[Upcoming Boards]

Anyone gotten a confirmation from Louisiana ANG after submitting a packet? Or Oregon for that matter...

[Vision doesn't correct to 20/20]

@stuckindayton Figure I owe you an update to say that you were right-- the diagnosis my surgeon gave me of never being 20/20 proved to be completely false. I've met with the 3 optometrists and 1 ophthalmologist in the last year, all of whom have confirmed my 20/20 in each eye post surgery. 

[Reality check or words of encouragement?]

5 minutes ago, brabus said:

I had a blast in my 11 years of AD, but I had a lot of good timing and luck with assignments and commanders. The guard has been phenomenal and much better than AD, even considering my admittedly good run in the AD. There is so much less BS in the guard, you know what you’re flying (vs. hoping it works out and you don’t have poor luck on assignment night), and it’s probably in a location you enjoy living.

My opinion is go guard until your age puts you at a disadvantage (late 20s), then go AD. 

1) You’re correct, it’s going to be harder to do non-standard things in the ARC, but a common misconception is you’re “stuck” for a full career at one squadron doing the same thing.  There are absolutely opportunities to go do test, live in Europe, go back to UPT, change airframes/units, do a staff job, go to Weapons School, teach at Weapons School, etc. There’s a reserve B-2 squadron and I think there’s at least one or two U-2 reservist (someone correct me if I’m wrong on that). Point is a hell of a lot more “change it up” opportunity in the ARC than people think. 

2) That’s not the mold, just some people. Tons of dudes fly their ass off in the guard and don’t work for an airline. At least in the fighter world, you will be expected to give 5-7 days a month as a part timer. Most guys live local, so I’ve seen many part timers flying 10+ sorties a month. I can’t speak for other communities, but we are very far from the “one weekend a month” side of the guard. There’s also plenty of opportunity to stay full time if you don’t want another civ job - you can’t plan on it of course, but I’ve never seen a guy who wanted to be full time not be kept full time through one of many avenues.
 

 

Thank you, this gives me a lot to think about. I just finished six years as an Army guardsman / guard bum and have seen the benefits of flexibility, but my previous experience for any request to do something in another state / component was “well you can send up your transfer packet to the general and see if they’ll let you go despite massive retention problems and your contractual obligation”…

granted, I could see that conversation going easier for a CPT than it did for enlisted me. 

[Reality check or words of encouragement?]

7 hours ago, Biff_T said:

You're definitely on the right track to get picked up by someone, whether it's and active duty OTS slot or one in the ANG/AFRC.   

1.  I flew Hueys (all active duty) as a pilot.   That being said, there were a few non prior and prior enlisted guys who were going to fly in the ANG/AFRC doing CSAR.  You appear to be a sharp dude.   If they can do it, I bet you can as well.  

2.  There are definitely more than a few dudes who have broken that mold.   

Keep applying.  Maybe you can fly one of these?  

 

 

Thanks for the encouragement and beautiful plane. My first thought was something AFSOC? U28’s and C12’s we’re my first love

[Reality check or words of encouragement?]

@brabus @Biff_T @Tarawa565 @Nate B

First off, a big thanks to everyone who replied. I truly did take the advice to heart and am actioning just about all of it. New updates, so I'll just post a summary since I'm excited and don't have too many pilot mentors in real life yet:

3.7 GPA, 95 Pilot score, 92 PCSM (new), 22 hours (more scheduled), 24 years old

Plan: This website and the commenters have been invaluable in helping me figure out this process. Now that I have a good PCSM, I feel like a lot of options have opened up. 

My first choice might be active duty until someone can talk me out of it; it just seems there are more opportunities for a single, unmarried guy whose imagination gets captured by U2/B2/AFSOC roles and the Pilot Physician Program. Obviously I'm not assuming I'd get any of those, but the opportunities seem more prevalent in AD world than in AFRC or NG. Getting a recruiter to deal with me as a prior enlisted guy has proven to be a pain in the ass...

So I am still finding a few AFRC and NG units that promise really unique opportunities e.g. CSAR, AFSOC, fighters and applying to every one in the country. 

Question for you all:

1) Am I correct in thinking that a lot of the AF's niche programs would be an uphill battle to apply for from NG/AFRC? It seems like a tough conversation to have with a unit that invested in someone at such a personalized level.

2) Any anecdotes about NG/AFRC pilots who have broken the mold of flying one week a month and working on the airlines? 

[Bad info about TBAS?]

I'm getting ready for my TBAS retake after doing pretty poorly the first time around, despite some preparation. Can anyone here verify if the baseops link below is accurate, specifically regarding the combination of listening and target tracking? It also mentions an "emergency scenario test". I have no recollection of either of these and I'm trying to figure out if I accidentally took my headphones off too soon or something.

