I will be putting in my nav package in January...hoping to get a Strike Eagle slot. I will have 3 years active in January, and won't start UNT until May at the earliest. So, I wouldn't be at my first actual assignment until around Jan '08 at the earliest...making me a 2 year captain at that point. Will lack of flying hours affect career progression, and will it be harder to get selected for Weapons School?

As for the flying hours, I don't think that will affect your promotions'.

As for Weapons School, it will be harder. You have to have at least 50 hours (IIRC) of Instructor Time to be accepted. There is also a TAFMCSD limit ( I think it's 7 years) but like anything else, that's waiverable. I know of a WSO who has his Major's board this Dec (so he's been in since 1997), and he just got picked up for WIC about 3 months ago.

Good Luck.

Hoser

Try a search and you'll find a couple similiar threads - the ones I remember talked about being a FAIP and being able to go to WIC. Big picture, it's tough but not impossible (our squadron commander was a FAIP).

Concur with Hoser and I would add that you may have a slightly better chance as a WSO since they tend to upgrade to instructor during their first Ops tour whereas most pilots do not.

Not to discourage you, but the "trend" at the WIC in the past few years has been to go younger.

The expressed reason for this policy is to get more payback after graduation. By Reg, grads are required to be in a WIC billet for at least three years and they prefer five, which can be tough once folks make O-4 and start rolling off to school. As an example one WIC squadron had six instructors picked up for IDE next summer. Someone will get Ops Deferred, which is not always a bad deal, but it does show how tough the timing can be.

That being said, there are always a few sharp "older" guys/girls in each class. Bottom line, do your best and it may well work out. Good Luck!