Univ Grad w/ 500 hours thinking USAF

[luck4unme]

A very old friend of mine and I had an interesting discussion today. I mentioned my son had just completed SUPT and was assigned to Bones (Which were his 1st choice) starting June 1 and how much he loves the AF.

Apparently his son graduated from a highly regraded Big 10 engineering school and has a been promised a pilot job by one of the regionals. He's been waiting over a year and they keep telling him they will have something soon. He's starting to think he may be better off trying OTS and then ANG, AFRES or AD. Especially if stop loss ends etc. Would the military guys getting out be hired before him? Also, it sounds like lots of pilots are furloughed and they might be ahead of him too.

Some of his friends were in ROTC and are starting SUPT soon and he's beginning to think he may have made a mistake.

I told my friend his son would to have decide if he wanted to serve his country first and fly second.

Any advice for my friends son? AD, ANG or AFRES ?? What's the best route to each to ensure he ends up in a cockpit. We have all read about problems with recruiters and sure don't want him barking up that tree if there's no coon it anyway.

Any help from anyone at any stage of the process would be most welcome.

Thanks

Problem is, he's not sure where to start. Lots of guys have posted about problems with recruiters so I wasn't sure what to tell him.

 

[luck4unme]

Forgot to mention that he has around 500 hours.

 

[Steeler Fan]

Info

Luck4unme,

Personnally, I've been on furlough from a Major Airline for over a year now. Job stability is never a certainty. I'm currently flying for AF Reserve (and was an Active Duty Pilot for 10 years). AF Reserve has been great in terms of keeping me busy/paid in the interim. AF Reserve/ANG retirement/health benefits are not as good as active duty, but these will enable you to fly for your employer and for the military at the same time (and you don't have to move every 2-3 years).
There are also definite advantages for Active Duty (retire after 20 years, receive retirement checks IMMEDIATELY, etc).
I work closely with Active Duty Air Force Recruiters, and if you need any info, send me a PM and I'll try to get you the info you need/put you in touch with your local AF Recruiter. Once again, check out all your options. From what I've been seeing recently, your friend's son's flight time will help his chances for active duty greatly (also AFOQT scores, good GPA, solid work experience/extracurricular activities/leadership also help him to stand out).

Good luck with this decision,

SteelerFan

Highly regarded Big 10 school for engineering? Purdue?
Hopefully, he wasn't involved with the U. of Michigan basketball program--Not so highly regarded now! : )

 

[Vandal]

i would also use the search function this topic has really been beaten around a lot.