Comments about USAFA

[BeachBum]

Guys from the Academy have UPT slots anywhere from a few weeks to a year from graduation. A lot of that depends on whether they have done IFT yet to get their FAA private pilot certificate. I know one guy who had his license before he came to the Academy that starts at Shepard within a month of graduation. Those that have the later dates are given time to finish IFT first, along with the free sixty days of graduation leave and some casual duty.

Maverick, I would strongly recommend the academy. But unless you are really motivated to do this, then you are probably too late. It doesn't sound like you applied for the class coming in this year, so the earliest you will graduate is 2008. That's a long ways off. Guys older than you have come to the Academy and done great, but I'm not sure I would make it in that situation. The Academy has a ton of great opportunities and will give you a much better chance at getting a pilot slot than the other commissioning sources, but it definitely comes at a price. Just something to think about.

 

[Falconjet]

USAFA?

Now, I didn't go to the Air Force Academy, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night so I feel as though I can shed some light on your question. Actually, I have been to the AFA a few times and it is a beautiful campus and area of the country. I graduated from a different service academy and I think the answer may depend on your finances. If you can afford to put yourself through college on your own I think you should do so. You could then go to OCS (or whatever the AF calls its officer candidate school) and hopefully get into flight training right after that. You would be flying for the AF at least 2 years sooner than if you went to AFA. Thats 2 more years of being a Captain at a major airline down the road (IF that is your ultimate goal) after a 20+ year career or the fullfillment of your service obligation. Either way its a more direct path and probably a much more fun way to actually experience college. (In no way should going to a service academy be compared with actually attending college! -for many reasons) If I had been aware of the different ways to obtain a commission and eventual flight orders in the various services there is no way I would have put up with 4 years of "life" at the academy to get where I eventually wanted to be. I just didn't know any better. The fact that you are pondering the options demonstrates that you are aware of some of the options out there that might make more sense, be more fun, and more direct path to your ultimate goal.

Best of luck! FJ

 

[HueyPilot]

USAFA casual status

I graduated OTS in March of 2000. I then got assigned to Air University at Maxwell AFB for casual status to do IFT. My UPT class date was in July of 2000. There was another casual Lieutenant who was doing IFT, who was also a USAFA grad. He had graduated in May of 1999, and his UPT class date was August of 2000! So his wait was about 15 months.

I ran into him later at Fairchild. I had attended SERE in November 2001, since they some how failed to get my a slot right after UPT graduation in July 2001. The USAFA grad I was talking about was in my RT (Resistance Training) class, and he had just graduated UPT a few weeks prior in October 2001. USAFA grads don't do the entire SERE course...they just go to RT since they get the survival portion done at the Academy.

Soooo...if you were to go to the Academy (and like one poster said, you haven't applied for the next year), you might not see UPT until 2009! And worse, you wouldn't be an operational USAF pilot until 2010! Yikes!

If you finished college in 2 years and got an OTS slot or got a UPT slot through ROTC, you could be an operational USAF pilot by 2006-2007 timeframe.

Now, if you've just got a bug up your pants and for whatever reason really really want to be a grad of the Zoo, go for it. But I think it won't pay off for you, in many ways.

 

[FastCargo]

The USAFA...

Maverick,

Having graduated from the zoo back in '90, and being a current SUPT instructor, here is my .02.

If you decide to do it now, it's going to be a LONG time before you see a weapon system, assuming of course you don't exceed the age limit. And as with everything else, timing is everything in terms of pilot slots, no matter which commissioning source you use.

The short of it is, I would try for ROTC or OTS. The USAFA is definitely an experience...but I don't know if it would be worth it having already done a significant amount of college.

That's all the advice I have...good luck in whatever you decide.

FastCargo