Catman
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Posts posted by Catman
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I'm an ANG guy of almost 8 years (mostly DSG, now Title 32) and I've accumulated a lot of retirement points, but not quite the 1460 points that the O-1E pay-grade requires. Not trying to count my chickens before they hatch, but I have been trying to figure out what I can do to squeeze those last points out before commissioning. Does anyone know if OTS itself contributes to those points? In my mind, it should, since it is my understanding you are paid at an enlisted pay while training.
Also, if anyone with ANG/AFRC experience has figured out any tricks to getting more points, I'd love to hear them!
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42 minutes ago, Burger said:
PM me and I can send the 183rd info packet. ^
106 RQW calls went out for the 60s
Burger, you're the homie.
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Anyone applying/applied to the 183rd Airlift UPT Boards? I got in contact with them months ago, thought I had the application materials sent to me, but now I cannot find them. I'm worried I won't be able to contact the designated recruiter in time. Anyone have that information?
Yes. I know I waited until the last minute to check. It's been a crazy month. If you get me the info, I'll Venmo you enough to get your favorite six-pack. You can also optionally call me and tell me how dumb I am for waiting this long.
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On 5/18/2020 at 11:13 AM, ryleypav said:
Getting frustrated with the process is part of the process. Its not a "one and done" deal for most people, especially if you're going fighters. ANG fighter slots are incredibly competitive, as I'm sure you are aware at this point. It took me 3 interviews (4 applications, one time in the middle they didnt invite me to interview) with the same unit (tankers) before I got hired. I had been applying to another local unit for a year or so prior to that with no luck scoring an interview. So, it can take a while. But you cant let that drag you down. The unit that hired me gave me feedback that they wanted to see ###, ###, and ### for me to be really competitive. So I worked at those and it it helped in the end. Like its been mentioned before, on paper it seems like you check the boxes. So you just gotta show them you want it. In the interviews, just be yourself. Dont give them the answer you think they want to hear. Give them your honest answer to any question asked. Be prepared, but dont be scripted. Most important, just be a good dude. The Guard hiring process is all about being that wingman, or co-pilot that someone wants to fly with for the next 20 years. During the interview weekends, talk to EVERYONE you can in the squadron. Everyone. They all have a say in who gets hired. While the board has the final verdict, you want to make sure as many people as you can have met you. That was the hard part for me, being a pretty reserved dude. Ask questions, sit in on anything they will let you, find out about the people there. Ask them military related stuff, but also about non military stuff. One guy and I shot the shit about hunting property and whatnot for a half hour.
I appreciate it! Yeah I understand frustration is part of the process, I'm just being open about it. In my first year of applying, I made so many great changes to my application package as I became more and more competitive, and now I'm sort of at a wall when it comes to my package (aside from the cover letter, there's always work to be done there). My expectation was that I would be interviewing all the time at this point, so my hopes got higher than they should have. And I'll definitely work on talking to more people. I've gotten more comfortable in conversations and have been able to have some really fun ones, but I definitely feel myself resisting talking to the next person and the next.
On 5/18/2020 at 11:55 AM, brabus said:I didn’t, just making a general statement as a reminder when doing introspection. 100% of us let ego get in the way of seeing clearly at times.
reattack your cover letter...that’s first impression along side scores. If I read a boring cover letter or one that is ridiculously over the top (e.g. it says what the author thinks I want to read vs. truth from the heart), it goes straight to the “meh” pile. Also visit as much as you can afford to; face time goes a long way.
I appreciate it!
MO ANG's 180th Airlift and NY ANG's 102nd Rescue Squadrons have me interviewing in the nearish and near future respectively.
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2 hours ago, brabus said:
Step 1: Do some introspection with the ego set aside and think about what you may have said/not said or done/not done (phone and in person interviews) that was a contributing factor to you not getting a job (there’s likely more than one thing).
Step 2: Seek out a pilot at the home unit who was on the board and ask if they’ll give you more specific feedback on the interview. See if their answers are similar to what you came up with or are wildly different. This isn’t to say they will give you the magic answer, but it will hopefully let you know if you’re on the right track from step 1.
Sounds like you simply didn’t interview as well as the top X candidates. But, that also may mean you were 7/169 applicants, which is nothing to scoff. Ask them what did the candidates (who were offered jobs) do/show in the interview that you fell short of? You can only improve on your shortcomings if you know what they are, but don’t expect to be fully spoon fed the answer, and you will certainly never improve if you’re ego gets in the way.
