Marine Fighter Pilot Question

[TwosBlind]

Hey guys whats up, im a Junior in college and have recently began to consider the Marine Corps as a solid route to take to become a fighter pilot. I have some concerns/questions though that hopefully someone here can help me out with:

Ive wanted to be a figher pilot since I was like 5, and want nothing more than to get into pilot training and get a spot in jets. I would definately settle and be very happy in anything else fixed wing though...but I dont want helos. No offense meant to any helo pilots here, helicopters have just never been my passion. What im curious about is what percentage of pilots going through training with the corps get Helos? I know its a merit based system concerning what you get/choose, but on average what is the ratio of helo slots to fixed wing slots? I would assume that there are alot more helo spots in the corps than fixed wing. Does anyone know of any marines that wanted fixed wing and got sent to helos instead?

Second question...ive heard it mentioned here and elsewhere that occasionally Marine fighter pilots get deployed with ground units as close air support coordinators or w/e they call them. Ive even read that these oficers have even had to take full control over their platoons when the other officers have been incapacitated/KIA. Is there any truth to this? How often does this happen?

Thanks in advance guys

[davblay]

First of all YOU must read our rules!

Second:

FILL OUT YOUR PROFILE!

Third: You will get answers when you do! Thanks

[rvillac2]

You need to fill out your profile and read the rules of the site, first.

[MotivatorOfTheGuard]

I think you are going down the right road considering you are already a Dos Gringos Fan. My dad is a Viper pilot, and the two pilots who are in Dos Gringos "Trip" & "Snooze" have worked for and flown with my dad. My old man actually used to help distribute their CD's when they were selling them out of boxes. Those guys are God. 'Rah Semper Fi

[rvillac2]

Second question...ive heard it mentioned here and elsewhere that occasionally Marine fighter pilots get deployed with ground units as close air support coordinators or w/e they call them. Ive even read that these oficers have even had to take full control over their platoons when the other officers have been incapacitated/KIA. Is there any truth to this? How often does this happen?


They are called Forward Air Controllers. Aviators, both Fixed and Rotor, take rotations in these billets. They are part of the fire support team that accompanies the ground combat element.
They train with the grunt companies but are not part of the chain of command. Marine Officers lead when it's necessary but I haven't heard of a catastrophic loss of commanders like what you're describing in the recent past.

[TwosBlind]

I think you are going down the right road considering you are already a Dos Gringos Fan. My dad is a Viper pilot, and the two pilots who are in Dos Gringos "Trip" & "Snooze" have worked for and flown with my dad. My old man actually used to help distribute their CD's when they were selling them out of boxes. Those guys are God. 'Rah Semper Fi

Yea 2's Blind is my favorite song, absolutely hilarious. Trip and Snooze seem like super cool dudes too...just waiting for them to play a show in Austin, either that or its going to be time to plan a Vegas trip soon. Seems like they play out in the Nellis area quite a bit when they "tour".


They are called Forward Air Controllers. Aviators, both Fixed and Rotor, take rotations in these billets. They are part of the fire support team that accompanies the ground combat element.
They train with the grunt companies but are not part of the chain of command. Marine Officers lead when it's necessary but I haven't heard of a catastrophic loss of commanders like what you're describing in the recent past.

Ah ok that makes sense. Ive definately heard of FACs, but i didint know they were pilots too. Does it work that way in the other services as well? Like do Air Force pilots ever get FAC duty with Army infantry units for example?


And as far as the rules are concerned...my apologies for missing them in the first place. It doesnt look like I can go back and edit my post though at this point, but at least I didint drop any semper fi's or ooh-rahs, and it looks like all my M's and C's are capitalized lol. So hopefully yall can let this one slide ;)

[MotivatorOfTheGuard]

Well, Dos Gringos is taking a little break, as one is stationed over seas, and the other is at a new duty station. The reason they were playing out of Nellis is because Trip was in a weapons school, and Vegas was the last show they played, which they also recorded and released as "Live at Johnny Rockers"

www.dosgringosrocks.com (http://www.dosgringosrocks.com) is their site man, check it out

[MotivatorOfTheGuard]

If you have any more questions, there aren't a lot of pilots on this website, but if you give me your information, i can put you in touch with my old man, or even some of the pilot contacts i have out here swinging with the wing.