Lat move to Crew Chief

[SnowCamies]

Ok i have been in for 3 years and i am tired of MT an i was wanting more information on being a crew chief on a ch-53 my career planner told me that i should be a crew chief. and i am just tryin to get as much information on 6173 MOS before i make up my mind so if someone can help me out that would be tight

[blevins]

Ok i have been in for 3 years and i am tired of MT an i was wanting more information on being a crew chief on a ch-53 my career planner told me that i should be a crew chief. and i am just tryin to get as much information on 6173 MOS before i make up my mind so if someone can help me out that would be tight

Message me with whatever questions about the training you might have. I just completed everything last week. From Pensecola to your first 'check ride' is about all I can help you with. I have my all of my 100 level codes and am starting some 200's. I've done the standard flights. Nights, externals, CALS, TERF, etc. Hopefully some of the older boys can tell you about the fleet side. WTI, NSI, and all of that.

[SnowCamies]

yeah bro was tha school hard? how was SERE? and in tha fleet r u assigned to a platoon or just a helo? and basicly what r tha duties of a crew cheif? and if u hav any questions about tha fleet i will try my best to answer but i aint on tha wing side

[blevins]

yeah bro was tha school hard? how was SERE? and in tha fleet r u assigned to a platoon or just a helo? and basicly what r tha duties of a crew cheif? and if u hav any questions about tha fleet i will try my best to answer but i aint on tha wing side

School isn't hard if you study. You'll head down to NAS Pensacola for Aircrew Candidate School. It's not too bad really. You'll do your swim classes and quals and then move in to all the other stuff. It's all easy as long as your focus and are determined to get through. Don't let anyone scare you with the 'Hell Week' stuff. It's just a lot of PT is all. Piece of cake. After you finish up at Pensacola you'll come to J'Vegas for Mech school. It's boring as hell. You'll sit in a classroom and stare at slideshows all day and take massive amounts of notes. You will get very little hands on here. I don't understand how they expect to really teach mechanics with this school, it didn't do anything for us. Once we got to 302 Crew Chief Training... that's when we got to the real stuff. You're first few weeks will be more classes and a little hands on, but then you'll hit flight phase and start flying your codes. You'll be doing daily's, turnarounds, and learning everything you need to know once you hit the fleet. You most likely won't get to go to SERE because it is so backed up. And if you get sent there after you get to the fleet you'll be lucky.

As a crew chief you are responsible for that plane. Your name will be on it and everything will come back to you. You will perform Daily inspections which are extremely thorough, quality inspections where you're looking for anything that may cause the plane to not be safe for flight. They can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. You'll also perform turnarounds and all kinds of other maintenance. You are a mechanic. But you are a plane captain and a systems specialist. You have to know a lot about a lot and be able to put it all together. You fly with the aircraft. You man the window and the weapon. You normally fly with another aircrewman, usually an AO from the shop, sometimes another Crew Chief.

Theres a lot more, if you have any specific questions I'll do my best to answer them. I'm pretty confident that this is one of the most badass jobs in the Marine Corps.

[MotivatorOfTheGuard]

yeah bro was tha school hard? how was SERE? and in tha fleet r u assigned to a platoon or just a helo? and basicly what r tha duties of a crew cheif? and if u hav any questions about tha fleet i will try my best to answer but i aint on tha wing side

Please stop typing like an idiot. The words you are looking for are "you", and "have" and "the". Not "r u in tha hood". Thanks in advance for correcting yourself.

[Whizdumb]

Ok i have been in for 3 years and i am tired of MT an i was wanting more information on being a crew chief on a ch-53 my career planner told me that i should be a crew chief. and i am just tryin to get as much information on 6173 MOS before i make up my mind so if someone can help me out that would be tight

Just a heads up, I believe this is one of the MOS's that has been closed for reenlistment until next Fiscal Year. This may eliminate your option to pursue a lateral move there. And if you are anticipating a fast promotion, don't count on it. It is closing because it is packed as far as numbers go, and promotions will be very competitive. Hopefully your career planner can do their job and give you all the info themselves, instead of having you look around for it.

Also, look up info about a different MOS because it's what YOU want, not because your CP suggested it. Your career planner shouldn't actually plan your career, but should accomodate to the choices you want to make. Take care.

