Realistic path to become a reserve/guard pilot.

[h0lY_PeaNuT]

So, I'm 17 and am a senior in high school. My goal is to be a pilot in the reserves or ANG and, after doing some extensive research and talking to many recruiters, I've developed A semi cohesive road map on achieving that goal. My plan is to enlist in the AD Air Force a few months after graduation. I'm hoping to enlist for 6 years as to give me so extra cushion time as well as a better starting pay. I'll probably go into some sort of maintenance AFSC although I scored pretty well on the ASVAB so I should be qualified for everything. During my time in the AD Air Force, I Plan on using the benefits such as TA as well as many benefits online military colleges give, to get my bachelor's degree. Along with this I will hopefully be able to get a PPL and some flight hours under my belt. With all of this I hope to have a somewhat competitive chance to get on with a squadron (hopefully fighter). My concern Is that I might not possibly have enough free time/money to get these things in a reasonable timeframe, as I've heard maintenance jobs work very long hours. And even If I can, I might not have the time to study and such to keep my GPA to an acceptable standard.

Does anyone have any tips or insight on how to improve this plan or whether it is viable in the first place?

[Scooter14]

So, I'm 17 and am a senior in high school. My goal is to be a pilot in the reserves or ANG and, after doing some extensive research and talking to many recruiters, I've developed A semi cohesive road map on achieving that goal. My plan is to enlist in the AD Air Force a few months after graduation. I'm hoping to enlist for 6 years as to give me so extra cushion time as well as a better starting pay. I'll probably go into some sort of maintenance AFSC although I scored pretty well on the ASVAB so I should be qualified for everything. During my time in the AD Air Force, I Plan on using the benefits such as TA as well as many benefits online military colleges give, to get my bachelor's degree. Along with this I will hopefully be able to get a PPL and some flight hours under my belt. With all of this I hope to have a somewhat competitive chance to get on with a squadron (hopefully fighter). My concern Is that I might not possibly have enough free time/money to get these things in a reasonable timeframe, as I've heard maintenance jobs work very long hours. And even If I can, I might not have the time to study and such to keep my GPA to an acceptable standard.
Does anyone have any tips or insight on how to improve this plan or whether it is viable in the first place?

That’s a solid plan.

Another course of action would be to see if your state’s Guard offers any sort of tuition waivers. I know a lot of the Northeastern states offer 100% tuition waivers for state schools. You could go to school full time and get your degree faster while serving in an enlisted AFSC as a part time Guardsman.

You wouldn’t have all the pay and benefits of an AD airman which may be a drawback for you, but you would have free college and a pretty solid part time job with more time to focus on school and potentially get to work with the very people that may someday hire you to be a pilot in that unit.

There’s many different ways to skin the cat.


Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

[O Face]

1 hour ago, h0lY_PeaNuT said:

So, I'm 17 and am a senior in high school. My goal is to be a pilot in the reserves or ANG and, after doing some extensive research and talking to many recruiters, I've developed A semi cohesive road map on achieving that goal. My plan is to enlist in the AD Air Force a few months after graduation. I'm hoping to enlist for 6 years as to give me so extra cushion time as well as a better starting pay. I'll probably go into some sort of maintenance AFSC although I scored pretty well on the ASVAB so I should be qualified for everything. During my time in the AD Air Force, I Plan on using the benefits such as TA as well as many benefits online military colleges give, to get my bachelor's degree. Along with this I will hopefully be able to get a PPL and some flight hours under my belt. With all of this I hope to have a somewhat competitive chance to get on with a squadron (hopefully fighter). My concern Is that I might not possibly have enough free time/money to get these things in a reasonable timeframe, as I've heard maintenance jobs work very long hours. And even If I can, I might not have the time to study and such to keep my GPA to an acceptable standard.

Does anyone have any tips or insight on how to improve this plan or whether it is viable in the first place?

I think you’re on the right track here, but please listen to what I’m about to tell you…Enlist in the Guard!!  Don’t go AD if you want to be a guard pilot. Enlist in the unit you want to fly in. They will probably cover your tuition, leaving your GI bill to pass on to your kids one day. You should spend a fair amount of time getting to know the pilots. They’re the ones who are going to select you for a pilot slot. We guard pilots like to pick known quantities, if you enlist AD and show up at board time, you’re just another guy. 