 

https://www.baseops.net/militarypilot/tbas.html

[Upcoming Boards]

On 10/7/2022 at 3:00 AM, twoTangoKilo said:

Got the call for an interview today.  

Mind mentioning your scores/flight hours/experience? congrats by the way!

[Reality check or words of encouragement?]

On 8/3/2022 at 11:26 PM, Biff_T said:

"The world is your oyster my friend, until you stop believing in yourself." - (Biff_T, 22)

There are going to be several paths to go down.  Pick what works best for you.

I did the enlisted first OTS route.  I don't recommend that path, especially, if you have your degree.

A few recommendations:

1. Get your CFI or CFII.  Get hours teaching.  Apply to OTS for pilot slot.  You will do better than most in your class.  My friend did this and he flew F-15Cs and F-22s.  

2. Get your CFI or CFII.  Get hours.  Apply to airlines.  While flying for the airlines, apply to OTS (if you really want to 😄.  But in all seriousness, I had a friend who did this and flew C-17s.  

3. Apply to an airline with a cadet program.  They will make you a regional pilot.  Fly and apply.  This is a trend on purpose.  

4. There are way more options than these but I know for a fact these guys made it.  Regardless what you do, keep applying to guard and reserve units.  They don't know you're there if you don't tell them.

 

Thanks for the response… I never really thought about going all the way to CFI to boost the application process (and learn along the way), but I do have 4 months or so before my graduate school starts and this sounds like a good use of time.

As soon as I can stomach the thought of spending $xx,000, I’ll heed the advice 

[Reality check or words of encouragement?]

43 minutes ago, Nate B said:

I applied to 10+ units over the last two years and never got an interview, but just got picked up active duty. I am also a current (AF) linguist stationed OCONUS so was never able to actually visit any units, had similar AFOQT scores with all above 95 except quant (82). PCSM was an 89 with like 18 hours. I think the major factor holding me back was probably lack of PPL and visiting units. I think Active Duty with your scores is definitely something to consider. 

congrats on getting picked up! I'll be applying to the one FY23 board I'll be stateside for. Honestly, I think there's a lot more flexibility in active duty careers. Just has the uncertainty up front.

 

Out of curiosity, what type of units were you applying to on the reserve component side? Your scores seems great.

[Reality check or words of encouragement?]

GPA: non-stem 3.7 from a brand name school

AFOQT: 95+ in all categories except quant (78)

PCSM: ***Now 92***60, including the points added for my 20 flight hours. (considering TBAS retake)

Removed the rest for personal stuff. Message me if you want to know anything!

 

 

[Vision doesn't correct to 20/20]

On 12/14/2021 at 3:50 PM, stuckindayton said:

Has anyone gotten a waiver for less than 20/20 best corrected vision (for a pilot slot I presume)?  Highly unlikely.  I've seen many requested for best corrected vision 20/20- in one eye and none got approved.

As far as the second question goes...if your eyes did not develop 20/20 vision during childhood, glasses or contacts today aren't going to get you there, nor is PRK as you know.  It's kind of odd to have neither eye be 20/20.  Usually people have  one strong eye and one weaker eye due to misalignment or unequal refractive errors (i.e. glasses prescriptions) that were not balanced by lenses at an early age.  But, it is possible to have reduced vision in each eye for other reasons (e.g. congenital cataracts, uncorrected astigmatism, etc.)  You referred to "muscles not developing."  Not sure exactly what is meant by that.  It sounds like a generic term for a lazy eye, but again, that's almost always unilateral, not bilateral.  Maybe I can clarify with more background info if you're interested.

Thank you for the detailed, albet\it very unfortunate answer. Are flight surgeons held to the same vision standards as pilots? 

[Vision doesn't correct to 20/20]

I searched but didn't find anything in the last decade about this topic:

I had PRK eye surgery 4 months ago. My eyes were initially each about 20/400 and they are now 20/25 individually, 20/20 when working together. The doc that did my surgery told me there is nothing I can ever do or wear that would get me to 20/20 in each eye due to the “muscles not developing”. That leaves me with two questions:

 

-Has anyone ever heard of a waiver for 20/25 vision that does not correct to the much-desired 20/20?

-Flight docs, does that sound correct that there is nothing I could ever do or glasses I could wear that could get my eyes to 20/20 individualy?

 

[Flight training for flight surgeons?]

I love medicine and aviation. Naturally I am pursuing med school and the flight surgeon path. I've read throughout the internet that Navy flight surgeons attend a portion of their UPT and spend a lot of time back seating jets, whereas neither of these roles are as common for AF flight surgeons. Can anyone on here chime in about this?

Is any portion of a flight surgeon's flight time actually logged training? I am aware of the pilot physician program, but unfortunately that sounds like it's all but exclusively for pilots to transition to medicine rather than the other way around.

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