Faze

As far as age, you have no problem there. As of last summer the AF required you to start before 30, the Army is up to 33. I have a friend who just graduated on the Pavehawk last winter with the AF, another who started training with the Navy in June, and I'm currently at Ft Rucker in the early stages of training with the Army (I'm tracking UH-60's).

I always wanted to fly F-16s since I was a crew chief on them for years, but alas, I am too old to qualify for the AF, and I wasn't getting any love for the waivers. Down here we say that "the best part about being a fighter pilot is saying you're a fighter pilot." If you really want to fly, come fly rotary wing.

Really, if you truly want to fly, who cares what branch. Start the process with them all. You might get passed over by two of them and picked up by the next one. Contact officer recruiters for AF, Navy, and Marines. As far as Army goes, your best bet is to research the "street to seat" opportunities as a Warrant Officer. Warrants can be selected directly into aviation with a guarantee, and Warrants get to spend their whole career flying with little to no other responsibility.

It doesn't hurt to start getting some flight training while you're waiting.

91RS383

I was an Air Force officer and went to Navy flight school in PenSUCKola. Flight school is no joke. I've never studied harder or partied more than when I was in flight school. I was #2 in my class and had my F15 spot secured when I was flying low level and practicing aerobatics one day. My legs fell asleep and I couldnt steer the plane. Turns out I herniated a disk in my back in water survival. Earned a set of desk wings as a finance officer after that.

As a marine you will go to OCS then head to Quantico, VA before going to Pensacola. All Marine officers are infantry officers first, then aviators. As a Naval officer you will go to OCS in Pensacola then stay there for flight school. The first school is API (aviation Preflight Indoctrination) 6 weeks of firehose training that weeds out about 80% of the people who can't hack it for the entire training program. Then Primary T-6 training where the next 15% of attritions happen. Most of those are people who either find out that they get airsick everytime they fly small planes or can't handle the task overload of military flying.

Air force flight school is 12 hour a day job. In Naval Aviator training you are on your own time. Go to class when you are scheduled, be at the sims on time, be ready to brief when your scheduled, and stay home when your free. There were days when I did nothing but study in my BOQ room for 3-4 days in a row.

LT Malice

iTrader: (3)

Great summary of flight school. I just have a couple changes that you need to understand. Pensacola is, in fact, AWSOME, as long as you go to the right bars. Pensacola is especially cool, if you come from a crappy hometown like I did.

Secondly, flight school is extremely hard.....if you're in VT-3. If your a shooter or a D-bird, flight school is rock n' roll.

Sorry about your back injury. That really sucks. The first thing I learned in API was: NEVER TALK TO THE FLIGHT DOC UNTIL YOU HAVE YOUR WINGS!

91RS383

Agreed, but when you're on final approach and you think you're full right rudder, but still drifting left, you have to make consessions.

LT Malice

iTrader: (3)

Oh, wow. That really sucks. That must have been scary.

If it makes you feel better, you were on track to fly my dream airplane. I freakin' love F-15C's. I'm gonna try to get an exchange tour to fly them later on, but I prolly won't have a chance. Eagles are alot more badass than Harriers.

UnZFeat'd

iTrader: (1)

the age limit is 30??? damn, wonder where i heard it was only 26... i think it was when i went to the navy recruiter up here in chico

CALL911

iTrader: (17)

Age changes (sometimes often). The current requirement for USAF pilot is to have started UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) prior to your 30th birthday. (My 30th birthday happened about a week and a half after my UPT start date).

If you want a bomber, the Navy, Marines, and Army don't have any (in fact the army pretty much doesn't have anything other than helicopters). Just the Air Force. As far as fighter spots go, you're coming in at a terrible time I'm afraid. Most classes get split up with 75% of the class getting to go T-1's (for heavies), about 20% going T-38's (for fighers/bombers), and then the other 5% going to helo's.

Out off the 20% who get T-38's (which is all based upon how good you are compared to your peers in class), there usually ends up only 1 person actually getting a fighter. Maybe the 2nd best graduate will get a bomber. The rest get split up between being forced to fly heavies anyway, getting a UAV, or staying behind and becoming a FAIP (first assignment instructor pilot, meaning you stay at the base and fly the trainers to new students). Keep in mind that the Air Force selects about 10 pilots for every 600 that they interview for to begin with. This not only makes the competition extreme, but if you are lucky enough to get in, your peers are some of the sharpest individuals available. Out off all of them, plan on being #1 and if there is a fighter spot available, you just might get it.

