Question on Officers in Aus Army

[Brycec]

Alright, you've successfully tweaked my interest.
But coming away from these forums I always feel enthusiastic, excited and above all, confused.

So if I understand correctly, if I do moderately well in school, in Victorian terms, 80+ on my VCE, ie, B+ average. And if I handle myself well in the interviews you think I have a shot at being a pilot? Particularly a rotary wing pilot. Because up until this point I thought you needed to be a brain surgeon to make the cut.

 

[phreeky]

Back when I did the aptitude tests for pilot entry I found they asked a LOT of mathematical questions, specifically the type related to a pilot (i.e. plane 1 on route A at speed X, plane 2 on route B at speed Y, how long till they are Z km from each other). That was quite a while ago now, 8 years or so (actually I first went through a computer-based aptitude test, then got a call 2 weeks later because they scrapped that test - apparently the british used it - and went back to hand written tests etc because it wasn't working out so well).

Anyway I never made it because my colour blindness was too severe, sh*t happens. Most annoying part was looking down the list of possible jobs for those with my level of colour blindness - more or less just Dentist and Chaplin!

 

[lilkev8504]

I'm not sure what a VCE is, cause I'm from Queensland, but that is effectively what I'm trying to say. I'm sure they'd love to have a B+ student, you dont need to be a brainwiz. I was one of those people who probably could of done a lot better at school, but didnt.

You just need to know the stuff that your Maths teachers taught you at school, in particular Trigonomtry and Velocity/Gravity Physics equations. These kinds of Maths questions were a lot harder for people like myself because I hadn't done that stuff in 5 years. If I had done the testing fresh out of school, I could have probably even ace'd it - but wasn't the case. As long as you know your equations and how to use them, even a C student could blitz the aptitude stuff.

According to my recruiting officers at the time I blitzed all the aptitude and testing, though I can assure you, it didn't feel like I did at the time as I didn't even finish all the questions within the required time for most of the tests (but I think the tests are purposely designed this way).

A lot of things in the real world aren't NEARLY as hard as what you'll ever encounter at school - likewise though, you have a hard time remembering it all. This kindda brings me back to the philosophy that I heard used throughout the military a lot: 'Train Hard, Fight Easy'.

Be casual, relax, dont be a loudmouth, and be enthusiastic about it all. As long as you can show the required aptitude (which ISNT hard if you revise) the rest will come naturally. Just an extra note too if you're going to apply to be a pilot - there are also some extra fitness requirements. When I went through, it was required that Military Situps be done unanchored, and we had to hold a Flexed Arm Hang for a certain amount of time depending on our age (Which is holding a chinup position for like 30 seconds or somthing).

 

[phreeky]

I'm not sure what a VCE is, cause I'm from Queensland, but that is effectively what I'm trying to say. I'm sure they'd love to have a B+ student, you dont need to be a brainwiz. I was one of those people who probably could of done a lot better at school, but didnt.

I obviously didn't make it far compared to you........but (being from QLD also) I was an OP8 student, but with my more impressive marks in physics/maths etc (and still could have done much better), and the recruiting officers never seemed concerned about those marks.

Go speak to a recruiting officer about anything you are concerned about and don't understand though, that's what they're there for. They're kept up to date on anything you're likely to want to know about.

Mod edit: Any further discussion about this topic can take place in the GSO officer thread.

Trying to rationalise the number of threads discussing the same stuff...

Cheers

AD.