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What happens between different phases of training - i.e. the gap between OTS and UPT, or UPT and survival school, or whatever. How long are these gaps typically? Would I just remain at my home station during this time?

I appreciate the feedback. I've been practicing as a civil engineer for about 9 years and I actually just became the VP in my firm! So I feel like I do have a good base of experience to work off of. So while I'm working my butt off all week, long term I cannot see myself being in an office as much as I am. In fact, yesterday we just brought a guy on board for some part time contract work in the manner that I described above and it seems like a good situation. Lots of flexibility and there is quite a bit of demand so he basically has his pick at projects. I talked to him at length about how he operates and he said it did take more effort that expected to get things rolling but seems like things are steady for him now. I feel like I'm in a pretty good situation, my wife is also an engineer and earns as much as I do currently. I feel like her steady income, along with my part time reserve income will allow me the security and flexibility to pursue my part-time consulting endeavors without a whole lot of risk. If that doesn't work out I suppose I could get a normal job at a normal company, but in all honesty I am hoping to get away from that kind of life! Hopefully I am not being overly optimistic but by looking at the facts I think it could work out okay.

Currently enjoying great success with a career in engineering but going to UPT soon. I don't plan to return to a full time engineering career and I desire to get away from the M-F 8-5 grind but still need to earn some coin and have some ambitions I'd like to act on. So, I think I will start my own small consulting company taking on small projects and performing consulting in my free time. Anybody else have their own business? What do you do and how do you balance it? Would appreciate any experience you could share, even if it's in a totally different field. Thanks!

Your AFOQT scores are especially high. Do well on the TBAS and you should be in good shape.

Awesome - thanks for the input! And I'm definitely not antisocial so I am really looking forward to forging some awesome friendships while at UPT.

Related question - I'm in similar situation as topic starter. Live in south Texas, wife has a job getting paid $$$ and is finishing a masters so will stay put while I go to UPT. UPT at Laughlin about 2 hours away. I know I will be very busy and UPT will be the top priority, but is it reasonable for me to try to be home most weekends, let's say, Friday night through Sunday morning, so I can hit the books again Sunday afternoon?

Do you think a big part of it is that the typical AF pilot is a Type A personality that just has to have it their way - the "BK way" as Rainman used to say? Similar to my consulting profession where the more senior engineers you get involved in a project the worse the project ended up turning out because nobody wanted to be second in line and the end result was just a collage of conflicting ideas. Meanwhile our lower-level technicians, who actually are the backbone of the company in my opinion and produce most of the work, couldn't be happier with how things operate. When I listen to Gen Welsh's speeches it sounds like he is very level headed and the AF he wants is not the AF he has.

I've read through most of this thread and just see nonstop complaints about how bad everything is. Full disclosure: I'm an FNG so i don't know jack about the Air Force yet so I am not judging anybody for how they feel. But having worked as a consultant in the private sector for nearly a decade I have to admit that the civilian world is usually a cluster as well so the grass isn't exactly greener. When rushing squadrons, my observations were that AF officers (at least Guard/Reserve) seem to be happier and overall have a better quality of life than some office drone grinding away for 60/hrs a week in a cubicle. Are most of these complaints geared towards the AD side of things? I'm going reserves so my plan is to serve the squadron in a part time capacity to the best of my abilities - with realistic expectations and realizing that as an O-1 I'm the part of the totem pole that sticks in the ground and will be for the foreseeable future - meanwhile doing part time consulting as time allows on my own schedule. I think this would provide good flexibility and hopefully limit some of the heartburn that seems to be prevalent. Please feel free to tell me if this is really stupid and naive.

Guard/Reserve units always seem to say that 90+ scores are competitive. That may only be the squadron's internal criteria for selection. Not sure what the ANGB or AFRC standards are.

Oh yeah? They don't care whether PPL is current or not? I have some recent flight time.

Thanks for the input fam. Time to get up to date with things.