Now, this is being told not to intimidate you, but to let you know your odds from the beggining. When I first applied, I had very high AFOQT scores, I already had a 4.0 in college including being on the deans list, I already had a good service background as an enlisted flight member, had passed the rigourous flight physical (which snags many applicants), had a perfect criminal record, and had a good credit record (both of these can be show stoppers as well), as well as a letter of reccomendation by a General I flew combat sorties with in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. And I didn't get in my first application. I did make it my second application though.

This is all for the Air Force. However the competition to get in for the Navy and Marines are quite similar. Once you are in, the actual pilot training is much easier compared to the Air Force pilot training, but getting there should be of almost equal difficulty.

If this is really what you want, and want it bad enough to go all out, and can meet all the requirements to get in (if you have your degree, and your in your early-mid 20's you're fine) then there's absolutely no reason not to try. I know it was a dream of mine since I was a little kid. I wanted it more than I've ever wanted anything else in my life. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity. There are few that are even given that. But to those that dream of it, it is foolish not to try.

P Mack

iTrader: (6)

How did you have an F-15 spot secured before you got to 38s?

91RS383

When I was in P-cola 8 years ago the environment was different for the Air Force. All Air Force students were on a strike track. (F-15C, B-52, and AC-130: that's all that was available.) UAV was a dirty word and the concept was still a little futuristic. One day the Air Force students were brought into a classroom and we learned the allocations for our class number. We had 5 AF students in my class and the numbers were 2 F-15C, 1 AC-130, 2 B-52. #1 in my class was a Marine, he didn't count, so I got first choice and for what ever reason the other AF students were fighting over the B-52 spots.

UnZFeat'd

iTrader: (1)

so how many people are typically in each class? do the AF, marines, navy and army all have lfight school together? like you can be in the same class as some guy thats in the army? so... technically... if im in a class with a bunch of marine and army guys, and theres a fighter position available... i would be the only one capable of getting it, right?

CALL911

iTrader: (17)

There are only 2 bases I know for the Air Force that share pilot training with other branches. One of them is for an fighter/bomber only track from the beggining (best of the best get this opportunity). Usually that base is not only of US pilot training, but they (like many other bases) train a lot of foreign pilots as well. The other regular joint pilot training base is in Pensacola. I thought it was just shared with Navy and Air Force (could be Marines as well). The only time the Army will train with the Air Force is in Ft. Rucker. That would be the few Air Force graduates from the T-6 that got a Helocopter spot and would continue helicopter training with the Army there (as in the Army doesn't fly planes).

If you do end up in Pensacola, don't worry about the spots being taken from another branch. It doesn't work that way. Each class graduate will fill out a "dream sheet" of what they want to fly and where it is stationed. Then they take the best in the class and continue down the rest of the class in order of your class ranking and give out what is on your dream sheet to what is available in your specific branch. If the Navy has a fighter spot and the Air Force doesn't, as an Air Force graduate, you obviously aren't going to get the Navy fighter. You may be top in your class and want to fly fighters, and all that is available is a B-52, and thats what you get.

This is all assuming you get a T-38 spot in the first place. Most graduates from the T-6's end up getting T-1's, and then you will not get the chance to fly fighters or bombers, as the T-1 track is only for heavies.

UnZFeat'd

iTrader: (1)

oh i gotcha, but EVERYBODY starts out with a t-6 then, right?

CALL911

iTrader: (17)

For all USN, USMC, and USAF pilots, yes. Technically before that almost everyone has to first go to IFS and fly the DA-20 which is a pre-weed out pilot course in Pueblo Colorado (at least USAF wise). Then its on to your pilot training base to fly the T-6, then off to the previously mentioned airframes.

Faze

Might want to check your information a little better. The Army does have fixed wing assets, just not fighters/bombers. You are correct about the AF training at Ft Rucker. They go through initial rotary wing training there.

unZ- The thing to remember is that no matter what active component you choose, you will not be able to guarantee what aircraft you fly. You will study your butt off and compete for your ranking on the OML (Order of Merit List) to get 1st choice at aircraft selection time. Being #1 doesn't mean you get any aircraft you want, just that you choose first from the slots available at the time.

