Young Pilot In Need of Help!!

[Ngranger15]

Hi, I am 17 years old and a high school senior. Right now I am working on getting my PPL I should have it in April. My plan is to eventually enroll into the ANG. My question is should I get my bachelors and then head to the guard, or continue working on my licenses at my community college, get my bachelors then go to the guard? Is it worth it to keep on training at my community college if I'm going to get retrained once I go to the guard? Please give me some advice. Thank you

 

[chawbein]

Why don't you go to college and get involved in ROTC? You can still have a good time in college while earning an officer commissioning. That would probably be the best route.

 

[AlbieF15]

Horseshxt!

If you want to be part of the ANG, then ENLIST now or when in college. You'll get some coin, they'll get to know you, and you are 4 years closer to retirement when you graduate. AFROTC does nothing for retirement...

Once you get your BS, then you can go off the UPT. I think you can compete for a pilot slot in the ANG when you have about 3/4 of your BS done...I'll defer to the experts on that one.

AFROTC is great...I did it...but then again I didn't know about the ANG at the time. If ANG is where you want to fly, then I'd join them as soon as possible.

 

[Skyrunner]

All in favor, say "Aye"!!!

I totally agree with Albie. Enlist in the ANG while you go to school. In addition to having fun in school, you will have the guard to double your fun and experiences.

Adios,

SR

 

[MST]

You can work for the ANG and do ROTC. I read an article in Citizen Airman magazine about a VMI cadet who does this at Andrews. Maybe if you called the recruiter at Andrews AFB, he could tell you how to do both. Or, if you e-mailed Citizen Airman magazine, they could e-mail you a copy of the article. My guess is if you called most recruiters, they wouldn't know what you were talking about and they wouldn't know how to help you. Do your homework.

 

[JaimeZX]

I don't think you can do ANG and AFROTC at the same time. I did AFROTC at U of A, and a good friend of mine was a SSgt in the guard unit at Tucson Int. When he joined ROTC he had to do a lot of paperwork to get his contract transferred. So... I guess I don't know for SURE that you can't, but for some reason my *friend* wasn't able to. Hope that's *slightly* informative.


                          Jim

 

[Steeler Fan]

What's your long term goal, NGranger?

If you're really certain you want to go to a particular Guard Unit and fly for them, do ANYTHING you can to meet their pilots, find out what the quickest way to become a pilot in their unit, and go for it. Some units really want you to enlist first.

There are so many questions that only you have the answer to.

If you have/plan to have kids, Active Duty's health care is mostly free (not awesome, but way better than buying your own).

Explore ALL your options...some younger pilots I've met have applied to multiple locations (all services, various Guard/Reserve Units)...If you are living close to a particular Guard/Reserve Unit, that is a HUGE selling point for you.

PM me if you want...Albie seems to know what he's talking about too. Big Picture...only YOU can choose what's best for you...get as much knowledge as you can so you don't have any regrets...once you make your decision, give it your all. RUNWAY BEHIND YOU IS USELESS, SO DON'T LOOK BACK!