The United States Navy has created a new program to aid enlisted Sailors and Airmen to become Navy pilots, establishing them as Chief Warrant Officers. It is a program that is designed to support the need for the Navy to have trained pilots and Naval flight officers, among enlisted personnel that do not have a college degree. Many people that are excellent Servicemembers but that do not have a college education. The United States Navy decided that they wanted to encourage enlisted personnel to become Navy Pilots and Navy flight officers, so they created the Enlisted to Aviator Navy Flight Aviation program. This is a new program that is based largely on a similar High school to Pilot program that has existed in the US Army for a number of years. It started in earnest a couple years ago in 2006 with the first 14 candidates, 4 flight officer and 10 pilot candidates.
This is expected to be a yearly program that will help create pilots and naval flight officers under the Chief Warrant Officer program. It creates Chief Warrant officers first, with a specific training program that while highly competitive will help supply quality Chief Warrant Officer for aviation duty. The pilots are being trained as Warrant Officers and then pilots to operate.
P-3 Orion Aircraft, E-6 Mercury Aircraft, and SH-60B Helicopters. This is an exciting new program that allows enlisted personnel to still qualify for training as pilots and naval flight officers. Personnel that are trained as Naval Flight Officers will be tasked to fly in the E-6 Mercury, EP-3 Aries and P-3 Orion aircraft. Warrant officers are not normally eligible for department head positions, but they are slated to serve as program and department assistants, and maintenance branch heads. The maximum age for applicants is age 31 years old, even with age waivers. You have to be qualified for a secret security clearance, and have an Aviation Test Standard Battery Score of at least PFAR=5, FOFAR=5, and an AGR=4.
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You must be commissioned in the program before you turn 27 years old (but age waivers are possible sometimes.). A candidate has to have at least an associate degree in college coursework, and you have to be physically qualified for duty in aviation. There are some qualifying factors that have to be followed.
This new Enlisted to Aviator Navy Flight Aviation Program is a great idea, but I often wonder how many Enlisted Personnel have been denied the opportunity to fly fighters that could have been perhaps the best pilots in the world. Just because they didn’t have the money or time to attend colleges. What a waste of a potential source an a lack of foresight. However, I do applaud the Navy and Army for making some type of an attempt, even though the probable reasoning for this was the military’s inability to bring in these preferred college grads.
Some of the kids that are now enlisted personnel, played their computer games and now have amazing abilities.
When the majority of fighters become robotic or autonomic. We will be looking for these kids then.
Keep up the good work!
This is the greatest program the Navy has come up with for enlisted personnel who want to fly but don’t have the college degree at the time.. I wish something like this would have been available when I was in the Navy…I probably would have been a lifer.
I’ll have to talk to my son and my grandchildren about this program.. One will probably be college bound the other possibly. Computer gaming skills are unbelievably fast and accurate so is intellegance.
Maybe we can keep the family name in the navy…my dad WWII. Me Vietnam.
Go Navy!
The last AP I saw flying was at Naval Air Station Minneapolis back in the 60’s. He was the AC of an EC 121 with a full commander as 2P. The Navy lost out on a lot of good people just due to a lack of college requirements. As a flight engineer (E5) I soon found that I was required to know as much, and sometimes more than the pilots, plus had the opportunity to fuel and oil the aircraft, preflight, postflight and daily inspections. We used to call the pilots “bus drivers”. Sounds like my Navy is finally (due to budget constraints only) getting it together.
The Army has had a Warrent pilot program for years, since at least Vietnam. At one time the Navy had enlisted Bombardier Navigators on A-3 Skywarriors, and an enlisted pilot program (they flew as enlisted, not commisioned or warrant). The Coast Guard has had enlisted as Navigators on C-130 SAR planes. This is nothing new in the Armed Forces. Thirty years ago the Navy had a commisioning program for enlisted to become pilots, generally on P-3’s, C-130’s and the C-12 Beech King Air. As the military draws down and budget cuts loom, you will see more and more Warrant grade and enlisted taking on more roles on the flight decks of various aircraft. I do not think you will see any warrants or enlisted flying tailhook, tactical, or fighter planes.
My stepfather Ray Landrum was one of those few enlisted Navy Bombardier Navigators on the A-3 Skywarriors. From what his fellow shipmates have said, that was a very small program they tried out with very few enlisted personnel. I think its a great idea.