USMC Reserve Pilot

[Guest topdeadcenter]

Hello,

I have been looking into earning a commision in the Marine corps. My question is, are there pilots in the USMC Reserves? if so, is it only from AD after an extended period of time or whats the deal?

thanks

Edited August 22, 2011 by topdeadcenter

[Saluki]

Yes, the Marines have a Reseve Component.

Rotor wing and Fixed Wing assets. I know of 2 AH/UH1 Reserve units, and I believe there are 2 Hornet units however I'm not as confident about the Hornets. There is a F5 Reserve unit at MCAS Yuma, but I believe it's for WTI (Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course) graduate only. As for AV8's, Prowler's, and C130's, unknown for Reserve units. As an AF dude, the above are based solely on WOM's I've heard over the years.

My understanding from Marine dudes are that they are difficult to get into and they typically take dudes coming off Active Duty as for their hires.

Hope this gives a least 6.9% insight.

[PapaJu]

Yes, they have reserve units but you have to have served as an active duty pilot first. Maybe you should make another pass at Airwarriors and use the search function this time. Obviously that didn't factor into your "exponential amount of research."

Edited September 5, 2010 by PapaJu

[BFM this]

30" google search.

The only pointy-nosed 4thMAW (USMCR) squadron left.

As of 7 years ago, when I left USMCR, the only way into the pilots seat was through AD.

[BFM this]

Caveman,

If you don't mind, this seemed like a discussion relevant to this thread, and might draw other viewpoints, so I brought it here.

I'd have to disagree on Marine TacAir going by the wayside. Like everwhere else, it is getting more high-end, expensive, and therefore less numerous, but Marine doctrine cannot be supported without organic air. Still plenty to go around, like the list of active squadrons illustrates. I just spent three weeks in Yuma where you couldn't swing a dead cat without FOD'ing out three Harriers.

4thMAW serves the same function as any reserve component; to preserve assets, trained personnel, and pilots at a fraction of the cost of thier AD counterparts (number I heard from a high level civilian was 1/8 the cost). Quantico decided to ax two of their former part-time Hornet sq's in the past ten years. Why? Ostensibly to fund more F-35's (like we had that game cornered or something). The logic isn't all that cosmic: the jets in those squadrons were F-18A's, unable to pitch into the current fight without expensive upgrades, which are a tough sell on old airframes. What USMCR really lost was a sizeable cadre of pilots. I can only guess that the planners looked downrange and saw a diminished number requirement needed to support fewer airframes that will be on the ramp in the case of the F-35.

One additional thought that I'd had was that the bulk of the USMC pilot pool (to support FAC, AirOff, and staff billets) wasn't from jets, but from RW. So as the numbers shrink from a lot of CH-46's to a lesser number of MV-22's, I imagine a manning problem for tradtional MEU and other functions tradtionaly supported by x-number of pilots from the fleet.

[JarheadBoom]

So as the numbers shrink from a lot of CH-46's to a lesser number of MV-22's, I imagine a manning problem for tradtional MEU and other functions tradtionaly supported by x-number of pilots from the fleet.

It won't be a "problem" in the traditional sense - some folks who wouldn't normally have been given a MEU staff job will get one, the folks who show aptitude will get dual-hatted, and the really sharp folks might even get triple-hatted. Marine Corps problem-solving logic at it's finest...