I left the Air Force (enlisted) to become a pilot and as soon as I got commercial/multi Corona hit. I'd love to be a part of the Guard/Reserve but I'm still finishing my degree and I'm 'old'. Do I even have a chance at this point? Thanks for any guidance. 

Welcome man! Fellow 33 year-old here also vying for a UPT slot. The short answer is yes 🙂

The fact that you already have your commercial/multi and I can only assume hundreds and hundreds of flight hours, you've got a great foundation.

Have you taken the AFOQT and TBAS? Once you've gotten those scores, you've pretty much gotten all you need from "Big Air Force" to start locating units of interests, finding out when they have UPT boards, getting the application/package requirements, and then submitting. Speaking of which, there's a great thread here to follow on that, too:

Best of luck!

Edited September 16, 20205 yr by GreenArc

Get on that degree and the AFOQT/TBAS quickly as possible, as the next steps are pretty moot until you’ve got those done. Then start talking to units, both Guard and Reserve when you’ve got those in hand. Shiny scores will open doors. 

Time is not on your side and you’ll need an ETP for age, so moving faster is a benefit.

Heavies are your best bet, if you’re definitely looking to fly due to age and competition. I don’t know the exact criteria, but two training bases are doing a T1 only track for those with CPL/IRs, which puts you on a faster track and (potentially) makes you more marketable. 

Good luck!

 

14 hours ago, FDNYOldGuy said:

Heavies are your best bet, if you’re definitely looking to fly due to age and competition. I don’t know the exact criteria, but two training bases are doing a T1 only track for those with CPL/IRs, which puts you on a faster track and (potentially) makes you more marketable. 

Good luck!

Are you talking about the Accelerated Path to Wings program? Theres nothing in the AFRC guidebook about it anymore. I thought that the program was gone already?

Are the two training bases doing that for both Guard/Reserves?

Criteria was commercial multi-engine instrument from an AABI university. Which I currently hold and will be graduating from soon. 

On 9/17/2020 at 1:44 PM, Prayforwaves321 said:

 

Are you talking about the Accelerated Path to Wings program? Theres nothing in the AFRC guidebook about it anymore. I thought that the program was gone already?

Are the two training bases doing that for both Guard/Reserves?

Criteria was commercial multi-engine instrument from an AABI university. Which I currently hold and will be graduating from soon. 

I remember the Reserves-specific program, but I don’t know if it is rolling yet. The Randolph T1 only program was offered to a Reservist buddy of mine in the heavy pipeline, but he already had a slot in the normal UPT pipeline starting, so they pulled the offer. I met an IP brought there for the program before it started, so it’s definitely going, but it seems geared to active folks that are wanting heavies from the get-go with a few Reserves/Guard sprinkled in.

Vance was supposed to be starting a similar T1 only program around July, as well as the T6 only program. I left in May, so I didn’t keep tabs on it, but have anecdotally heard they’re still going. 

 Thank you for that information, I'll get working on it all and update down the line.