I am frustrated with the process since I have been doing this for a couple years now; there is no hiding that.
Where do you see the ego coming into play? I do not mean to challenge what you are saying, but the last person that is going to notice an ego problem is the guy with the ego problem. Maybe my tone doesn't convey well over text.
That's an interesting strategy, though, I will give that a shot. It's good timing that my last interview was with home unit and I've got a great rapport with them. And I have definitely had some shoddy interviews where I probably came off a bit stony and overly serious, but my more recent ones I feel I have been knocking it out of the park... hopefully they're making it to the outfield at least.
As for the "What did the successful candidates do that I fell short of?" strategy, that's something I have done every time. Last year, a couple units said they wanted more flying hours past PPL minimums because I had something like 50-60 hours at the time. A captain from one of those units told me that was a factor but they were still confused why a couple other people made the cutoff for interviews and I hadn't.
The main frustration, though, is getting the interviews in the first place. I'm fortunate to have a background and testing numbers that check a lot of boxes, so when I compare my rate of securing interviews with some of the folks I chat with, it's confusing for all parties. It's gotten to a point where I've seriously wondered if my applications are being filtered out subconsciously by the boards because I don't have any interesting shortcomings. I have shortcomings, but the ones on paper aren't so significant that they get brought up as talking points like they might for other people like "Why didn't you enlist in the Guard?", "Why have you flown so little?", "How come this score/GPA is so low?". The only one that comes through on paper is that I didn't play a sport in college because I thought it would be too much with the engineering workload -- in hindsight, I definitely could've managed, totally wish I continued playing tennis.
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Made an update to my original post with a bunch of underlined text. Hopefully not too awful to look at, would appreciate any new advice or advice from folks that haven't seen this thread at all.
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Cast a wide net and cast it fast. Rush hard, rush often.
At the hyper-desirable coastal fighter units, you'll be a hard sell. But for F-16s in Sioux Falls or something, if you check every other box, you could have a shot.
On the flip side, though, you seem to talk about fighters in a "well, sure, why not?" manner which makes me think they're not as important to you as military aviation is in general. If that resonates with you, I would recommend putting the most effort (rushing, etc...) into the heavies if you're having to decide what to spend your time on.
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Great pilot/nav scores. Rest of the scores usually don't matter, but it's better to kick em up if you can. With some test prep and having one testing session behind you, I'm willing to bet a retest could kick those other scores way up, not to mention add a bit to your pilot/nav. Not a necessity, but I'd do it.
These boards like to see rec letters from people that really know you. Maybe you know the Wing CC well, but most of the time, they're just letters they sign to get you out of their office. For example, I know my Wing CC would sign pretty much any rec letter I drafted up because his XO knows me pretty well... but it'd be meaningless. I'd try to spice things up, get a cover letter from outside the military... or at the very least, someone outside your home Wing like a deployment commander.
Outside of that, you seem super solid. FC1 physical will be a big help in easing any medical concerns, especially if you resemble Chris Farley at all (joking).
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21 hours ago, Maverick2019 said:
3. The pilot I met flew the C-5 and he explained it wasn’t deployable which was great however if I chose a different aircraft (fighters/helo) what is life like on that side.
Maybe he's saying that you don't deploy to combat zones/hazardous areas? AFAIK, if you deploy with the C-5, you're based at Ramstein or something like that to move cargo to/from said combat zones/hazardous areas. Maybe those gigs are not actually deployments on paper, I really do not know.
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There are specific squadrons out there that have local requirements. I saw the 187FW from the AL ANG has a local 3.0 requirement. Essentially, that means it is unofficial, but if you are trying to apply to that base in particular, you're gonna have a bad time. If you can reach out to them well in advance and explain your situation, maybe they will relent.
It sounds like you're going the active duty route, though, so I think your recruiter is mistaken.
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13 hours ago, ayz33 said:
Both of those make sense. Not exactly sure what breadth one would want to see but I do go to a private school so it's not only flight related courses I'm taking. I read a ton and study other topics through other outlets as well, though that's not something that can be as readily displayed on an application.
As far as the letters go, I am wondering if it hurts to have the ones I have when some people have letters from general officers even if they don't really know them.
If you have an area of your resume with interests and hobbies, you could include the information about the stuff you read and study in there. What I was trying to get at is that flight schools aren't exactly pouring money into their chemistry department so if you have a "Hey I spend a lot of time reading about environmental science/middle east history/astronomy" in your cover letter, maybe that can help them see that you are more than a pilot. There is a good chance your application package already makes them see that, though.
