goboldtigers

I'm in the same boat. Applied in 2016 when I went to OTS but got my second choice. Applied last year but was an alternate. Also took a different approach with my personal letter, got a couple awards under my belt and a much better letter of rec, but definitely not at the levels you got! I would imagine you're in a great spot this time around.

Good luck! I'll be submitting mine in september after my wing racks and stacks everybody. You applied last year as well, didn't you? Did you make any changes to your application?

You could email the board. They are very responsive and helpful

33 requires a waiver so your first application is fine. Anecdotally I've heard they have been waiving that recently due to pilot shortage but I don't have data to support it

It dropped end of April last year, right?

Are you a civilian? If so, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I would assume you have to go through a recruiter. Otherwise just wait for AFPC to post next board's PSDM (usually late April/early May). It outlines exactly what you need to do to apply. You can look at last year's PSDM to get an idea for what to expect. I would imagine not much will change. Things you can do now ahead of time (and should do if you haven't already): - Get your FC1 accomplished. This can take several months and a lot of guys miss the application deadline because they wait too long to start it. - Take (or retake if necessary) the AFOQT and TBAS. There's study materials, tips, etc online. AFPC posts average scores each year of pilot selects so you can compare your scores. - Get civilian flying hours if you have the time and money. Will increase your PCSM score until you hit 60 hours and will show the board you're serious about flying. If you've been applying for NG slots you've likely already handled all that. Good luck

Just commenting to say hello to my future self when I check back in 6-9 months from now

I'll add my $0.02 to this discussion, as someone that was confused why I'm an alternate but 2 others from my wing were selected. You can look at my comment history in this thread for more details but short story: I had better scores and numbers, stratted higher from the wing, and had a Wg/CC sign my letter of rec. I'm an alternate but they were selected. The other 2 from the wing had objectively worse applications in every measurable way. Emphasis on objectively. So I emailed the board. I asked about the alternate process and as an after thought at the end of the email, I asked "how I can improve my application for next year's board, specifically anything subjective they noticed". (I didn't complain about the above situation, I knew that wouldn't look good). They replied explaining the board uses an algorithm to help quantify subjective packages. Only 30% of your score comes from PCSM, AFOQT, college GPA, etc. I don't remember what the other 30% and 40% was exactly, but one of them is leadership and experience. They said really good test scores don't mean as much for an otherwise average application. They made sure to tell me my application was above average but this board was very competitive and my chances of being selected next year are good. It helped to read that last bit but still stung haha. This coincided with the feedback I received from my Gp/CC. The other 2 from the wing are the same AFSC but have been doing it longer than me. So by default, by doing the job longer, they have had more leadership opportunities and experience to present to the board. Also, their scores were decent too. I've had a bright start to my career, but I'm "young". Anyways, if I've interpreted all of this feedback correctly, what you've done in your career and how well you communicate it to the board is just as important, if not more important, than every number on the AF215 combined. I definitely know how to improve that for next year. Food for thought. Edit: incase it wasn't clear. The things the board probably are looking closely at is the personal letter, letter of recommendation, the 3 bullets from your rater and 3 bullets from your senior rater. Specifically how robust they are. They can tell if it's a bunch of fluff or something meaningful. All of the test scores, PCSM, etc are likely just checking a box for the board.

Maybe it's just in my AD community (F-15Es) but it's well discussed how great of a gig it is to fly in the ANG/Res, and how difficult it is to get hired. Is it true you need to know someone in the squadron? Because if a lot of talented/experienced guys apply for one spot, the only distinguishing thing is if you're already well liked?

Can you apply again if you decline it? I thought the psdm said you can't

On the board call page on the portal, it specifies you must list all of them unless you're rated.

Lol. You are not the first one to ask me that question. You're not even the fifth person. I never considered that but to answer your question, no. We're pretty even there!

Anybody know how many UPT selects there were total? I'm curious if the projected 40 to 70 slots is accurate from previous comments. It'll help me sleep at night knowing I'm an alternate when they had around 100 slots the last couple years. So close...

Agreed. It seemed like a very competitive board overall. The portal has average numbers for the last several years. I'm very curious to see how this year's board compares. Based on numbers, it looks like mine are right there with everybody else's that got selected, so PPL and letters might be the deciding factors

So I sat down with my Gp/CC today to get feedback about what he thinks happened (why Iower stratted guys from the wing got picked up with objectively worse packages). Best guess is it was more subjective based on letter of rec and personal letter. The other 2 have stronger bullets by virtue of simply doing the job longer. We are all the same AFSC, but I've been operational only a year, they've been operational 2-3 years. He didn't sugarcoat it, he says mine was "more fluff" because I just didn't have as many things I could say yet. I'm glad I got feedback from him. He doesn't know what AFPC specifically looked at but that's his best guess because all of my scores and numbers on the AF215 were better than theirs. It's encouraging that all I have to do is continue doing my job well for the next year and accumulate stronger bullets. If anybody is confused, I recommend getting feedback! Edit: he also said he would look into the alternate process and would get back to me with any info. I'll pass that along on here when he does!

Someone previously mentioned alternates will know by the end of February one way or the other. Idk how they get notified though

That's really helpful for expectation management! I feel like someone declining their pilot slot would be rare though. I assumed the alternates would be more for those who medically DQ. But they won't know who failed MFS until after February I would imagine.

Thanks, but I found out I got alternate. Still confused why I wasn't selected but I'll just reapply next year. Congrats on getting selected! Follow up question for the group: anybody have any data on alternate selections? Like how many traditionally get picked up ultimately?

Woof. If I didn't get alternate that's even more depressing because I've got a 99 pilot, 87 PCSM, and 25 civilian hours.

What were your stats? My sq/cc didn't see the alternate list so idk if I made that

That would make sense except the guy that got selected is also a 12F...

How do you mean? Like they accidentally released the wrong names or made a mistake?

Wow that seems like a very competitive package and it's very similar to mine and I didn't get picked up for pilot. I only put pilot though because I'm already an F-15E WSO. Have fun at Pensacola and if you have questions about that pipeline or the strike eagle feel free to shoot me a DM

I guess I'm genuinely more confused now because they selected a guy from my base with an all-around worse package than mine I was stratted above him Neither of us have a PPL but I have more civilian hours (25 vs 12) I have a 99s across the board on the AFOQT and his pilot score was in the 80s My PCSM score is 87 and his was much, much lower I had the wing/cc (O-6) write my LoR. He had his Sq/CC (O-5) write his. Idk if personal letters made the difference but I had several ppl proofread mine and they all gave thumbs up to it. This hurts but at least I've got a good package for next year. For everybody with a worse package than mine but haven't heard yet, stay positive. As I just indicated it's still very possible for you

Bummer. Didn't get picked up 99 pilot, 87 PCSM, stratted 2nd from the wing, Wing/CC wrote my LoR, but no PPL. 5th year in the AF but first time applying. I knew not having not a PPL could hurt but I was hopeful because I thought I had a good application otherwise