Succeeding in AFROTC

[AlbieF15]

Here is what I saw wipe out pilot hopefuls...

DUIs...

Alcohol related incidents....

Otherwise, keep your grades up (even if it means NOT doing an engineering or pre-med degree....I know it ain't right but that is life), stay active in the ROTC activities (even though you'll want to puke somedays at the silliness) and tell your officers you want to FLY.

Don't be the tool that says "F16 or Nothing!" First of all...you don't know what your aptitude for flying fighters is until you get more AF flying under your belt, and second....that officer in your Det may not have been a fighter pilot and will think you are either narrow minded or immature. If you want to fly a fighter, cool...I did. But...remind your leadership I want to be an OFFICER and then an AF PILOT...the rest will fall in place.

I also enjoyed Arnold Air Society....it was geeky in some parts of the country by back in the 80s the non-military (at the time FEMALE) auxillary was called Angel flight, and at the time at Auburn it was a VERY nice cross section of girls from a bunch of the different sororities. I dated several Angels from not only AU but also some other SEC colleges that I met at AAS/Angel flight functions and had a blast. Now...AnF was changing when I left around the country and it might not be the same anymore, but at least take a look at some of the cadet honorary groups--there might be some fun (or extra brownie points) to be found there as you try to get those wings.

My ROTC data is 20 years old, but it was still fun (and some a$$ pain) packed into one bundle. However, the best friends I had a AU were the guys who suffered through the same BS with me, and six months after graduation I was flying tweets at Columbus knowing every bad day in AFROTC had been paid back in full. It really is worth the effort...

Good luck!

 

[psysicx]

I don't understand the you will be getting a desk job.There is a slight chance that you will in your ten years.Some people don't like being contracted for ten years but that is your choice.Do you want to fly part time or full time.Either way would be cool.

 

[bobs98tlr]

You guys are forgetting one thing (or i might be). If you dont have 20/20 vision or within the guidelines for PRK or lasik (whatever they are doing right now) then you cant get in without a waiver or even at all. That is my problem. I have always wanted to fly in the military. However i have 20/200 in my left eye and 20/70 in my right eye. Im going to the Guard enlisted ASAP just waiting and working on a wavier for my speeding tickets. I hope by the time im done with my BS i can go to a unit with over 1000 hours of flying and hopefully be picked up for UPT. I read all you guys talking about how you can do it this way and that way but what about when your in my situation and you've dreamed all your life of this chance and your fu(kin eyes just suck. That is really the only thing i would ever change about my me/my life if i could change anything......if i had good eyes, no question i would be a military pilot.

 

[El Cid '95]

Hey Bob,
You are right on about the military and its vision nazis. For what it's worth, I've been told that they are only so strict in order to weed down the applicant pool since it is very expensive to give everyone who wants to fly all of the physicals and other tests. Sometimes life is not fair, and it sounds like you got dealt a bad hand--having the desire to serve but being excluded. I've spent the last 4 years pretty much deployed >220 days a year flying tankers in the wars in Iraq and Afghan and morale is hurting. We need guys like you!!

Anyways, good luck to you...and stop speeding!!

 

[psysicx]

For all you prior military pilots would you go reseves instead of Active if you had the choice now?

 

[Mooseflyer]

Physicx, et al,



I just separated from active duty last summer after almost 10 years (I had an 8 year UPT commitment). I walked across the street to the reserve unit as a fully qualifed guy, as many of my buddies had done before me, and I must say the difference is night and day. My reserve unit now is what I had always hoped my active duty units would be, but never were. Best part time job in the world, and with SCHEDULE STABILITY to boot. So, to answer your question, had I KNOWN about the guard/reserve flying program, I certainly would have done it instead of active duty.

I did the 4 year ROTC thing, changed my major to underwater basket weaving to boost my grades, tried to participate in ROTC and extracurricular stuff as much as I could, got my private ticket when I was a sophomore (to show "intent"), and crossed my fingers to get a pilot slot (after I signed....gulp) - amazingly it worked. In the early 90's, there were very few slots to be had. I assume it's coming full circle now 10+ years later, with many folks staying in because of the disaster airline industry.

I was a little different than some I suppose, in that my intent had ALWAYS BEEN to separate after my 8 year commitment and go airlines. I knew this before I ever even joined ROTC (although I kept this VERY quiet). I wanted to get out of UPT and fly something big that had 4 engines, in order to make me attractive to the airlines (although in hindsight this is probably less important than I originally thought). I can still remember the day I showed up to UPT and met the guard/reserve guys in my class (and found out they actually flew airplanes too)........ Me: "let me get this straight - you already know what you're going to fly when we graduate, you know were you'll be based, you'll never have to move, you can get an airline job as soon as you're competitive (or any other job you feel like), you can set your own schedule and take as much or little time off as your bank account will allow, you'll never have a desk job you don't want, you don't have to put up with active duty BS, and......most of the guys in your unit are airline pilots already so you'll have a hookup at most any company you'll want to apply to?".......Them: "yup".

That being said, there are a few upsides to active duty. The job is about as secure and the paycheck as steady as they come, and you start to collect retirement at age 42, vice age 60 for the reservists. Medical and dental is provided.

The above is just my experience. I certainly wish I would have been clued in to the guard/reserve before I went active, but in the end life goes on. Your milage may vary, and I encourage you to weigh your OWN desires. If you know ANYONE in the guard/reserve, you owe it to yourself to at least talk to them before you decide (neighbor, relative, parents friends, guy at the FBO, etc). Flying and the military have always been a JOB for me, not a "way of life" as they say. I already have my own life, and the AF reserve allows me to live it the way I see fit, and allows me to pay the bills doing it. Active duty spouts "service before self".....and they mean it.

 

[psysicx]

Thanks Moosefler.How competive it it to get into your unit>

 

[El Cid '95]

PSYSICX,

I dittoeverything Moose wrote. I like active duty, but it is not my life. They want it to be your life. When you are deployed 1000 days in 6 years the important things in your life become apparent. For me, it is my family. As I near the end of my committment, I am hoping to do exactly what Moose did. I wish I had done it straight out of college.

 

[psysicx]

I am looking at getting on with a reserve unit to increase my chances.I hope at that time there will still be an opportunity to bum around.Thanks again.