Do Marine Corp NFOs or Pilots lead any enlisted men or women?

Question

I like the prospect of joining the Marines as an officer so I could be a leader ( a good one ), but alot of the Air Officer jobs are appealing to me. Let's say I got a PLC Air contract, would there be any Commisioned Officer Aviation jobs where I could lead enlisted Marines? Like the crew to some cargo plane or something?

Answer 1

No, not in the Marines.  All you will be is a combat fighter pilot.  You won't be in charge of anyone if you are a pilot delivering cargo, there are NCOs and SNCOs for that.  And usually the Navy will transport anything in planes for logistics, Marines in Logistics will be using the Navy ships anyways, cannot transport a whole Battalion Landing Team in 6-hour notice by using aircrafts.  Not efficient enough.  And C-130 isreserved mostly for Air Delivery to drop equipment and mail out with parachutes or for Marine parachutists that require lengthly insert way behind enemy lines because of fuel capacity.  Marines mainly fly helicoptors and F/A jets.

And you will be never be in command of a platoon or any ground troops unless you lateral move or got shot down and crash landed into a Platoon Commander in the battlefield killing him, then assume command at that given point.

Answer 2

Marine Pilots don't necessarily lead enlisted Marines right away. You will work with air crews and the maintenance personnel but you won't necessarily be in their chain of command. Once you become a commander, which can take a while depending on your abilities, you will begin to become the leader of enlisted Marines. But if you plan on becoming an officer and have aspirations to command Marines, always remember that the rank doesn't make you a good leader. How you treat your subordinates is the true measure of your leadership abilities... care about your Marines.

Answer 3

All pilot squadrons have Commanders who lead both the fellow officers as well as the Enlisted troops but this normally occures toward the end of a pilots flight career or after they leave flight status completely. I have seen a lot of USAF Squadrons who have LtC commanders.

Answer 4

Pilots and NFOs mainly concentrate on their trait, flying!  Its a job all in itself.  You may have a crew that works for you on a C-130 but that bond is there because they travel with you long distances.

However, both have collateral duties.  These duties sometimes allow them to lead Marines.  It is in a much smaller capacity than your peers in other MOSs though (such as infantry and having a platoon of 20 to 40 Marines under you).

As you become more senior, you will be leading more.  However, it wont start out that way on the Pilot side of the house.