I am joining the Air Force in a matter of months, I have wanted too for the past three years now. I have gone to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for a few years and last year the C-17 was there, and it instantly became my favorite aircraft. I really want to work on C-17's, anything that would be available to someone who enlisted. If anyone has information on what to do, or talk to my recruiter about that would be appreciated.

Long term plan is to stay in for as long as I can and eventually become a pilot of the C-17.

P.S. My second choice is to work on/eventually fly the A-10, if that matters.

Well, if you're serious about being a C17 pilot, why not proceed with the steps to become an officer?
Or are you dead set on fixing C17s first then transitioning over to the dark side?
And I agree too, C17s are nice aircraft. I work with them everyday.

Well, I know for sure that I am not doing ROTC, because I want to enlist and work on aircraft at least for quite some time. I plan on going to school while I'm in and becoming an officer. I don't plan on going to flight school or anything like that for at least seven to eight years. I also don't know the chances of becoming a pilot, but I know theres a chance I will not ever fly, and I'm okay with that.

I may have changed up my thoughts a little bit. After reading some books I see that "Loadmaster" is on the list of careers for enlistees, but I thought you had to have a higher education (than a high school diploma) to become a loadmaster, so which is true? thank you!

quote:

"Loadmaster" is on the list of careers for enlistees

I wish I would have went Loadmaster, and still might. You dont need anything but a HS diploma, a high enough ASVAB, and a good recruiter. Every "loadie" Ive talked to says its the best job in the USAF.

Okay, thanks. You just made me very happy, even though I know its a hard job to get!

I'm a C-17 load, I can answer any specific questions you have. If you do some searching, there is a lot of info on here about loadmasters. Usually C-5/C-17 are pretty similar lifestyles, unlike the C-130.

Loadmaster does indeed seem like a great job. However, AD C-17 slots for pipeliners are few and far between. My son is just finishing up LMQ at Little Rock for C-130's. You get your airframe assignment the last week of BLM and in his class, and the class in front of his and behind his, the only C-17 assignments (and they were few) went to the Guard.

It does happen but it's a crap shoot and the odds aren't in your favor.

noleguy, I see by your profile that you're AD. Did you get 17's as a pipeliner and, if so, was that unusual? Do you know why there are so few pipeliner 17 slots today?

quote:

Originally posted by Calcas:
Loadmaster does indeed seem like a great job. However, AD C-17 slots for pipeliners are few and far between. My son is just finishing up LMQ at Little Rock for C-130's. You get your airframe assignment the last week of BLM and in his class, and the class in front of his and behind his, the only C-17 assignments (and they were few) went to the Guard.

It does happen but it's a crap shoot and the odds aren't in your favor.

noleguy, I see by your profile that you're AD. Did you get 17's as a pipeliner and, if so, was that unusual? Do you know why there are so few pipeliner 17 slots today?

Yes I got it as a pipeliner. It is nothing more than a crapshoot though. I went through at an odd time where BLM for C-130's had moved to Altus. I was the first class at EAUC not to receive their assignment there and we were the first group at BLM to have C-130s. My class started a few days before the fiscal year so my entire class didn't include 130s, but the next class did. When I went through they were still setting up squadrons at Travis and Dover so there was still a need for 17 guys. Not so much anymore.

The thing is, yes, the C-17 is the Cadillac of AMC. It is the nicest, newest toy and being a load on it is easy. But the 130 guys do the cool stuff, hell, airdrop is part of their initial qual. I've found that loads on both airframes both claim they have the best job. If you are into getting into the thick of things, landing on dirt strips, deploying to Iraq, 130s are the way to go. If you are into German beer, Spain, cool TDYs and nice crew rests... 17s and 5s are the way to go.

Okay, here is my first question then. What airframes require loadmasters? I wouldn't mind being on the 130 but of course want the C-17, and have never liked the C-5 one bit, but if it happens it happens.

Second question then. I'm pretty sure I know this, but I'd rather be sure of more than know less. Does the loadmaster ride along with a specific plane(not like "C-130," I mean aircraft number "70025"), or do they follow certain cargo?

I also read somewhere on here that you must perform certain actions (specifically - lifting 90+ pounds over ones head) at the physical? This is not exactly difficult.. more of a "just wondering" questions. I'm signing up in 2-3 weeks and am working out just fine.

Also, I don't really understand the term "pipeliner," ha, sorry, explain please?

quote:

Originally posted by GlobemasterFan:
Okay, here is my first question then. What airframes require loadmasters? I wouldn't mind being on the 130 but of course want the C-17, and have never liked the C-5 one bit, but if it happens it happens.

Second question then. I'm pretty sure I know this, but I'd rather be sure of more than know less. Does the loadmaster ride along with a specific plane(not like "C-130," I mean aircraft number "70025"), or do they follow certain cargo?

I also read somewhere on here that you must perform certain actions (specifically - lifting 90+ pounds over ones head) at the physical? This is not exactly difficult.. more of a "just wondering" questions. I'm signing up in 2-3 weeks and am working out just fine.

Also, I don't really understand the term "pipeliner," ha, sorry, explain please?

You will have to do a strength test at MEPS, what you can lift, will be included in your physical profile.

Pipeliner, means someone who came out of basic-then-techschool. If you don't know already, once you have been in a certain amount of time (depending on your enlistment of 4 or 6 years) you have the oppurtunity to crosstrain. Those individuals who crosstrain will then go to tech school again with airman straight out of basic. So thats why the other posters were saying "pipleners".

quote:

Originally posted by GlobemasterFan:
Okay, here is my first question then. What airframes require loadmasters? I wouldn't mind being on the 130 but of course want the C-17, and have never liked the C-5 one bit, but if it happens it happens.

