Old guy in UPT

[OnTheDole]

How does the Guard / Reserve look at "old" applicants, without prior military exp.?

My bio:
4000TT 2000PIC 2000JET
ATP, CFII/MEI 4yr. Degree
Current B737 FO @ AWA
PCSM 88
Coming up on my 26th B-day

 

[qmaster3]

26 aint old hoss.

GO FOR IT.

 

[RedDogC130]

Get me a job with AWA and I will get you a slot. Just kidding. Not a problem with age if you get on the ball now. I am 27 and just finished UPT in Decemeber. You need to apply to units now. It takes about a year to finish the whole process then start UPT. After that, another year to go through UPT. I still think the age is 30 and then an age waiver is due. I had similiar numbers like you with no prior military and it was easy to get numerous slots. Just get the package going now. Email me if you need more specific info. Good luck.

 

[USMCAirWinger]

To be honest your PCSM should be maxed with your flight time and experience. Perhaps you should post your AFOQT scores in order to get a better picture. If they are not in the 80-90's you should re-take them if you really want in. It's very competitive.

 

[hindsight2020]

My 0.02 pesos

Is it competitive? yes. But NOT because of AFOQT or PCSM! PCSM of 88 is fine, they aren't hiring the guy with 99's across the board. If you were OTS bound then scores might be a contention, but not the Guard.

I agree with Red Dog, go for it now, my experience has been that it takes connections, i.e. enlisted or legacy or recommendations from folks very very close to the unit. Definitively doable for ya, whether or not your flight experience will make a difference in your selection is not as intuitive as you would think it should. In other words, it will NEVER hurt you, but it is questionable if it will actually make a difference, depends on the board.

Consider sending an app to the active concurrently this year, although the scenario might be that you are not looking to get into the military full-time, at which point your only bet is to shotgun those applications to the Guard. If ya were prior enlisted, with that experience, you would be pretty hard to shake out of a slot and I would bet my bottom dollar that you would be in. Non-prior age critical, it's a crapshoot, but one definitively worth the hassle since you really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

From the units I've experienced this process from, they are sensible to older folks who have put in their time (enlisted) and as I've picked up on it there is a sense of hierarchy (loyalties if you will) that somewhat define the selection criteria for the boards, considering the flooding of applications for ONE slot per fiscal year, if at that, sometimes 2 slots in a good year.

1)First come the older enlisted guys (controlling for qualifications, i.e. the 26yo enlisted and the 22 yo enlisted having similar grades etc etc),
2)the younger enlisted guy,
3)the legacy case age critical,
4)the legacy non-age critical (I assumed the legacies were off-the-street, if they are also enlisted, they're number 1 on the list and the only way you gonna get to land the job for that FY is if a year later the kid medical disquals)
5) The off-the-street like you (26yo)
6)The off-the-street like me (23yo).

So you can see it could prove a lost gamble if you don't get in since you started applying a little later than you could have OR ,since nothing set in stone, the absence of those above you in the list for any particular board could put you (provided the guys like you pre-,post-, and during the interview) sitting right on the slot and you don't even know it!

In essence, Go for it!, cross your fingers and good luck man!

 

[Dizel8]

How about 38? Seems to be a lot of C-130 gigs in the reserve.