The only way to guarantee an aircraft is with the Guard, and possibly the Reserves. With the Air National Guard, or the Army National Guard, you are applying for a flight spot within a specific unit; such as the 148th FW in Duluth, MN who Fly F-16s, or the TX Army NG in Houston who fly Apaches. When selected and commissioned by one of these units, you will be trained to fly their aircraft. (This is the best kept secret to flying!)

UnZFeat'd

iTrader: (1)

The 148th? Do they ever go on any missions? Basically, are they actually used?

Faze

ABSOLUTELY! The 148th is a very well respected fighter unit. While I won't post their stateside mission here, they have repeatedly deployed to Iraq, along with multiple short-notice deployments both stateside and abroad. Plus: I heard that they are about to upgrade to a newer model F-16 (you might still find the article on the Duluth newspaper website).

This is not to say that they are the only ones to consider. If you want fighters, do not overlook the guard.

What state are you from? Recently some of the F-16 units have been changing to A-10s, while others have gone to UAVs. I would start by looking at your home state.

JUICED96Z

iTrader: (2)

Yes the 148th is a well respected 16 unit and if I remember right only one of a few cold weather fighter units in country ( mean COLD COLD).

Sadly some units are loosing their jets all together like the 181st did..... they were also impressive.

The Guard fighter pilots are all really layed back....... I have met many of them and all of them would gladly give you the shirt off their back. A lot of them are also airline pilots during the week.

Once one of them came to the school I went to for aicraft maintenance in his jet and. I reminded him about what my dad and his buddies did for him and his buddies to help them out during their OIF deployment and asked if he could do something special when he leaves and he smiled and said he would see what he could do. The Crew Chiefs let me stand about 10 feet away during launch and then when he left he did a max effort left bank just after rotation and continued around the tower to get back over us, then pulled into a max effort/G climb with burner just past us The Guard guys are all good people .

CALL911

iTrader: (17)

Ehh, check my earlier post. If you know how many actual fixed wing planes the Army has, then you would get the just of the fact they primarily have Helo's (very very few fixed winged airframes). But you are correct.

Guard and Reserves are the only way to go to know you have a specific spot. And, they deploy and go on operational sorties just like Active Duty does.

A few things to keep in mind about going Guard or Reserves though is what kind of spot you are looking for. Some units cannot garuntee you more flying time other than your minimum requirement (1 weekend a month). This is fine as a part time gig, however if you are looking for something to pay the bills and have health insurance, it doesn't always work out.

Some units are busy enough you can work more than that, but I know of more than a few that do not offer much more past the minimum.

Also, the competition is often more competitive for these Reserve and Guard spots (especially if they are sweet airframes at a good base). A good buddy of mine was lucky enough to get selected into the Reserves at Barksdale flying A-10's. The unit is currently stepping up from a training unit to an active unit, and they hired about 17 new pilots. There were over 900 applicants...

The 122nd Fighter Wing back where I am from recently had 1 pilot spot open (currently an F-16 unit getting ready to swap to A-10's). For that one spot they had over 500 applicants. Some of which were prior fully qualified active duty F-16 instructors.

You can imagine the competition to some of these sweet deals when you are a guy off the street vs an instructor pilot who already flew the airframe during the war.

Now, some other spots are a bit easier to get, such as C-130 Reserve spots, or KC-135 Guard spots.

UnZFeat'd

iTrader: (1)

im from california... i dont really care where i go, though. ill move to whatever state will give me what i want. even utah...

Faze

Since you are flexible on where you go, I would start studying for the ASVAB and each branch's officer/aviation test. I don't recall if you said that you had taken any of them yet, but if not, start with the ASVAB. There are study guides available at Barnes and Noble, or other bookstores, that can help. The Army looks at the "GT" score, and requires a 110 in order to take their aviation test (the AFAST). The Air Force requires the AFOQT, and I don't remember the Navy or Naval Infantry test.

Once you have started preparing for the tests, you should also begin researching units. Find out when they hold their aviation boards, what they expect in a packet, or how they announce the board (some tell you what goes into the packet when the board is announced).

Work multiple avenues at once. I know a few people who had packages going with different units and branches of service at the same time (Air Guard, active Navy, etc). Its better to turn one down if you get multiple offers than to wait another year because you were counting on a single board to pick you.

Adding civilian flight ratings helps too. I know of boards where that ended up being the deciding factor.