I'm looking for reenlist as a 15T and I have few questions about it. What is the school like for this job? Is it more hands on or more class room? Where is the school at for this MOS? Is there anyway to get stationed in the state of your choice?

I know each job has it's pros and cons. How to you rate this job compared to the other like jobs in this field like 15R and 15N? Thanks for the help!

I'll give you a summary of aviation in a nutshell:

MOS DESCRIPTIONS:
15B,D,F,G,H,J,K,N,P,Q,Y- Totally awesome if you want to be bored, and claim that you're a Combat MOS (I was actually told this by an Armament guy. LOL!

15R Apache dude- Only choose this if you plan to do nothing but talk crap about other airframes to only later reclass to 15T or 15U. Also referred to as penguins because they usually possess all the necessary gear to "fly(crew)" but can't."

15T Hawk dude- Honestly is of your best choices, easy airframe to work on the pretension is nearly non-existent (unlike apache ******s). But the job only shines if you crew. You get to do Air Assaults too!

15U Chinook dude- Pretty rad too. I don't know much about the airframe but my 1SG actually was a 15U and he is super chill and according to him the Chinook community is actually more chill that the Hawk community which would actually imply that they don't even show up to work. Awesome!

15S Kiowa- Helicopter?

If you aren't flying Army Aviation sucks. I'll be honest up front, 15T and 15U are the only options and even with that if you aren't crewing you're bored out of your mind dealing with prima donna pilots, especially some of the pompous apache types (not all of em) who like to talk crap about Hawk pilots. When at the end of the day UH-60 pilots fly into the crap while Apache pilots are at a stand-off distance of several kilometers. How weak is that? Since the beginning of my current deployment my company (UH-60type) has had more bullet holes in one aircraft than the entire Apache fleet in the brigade. We freakin got a -60 pilot with a M203 kill a month back. Thats awesome.

In summary, aviation in full of pretension and prima donnas. There's some really good Crewmembers, Mechanics, and Pilots(usually MTPs) but some really suck(WOJGs). And here's my personal solution for this: OCTOBER 2010, 11B RECLASS ABN/RIP(RASP). I'm outta here.

Most of the 15-Series MOS schools (AIT) are at US Army Aviation Logistics School (USAALS) at Ft. Eustis, VA.

The schoolwork is a combination of classroom and hands-on. You learn systems in the classroom from manuals and PowerPoint presentations, then you go work with the systems hands-on on an actual aircraft. You will ID, remove, tag, and then replace each major item in the major systems.

Classes are 0800-1630 with a break for lunch, 5 days per week. No classes on weekends, and depending on your pass status, might be able to leave post for the weekends.

I had a lot of fun at Ft. Eustis, even though AIT was 16 weeks + 10 days of hold-under.

You don't get station of choice unless you're Infantry, and then only maybe.

As for doing the job... Being a mechanic is a lot of work both on the aircraft and off. When there is maintenance to do, you're working more than you ever thought, sometimes well past or prior to "regular" hours. When there's no work to do, you're sweeping/squeeging the hangar, doing various details, and going out of your head with the stupidity of some of the things your leadership has you doing. During deployment we had 24 hour operations. 12 hour shifts (which usually lasted about 13-16 hours) 6 days per week. Again, when you're busy, there aren't enough hours in the day to get stuff done. When there's no work, you end up sweeping sand, sometimes during or before a sandstorm (don't ask). Just keep in mind: the "U" in 15U means "Universal." You will do stupid details that make you want to kill someone and/or yourself because they're so mind-blowingly insane.

Aviation is a different world than the "Regular" Army. Most things are done very differently in Aviation, and it is very laid-back until someone gets a vist from the "Good Idea Fairy." Then you wish you were something, anything else but Aviation.

Good Luck!

Matt
SPC, AV
US Army
OCS Selectee
Class 303-10