Do not worry about rank on these letters of recommendation. Unless it is a very well-written letter describing a very personal connection to the applicant, it might appear that you are trying to intimidate or throw rank at the board. I am sure most of us could bother enough people to get a flag officer to make his aide write a generic letter. A lot fewer people could convince the head of a food bank to rant and rave about how you were an awesome, dedicated volunteer.
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You have a solid package, I don't see anything glaring. Since you ask "What's wrong with it?", I'll just nitpick.
AFOQT Quantitative is a tad low... it's in the "OK" range. Wouldn't risk taking the AFOQT again to fix that, though.
Super nitpick: I think folks with Part 141 flight university education have to work a little harder on their package and interview to prove the sort of "well-rounded" aspect that they are looking for. Not to say Part 141 flight universities don't produce well-rounded graduates, but since there is a heavy focus on churning out pilots, they are a little more prone to producing graduates with a narrower breadth of education. You have a great GPA, though, so I don't think you fall into this category.
Since you have a Squadron CC and Chief letter of recommendation from [I assume] the same unit and deployment, they might not be as good as having a distinct letter from another area of your life. In other words, 3 letters of rec from 3 distinct places means you must have done 3 great things. If two of these letters are not as distinct, then you have 3 letters of rec from 2 distinct places, meaning you have done 2 great things.
That's... really it. You have a very near ideal application package.
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3 hours ago, di1630 said:
Wasn’t sure which thread to ask this in, Credit scores, so there I was, buying a house when in the mail comes the credit scores for my wife and I that the bank ran.
WTF? So my wife who without me managing 100% of finances would be net worth -$169k in credit card debt and probably filed for bankruptcy 2x....has a credit score 800+
I have decent credit scores in the ~790 range with a long credit history, zero lateness in my life, nothing outstanding.
What gives on how this stuff is computed?
Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile appCould be credit utilization. If you are using a pretty significant chunk of your available credit and she's using a smaller fraction of hers, then that could be where it's coming from. They also factor in patterns of utilization, so if she's consistently utilizing 15% of her available credit and you're spiking up and down, that doesn't look as good.
It's not worth fretting about, though. Anything over 750 is pretty much treated identically.
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Unfortunately, the answer to why it took so long is just... because it's medical. Everything medical is a combination of backlogged and convoluted.
Friend of mine had an inhaler prescribed when he was just a kid for shortness of breath while running. It didn't help at all, he just grew out of it a couple years later. He got a letter from his doctor and multiple other doctors attesting to his not needing an inhaler and his current good respiratory health... you would think that would be enough, but medical goes on and on.
It will be over before you know it, though, if all goes well.
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I am not experienced enough to tell you whether or not you should start interviewing that early, but you could definitely start dialogue with these bases. Maybe send the application in and, if they offer you an interview, tell them about your commitment and explain that you would like to rush the following cycle. That way, when you do your interview for real, they know that flying with their base has been a long-term plan.
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6 hours ago, Day Man said:
A Cessna isn't going to fix issues like this.
Name one problem that isn't fixable by a sufficiently large and armed Cessna 172 😄
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4 hours ago, Tank said:
Imagine if the USAF would use airframes already in their inventory!
C-146, C-145, CN-235, DHC-6, C-208
Crazy idea!
3 hours ago, AFsock said:Yeah it doesn't sound like these dudes even know these exist in the AF or its periphery.
2 hours ago, Danger41 said:That was my thought. Those are assigned to SOF so this may be more of an OPCON/TACON thing than a capabilities thing.
Yeah those aircraft and the C-12, too. Maybe they are too utilized to be used in this context? Or maybe the fleets are so small that it wouldn't be possible to distribute them enough? SOF is... special.
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11 minutes ago, Breckey said:
Mind as well just use a helicopter. Airspeeds and maximum altitudes are pretty much the same and you can shoot back.
Yeah that's what I was thinking. You're probably not going to want to be flying a Cub down-range, so it seems like this would all be limited to use in the States and allied nations. In that case, it seems to be more feasible to charter a plane to make these deliveries rather than having to train pilots up on fancy T-6s only to put them in Pipers and Cessnas. What if we had CT-6s? The AT-6 is pretty interesting, seems like it would be far easier to rig up a T-6 for additional cargo.
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On 6/18/2019 at 9:15 PM, CharlieHotel47 said:
It’s an awesome community but a lot of folks (the non Air Force candidate types) think we just do circles in the sky. I was one of them until I started Rushing tanker units along with other heavies. Yes that’s part of it but there’s more to it. The people and the place make a big difference as well.
