Graduation 1 year away

[CUEBOAT]

Hello all, I have been toying with the idea of joining the AF once I graduate from college next may. I will be 3 months shy of 26 years old, I ofcourse would like to be flying an airplane. Can someone explain the differences between guard,reserve and I guess you would call it full time? Does guard differ state to state? Am I too old to begin AF flight training? I doubt it matters but I have most of the FAA certificates and my BS will be in flight operations.

 

[white E]

No you are not too old to fly. Difference b/w Guard and AD....well a ton actually. Not with the flight training or anything. Being that you don't have too much knowledge about the AF, I wont bother to go into detail unless you ask specific q's. If you fly active duty then you will have a 10 year commitment I think. The ratings that you have don't mean crap. You will love the challenges of military flying especially if you get to point the nose at the ground and look your enemy in the eye before you shred him with 30mm.
Good luck
-W-

 

[hindsight2020]

Being in the application process myself for about a year and a half now, I think I can chime in with some pennies.

First off, you have to be 30 by the time you begin UPT, that's Undergraduate Pilot training. You're still good but get a move on it, time flies.

As far as the differences between Active duty and ANG/Reserves. Well, the biggest one is that Active Duty is full-time whereas with the National Guard and Reserve it's a part-time affair. That means that if you go the Reserve/Guard route, you have to seek a civilian source of employment. Now, there are what are called ART/AGR positions, which are basically full-time positions within the Guard and Reserve, but as a fresh pilot just coming back from UPT, don't expect to obtain these types of positions.

As far as the training, no difference at all. Everybody goes through the same hole. Now, for the active duty side of the house, you get comissioned (ROTC, OTS, AFA) and when you get to UPT you will compete for a track select and then an assignment. There are several tracks: T-38 (the fighter bomber track), T-1 (everybody else), T-44 (turbo-prop track, leading almost exclusively to C-130 airframes) and the UH-1 track which is helos.

As expected, about 4 or less -38 active duty slots per class, so it's competitive. But then again it all depends, same thing for -44's. Everything else is TONE. Once again, the training is the same for active duty and Guard/Reserves.

If you are Guard/Reserve, the unit you will fly for sponsors you to go to UPT. That means that you will fly the airframe that they fly. In some respects that simplifies things in that if you are set on flying a specific airframe, scouting those particular units guarantees that if you're selected, you will fly that airframe. Only problem is that the Guard is much harder to get into than active, that's the short answer. Lots of connections, good luck and timing as always, statistically more competitive due to the ratio of applicants to slots per unit. I'm adding here but the process can be outright demoralizing, but then again who applies thinking 'oh well I won't get in' right? sh$t... sidetracking

In the Guard you apply to individual units on particular states, each unit has some degree of latitude as far as their application and hiring policies (open to outsiders, only insiders, etc etc).

Reserves work in a similar fashion but the final acceptance decision is made by the HQ in Robins, and they hold two boards per year. In the Reserves your package gets submitted either "sponsored" (meaning a unit has given you their blessing) or "unsponsored" (America still bets for the underdog so why not). If you get approved by HQ as unsponsored you then have to go unit shopping among Reserve units. If you get approved as sponsored then off you go to your unit and into UPT.

Like I said before, it comes down to your particular choices. A lot of Guard guys are also looking for the airline route, so they combine this job with the Guard gig, I'm personally not interested in airline work so my civilian pursuits will probably be in other aviation related careers, like university aviation. My point is that it can be done. Oh, don't expect to land big time gig with the airlines right off UPT. You will still need about a year to a year and a half with Guard flying to be a contender hour wise, but once you get there, you're probably solid. Once again on that one, I'm not interested in that route so my intel regarding hour mins for that pursuit might be off.

So there ya have it. Good luck, don't get discouraged, don't feel bad if you do at times, God knows my days go by SLLOOOOWWWWWLLLY waiting for my ship to come in reading other people's UPT journals. Take care

 

[hindsight2020]

P.S.

Oh and as far as what the other poster said: "The ratings that you have don't mean crap" well the thing is that they don't put you ahead in the training syllabus at all, nor are considered in training... and the flying procedures in the military are different (pattern work, radio calls, operational parameters etc) so they have to be learned and that diverges a little from the civilian way, However, I still pursue the idea that if you are a decent civi pilot, in good health, and are sharp on instrument, that comment is bullsh%t. That whole thing about undoing bad habits yada yada gimme a break, a good pilot adpats, and most people with ratings, provided they are not toolbags otherwise, do decent at UPT. Plus, the thing is that for the most part, it's not even a flying contention, nowadays it's just a GETTING IN contention. The bar keeps getting higher, everybody and his freggin' grandmother wants to be Maverick at the same time so getting ratings is just another part of the rat race. Good luck man

 

[rod farva]

Agreed,

That whole "People with ratings and flight time do worse at UPT..." is bulls**t. It's a stupid excuse for the people who don't have any time or ratings to make themselves feel better. You'll hear a lot of this crap in the first week of academics when everbody is sizing each other up. The two people with the most time and ratings in our class graduated #1 and #3 overall. I like to call it "air sense", and this horse has been beaten to a bloody pulp I'm sure before on this site.

 

[Steeler Fan]

Agreed,

That whole "People with ratings and flight time do worse at UPT..." is bulls**t.

Some do better, but yes, some do worse. Having been a Tweet IP for 3+ years, in general, students with prior flying tend to start quicker, but some prior CFIIs had trouble understanding the "Air Force" way of training, and they did struggle, but as a whole, I think you're right.

Having done OTS interviews for those desiring to go Active Duty, the trend is that flying time is definitely a plus.

Like I've posted before, MILITARY FLYING is awesome, but it's clearly not for everyone. Also, for good or for bad (depending on your perspective), as an officer, your duties go well beyond just driving planes.

Check out ALL of your options...Air Force, AF Reserve, Air Ntl Guard, Navy, Navy Reserve, Army, and Coast Guard.

Active Duty Air Force link is www.airforce.com (this will help you get in touch with the Active Duty recruiter in your area).

If you feel like you need more info, there's tons of it here. Pros and cons to Active Duty vs ANG/AFRES. It's all about what's best for you and your family.

Good luck.