age waiver

[teach2fly]

How hard is it to get an age waiver in the USAF for active duty, reserve or national guard?...I'm 29 years old and turning 30 next october...and no prior military experience...thanks

 

[BeetleJuice]

Start running

You still have time to put your application in. That is, if you have your degree in hand. It can take several months to put an active duty application together, but it is still doable. For the Guard or Reserves, the same age requirements apply, but the application is quite a bit lengthier. Don't hold back on applying to them, but I would concentrate on active duty. I know of many guys in the Guard and Reserve who were sitting on a slot for 2 to 3 years, waiting for a school date. I also have met a few individuals who were slipped quickly into a slot because they were close to the max age. However (depending on how much they need pilots at a particular unit), age waivers and quick processees are reserved for people who have been in the unit for a while, or for a big-wig's kid.

Besides, when you have your AD app pkg together, it is basically the same info you will be sending the Guard and Reserve units, just make sure to customize your cover letter. The biggest single issue I must emphasize is to get into high gear putting your app pkg together, and NEVER accept the line "It's on such and such desk's, we need to wait to get it back". Your application can easily flounder for 2 years, and is more likely to get lost. Give the recruiters their due patience, the military is, after all, a govt. bureaucracy, but the only way to get it thru is to 'walk it' thru the process. Most people who have gone through OCS know what I am referring to. ROTC and Academy grads don't deal with such crap (as much).

Part II. If you do not have a 4 year degree, or darn near close to it...

I wouldn't hold your breath hoping for a waiver in the future. However, all hope is not lost. The Army is always taking qualified applicants for their Warrant Officer program. On the Guard side, I have never even heard of an Army Guard unit sending someone who was not prior service to flight school. The Army Reserves will, but very rarely. So active duty may be a viable option.

Yeah, the Army sucks, especially as compared to the AF and Navy (Hence why I switched), but the flying is great. Besides, with your qualifications, you should be able to get yourself into a fixed wing slot eventually if you play your cards right. The Army has a number of VIP planes such as Citations, King Airs, and such. And from a few friends flying fw in the Army, it is a relaxed, corporate setting (relatively speaking), no field trips or other such BS. Flight school is in Helicopters, and you will need to work to transfer over. They haven't held fixed wing flight school for decades. Good thing is that they don't have the attrition rate that the AF UPT does. If you don't make it through, it's probably because you really can't fly. In UPT the process seems to be more vicious.

Anyway, don't let anyone tell you it can't be done. It's doable, but you must get moving, big-time. Don't get disillusioned with the pain in the Butt process, it's well worth it.

Good Luck

 

[teach2fly]

thanks a lot..