ROTC or the 'Zoo'

[JimNtexas]

Go Guard or reserve and go to AMS (academy of military science) for 6 weeks to get your commision. You choose what plane you'll fly and where.

What he said.

 

[Scrapdog]

Go Academy!

Josh - you sound like a smart kid with a good outlook and with some solid goals. Here's my 2 cents for you from an Academy Grad's viewpoint.

Did it suck while I was there? YES! Was it tough...especially the first 2 years? YES! Were there a lot of chicks there, much less hot chicks? NO! Was it probably the best decision of my life? YES, YES, YES!

The bottom line is the Academy is probably the toughest way to earn your little gold bar...however you will form bonds with other cadets there that will be more solid than any friendship you've had yet. You will always have that pride when you get your diploma from the Academy that no one can take away from you. And most importantly...no matter what anyone says, there will always be some way it will help you in your career, be it civilian or military, when your employers/commanders know you're an Academy grad and you carry yourself well (i.e. proud of your heritage but not a jerk). By all means, if you have your heart set on being an air force pilot and/or having a solid military career, go the way of the Academy.

 

[Joshrk22]

Great advice here! One thing I'm curious about now is the guard. Should I contact a local guard unit to find out how to get started? I am totally lost on how the guard operates and how to get a slot.

 

[Joshrk22]

Forgot to ask, what is a normal day like flying for the guard? Do you fly more than AD? Is it the 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year kinda' thing?

 

[AlbieF15]

Short summary:

Do I want to march around, live in hell for a year, and when the one girl I do get to sleep with me my freshman year sneaks over the my room hope my roomies don't rat me out (while they watch from the closet?). Eventually compete for a pilot slot and go to UPT.

Do I want to go to college, have an apartment, try 1000 new things, have friends who while waaaaay too flaky to be officers BUT will make this a very rich an interesting four years. Put up with ROTC BS one day a week for 2 years then go a fun 2 month camp, followed by ROTC class and BS 3 times a week for 2 years... WHILE you meet girls, expereince what your first real FREEDOM tastes and feels like? Oh...and compete for a pilot slot and go to UPT?

I'd go Guard. Next I'd do ROTC. AFA was never on my list. I was too stupid to know about Guard the first time. According to my bible studies we don't get reincarnated--but if God ever recycles me as a comsic joke I'll be the pimple faced teenager enlisting in the hometown fighter unit...

I've known a ton of great guys who did the academy, and most have ZERO regrets. Talk to them and get their take. However--those four years at Auburn were a really neat transition from kid to young adult, and I wouldn't take anything (including my F15 flying) for the experience. You just have to follow your own heart...

 

[KCPilot]

Go Guard!

 

[tomgoodman]

Ots?

Nobody's mentioned OTS. Are they still operating and getting UPT slots?

 

[Joshrk22]

How do I go about getting a guard slot? Should I call the local unit? I don't really want to go enlisted first during college and then not getting a pilot slot after and being stuck. As a junior in H.S., I think I might be a little young to talk to the CO there and visit them.

 

[Kikuchiyo]

a pilot slot is a pilot slot is a pilot slot.

And a 2Lt is a 2Lt is a 2Lt. Your commisioning source doesn't matter once you're done. Like Scrapdog said, some Commanders might care. But those are usually the ones who can't give up living in their glory days to begin with. For the most part, most people don't care. And the farther you are along in your carreer, the less meaningful it becomes. What matters then is what you've done recently, not where you went to college 10, 15, or 20 years ago. The connections you make won't help much as a 2Lt when all of them are 2Lt's also. And, to repeat, once it's been a few years, you'll have made enough new connections among unit buddies to suffice.

One of the most frustrating things on the first day of UPT was asking that laid-back guy what he wanted to get at graduation. His answer was, "Oh, I'm going to my C-141 at my reserve unit." He didn't have the stress of having to be in the top of the class to get the airplane he wanted or be stuck with something or somewhere undesireable.

I went to USAFA. I could have taken the ROTC scholarship to Florida. There's no way to know what might've happened in the long run, but if I had it all to do over again, I'd've been a Gator. And if I had known about the ANG or Reserve, that probably would have been an even better way to go, too. Good luck, either way.

 

[KCPilot]

It worked for me, enlisted in the reserve, went to school (they paid for some of it) and then got a pilot slot. It took awhile for the slot due to various things, but I finally got it! You just have to want it. Good luck.