Getting Degree before going military?

[shutout390]

Helos would not be good for me. The thrill and the speed of jets is something that I have been passionate about for many years now. The pressure of having so little time to think and being so confident in your reactions and coordination simply awes me. Believe me, I'm a goalie in the great game of hockey, 95 mile an hour slapshots 10 yards away gives you roughly .004 seconds to react.....and i love all .004 seconds of it.

My biggest worry now is that I dont end up behind a desk (AF) or in a helo (NAVY). Im almost positive my motivation, physical abilities, and knowledge I have gained here can keep me out of those two. IF jets dont work out due to bad timing, I wouldnt kill myself over flying something else...

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Archie Bunker]

My biggest worry now is that I dont end up behind a desk (AF) or in a helo (NAVY). Im almost positive my motivation, physical abilities, and knowledge I have gained here can keep me out of those two. IF jets dont work out due to bad timing, I wouldnt kill myself over flying something else...

You might want to cross the Marine Corps off your list. You don't sound like a good fit to me. The Corps typically looks for candidates that want to become Officers of Marines, first and foremost. If flying grunts into combat with your CH-46 is something you don't want to "end up doing," (assuming that you ever made it that far in Naval Aviation) then the Marines are definitely not for you.

Right now you should be more concerned with getting accepted into a flight training program, then you should concern yourself with completing that program. It's always going to be the "needs of the service," and your flight grades (in that order) that determine what you fly. If you actually make it that far, you should be proud of your accomplishment, and happily accept whatever aircraft your branch of service has assigned you to fly.

Good luck in your quest to fly fighters.....sounds like the Air Guard might be your best bet to accomplish that.

Archie

 

[Mongoose69]

It depends (standard answer)

If you have your heart set on flying fighters, then I would say the AF is your best choice.

Just like str8upflyrght said, the Navy sometimes has an entire class where _nobody_ gets a fighter. Then they sometimes have classes where everyone does. So I would only consider the Navy only if you don't mind rolling the bones.

And Archie hit the nail on the cranium wrt the USMC. Ask any Marine in any position what his job is, and the first answer you will get is "A Marine". Those guys rock.

As far as UPT goes(and afaik, it is still called UPT. My neighbor who graduated UPT 6 months ago still calls it UPT) , the folks that graduate from the AF Academy have the greatest chance of getting a spot. The % varies from year to year, but I'm fairly certain that greater than 50% of (medically qualified) Academy grads get offered a UPT slot. (If any grad has more current info, please pipe up). I don't know what the current % is from ROTC/OTS, but I believe it something less than 25%.

HOWEVER, if you really have heartburn with flying a desk, then OTS should be your route of choice. If things are still the way they were when I was picked up (8 yrs ago). I applied for OTS with a pilot slot (UPT). I was told that I was accepted to OTS with a UPT slot, and that I was medically cleared, before I signed anything. I don't know if things are still this way, but if so, it sounds like what you're looking for.

Cheers,
Jason