ryleypav

Hot java. I just had my FC1 last week, I sure hope the UPT wait wont be that long. Have you gotten OTS dates yet?

Thats quite the route to end up in the Guard haha.

A pilot hire in my future squadron just got his OTS dates so Idk about that.

I would contact the unit directly vs some pilot on Linkedin in my opinion. Start by getting ahold of their UPT hiring POC. They probably have one, or someone in the squadron can get you the right guy to talk to. However, with all the COVID stuff, its going to be hard to go hangout on base these days.

To echo what was said above, who the LOR is from really isnt important. None of mine were from military guys. But they were all people who knew me well and could speak on my character. Besides, you're not going to network enough online to get a LOR from someone that is meaningful if thats what you were going for. You want people who genuinely know you.

GA really is a top notch community. Mostly. Gonna have your grumps, but people are just good in general I've found.

Tankers.

Scheduled for 29Sep. Hopefully its a breeze. Call and make sure they sent your physical on forward. A guy I got hired with, his package or whatever it is at Wright Patt just sat there for 3 weeks.

Yeah, its been a slow process. You have your FC1 done yet?

Yeah last November 2019. Guard unit. I have not attended OTS nor UPT yet. FC1 is this month. PCSM was a 83, 90 at 201+.

Id say just practice the parts you dont need the joystick for. Its not that complicated and is on the smaller portion of what the test consists of. Unless you plan on making a nice sim setup at home, I wouldn't sweat that part too much. I'd just get stuff rolling asap. Its a long process and there is a max age to start pilot training. I got hired November 2019, and I still dont have class dates.

Based on your original post, I'd step it into high gear getting the TBAS done. You're almost, if not 30 correct?

In regard to the second article, Vance will be operating the modified T-1 syllabus for FY21?

Yeah, just make sure the contract states "enlisting for purposes of commissioning only" or something along those lines.

Id back up what tarheel said. If you got selected as an alternate for a fighter unit, you're on the right track. Get some more flying in to get that PCSM up if you dont want to retake the TBAS. But, they know you're the alternate, dont bug them telling them you are ready whenever. They know. But basically, dont bank on an alternate spot working out. It does sometimes, but its no where close to a guarantee. And it can be a year or more until they find out their primary candidate cannot attend UPT for a mirage of reasons. You dont want to wait around a year + to figure that out. And while its great you got the alternate spot, dont go into the next board thinking you're a shoe-in just because of it. Maybe it gives you a slight leg up, but I'd still go in with the attitude that you're at the ground floor still. Keep applying and dont give up!

I'd take a look.

Yup. What mp5g said. I told them while I'd love to work full time for the squadron, I realize its not always an option, but I can always find a mechanical engineering job somewhere. Wanting to go to the airlines is fine, just dont give the impression thats all you're doing it for.

Like everyone said, just dont make it a deal. In college, one of the guys in my fraternity was a recovering alcoholic (Odd environment for a alcoholic I agree). Dude was always the life of the party, sober as a bird. Just hangout.

If you dont get bites from the ANG units, there is always the AD route to consider as well. But keep applying to every unit you can.

Study a private pilot general knowledge book for the aviation stuff. As for the math, its all stuff that can be done without a calculator. Just do the AFOQT practice tests really. Sounds like you've done that, so take the material in those, and find videos that teach you tricks to nailing them. For instance, any questions that involve finding percents, move the decimal place to the right one spot, and times by the % value with its decimal moved as well. For example. 3% of 250. 250 is now 25.0 and 35% is now 3.0, which gives you 25x3=75. Works for any number/percentage. There's tricks like that to mot arithmetic operations.

Someone enlighten me. Is there really a difference between mail-in and absentee? Why is one good and the other not?

Its probably across the board. Everything is becoming more visible in recent years. While it may be interesting, what use does that information serve? If a unit had 150 apps and 20 of them were "competitive", how does that change your plan of attack? I just dont think its something to spend time worrying about. If you want it bad enough, it shouldn't matter how many "competitive" apps there are. Dudes get invites with less than stellar apps because they put in the work to visit and get to know the unit. The only thing that matters is that you do everything in your power to make your own app as competitive as possible, and put in the foot work to make sure you stand out at the unit.

Shoot, I started out applying to the local A10 squadron, and then applied to the tanker unit next door because flying in my home state was my first priority. Once I talked with the tanker guys and learned about the mission, I was gungho for that life. Lots of flying, cool trips, great community. Not that those things arent possible in the pointy nose world, but you never know until you give it all a look.

Perfect. Exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks! Also, half of the links they want you to click on to download forms dont work. So thats nice haha.

Just got the memo that I got my FC1 scheduled. Working on getting all the items squared away that are required 5 business days upon receipt of the memo. This part is confusing me a bit. "If you have had an FAA exam (any class) within the past 36 months, you do not need to complete this step; please continue to step 4. FAA Class III medical/student pilot certificates are now valid for 5 years." I have a valid Class III FAA Medical right now, but its been more than 36 months since I received it. Do they just want me to sign up/register anyway. I'm assuming its so they can renew it at the end of the FC1 and not have to worry about it lapsing, even though I wont be attending IFS. The instructions after that quote seem to be more concerned with someone who has never had a physical. I guess I'm just looking for some clarity from someone who has done this recently.