[Whitey]

School isn't hard if you study. You'll head down to NAS Pensacola for Aircrew Candidate School. It's not too bad really. You'll do your swim classes and quals and then move in to all the other stuff. It's all easy as long as your focus and are determined to get through. Don't let anyone scare you with the 'Hell Week' stuff. It's just a lot of PT is all. Piece of cake. After you finish up at Pensacola you'll come to J'Vegas for Mech school. It's boring as hell. You'll sit in a classroom and stare at slideshows all day and take massive amounts of notes. You will get very little hands on here. I don't understand how they expect to really teach mechanics with this school, it didn't do anything for us. Once we got to 302 Crew Chief Training... that's when we got to the real stuff. You're first few weeks will be more classes and a little hands on, but then you'll hit flight phase and start flying your codes. You'll be doing daily's, turnarounds, and learning everything you need to know once you hit the fleet. You most likely won't get to go to SERE because it is so backed up. And if you get sent there after you get to the fleet you'll be lucky.

As a crew chief you are responsible for that plane. Your name will be on it and everything will come back to you. You will perform Daily inspections which are extremely thorough, quality inspections where you're looking for anything that may cause the plane to not be safe for flight. They can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. You'll also perform turnarounds and all kinds of other maintenance. You are a mechanic. But you are a plane captain and a systems specialist. You have to know a lot about a lot and be able to put it all together. You fly with the aircraft. You man the window and the weapon. You normally fly with another aircrewman, usually an AO from the shop, sometimes another Crew Chief.

Theres a lot more, if you have any specific questions I'll do my best to answer them. I'm pretty confident that this is one of the most badass jobs in the Marine Corps.

thats assuming you're not put on medical hold and then dropped because of a made up illness

[blevins]

thats assuming you're not put on medical hold and then dropped because of a made up illness

Man that is so true. It happens a lot.

[blevins]

Just a heads up, I believe this is one of the MOS's that has been closed for reenlistment until next Fiscal Year. This may eliminate your option to pursue a lateral move there. And if you are anticipating a fast promotion, don't count on it. It is closing because it is packed as far as numbers go, and promotions will be very competitive. Hopefully your career planner can do their job and give you all the info themselves, instead of having you look around for it.

Also, look up info about a different MOS because it's what YOU want, not because your CP suggested it. Your career planner shouldn't actually plan your career, but should accomodate to the choices you want to make. Take care.

6173 is good to go. Its 6172 that is closed. (46 crew chiefs)

[onux16]

Thanks for the reminder, blevins. =P On the bright side, some 46 crew chiefs are being offered $70,000 re-up bonuses to transition to V-22's. If only I joined two years sooner!

And SnowCamies, be aware that if you want crew chief duties, you're more likely to find Hueys and Ospreys available. But like WhizDumb said, YOU should be planning your career, not your CP. Do some research first and make sure your decision matches something you'd be interested in (4 years is a looong time in something you don't want to do)

[GSEMarine94]

in tha fleet r u assigned to a platoon or just a helo? and basicly what r tha duties of a crew cheif? and if u hav any questions about tha fleet i will try my best to answer but i aint on tha wing side

There are no platoons in the wing, you will be assigned to a squadron. As a crew chief you will be assigned an aircraft that is a part of said squadron, which will be your primary responsibility but not your only responsibilty. I was not a crew chief but was in the wing and served with a 46 squadron for a little while, crew chiefs work harder and longer then anyone else I met.

[onux16]

Speak of the devil... I just got off an early show/15 hour work day. oorah to being a crew chief!
(I would have stayed longer, but my shop/night crew started yelling at me =P )

[bigirongunner]

Don't let anyone tell you 6173 is closed we are so short on crewchiefs its not funny our squadron has 8 planes and 5 up crewchiefs to crew them. the big iron is the baddest platform you can get on. Its second only to the Soviet MI-26 Halo which is the size of a C-130. You'll be moving just about anything (literally). Terrain flight, externals, guns, night stuff, its the best. you'll never regret it. Yes, the hours are long, but that plane is your baby. knowledge is everything. If your not a good mech then your pretty much useless as a crewchief so pay attention to the mech portion you go through.

[bonuspak]

70,000.......Damn.......Can i reinlist?......lol

[ONeill65]

Thanks for the info belvins. I am thinking of going into this MOS as well.
Any more advice you could give me?