier post. Flying is voluntary; therefore, if you do not wish to fly (or train to fly), you can drop out of the program at any time and receive a new MOS. Don't expect anything amazing, though. I have seen a lot of Marines DOR, and the top three I hear for MOS reselection are Parachute Rigger (not the official name), Admin, and one lucky Devil got LAV Technician.

On a final note, I am sorry to say, but LCpl Couto has been recycled from the program.

Feel free to message me with any comments you have. I'd be more than happy to answer them =)

[sparkie]

Airheads!!!! nuf said.

[jetdoc]

I will share what I posted on another thread about the Grunt/Air Winger deal. This is ESPECIALLY for my bro Sparkie, in case you didn't already read it, hehehe.

Y'all going into the Air Wing are wise beyond your years, one day you will find out for sure...enjoy:

"Ya see, this whole "Winger" thing goes back to some deep emotional scars left on our Grunt or Grunt(ish), brothers.

We would be either CONUS or overseas in a club, and of course its filled with Marines and some fine ladies, or some not so fine, lol. We were all Marines, however the chicks would always be with the Wing Marines. The Grunts were always a bit dirty, and had an odor about them. Its not their fault, as they slept in tents and bathed in their helmets, so the ladies naturally stayed away from such characters. Not to mention the Grunts were all ugly, hehe.

Us Wingers, on the other hand, slept in either a hotel, a USAF barracks, USN barracks, or if we had it really rough, a USMC barracks. We had regular showers and deodorant. The place's we stayed all had a foundation and were made of concrete/bricks, and didn't have dirt for a floor, hahaha. So us Wingers were always clean, smelled good and of course, we are all handsome.

So sadly for our Grunt brothers, well they never got any ladies and they have never liked us Wingers ever since...and they have not to this day figured out this story I am sharing with everyone, lol. This problem goes back many many years, hehehe.

In case any Poolees were wondering why the jealousy exists you now know why, so as you all go into the Fleet you can share this story with other Marines who may not know....I will say that I love my Grunt brothers however, we are all Marines, but as
WE ALL KNOW, the Wingers get all the chicks and this hurts our Grunt bro's deeply, hehe".

[jetdoc]

I TME'd on helo's in New River and was there for only 6 months, so I didn't deal with the Crew Chiefs that much.

I do know that the CC's when I was in fixed wing, VMFP-3 and VMFA-321, were usually former engine shop guys it seemed, maybe that was my perception.

I do know we called the CC's while on the boat, "chain apes" as doing the tie down of the a/c on the flight deck was their job.

It seemed from my viewpoint, Structual Mech, that the CC's were kinda general mechs, tires, brakes, cleaning windscreens, securing the flight crew in their seats, etc. An important job none the less.

Again, this is fixed wing, helo's CC's were different as they flew with the crews.

[jetdoc]

Big Al, I must rethink my post. I was repling to a poolee who was asking about what a Plane Captain does. I referred him here but saw this is about a Crew Chief...for some reason I was thinking about Plane Capt. when I replied to this post about CC...so I am sorry but as I am sure they are difference jobs...PLEASE IGNORE MY ABOVE COMMENTS.

In the Air National Guard where I worked 727s and 737s the Crew Chiefs there were like Plane Captains in the USMC...they were kind of general mechs, doing engine oils, tires, brakes, fueling a/c as well. They kept track of the a/c log book and were the ones that were responsible for making sure the shops came out and repaired the gripes on the a/c.

They didn't do any work the shop guys did, they just called them out to fix a problem. So thats where the confusion in my brain came about.

[onux16]

actually, JetDoc, you were rather correct coming here. Crew Chiefs are responsible for building up there own Plane Captain syllubus for qualifications on various aspects of the aircraft (I'm sure there's a better wording for that, but it's not coming to me at the moment)

Although Crew Chiefs, upon graduating their flight school, will be semi-qualified Plane Captains, mechs (mechanics) can build their own syllubus, too.

Such qualifications include fuel samling, fuel inspections, General Support Equipment licenses, and servicing various compenents, to name a few.

Years ago, CC's used to be mechanics before they applied for the position. So yes, those crew chiefs you thought came from the engine shop probably were.