Got my PPL about 12 years ago and have flown on and off since then. Recently got sponsored by a unit to go up against the June AFRC board and my license is currently out of date and I need to do my biannual flight review. Do you know if the AFRC board cares whether or not my license is current? I do have an up to date 1st class medical.

What do you mean by this? Nobody got a UPT slot?

I think that is part of the intended experience. Considering that the training requires so much persistence to succeed, it is doing everybody a favor by making it a little bit of a challenge to get in contact with the right people to get your foot in the door. The people that can't be bothered to find the necessary information and break through on their own probably wouldn't be well suited for training. I'd imagine that posting posting POC info for a unit without their consent is sort of circumnavigating their hiring process slightly.

I got hired at 31, so being 28 is not necessarily your last chance. If you go fighters, just be sure that your ANG unit is confident that they can get you into UPT by age 30.

Yup, the 3-6 months I quoted is for reserves. The people I know that have gone guard have been more like 1-2 years!

Hey! I don't have dates yet but my squadron confirmed that 4ish months is the typical, but anything from 3-6 is the typical. I've been told that things are erring more towards sooner rather than later at the moment.

Do you have a 350z?

Yep!

Thanks.

Thanks for the advice guys! Time to make this happen!

Hey guys, I've been working with my local AFRC officer ascession recruiter for the past year. At first she ignored my voicemails and e-mails for a few months before I finally just showed up at her office unannounced. She admitted she was impressed with my determination and immediately warmed up to me over the next couple weeks to get paperwork going, scheduling MEPS, and calling around units who may need pilots. I told her I was interviewing at a unit in the near future and she wished me good luck and last time we spoke we were on good terms. I ended up getting selected by the unit and they are going to sponsor me for the November AFRC board! Good news right? Well, since I told her I was selected, she just completely dropped off the radar. Not answering phone calls or e-mails. I don't know what the deal is. I'm not sure if it is the fact that my unit is in a different state made her feel like she no longer had to work with me on a local level. According to the hiring manager at my unit I need to still be working with her to get my application submitted to the board, but first I need to get the FC1 scheduled, and I know the timing on that will be tight. Could you please let me know what you think the best course of action is for me to get this issue resolved? I may just show up to her office unannounced again on Monday to get her attention. Kind of in a desperate timing situation! Any other options? Maybe other officer recruiter contacts who may be more proactive in getting my application pushed through? Thanks!

Chiming back in after a couple years. I got selected at age 31. So if you are wondering, it is possible if you are determined to make it happen!

Got back recently from an interview at my unit of choice and was offered the job! The most unique of the "questions" was the first one, in which they said "This interview is all about you, so spend 5 minutes and tell us about yourself and what got you here". Most of the rest of the questions they asked fed on my answer to that particular question, and in the end the interview lasted about 45 minutes. At the end they offered me the opportunity to ask exactly 1 question of my own. I've been to a handful of interviews and while the format was similar (still sitting in a chair in front of a bunch of pilots), I felt the open ended nature of the interview resulted in a great dialogue that was beneficial to both me and the hiring board. It was very non-confrontational. I felt the real interview, though, was not what I said in the board room, but rather the general interactions you have between not only the pilots, but the enlisted members as well as the other candidates interviewing. Say yes to every opportunity they give you, whether it is to grab lunch, to hang out at the bar, or whatever. Hopefully you have strong test scores and good work experience, and beyond that, just be a good dude with a positive attitude and you will go far. My advice - be yourself and be laid back! Don't be afraid to joke around if you see the opportunity, and also don't take things personally if they give you a hard time about something stupid you do or say. Also, if your interview is in a different city, I'd highly recommend making a mini-vacation out of it and even taking your spouse with if you are married. Not only will it help you make an informed decision about living there, but it will also show the board that you are committed.

What is currently a ballpark timeline from getting approved by AFRC to going to OTS? From what I heard in the past it was at least a year but now word on the street is that its 3 to 6 months? Anybody know?