I am starting to budge that way. Just got finished interviewing [and getting denied by] the Phoenix KC-135 Wing, which was one of the coolest Guard bases and pilot groups I've ever met. Still waiting on feedback from them.
EDIT: Me stupid. Me forgot that I have to ask them for feedback. 😣
19 hours ago, JimNtexas said:Being a pilot in the USAF is awesome. Being an ANG pilot is more awesome.
Don’t obsess over the size of the ride, they are all great.
I appreciate the kind words and advice. It's all so true.
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Just a couple tidbits about the Trivium books:
The table-reading practice they have is not on the same scale as the actual AFOQT. The tables in the practice books are maybe 7x7 or 10x10, but the actual table is closer to 30x30 with smaller font and less space between numbers. It threw me for a bit of a loop because I was not accustomed to being that precise when scanning the table.
There were a couple questions in mine that straight-up had the wrong answer written in the answer key. If you find yourself tearing your hair out trying to figure out where you went wrong, chances are it's the book.
Everything else in the books is pretty awesome and reflective of the actual exam.
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On 6/11/2019 at 8:59 PM, Bergman said:
So weird that she was CEO of Textron prior to being appointed. I’m sure there is no conflict of interest there.
What's up with the USAF and Textron? I think Secretary James is now on their payroll.
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On 6/11/2019 at 7:18 PM, Inertia17 said:
Catman, if you want any chance at being picked up by a unit, you need to stop. Displaying this attitude is not a desirable quality in a squadron mate. This is sincere advice, not trolling. You need to STFU about 6-9 posts ago.
I went through and purged my posts and accidentally deleted my apology along the way.
For the OP: I apologize for what I have said and for venturing out of my lane. What I was trying to say originally is that not having military background is not the end of the world and that trying to rush into an enlistment to boost your chances may not be as valuable as, say, earning your instrument rating. Enlistment takes a long time, and the training pipeline is backed up for a lot of schools. You could end up spinning your wheels for little to no gain, but it is entirely up to you.
For me to challenge your statement, @matmacwc (is that how you tag people?), is way above my metaphorical paygrade. Instead of interpreting your post as a shot at me, I should have taken the high road... especially since I reckon we may not actually disagree on that point after all.
Everything else said was mostly a result of my pride getting ahead of me. The remainder was a bit of misunderstanding the dynamic that this forum has, which is also on me. While I think that some of my comments were misinterpreted, like someone else said, I'm probably the asshole in the room if I think everyone else is being one.
Bottom line: I was wrong. I apologize.
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1 hour ago, Inertia17 said:
If you think this is how you need to listen, you are out to lunch. What you are doing right now is going to be seen as quibbling, which won't play well. Also, if you think the dudes who sit on these boards aren't on these forums, and can likely figure out who you are in an applicant stack...
This board can be a great source of information if used correctly. If you mouth off instead of taking advice given, you could completely sink your chances also. It has happened before.
How am I the one "mouthing off"? The only thing I've said so far is that matmacwc was unnecessarily rude and blunt when he corrected me. I have said nothing bad about him, only said that I don't know who he is. He came in, said that I was wrong, and offered nothing else.
And I do know how to listen. I've had plenty of other pilots tell me and other applicants that the military checkbox is not as big a deal as folks make it out to be. So when he posts that the info I got is wrong, I want to know why! I'm looking for information here, just like everyone else. But please, for OP's sake, tell me how stupid I am here, not in this thread.
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Bumping after updating original post.
Earned my PPL, and I'm back on the horse applying to as many Wings as possible. Hoping to get more feedback on my application package.
Does anyone know if boards give any thought to an applicant's current security clearance? Obviously it's good to have the TS/SCI that they need you to be able to hold, but how good? To me, it could be inconsequential because the squadron is used to obtaining them, but it could also be a huge weight off their shoulders seeing as the clearance interviews are backed up and it's one less thing to worry about.
What about the instrument rating? Should I place any priority on going after it? Or should I get some time with my new PPL before going down that road?
Upcoming Boards
in Air National Guard / Air Force Reserves
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A few units I have applied to have asked for them. Pretty similar to the letter of interest mentioned before and the letter of intent example. Big thing is to explicitly say exactly what you are applying for: unit, location, airframe, board date (like Summer 2020). The units that put the most emphasis on these letters were the ones that had postings for CSOs or other airframes, so they must have had issues where folks didn't make it clear what they were applying for.