Any way for Marine pilots to serve Marine Special Operations?

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DC1220

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Currently, i'm in college and i'm getting ready to commission in about three years or so. I've been contemplating this question for a while and i feel like it's time i finally ask. Is there a way for Marine Pilots to serve in Marine Special Operations. If not, Hopefully the Marine Corps will create some unit where they utilize Ospreys in Special operation missions in the future ( Who knows what will happen in the future) . This question is just out of curiosity and research. I'm still doing research on becoming a pilot for the Marine Corps.

If anyone has any info please let me know, all is appreciated.

Thanks
 
I got some input in my intro and i want to thank those who posted on my intro on your advice
 
Currently no. There was some talk, but you can find all of this on the Web. Go rotary wing and roll the dice. Otherwise you're looking at the S-3 Air, an aviator doing a ground tour who sets up CAS, airlift....anything aircraft related. I'd be surprised if the Corps took existing aviation assets and chopped those to MARSOC, but anything could happen.

The Navy has two squadrons of SH-60's and we have a recent thread or two on them.

I spent a year in NROTC over 20 years ago. One thing that I doubt has changed: those guys were rabid about being Marine officers first, aviators second.
 
thanks for the reply, you're definitely right about that how marines are first and foremost marines, i mean i've done alot of research so far on the Marine Corps and there is probably so much more i need to cover( most of it i'll learn in the corps) but once i heard of positions where pilots can even serve with MARSOC as Forward Air Controllers, but i never found any information on how to become one, or any details on whether this is possible or any other options Marine pilots can do with MARSOC or other branches of Marine Corps Special Ops.
 
I also heard of the plans about MARSOC Aviation when Clark was still commander of MARSOC( ironic how he was an aviator yet didnt push for it, but money always has a sense of humor) Even With Amos as Commandant who was also a marine Aviator, im just surprised it never happened.
 
I'm just going to throw this out there...

You are in college AND you are looking at possibly going into aviation, yet you can't adhere to proper sentence structure? Details are key in both worlds.

Good luck.
 
I'm sorry about that. I type pretty fast, so i'll try to type slower so i wont make anymore grammatical mistakes
 
There are no plans to create a MARSOC aviation component. Keep in mind that the Marine Corps is pretty small. We really can't afford to chop over that structure to MARSOC right now, especially with all the personnel cuts we just got through.
 
All the MSOBs do have forward air controllers though and it is possible to be an aviator attached to a company and pushed down to a team to call for air. That's a crap shoot with the monitor (career field manager) though.
 
Forward Air Controller for an MSOB looks like my best path toward Special Operations in the Marines after a couple of years of flying. I'll probably figure out how to become one when I get into the Corps. I understand that Special Operations mainly use the 160th SOAR for their aviation unit in missions, but most of those pilots are CWOs in the Army. I've also heard that MARSOC and RECON will use aircraft provided by the MEUs for some of their missions. Maybe there is a way for Marine Pilots to fly for 160th SOAR, but I don't know anything about that or if that's even possible.

@Teufel like you said, the Marines are cutting pretty hard with money. We'll just have to wait and see what happens in the future.

If anyone else has any more information on Forward Air Controllers for a MSOB ,other opportunities a Marine Pilot can do to serve in Special Operations, or even on the subject of Marine pilots and SOAR, please reply, all replies are appreciated.

Thanks
 
If your overarching desire is to be SOF, why don't you become an Infantry officer and then attempt to become a MARSOC officer down the road? Why the pilot route?
 
I have met some guys (senior officers) who have flown for the 160th. Well they were over there. I don't know if they were flying or in the S-3 shop. We used to have an officer at the 75th Ranger Regiment S-3 shop once upon a time. I don't know if we do anymore or not. Both positions were LNO billets.

An MSOB FAC is not a special operator. He is a battalion air officer. He helps train all the team level Raider JTACs. It's also a highly sought after billet obviously. Putting your money on becoming a MARSOC FAC is like putting your money on going to NASA space camp and hoping to graduate as an astronaut.
 
I've always wanted to be a pilot. Right now I'm just exploring other options that I can do in the Marine Corps as a Pilot
 
Thanks for clarifying, i always thought those FAC guys with MARSOC were Special Operators, If only there was a way for pilots of branches other than the Army to have the ability to fly for 160th SOAR, maybe there is...also can you elaborate on what an S-3 shop is.

Thanks guys
 
Hold on a second.

You are a freshman or sophomore in college? Are you also in an NROTC/ ROTC/ AFROTC program?

You want us to tell you what an S-3 shop is? I'm guessing you aren't in any form of ROTC, thus....you don't even know if you'll be selected for OCS. If you are in ROTC and don't know what the S-3 is, your military professors have failed you. Utterly.

Have you even done any research on this topic? Before you say "Yes" then you clearly didn't Google s-3 shop Marine Corps because if you had then you be ovewhelmed with information. You could also answer your own question about special operations aviation through Google, because the existence of those units is not classified.
 
Yes I know what an s-3 is. No I'm not in NROTC.. I'm currently in a community College and my school does not have any NROTC so I'm working on a transfer...I spent four years in JROTC so I clearly know what an s-3 is, it's an operations officer...I was confused because I've never heard it put in that term...I have conducted three years of research in this topic... and I have googled special operations aviation...I just said it was the 160th SOAR..I'm sorry if I made it sound like I didn't know what I was talking about
 
@DC1220 Look, you have term goals and I understand that. We need those both as motivation and to keep us on track. The problem right now is that I don't think you understand the path and your knowledge of the "end game" is limited. In other words, you're planning a trip and making it up as you go along.

Think of it like this: would you drive from CA to FL without gassing up your car, checking the tires, planning rest stops, gas stops, etc.? Your plan in FL is "go to the beach" but that's kind of vague, right?

That's what we see in your posts above because that's what you're communicating.

As my friend SOWT just asked, do you want to be a Marine Officer or a Special Operations Aviator? Answer that and reverse plan. Let's say the answer is "Marine Officer." Got it, check, roger, are you qualified for a commission? If so, how do you earn a commission? Answer that and then move on to the process which places you in a position to earn your commission. Topics like degrees, GPA, extracurricular activites, physical fitness, etc. Problem solve and fill in the gaps. Once you have those gaps THEN you can worry about asking questions, if you need to, because now you'll have a foundation of knowledge. Otherwise, you just pulled into a rest stop in Arizona and asked us if there are any good places to eat in Mississippi.
 

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