Second question then. I'm pretty sure I know this, but I'd rather be sure of more than know less. Does the loadmaster ride along with a specific plane(not like "C-130," I mean aircraft number "70025"), or do they follow certain cargo?

I also read somewhere on here that you must perform certain actions (specifically - lifting 90+ pounds over ones head) at the physical? This is not exactly difficult.. more of a "just wondering" questions. I'm signing up in 2-3 weeks and am working out just fine.

Also, I don't really understand the term "pipeliner," ha, sorry, explain please?

Those are the three airframes that require loads.

C-5 is a long shot. I have a few friends on one and they are shipping them over to 130s and 17s.

As far as the specific plane is concerned... no(C-17 at least). Same goes as crew, they mix it up all of the time. Now, when you are deployed(again, 17s, 5s don't deploy) you will usually end up on a hard crew, same guys all the time.

Basically what happens is you get a call from the scheduler(God as far as an A1C is concerned) saying you're set up for a mission in 2-3 days... you Aircraft Commander is Capt. Jones and your flying w/ Sgt. Jones. Missions could be anywhere from 1 day to 14-17 days, sometimes longer, but usually never planned, or fragged, for longer. The day of the mission, an hour before showtime, you'll get a call saying you are alerted. You show up and call to find out about any cargo, what plane you are on, parking spot etc. Sometimes the plane/parking spot has already been found out for you. The crew arrives and you have a mission brief, i.e. how is everyone feeling, this is the plan, etc. For me, we usually don't have any cargo out of homestation, maybe a few space A passengers. We are usually flying somewhere to pick the cargo up. There will be bases where you land, go to the hotel, come back the next day and your plane will be loaded for you... other bases, you will load it yourself.

The other thing is, a lot of this varies squadron to squadron. There are some bases that will fly two A1Cs as the loadmasters, other bases want at least one SrA. The one piece of advice I will give you is stay in the books. Your first impression to your squadron will go a long way. You want to be known as someone who knows what they are doing. I promise you, you will get more opportunities to fly if that is the case. Secondly, when **** hits the fan on the road, which it will, you want to be able to look the Aircraft Commander in the eye and say "We can't do it this way." The loadmaster is king of the cargo compartment and the pilots aren't going to know otherwise. Don't let it get out that you don't have a clue and have the pilots second guessing you. This job is rare in the fact that you can tell a Colonel "No, I can't do that". But you had BETTER know what you are talking about. Loadmasters talk all the time about what pilots are good to fly with just as much as pilots talk about what loadmasters they like. A bad reputation is almost impossible to overcome. Again, stay in the books, fight complacency... you can never know too much. Aircrew is HUGE into Crew Resource Management. You will always be backing the pilots up on decisions they make. It's not necessarily second guessing them but always listening to them and helping them out. They can easily get task saturated and prepare to land without clearance, no gear down etc. After flying for a while, you'll know all of the tasks they need to preform and you'll know exactly how things should run. In flight, you don't really have many tasks so it's always good to help them out. As soon as they start discussing a rule/regulation I'm usually downstairs busting out the publication making sure they've got the rule down correct. Every good Aircraft Commander will let you know that you MUST voice your opinion if you think something is being done incorrectly. There are procedures in place to help you do so.

I have spent time in other squadrons in the Air Force but what I love about Aircrew is the crew mentality. "I'm just an A1C, what do I know" isn't going to fly(ha!). You are expected to be an expert on your job and contribute to the crew. There will be some laid back missions where you get some good time off(we usually always find an Irish Pub) and then there will be some times that kick your ass.

I know I rambled on but staying in the books is a pet peeve of mine. It drives me nuts when people don't take the time to study. You are going to get "flying evaluations" and your goal should be to give the evaluator one hell of a time stumping you... don't get me wrong, they always do though. I'll keep checking back and feel free to ask any other questions.

Okay, now I know for sure that if I get this job I will be happy. It shouldn't take me long to learn a lot about it because even when I'm bored now I read about aircraft and aviation news. I have half an hour logged in a Cessna(I know, not much) and more time in them and have countless hours in simulators so basically, I know a lot about aircraft, how they work, and the rules that go along with flying...I am still foggy as to how all the crew works and such(if you know what I mean..).

I'm also sure that if I get it I would have no problem studying about it because I'll like it. They don't expect you to be so "perfect" right out of training? Ha, I would hope that there would be time that they are more lenient. Either way, the training is quite long for this job though, right? I heard somewhere that it was about 7 months, but that seems very long too me(and I am probably wrong).

And I want to thank you for helping me out like this!!

I don't know what to ask right now but tomorrow I drop off my app. at the recruiter and I'll talk to him more.

Learning the job isn't hard. They teach at a very methodical pace. Even if someone is having a hard time, if they show the desire to learn, they will work to keep them in the course. If you show up with more desire to play xbox than learn, they will cut bait and leave you behind.

Ha, well than I should do great... ha, I don't really play games or anything of that nature but to further answer the point you were making, I never preoccupy myself with less important things. Also never have had problems with authority figures of any kind and do well in school, I think I'm ready. I am almost always reading about this stuff. ha. And some more info is that I'm signing up in less the two weeks finally! I really hope I get this job.

Alright, I'm in! Just waiting for a job and am hoping for loadmaster!!

Got my 2nd choice (1st before I knew I could be a loadmaster) with is aerospace maintenance as a crew chief. I read about it a lot and now am hoping to become a flying crew chief and all that stuff, anyone that has experience please share a little info!

Just curious what jet you got to be a Crew Chief on. I'm a crew Chief on the B-2 and waiting on time to cross train into loadmaster