jvlonardo
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Posts posted by jvlonardo
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Youngstown, OH 910th AW has the DoD's only large-area, fixed-wing aerial spray mission (pesticides, herbicides, oil clean-up). Don't know about firefighting however.Thinking about switching my airline career to aerial firefighting down the road. Are there any guard/reserve squadrons that participate in aerial firefighting? I have my radar on the C130 squadron in Reno, NV, but no clue if they do that type of flying. They are in close proximity of NorCal though.
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O5 at my hiring unit keeps asking me why I'm not in OTS yet. He said once i get the FC1 it shouldn't take as long as i think to approve and that they can push it. Is it wrong to really doubt he's right?
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From what my recruiter/unit both said, "That sucks. Everyone asks to fill in absentee slots or speed it up somehow but its just slow." So good luck, man.
I am in the same boat. My FC1 paperwork was submitted late April and received a date of 3 Sep. Is there anyway to expedite FC1? I was told that it can take up to 3 months have the FC1 approved. That’ll definitely put me pass my separation date from the Corps (Nov 1). I may have to ask for an extension.
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1 hour ago, rudderrightmore said:Good lord thats a long wait until FC1, we requested in January and it got scheduled for May. WP must be slammed
EDIT: Just realized Jan to May is longer than May to August....
Well if you applied in Jan, i applied in March. So 5 months from application to date for me.
Good to hear I'm not the only slow one though.
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On 4/26/2019 at 12:48 AM, Jetpower said:
Maybe you got hired on 8 FEB “2019”, FC1 submitted on 7 MAR “2019”, and pending notification as of now?
Marines don’t usually correct Airmen on stuff like this but I just had to do it lol.
Thanks for catching me, and yes I'm just a lowly civilian lol. Updated my post with the date I just received. Currently reaching out to my recruiter to see if there's any way to get in sooner than August, that's way longer than I expected. Figured I'd submit an application and be at WPAFB 2 months later. Hoping I can bump that up.
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I totally forgot to post this following my interview back in Feb and for that I'm sorry for lack of detail, considering how well this thread helped me. I was the only civilian at mine so not sure how my interview compared to the Officer/Enlisted guys in the unit / Enlisted from another base. Got word that i knocked it out of the park and I believe its because i compiled all the questions from the threads and spent the time answering them. Casual interview environment with some joking, but I can't overemphasize how cool it was and the advice I got. Girl from another base said she was given a plane down scenario (at her home unit's interview) and basically had to answer in a timely manner how they'd deal with potential hostiles approaching a downed plane. Sounded rough compared to my experience at this other unit. Remember to have good thoughtful questions to ask them too by the way. Evaluate how they treat you and if the unit interviewing you (chances are you'll work with them all) has the leadership/atmosphere you'd want to spend your life working at.
1. Tell us about yourself.
2. What is the hardest thing you've ever had to do?
3. In what ways are you a leader? What type of leader are you?
4. How would your friends describe you?
5. Who were some role models in your life and why?
6. What do you know about the whole process?
7. Have you considered the time commitments / where will you work and what you will do besides the Reserve (seasoning will make it hard to have a job for a while after you're back at the base from training)? Deployments and TDY?
8. Some questions about my hobbies and personal interests.
9. What questions do you have for us?
Attached the list of questions that I went through and answered. Ended up being about 7 pages of text but it was worth the time.
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Civilian to Reserve heavy unit.
AFOQT/TBAS: JAN 2018
PPL: OCT 2018
Application to Base: NOV 2018
Interview/Hire: 8 FEB 2019
FC1 Submitted: 7 MAR 2019
FC1 Notified of Scheduling: 3 MAY 2019
FC1 Date Scheduled: 19 AUG 2019
Notified after UFT board: 26 SEP 2019
OTS notified of scheduling: 3 JAN 2020
Onboarding at 340th: ???
OTS date: 11 FEB
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I know you cannot have punctual plugs at the physical, it was listed on the LASIK waiver info. I would advise you use preservative free artificial tears (or a hot towel or whatever else helps you) and to not DQ yourself by getting diagnosed or treating it with plugs.
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I am the same age / similar boat, just got picked up by a Reserve unit. Sounds like you need to get a timeline going: make an application and apply to the units you want (and try to figure out which you want the most / why. Its important both for you and when they ask you at the interview why you applied there). If these units have set deadlines for applications and you think you can make that but not the AFOQT prior, then apply. I think you can do better on the AFOQT considering your grades and flight experience, I spent about a month studying every resource out there and taking practice tests, did well despite no flight experience. Like jonlbs said there's no punishment for going to a board more than once and you might be surprised at how much they weigh who you are vs. your scores. Study hard for the interviews and feel free to PM me for advice man. Good luck
PS study for that TBAS too. Yes, there's ways you can prep for it.
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With an 86 pilot and a "meh" tbas attempt, I had a 52. So yes a dismally low pilot score will affect it. I believe navigator affects it (pcsm) marginally as well? 99 nav and no hours
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Someone posted a TBAS game very recently, if it isn't too late look for it.
