im submitting my package tomorrow (IFC III etc all done) and i cant choose which to put as my first choice!!!
1A1/1A4.. they both have a good amount of quotas right now(2nd termer) so choosing one before the next will make the difference!

what i ultimately want is to be an aerial gunner on a hh-60, but there are no quotas open for gunners, plus ive waited so long to retrain and SOMETHING.. ALWAYS SOMETHING pops up that delays my retraining... so i want to go through with retrianing NOW! also my wife aint too keen on the gunner job...

so FE on a helo sounds good, but what i really dont want is to get stuck on a fixed wing...

1A4 would be awesome to be a sensor operator on a gunship, but the chances are slim as most slots go to awacs or jstars...

heres my preferences:
1. any helo FE
2. 1A4 gunship
3. 1A4 awacs/jstars
4. fixed wing FE

please tell me your personal opinions!
oh and last thing... i want as far away from an office as possible!!! so from the looks of it, would 1A4 be a bad idea?

Let me make this easy for you. Become an FE, FE and AG will be merging together anyway, get into the flying then try to move into helos. When you get approved, sign up for all the AFSPC bases like Minot, F.E. Warren, Vandenburg, try Farchild, sign up for DM and places in Georgia. You will increase your chances of helo then wait for gunners to merge in. You may not get 60's, but at least your getting helo experience for all its worth then get into 60's later. I am heading to Minot then leaving for Aircrew Fundamentals July 18.

The big question is do you want to be someone who deals with the plane, or someone who operates a system on the plane? Meaning, an FE is the planes systems expert. He preps the plane for flight, and when something goes wrong in flight, two very educated heads rotate 180 degrees backwards with a dumb expression of "what should we do eng?" An FE will always be the sweaty fighting with maintenance both before and after the flight.

A sensor operator is a mission specialist. He may know about the plane, but mostly only the systems he deals with. Your job is to apply the systems on the aircraft to its combat mission. You put rounds on target or track air and ground targets. You are the one who will make the papers if something goes wrong, or the history books if it goes right.

Both jobs will have office parts. You don't just show up every day and strap on a plane. Mission planning, ground currency training, and additional duties is what you spend most of your time home station doing...sorry to burst your bubble about that. When a crew lands, the difference between the FE and SO is one guys is sweaty and dirty and spends an extra thirty minutes dealing with maintenance debrief. The other guys is cooling his heals in the squadron lounge drinking a beer waiting for the FE to show up so they can do the mission debrief.

It is odd to me that so many have hang ups about only getting Helo's. They make up such a small amount of FE's and gunners, yet that is all everyone wants to be on. I have never understood it. If I was on the outside looking in to the flying realm, I would be happy to be flying on anything. So few get to do it, and the rewards are so great. I have switched AFSC's from 1A3 to 1A2 in my past. I have been mission qualified on six different airframes. All have provided unique experiences, both good and bad. Don't get so hung up on which piece of the air force recruiting commercial looks cool. Be happy to go where they need you and do the best job you can while you are there. Opportunities to do differnt jobs in you AFSC will present themselves. Trust me.

thanks for the post Caninedale. your right though i shuold be happy to fly, which i will be! its just that i didnt give it much thought when i entered the airforce back in 01, i want to make sure its what i want. i wanted to be in the fight.. i originaly was gona join the marines but ended up with liking security forces for AF. went to MEPS and told me i had to take 3E5(Civil Engineering, engineer assistant)-which i did not care for at all. i was told if i wanted SP to come in open general which not only got me a medical job.. it put me in medical ADMIN!!! GAH! then when i got to my first base (fairchild)and i learned about enlisted flying. still got the boomer coin from my buddys chief who was a boomer. he gave it to me cause i was all enthusiastic about becoming an enlisted flyer when i can retrain. lol sorry had to spill the beans there...

but trust me i will be truely happy to be on any airframe.

David_shea-

in fact i will be retraining around sep08 perfect time for FY09. im on a code and cant PCS untill sep08, but i can send my appplication now because i can go through the training etc.. but im deploying in may-sep08 too though..

Go helo FE. I did it for 10 yrs, wouldn't change anything. Put in for hh-60 bases, though.
-- Anyone can be a gunner, go for FE
Why do people get caught up about helos?
-- 140 KIAS @ 50ft during zero illumination
-- minigun humming or .50 cal blasting in your hands
-- hoisting 6mo baby-93 yr old women to safety
-- survivor's face when you just pulled his a** out of the fire!
Can you get that in a cargo acft?

im sitting in FE school right now....just started block 4 and i got my assignment today. I lucked up and got what i wanted....60's at Moody! Of course i would have been happy with any airframe, but i am borderline giddy about getting the 60.
quick question though.....is the 60 IQT a PCS? just curious. for the original poster; go FE if u want to be a gunner. like everyone else said before me. the merger is in the works.

Thanks for the nod to the FE's there Caninedale...

I thought you mentioned somewhere that we were more concerned with...oh, how did you put it...switches and a banana?

Besides...in my time flying so far, it seems the Nav and the Co always seem to be eating the bananas...(I feel cheated).

To the OP...I've been on Army helos, and now am finishing up FE school (initial qual) on Herks. I've met a lot of former helo folks (mostly former Army) that are switching to fixed wing. It ain't a bad gig at all.

Most of the guys that were really gunning for helos in my crop of students all got heavies...and the guys that wanted heavies got helos at Minot or Moody. Go figure.

So unless you and the functional golf together a lot...just put in the paperwork, and enjoy whichever airframe you get. Wish for C-5's and the Air Force might read your mind and give you Hueys at Minot (ya never know).

FE is a hell of a neat job, and I'm glad I went this route. It's hard as Hell in the schoolhouse sometimes, and it's WAAAAAAAAY too much info to digest (understatement), but Caninedale is absolutely right...when ANYTHING goes wrong on that flight deck, both Liutenants and Colonels will turn around and say "Hey Eng..."

If I'd have known about this field, I'd have tried to get into this after the first Army hitch. What a cool job to have. (we'll see if I'm as motivated next week after this checkride, eh?)

Best of luck...

Oh, by the way...in Basic Flight Engineer school, we had a kid come in from Dental Admin...he was the only SrA in the class (all the rest were SSgt thru SMSgt)...and that Admin troop kicked ALL our butts. He beat me for honor grad by one point, and I can assure you I didn't give it to him...he earned it 100%.

So it can be done.