michael393,

No, you do not need prior flight training to become a pilot in the Coast Guard. You can go through Officer Candidate School or a service acacemy and apply for flight school without having even flown as a passenger on an airline.

hey tankkllr! i have been sending you some pms but i dont think you are getting them. Can you (if you have a moment) e-mail me so I can ask you some questions? Thanks in advance! take good care!
edewan@museumofflight.org

email sent. Sorry I didn't get your PMs

Having entered CG aviation via the HH-52 in the capacity of flight mechanic way in back in 1987, I have a slightly different angle-of-view on the "over-water" aspect of CG aviation vs Army aviation (sorry, tankkllr, this will be a friendly poke in the ribs with a wink & chuckle). My pilot and a newly-arrived Army DCA copilot and I went blazing off into the blue in our trusty Seaguard amphibious helicopter to provide our newbie his first fam flight in the HH-52A. The HH-65A had not yet arrived so the new guy was getting an "in house" syllabus to keep him flying till the Dolphin showed up a few months later. I clearly remember this poor fellows reaction to a water landing......he lifted his feet off the deck and ended up standing on the seat, all the while saying things like "this ain't natural!!" and "this ain't supposed to be a boat!". He wasn't on ICS, either.......he was yelling loud enough for me to hear him and turn around to observe his actions. The pilot was a bit irritated because he thought he'd briefed the new guy quite well about water landings (turns out that the new guy really/truly thought the pilot was kidding). The fact that we were in an amphibious / boat-hull helicopter didn't carry much weight with him until that moment. It was too much to ask of him to experience an auto to the water that day so we returned to base for a few runway assaults and autos to the deck. We finished up and taxied back to the hangar. As I inserted the chocks, I felt the breeze as the new guy went running by me in a beeline for the head. Turns out that the sound of the water slapping the hull (as well as the stress) had stimulated his need to pee but he had held it for the entire flight rather than admit to his distress. His Man Card creditials were good with me!

On a slight tangent, can anyone explain to me the service commitment regarding flight school? I was just selected for CSPI and will be going through OCS after I graduate in two years. For those two years of school remaining, I'll be active duty, but if I then get into and complete flight school, how many years of service will I have remaining? Thanks

It has been a while but I believe, you will owe 4 years for OCS and six years for flight school and they don't run concurrently so you are looking at 10 years. My numbers may be off a bit though.

You'll owe four years for CSPI, which starts after you get your butter bars, and then eight more after that for flight school.

Okay, so somewhere around 10 or 12 if I complete flight school. Thanks y'all