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If they let you apply, go for it. Assuming you have a PPL already and just have to take the AFOQT and TBAS? If not, PPL first usually. I took the tests before but I bet I would've did better on the Pilot section had I waited until after PPL ground training.
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Wow very neat. Would've helped me a ton as I was TERRIBLE at this section and only this one. Playing fighter sims didn't help me at all, not sure what my problem is tbh. Going to play around with this for fun though just to see if I could get decent at it eventually. Not planning to retake the TBAS myself. Thanks for sharing to all those that will need it, I know I would be ecstatic to find this.
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Study hard for the AFOQT and TBAS and when you feel you're ready, ask a recruiter or go straight to a ROTC detachment at a college to ask to sign up. I wish I had started my PPL prior to taking the AFOQT as my Pilot score probably would've been 10% higher. If you feel like your recruiter is blowing you off, engage them or get another if you need to. Research and ensure there's nothing holding you back / waivers you may need. ie I got LASIK as I was worried about my vision DQ'ing me.
Definitely stay abreast of unit activities you may get a chance to visit but it might not be worth your time/money traveling far before knowing where you stand as SugandeseFighter said.
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5 hours ago, Hofjaldguune said:
You can be stuck with RPA, CSO, or ABM if you list them on your application package. I listed pilot and CSO in the last board and got picked up for CSO. You may apply for pilot only, but your AD recruiter or interviewing officer may give you a lecture about the needs of the AF or being an officer first, aviator second. YMMV.
Many applicants who listed pilot only got phone calls saying they were not selected for pilot and were offered CSO instead.
Interesting, I didn't realize this was the case. Thought if I applied for a rated position, they were all possible. I will definitely look into this and reach out to my Reserve recruiter for a point of contact. I was also concerned about swearing-in before getting a UPT slot guarantee but sounds like that's doable as well then. Thanks for sharing your experience!
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9 hours ago, Switch408 said:
Some people will tell you that you should go Guard/Reserve to guarantee a certain airframe. There's certainly a lot of truth to that. But if you are making the decision between AD and Guard/Reserve to avoid being an RPA pilot, I would offer that your odds are similar if you make either decision. If you earn an AD pilot slot, you have 'guaranteed' that you won't be an RPA pilot based on the current situation in UPT in which no one is dropping RPAs. That could change. Similarly, you could be hired by a Guard/Reserve unit and be 'guaranteed' that you will fly a certain airframe and that you won't be an RPA pilot. But I have heard more than one story of an individual being hired by a unit only to be halfway through UPT and find out their unit is switching airframes. And yes, that switch has been to an RPA. There are certainly plenty of caveats and dynamics that play in to those situations, but the bottom line is that I would caution you to be making a decision on AD vs Guard/Reserve because you don't want to be an RPA pilot. There are plenty of other worthy reasons to be making that decision. Can't say I blame you for your line of thinking though! Just checking your blind spots.
Thanks for your response. I was going to ask, it seemed like there were no RPA slots on the recent drops thread, I wasn't sure if they were being excluded or not. I don't know a whole lot about the OTS to UPT route so I'll have to research it more. I thought that if you apply to OTS boards, you could end up stuck either with a pilot, RPA, CSO, or ABM.
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I've posted before, civilian with a decent shot that is applying to the 910 AW (local). I've got some good networking / seem to be liked there, but they could have an enlisted guy who's been waiting to go or someone otherwise more qualified than me so I'm not getting my hopes up. As for my preferences, the general A10 mission is my favorite but I doubt I'm competitive enough to apply to a base like the 122 FW. The 910 AW is top pick for me considering their unique mission and the fact that its local. I don't care about fighters much, but maybe because I'm not taking into account close air support missions. After that, I guess beggars shouldn't be choosers.
Right now I just feel like I'm burning up time that I could spend in training, so I'm eager to move but I worry about AD because of the chance of being an RPA pilot. Is there any guaranteed way to avoid this, ie going a specific track?
Also, is the PCSM score-checking page down for anyone else? Waiting for my score update so I can apply to the 910th.
Link to my old post: (PCSM is now 83)
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On 4/21/2018 at 9:37 AM, Ajanutol said:
Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen,
I served 8 years 7 months in the United States Marine Corps, prior to attending the university i am currently attending full time at. After talking with recruiters, looking at chat forums, watching YouTube videos, and reading the prereq's, i still feel like i am in the "gray" area when it comes to being able to be selected as a pilot. I will skip the whole "I really desired to be a pilot speech" for if i didn't dream of being a pilot why would i be searching for answers in this forum then. My concerns are the following:
1. Though i have years of enlisted service in the USMC as an Infantry Squad Leader, I just turned 29 years old with 2-3 years left of education until i am able to receive my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. Will being 31/32 years old impact my ability to be able to become a fighter pilot?
