Long story short. 

I've been accepted for CSO for the Active Air Force after being forced to pick it as an alternate choice to Pilot. It's not what I wanted, but it's still an honor to be selected, and I've heard from friends in the Air Force that it's not uncommon to go from CSO to Pilot once you're already in for 3 or 4 years. Problem is I'm currently 28 with 5 years prior enlisted service and I might need an age waiver if I want to switch to pilot. 

I ALSO have an Active Duty Package in with the Navy. The board is set to meet the 3rd week in May 2020 with the results being released the 4th week. This package is only for pilot. I have a pretty good chance of getting it, but I definitely do not want to close the door on the Air Force for good and find out I didn't get accepted to the Navy and have no options left. 

My question is, how long do you have after you are selected in the Air Force before you are required to give them an answer, either accepting or declining? Is there an AFI that says this somewhere? I have heard that you have until the next fiscal year before you give them an answer but I am not positive. 

Thank you for your time. 

On 4/23/2020 at 5:11 PM, WeatherLion said:

Long story short. 

I've been accepted for CSO for the Active Air Force after being forced to pick it as an alternate choice to Pilot. It's not what I wanted, but it's still an honor to be selected, and I've heard from friends in the Air Force that it's not uncommon to go from CSO to Pilot once you're already in for 3 or 4 years. Problem is I'm currently 28 with 5 years prior enlisted service and I might need an age waiver if I want to switch to pilot. 

I ALSO have an Active Duty Package in with the Navy. The board is set to meet the 3rd week in May 2020 with the results being released the 4th week. This package is only for pilot. I have a pretty good chance of getting it, but I definitely do not want to close the door on the Air Force for good and find out I didn't get accepted to the Navy and have no options left. 

My question is, how long do you have after you are selected in the Air Force before you are required to give them an answer, either accepting or declining? Is there an AFI that says this somewhere? I have heard that you have until the next fiscal year before you give them an answer but I am not positive. 

Thank you for your time. 

Damn, i hope you found an answer already. So how long do you have actually??

I just found out I got CSO for a recent board and I am in the same boat. I fear if I turn it down I will be severing ties with the USAF. I need time to make this call and my recruiter is only giving me 2 days...

10 hours ago, DinaMight said:

Damn, i hope you found an answer already. So how long do you have actually??

I just found out I got CSO for a recent board and I am in the same boat. I fear if I turn it down I will be severing ties with the USAF. I need time to make this call and my recruiter is only giving me 2 days...

I'd assume your recruiter means that in 2 days they're going to start setting up a MEPS appointment to have you swear in. The first time you swear in, it's just to DEP (Delayed Entry Program). You're not obligated to much other than meeting with your recruiter and other selects about once a month for DEP calls and getting the ball rolling on things like your flight physical and paperwork. You can still turn down the selection at any time. This would technically be a DEP Discharge, which is mentioned somewhere in AFRSI 36-2001 if you want to dig through the regs. I don't think that requires any sort of waiver to reapply, but you will have to disclose the fact that you applied and turned down a position. It's probably anyone's guess as to whether a particular selection board will find that significantly objectionable or not, but it's probably going to be neutral at best.

Once everything is squared away and you're about to actually report to OTS, you'll go back to MEPS a few days before and swear in again. This time you're swearing in to EAD (Extended Active Duty). From this point on, you're officially "in" the military and it's a more involved process to have you released. The ability to do this might change depending on particular circumstances at the time, but short of a major war and/or critical manning issues, you generally have the option to DOR (Drop On Request) while at OTS and get discharged from the military. If you do this, you'll get a DD214 since you were on active duty and it will indicate that it was an entry-level uncharacterized discharge. Because of this, you'd need a waiver to rejoin the military in any capacity (have a look for "RE code" sections of governing documents). Not impossible but not a guarantee either.

Short answer: you definitely don't have to decide within 2 days.

Edited May 19, 20205 yr by mb1685

5 hours ago, mb1685 said:

I'd assume your recruiter means that in 2 days they're going to start setting up a MEPS appointment to have you swear in. The first time you swear in, it's just to DEP (Delayed Entry Program). You're not obligated to much other than meeting with your recruiter and other selects about once a month for DEP calls and getting the ball rolling on things like your flight physical and paperwork. You can still turn down the selection at any time. This would technically be a DEP Discharge, which is mentioned somewhere in AFRSI 36-2001 if you want to dig through the regs. I don't think that requires any sort of waiver to reapply, but you will have to disclose the fact that you applied and turned down a position. It's probably anyone's guess as to whether a particular selection board will find that significantly objectionable or not, but it's probably going to be neutral at best.

Once everything is squared away and you're about to actually report to OTS, you'll go back to MEPS a few days before and swear in again. This time you're swearing in to EAD (Extended Active Duty). From this point on, you're officially "in" the military and it's a more involved process to have you released. The ability to do this might change depending on particular circumstances at the time, but short of a major war and/or critical manning issues, you generally have the option to DOR (Drop On Request) while at OTS and get discharged from the military. If you do this, you'll get a DD214 since you were on active duty and it will indicate that it was an entry-level uncharacterized discharge. Because of this, you'd need a waiver to rejoin the military in any capacity (have a look for "RE code" sections of governing documents). Not impossible but not a guarantee either.

Short answer: you definitely don't have to decide within 2 days.

So if you leave after DEP then you'll need to disclose that you turned down a slot, but if you turn it down prior to DEP then you don't need to mention it?

By the way, the latest version of this AFRSI 36-2001 I could find is 2005, has there not been any newer publications since?

14 hours ago, DinaMight said:

So if you leave after DEP then you'll need to disclose that you turned down a slot, but if you turn it down prior to DEP then you don't need to mention it?

By the way, the latest version of this AFRSI 36-2001 I could find is 2005, has there not been any newer publications since?

You'll definitely have to mention it either way since form AF56 has a section requiring you to list any applications to commissioning programs. This is also on form AF24 (Guard/Reserve appointment). I don't think there will be any difference at all turning it down while already in DEP (other than your recruiter probably being more peeved). The bigger deal is dropping on request at OTS since AFRS/NGB/AFRC could deny the waiver request when reapplying.

I'm reading now that AFRSI 36-2001 was eliminated a few years ago and AFI 36-2005 is the relevant reg for officer accessions. Paragraph 2.8.3.1. goes over applying after disenrolling from a commissioning program in the past. The wording makes it sound like a waiver is only required if the disenrollment was punitive or for poor performance/adaptation and I don't see anything about RE code criteria now, but still, best to make your decision long before going to OTS.

Edited May 20, 20205 yr by mb1685

I guess I don't understand, do you want to be a pilot or are you content with the cso position? There is nothing wrong with turning it down if flying is what you want. I turned down a NAV slot and the guys from the board understood perfectly.