Training the Best

Well looks like I'm going to be a helicopter pilot! I know that everyone was under the impression that jets were my one and only dream, and as recently as six months ago I posted it in my blog myself, but I've learned a lot in the interim.

Jets are sexy and fast and sound cool when you tell a girl at the bar that you are a jet pilot, but they are a lot of work. And you don’t get to fly that much. I am not trying to say that I wouldn't take a spot in jet school if it was offered to me right now, I'm just saying that I'm not crushed that I am not going to fly jets.

I've come to realize the kinds of people in the jet community are not necessarily my kind of people either. All the marine jet pilots I have met have been pretty much assholes and they constantly talk about how competitive the community is. And a lot of the students that I know who have gone on to be jet pilots are assholes too. A lot of people who are more concerned about themselves than anyone else. I'm not sure I want to be a part of that. I love flying, and I love the Marine Corps, but there is a lot more to my life than work. I really think I'm going to be happier day to day in a helicopter squadron.

The other part of the equation is that helicopter pilots are a much more integrated part of the Marine Corps than jet pilots. Yes, jets are a valuable combat asset and they bring a lot of firepower to the battlefield, but if you ask any infantry officer they would rather have a section of Cobras on station over a section of Hornets any day. Hornets don't have the gas to hang around and, as my friend Genetti said, by the time the guys on the ground know they are there, they have run out of gas and have to go home.

So the bottom line is this. Yes, jets were my goal here and I fell short of that. But I don't want to hear anyone say "oh, I'm sorry." I'm not. I am happy becoming a helicopter pilot and I'm looking forward to learning to fly something that physics says can not fly.

// posted by Josh @ 8/24/2006 03:34:00 PM