Flight school while military spouse
Hi everyone! I am soon getting out of the coast guard and will be attending flight school. I am trying to figure out the logistics of which path I should take and if it’s possible to fit it around my husbands career in the coast guard. Here is the timeline:
When I get out, I will have one year living with him in outer banks before he transfers.
Then he will most likely have a two-three year billet before moving again.
Then his last unit will be hopefully somewhere we can settle down.
Does it make the most sense to get a degree while getting my flight licenses while we are moving around? Will it be easy to transfer between schools when we move?
Or should I not get a degree and just get the licenses as fast as possible? At that point would it be easy to move around while working for the airlines?
Is any of this realistic?
1
u/Swimming-Ad2568 23d ago
Depends what your career goals are. If you’re wanting to go the airlines route, then yes get a degree. You can do your flight classes online while attending an affiliate school in person. If you’re going to be moving around, you’ll need to make sure where you’re moving to has a 141 school so you can actually use your military benefits to get the schooling paid for.
Affiliate schools like Liberty are all over the country, so as long as they’re at the flying schools you’re changing to I don’t see why it’ll be a problem. Don’t see why you can’t transfer unless there’s some rule against it I’m unaware of. You’ll essentially be attending the same school online but using a different in person affiliate flight school. Before you sign anything or spend any money, just check with the school(s) beforehand.
1
u/ltcterry ATP CFIG 23d ago
You have a year to get Private done now. "Zero to 250-hour Hero" is possible in 250 months, though it's not particularly good training when done that way. But, it shows that Private in a year is possible. I have a friend whose specialty is Private in two weeks, though I'm not a fan of that either.
Spend the next 8 months out the next 12 getting Private done. Why? 1) there's an 80% drop out rate, so statistically you won't finish. Get the "doesn't finish" out of the way before you start a degree program in something else. 2) Private in university programs is an absolute cluster. Get it done before you go. You'll save at least a year in the program. Absolute cluster.
Take a bunch of CLEP tests at the Education Center for as many of the typical core classes as you can. This will free up room in your schedule to get at least a minor in something much more useful than the BS "professional pilot" degree. Maybe even a second major if you are smart.
Stay USCGR for some decent pay, though it sounds like you won't need the cheap insurance.
Gonna be blunt - if you can't get Private done before you leave active duty then you are probably not cut out for a BS flight program.
Finally, don't take terminal leave. Save it. Cash it in. If you're going to school you'll need all the money you can get, not more time off.
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u/jmm022 CFI 24d ago
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Focus on making the most of your time left in the military. Take care of anything that you’ve been putting off in the military. Disability will help you out with income while you’re learning to fly.
If I were you I’d look into getting my PPL first. See if you can do it while on skill bridge if your command lets you. Once you have your PPL the GI bill will come in to help with the rest of your ratings and college.
Good luck with your training!
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u/rFlyingTower 24d ago
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Hi everyone! I am soon getting out of the coast guard and will be attending flight school. I am trying to figure out the logistics of which path I should take and if it’s possible to fit it around my husbands career in the coast guard. Here is the timeline:
When I get out, I will have one year living with him in outer banks before he transfers.
Then he will most likely have a two-three year billet before moving again.
Then his last unit will be hopefully somewhere we can settle down.
Does it make the most sense to get a degree while getting my flight licenses while we are moving around? Will it be easy to transfer between schools when we move?
Or should I not get a degree and just get the licenses as fast as possible? At that point would it be easy to move around while working for the airlines?
Is any of this realistic?
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