The exception is the Army, where the fleet consists mainly of helicopters rather than fixed-wing aircraft. Becoming a helicopter pilot in the Army does not require higher education or prior enlistment.
“We have a program called ‘High School to Flight School’,” said Lisa Eichhorn, a spokeswoman at Fort Rucker in Alabama, where the Army trains its pilot recruits. The program allows high school graduates to apply to become warrant officers, a rank necessary to attend Army Aviation School.
To get into that fast-track program, you must write an essay, get letters of recommendation and meet the same requirements as every other Army flight school candidate.
Here they are, step by step.
