grad school & AFROTC

[macatstarr]

I am about to graduate from college with my B.S. degree in aviation managment. I am prior enlisted flight crew and have about 80 hours as a PPL I have always considered military aviation as a viable career. I am also in a situation where i have the opportunity to go to grad school for free. I know it would be in my best interest to finish my MBA, but my first goal is to fly, preferably for the A/F. I have read that rotc is an excellent way to get a flight slot. If i go to grad school i would like to do the 2 year rotc program in conjunction with my masters The only problem is that I am currently 27 and by the time my masters and afrotc is completed I will be 29 and 3 months shy to my 30th birthday. I know the cut off is 30.
Is 3 months enough of a window to begin flight school in?
Does anyone know of guys in AFROTC working on their masters?

 

[Yahtzee]

Caveat Emptor

I worked on my MBA my last year in AFROTC, but wasn't able to finish due to conflict between the Univ. of Georgia's MBA policy and the USAF's requirement to either have a PPL or attend a program in Hondo, TX. In March of my junior year in AFROTC, I graduated with a BBA, and was admitted to the MBA program. I was scheduled to graduate with an MBA 15 months later and be commissioned the next day.

A few months prior to be accepted into the MBA program, I was selected to have the USAF pay for my PPL, but the civilian contractor defaulted on the PPL contract, and I was forced to drop out of the MBA program so I could go to Hondo. The USAF required all UPT applicants to either have a PPL or go to Hondo prior to UPT. UGA wouldn't let me start the MBA program in Sept and finish in Sept, like they did for students coming from Taiwan and other countries whose school system started in the fall. The USAF wouldn't let me wait a year to go to Hondo, so I dropped out of the MBA. I was forced to pick between keeping my slot, or getting my MBA.

Nine months after being commissioned, the USAF cancelled my pilot slot due to the massive drawdown and asked me to resign my commission and walk away. I got a commission to be an officer and serve my country. Even though I was working for IBM at the time as a co-op student, I choose to enter the USAF as a non-rated officer. Three years later I went to UPT at age 27.5.

Your situation is slightly different.

The AF now pays for a PPL since the T-3 program was shutdown. Since you already have a PPL, you’ve already checked that square. Your plan could work, but my experience is the USAF changes their rules all too often. I.e., there is no longer a requirement to have a advanced degree to be promoted to Major or Lt Col. This is good news for aircrew members who are deployed 180, 240 or more days per year, but another example of a dramtic change in the AF's culture.

My advice: visit the AFROTC detachment where you plan to enroll. Make an appointment to speak with the Professor of Aerospace Studies (PAS), who will mostly be an 0-6 or 0-5. Tell them what you want to do, and listen to their inputs.

I did the same thing as a UGA senior. I was working for IBM at the time as a co-operative education student, and the PAS took a chance on me, and offered me a pilot slot. At that time the AF sent over 1500 folks to UPT every year. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. That changed everything. By 1992, the number of UPT students entering had dropped to 450-500 a year. Today that number is back up to 1100 per year.

Most PASs these days are NOT pilots. That’s unfortunate. Why? I think former pilots understand the desire to fly more so than those officers who haven't flown. And, there is some animosity towards pilots by non-pilots. IMHO, justified or not, it exists in a very small minority of non-rated USAF officers.

Why the long story? Been there, done that! Five words: needs of the Air Force. Just realize your plan sounds awesome, but the Air Force could change their requirements at any moment and you may never go to UPT. I was forced to choose between my MBA and keeping my pilot slot, and I still lost my slot after picking it over the MBA. Six years after walking into the ROTC office at UGA, I started USAF pilot training. It was a long journey to get there, and I’m still glad I did it. Would I have rather gone to UPT as scheduled as opposed to three years later? You bet! I still don’t have my master’s, but that’s ok, if I lose my medical tomorrow, I only need three courses to finish it.

To my knowledge, there in no age limit to get an MBA or to go to Law School. UPT is different. The AF has a done a great job in the past few years to make up for some poor decisions in the early 90s, but their needs will always outweigh their promises. Change is inevitable.

Have you considered OTS, the ANG or the AFRES? These avenues would get you into to UPT quicker, although you will not have your MBA.

Best Wishes!

Yahtz

 

[B-J-J Fighter]

Go Dawgs, we should stomp a mud hole in Auburn today!