escapism

I'm a washout meeting the board in June so perhaps I can shed light on the situation. With regards to the legality of making us pay back tuition if we are not retained: unfortunately AFI 36-3207 paragraph 3.13 is pretty clear about it. We were also briefed and required to sign statements saying whether we wanted to be retained and if we weren't we were subject to recoupment for educational benefits. The only way to not pay is to get the amount waived by the SecAF/AFPC. And hire a good lawyer to argue why you shouldn't pay. If you DOR, you are most likely done. I met a couple of LTs who DOR'd before going to IFS. This did not impress someone in their chain of command and at least one went to the board with a recommendation to not be reclassified. And they were separated with less than a year on active duty. They were academy grads and now must pay back $145,000. Someone told them they could set it up as a 30 year plan. The amount you pay back is proportionate to the amount of time left on your initial ADSC (so if you serve 1/5 years you pay back 4/5 of what the Air Force spent to educate you). Not wanting to serve a 10/6 year commitment (because I've known CSO guys to DOR too) is not a good enough reason anymore, if it ever was. I don't know if going to IFS and discovering you hate flying is even a good enough reason anymore. Washouts have usually been reclassed this past year, although the post that revived this thread shows this is not 100%. I was told by leadership 99% will be reclassed but I was also told by the board recorder they don't keep stats on the board results so i don't know the true number who get reclassed. I don't know what happens to academic washouts. I do know that most people got what they wanted from the last board two weeks ago. The stuff that came up were fields like intel, space, missiles, CE, physicist, acquisitions, and a bunch of special tactics jobs. OSI is a special boarded process that you apply for, and someone got this a few months back. You can also go to another rated career field provided you are eligible (did not wash for air sickness, had high enough grades etc.) and you receive a recommendation from your commander. The process applies to anyone who doesn't complete training for any reason. I think an ALO guy met the last board, and was probably retained.