rail26

The AF is shrinking fast and they can be very picky on who they let in the door. They make no bones about wanting the young kids coming through the door to mold them into their future pilots. But if you have served one day in the military, you know most things make little to no sense whatsoever. UPT is just the nature of the beast. The other thing to remember too is that with the FWQ door closing so begins the age restriction. To attend UPT you will need an age waiver if you are past the UPT age (forgot what it is.) Good luck, but the AF has pretty much shut the door to the Army.

Thought I would update this thread with the real deal. FWQ is dead for ANG/Reserve guys. I talked to the National Guard Bureau and I was the last guy to go through it. There are a lot of rumors about people screwing it up, not doing well, etc. The real deal is the Air Force wants everyone to speak the same language and attend the same training and after the experience I agree. It doesn't really matter if you have a crapload of hours and are the best thing since sliced bread. The AF wants all their pilots to start at a similar baseline and expand from there. I was intimately involved in the process all the way through to the NGB. The bottom line is if you have not attended UPT as either a AF or Navy guy you will go through it. FWQ is no more. I hope that clears it up and this information is current. As for the experience, the training is very fast paced and thorough. I found it challenging and completely different from my other flight training experiences. When you go there, expect 12 hours days, crapload of studying and some good, challenging flying. Think long and hard about the "grass is greener on the other side."

I know. It seems insane right? I talked to no less than 5 people at USAA explaining my situation and common sense did not prevail. I was totally blown away...I even sent them PCS orders, moving documents, and a signed letter by my CDR stating I am a member of the AZANG. They (USAA) said my job with the AZANG is part time so it did not count...I can't make this up my friends.

In a nutshell yes. I am a contract ISR pilot and work 60 days on 60 off overseas and USAA said that my new home in Tucson would not qualify as a primary residence because: a. I am out of the country too much...VA says your home has to be occupied 51% of the time. b. I have no ties to the Tucson community that qualify for me to move to Tucson. I am a member of the Arizona Air National Guard and my civilian job allows me to live anywhere. USAA denied the loan not once, but twice! I even went to the executive level to protest and the answer was still no. However, I just went to B of KC (Dave) and it was absolutely no issue. The backseaters I work with and other pilots had the exact same issue with USAA and were all denied. I asked USAA, "So where exactly is my primary residence, if it is not in Tucson with my family and my stuff"? They said they didn't know, but it isn't Tucson. Idiots. The best thing to do is give Dave a call and he will run the numbers for you for whatever scenario you want to look at. I refinanced one of my homes from a VA to conventional so I could free up my VA for the Tucson house. That cost me a little cash, but saved me $5k over USAA. I am no way connected with BofKC or Dave, I just have three houses now (El Paso and Tucson) and I was able to get them all refinanced with and without VA and I was able to do it through this bank. They are legit and are able to offer these rates/no closing costs because they just turn around and sell your mortgage to Wells Fargo so they can pay almost all of your costs. I do not really care who services my loan...I just want the up front costs savings that will pay dividends in the future. Also, Dave is just a good dude.

This is the review I sent to the Kansas City Bank Supervisor for Dave Devine. I am inherently lazy so I just cut and pasted what I wrote because it speak volumes about my experience with Kansas City. Forget USAA and try him out...I closed for $.54 on a $395k purchase. I'm not kidding...USAA was going to charge me $7,000 for the exact same loan. No tricks, no gimmicks...USAA is dead in the water. I put his contact info at the bottom. "I rarely write supervisors to inform them of customer service issues, but in this case I feel very strongly about it. Most people only acknowledge the negative experience, but I want to tell you about a positive experience we had with Dave Devine. First of all, Dave is the consummate professional, extremely thorough and has the positive customer experience nailed! We refinanced two houses through Dave and had a very positive experience. He worked tirelessly to get our loans approved and kept us informed along the way. We never had to worry about what documents Dave needed or the status of our loan because Dave was letting us know as soon as something changed. However, that is not the experience I want to share with you. My wife and I applied for a loan for a new home purchase in Tucson with USAA. We have been banking with USAA for 20 years and made the mistake of going to them for the loan. Long story short, USAA denied our loan one day prior to closing because they believed that I was out of the country too much to qualify the house as my primary residence. I immediately called Dave in a panic and Dave said (and I quote), "Don't worry about it, we'll get it done." That is all he had to say...he closed the loan in 15 working days and saved the day (not to mention our house!). Not only is Dave highly qualified at this job, he has the unique ability to establish a rapport with his clients which is very rare. On more than one occasion I found myself talking to Dave about golf and Kansas City. Dave will always have a place to crash for the night in Tucson should he need it....Dave is that kind of guy. After 13 years in the Army and leading a company of 110 Soldiers, I understand a little about leadership and people. Dave is definitely the kind of guy you want representing Kansas City Bank...I referred five clients to Dave not because I cared about those guys refinancing their homes, but because I wanted Dave to get the business and make him that much more successful. Take care of Dave...and hire more guys like him. You cannot go wrong." David Devine National Bank Of Kansas City Mortgage Lending Consultant 10700 Nall Avenue | Overland Park, KS 66211 NMLS ID# 420796 Direct: 913-383-6417 E- Fax: 913-499-4520