2. I am currently going through a divorce, and have 1 child-- which i hope to be able to have joint legal and physical custody. Will me being a "single parent" affect my ability to become a pilot? When i was looking at the Army's WO program, they said it was impossible for me to be active duty helo pilot because of this. It caught me off guard, but i began to worry that the Airforce would go the same direction. In fact, the recruiter stated that i would have to pretty much give up my custody in order to fly and be a helo pilot active duty. This isn't even up for questioning, i wouldn't choose the military over my son.
3. I am currently getting together Letters of Recommendation from my old commands, mostly from commissioned officers. Will Letters of Recommendation be accepted in the package if i receive them a few years prior to commissioning? Also is there a limit to how many I can put in my package?
4. What can I do now, besides doing as best I can in school, to prepare for this? I know I want to retake the ASVAB, and will maintain being physically fit, but I am looking for a mentor that could potentially help me head in the right direction.
Thank you for taking the time to read my message, I understand if you aren't willing or able to respond.
Respectfully,
Austin
I'm no expert on this but here's some serious things to consider. I'm a recent college grad working on getting into the AFR, ANG, or lastly AD Air Force to become a pilot. My senior year of college I studied long and hard and took the AFOQT and TBAS tests (as far as I know, ASVAB is useless for the AF pilot route). I'm earning a PPL currently; it is reasonable to expect the whole process from testing to actually getting "hired" by a unit to take at least a year possibly more. Not including shipping off to BMT, OCS, UPT, and all the other training lead times that are included once you're in the system. So if you have the AF in mind, you should probably do some research into the non-academy/AFROTC route to pilot (same as I'm taking except I'm only 22). Browse the "what are my chances?" thread to see what individuals like me are working on. There's plenty of other resources out there but sounds like you need to have your recruiter lay out the timeline for you to see if its still possible. There are age waivers, can't recall the cutoff but you're close to or will need a waiver. Expect to be away from home / active duty for ~2 yrs of training, regardless of whether you're joining active vs. reserve. UPT is 54 weeks alone I think. So I highly doubt you could maintain child custody for that.
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On 4/11/2018 at 11:24 PM, schokie said:
David Clark keeps getting mentioned because they're a standard issue set that we all have. They're certainly worth the money on the open market, but not sure if they'd be my first choice if I was buying on my own.
I suppose its because they seem like a safe bet over the many lower-end brands out there.
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You guys have me convinced to look into some DC's. No point spending a ton if I won't see them for 2 years and will get handed something even better at a unit. I'll research the H10-30s and whatever else is out there (I have no clue which model is which). Thanks for the help everyone. Hope I can make good progress over the next few post-college years and give back.
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23 minutes ago, FlyArmy said:
Buy a used pair of A20s, then sell it if/when you’re done using it for about what you paid for it. Or buy my pair of lightspeed Zulu 2s that I haven’t used in a few years.
Thanks for the input. Seems like the high range ones hold their value pretty well but wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it being just a new flyer. How much you selling them for? I've heard a few material / ANR concerns with the zulu 2 but they (A20, zulu, sennheisers) all seem to have quirks.
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I plan on earning my PPL over the next couple of months so I can apply to AFR units by Fall. Likely C-130 units considering my location (Eastern OH). It seems worth it to purchase a headset in the long run, but wanted you guys to weigh in. Is it worth me spending the big bucks on an A20 or Lightspeed, or go for a mid-priced DC? I don't know if pilots ever use their own headset during training / in the reserve. Might be silly to buy a nice one then be gone for ~2-3 years OTS/UPT/whatever follows before I touch it again, not to mention depreciation. I did see another thread about getting a nice used pair of DC and just replacing parts as needed. I could also just work with what's available at my flight school for the ~60 hrs I'll be earning.
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I'll definitely research this. Going for PPL then Reserves after hopefully.
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On 2/20/2018 at 3:33 AM, Seriously said:
If you want to be a pilot, don't settle for anything less (if you can help it). Once you go nav or ABM, your chances of ever becoming a pilot are extremely small. It happens, but it will be even more competitive.
Getting a PPL will help in a lot of ways. It'll give you insight into whether or not you actually want to be a pilot, it shows that you want to be a pilot, and in UPT it will give you confidence on the radios.
Thanks for your input. I'd like to go for a PPL as my time (during this very busy final semester) allows. I had my first flight lesson today and am going to accumulate more flying hours. Hopefully that will help me decide on being a pilot (after this first flight, I'm confident my mind won't change). Current plan is to accumulate hours, visit 910th, and work for a sponsorship to go get my flight physical. Depending on how that goes, I'll see what I should do. My eyes aren't the greatest so I'm worried about that and would like to find out sooner rather than later that I'm either good or denied for UPT.
Guard/Reserve timeline to UPT
in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves
Posted
Civilian to Reserve. We graduate OTS in April. Buddy just got orders for August UPT. Assuming I'll get the same. What do you do between OTS and UPT? TDY somewhere? Drill? Anything?
Edit: sounds like SERE at least for a month. Still leaves 3 months in limbo. Not that that is an awful thing. Just curious if anyone has a better idea of what happens between OTS and UPT.
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