That reminds me of something. There are such things as "homegrown crew chiefs", although it isn't as common as it used to be because of the formal school Marines can attend during their "post-boot camp" schooling phase.

[Zulu 36]

That reminds me of something. There are such things as "homegrown crew chiefs", although it isn't as common as it used to be because of the formal school Marines can attend during their "post-boot camp" schooling phase.

Although I was Motor T in Vietnam I was assigned to VMA-211, technically as the CO's driver. In reality I did anything I was told to do except drive the boss, because he felt I was more useful at other duties.

Most of the time I did drive a truck for S-4, but as the squadron was shorthanded, sometimes I was sent to help out on the flightline. I did ordnance fairly often, and I was makey-learn at what the Flight Line Shop called a "Second Mech." I pulled the chocks when signalled, helped watch the aircraft making sure it was clearing the wonder arches or shelters safely, pull or set RBF pins, helped fuel the A-4s, help push the a/c back into the shelters (damned reverse gear never worked), all sorts of stuff.

After a while I was allowed to do all of the hand signals to the pilot for control checks and taxi-out at launch (closely watched by a qualified plane captain, of course). I was even allowed to ride brakes a couple of times, also with a plane captain sitting half in the cockpit with me.

All-in-all it was a great experience.

[jetdoc]

Thanks onux...I don't feel like as much a dummy as I had originally thought..lol.

[bgsuwoody]

I'm bumping this for someone who can't search on the ask a Marine forum. Let me remind you this was only 10 down the list though

[KevinR90]

I realize no one has posted here in a while but i have a question. Someone briefly touched on the requirements for AG. The AG is the MOS I signed for with my recruiter about a week ago. I was wondering if I don't meet the requirements, do I get assigned a MOS or can I still choose but not have a wide variety of choices? I know someone mentioned this but I would like some more information.

Hi by the way. My first time posting on this site. My profile info is correct right? My date of entry into boot camp is 20080811

[onux16]

Hey there, Kevin.

Since you have a boot camp shipping date, I am going to assume you have been to MEPS and have been assigned the AG code through a contract with the Marines there.

This webpage is about H-46 Crew Chief qualifications; however, all the crew chiefs need the same qualifications, although the schools are in different locations:
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/...obs/bl6172.htm

Some of the details about the schools are off, but my previous posts in this thread will clear that up. The main things you need in order to initially qualify are:
(1) Must possess an MM score of 105 or higher.
(2) Must have normal color vision.
(3) Volunteer for duties involving flight as an aircraft crew member.
(4) Must be a 2nd class swimmer or higher.
(5) Eligible for a secret security clearance.

I'm pretty sure the GT score plays a role in your qualification, too. Basically, you need a fairly high ASVAB score (just to ensure the high enough MM and GT scores), you can NOT be color blind, and in boot camp, you need to earn a 2nd class swim qualification. I've heard about guys having a last chance to earn it at MCT training about boot camp, but don't count on that. As for the security clearance, that depends on the investigator and whether your interview turns out OK.

I've been asking a lot of 1-on-1 questions with other poolees, and I've shared some valuble information that I'll post here shortly. If you have any other questions you'd like to ask, I'm all ears =)

By the way, your profile checks good.

[Wyoming]

Yo Pete, Brother, another 46 Crew Chief!!

So fill us in - Stateside we flew alone in the back, cross-countries and all. Only on the one a week night flights did we have 'passengers'. They were chalking up time for their flight pay, and mostly slept on the benches. We did make sure they did the tie down business after the flight.

In the RVN, we had a gunner (port-side) and that was it. They rotated daily o we never knew who we were going to get until the walk around and he brought the guns to the pplane. It could have been anyone, snuffy, twidget, tin-bender or the 1stSgt.

Upon our return to CONUS, a lot of us were in the same Squadron (training) and we flew single. Check flights were the best, because we had a HAC only. Once we taxied out, we crawled into the left seat and had the stick for an hour or so.

Cross countries were neat also. On one particular trip, Vegas or Frisco, I forget now, the XO was the HAC and brought his wife. It was a FUN trip (night / cross country / fam flight) to say the least. Lights out!! I made the 2 mile club on that one!!!