[h0lY_PeaNuT]

1 hour ago, O Face said:

I think you’re on the right track here, but please listen to what I’m about to tell you…Enlist in the Guard!!  Don’t go AD if you want to be a guard pilot. Enlist in the unit you want to fly in. They will probably cover your tuition, leaving your GI bill to pass on to your kids one day. You should spend a fair amount of time getting to know the pilots. They’re the ones who are going to select you for a pilot slot. We guard pilots like to pick known quantities, if you enlist AD and show up at board time, you’re just another guy. 

Yea I've already tried that. One of my dreams is to live in Alaska so I went to my local AF Reserve recruiter and tried to enlist as a 2A3X7 (tactical aircraft maintenance 5th gen) maintaining for the 302nd reserve fighter squadron. But he said that I'd have to report to the D&T flight for that squadron as soon as I enlisted even If I didn't leave for boot camp months later. So basically, he said he can only enlist me for local positions. 

[O Face]

17 minutes ago, h0lY_PeaNuT said:

Yea I've already tried that. One of my dreams is to live in Alaska so I went to my local AF Reserve recruiter and tried to enlist as a 2A3X7 (tactical aircraft maintenance 5th gen) maintaining for the 302nd reserve fighter squadron. But he said that I'd have to report to the D&T flight for that squadron as soon as I enlisted even If I didn't leave for boot camp months later. So basically, he said he can only enlist me for local positions. 

Did you talk to the 477th recruiter or just your local recruiter?

[h0lY_PeaNuT]

Just now, O Face said:

Did you talk to the 477th recruiter or just your local recruiter?

Local recruiter. However, I did contact the recruiter in anchorage (not sure if it was the 477th), and he said it was possible to enlist from a different area. So, I'm not sure who to believe.

[O Face]

57 minutes ago, h0lY_PeaNuT said:

Local recruiter. However, I did contact the recruiter in anchorage (not sure if it was the 477th), and he said it was possible to enlist from a different area. So, I'm not sure who to believe.

Definitely the recruiter for the particular unit, in this instance. It is certainly possible to enlist from another area. Guard/Res recruiters only answer to their own unit, unlike AD.  So, your local guy isn’t going to go out of his way to help out another unit. If you got your heart set on the 302nd, http://www.477fg.afrc.af.mil/

talk to their recruiters. They’ll be your best source of info for enlisting there. 

Edited April 2, 2023 by O Face
*

[h0lY_PeaNuT]

On 4/1/2023 at 8:28 PM, O Face said:

I think you’re on the right track here, but please listen to what I’m about to tell you…Enlist in the Guard!!  Don’t go AD if you want to be a guard pilot. Enlist in the unit you want to fly in. They will probably cover your tuition, leaving your GI bill to pass on to your kids one day. You should spend a fair amount of time getting to know the pilots. They’re the ones who are going to select you for a pilot slot. We guard pilots like to pick known quantities, if you enlist AD and show up at board time, you’re just another guy. 

Yea but doesn't the guard only cover like $4000 a year for tuition assistance?

[stlpilot11]

1 hour ago, h0lY_PeaNuT said:

Yea but doesn't the guard only cover like $4000 a year for tuition assistance?

Depends on state. Some states cover full. 

[elvis]

As a dude who got hired after enlisting in their Guard unit their freshman year, I was almost a year ahead from the active duty guys. Mainly due to the requirement to finish their CDC's/Job 3 level before they could even start school. Highly recommend going Guard versus active. 

[h0lY_PeaNuT]

On 4/11/2023 at 11:44 AM, elvis said:

As a dude who got hired after enlisting in their Guard unit their freshman year, I was almost a year ahead from the active duty guys. Mainly due to the requirement to finish their CDC's/Job 3 level before they could even start school. Highly recommend going Guard versus active. 

 

On 4/1/2023 at 8:28 PM, O Face said:

I think you’re on the right track here, but please listen to what I’m about to tell you…Enlist in the Guard!!  Don’t go AD if you want to be a guard pilot. Enlist in the unit you want to fly in. They will probably cover your tuition, leaving your GI bill to pass on to your kids one day. You should spend a fair amount of time getting to know the pilots. They’re the ones who are going to select you for a pilot slot. We guard pilots like to pick known quantities, if you enlist AD and show up at board time, you’re just another guy. 

Yea but would I really get to see and know the pilots that often? Plus, I'm 17 and if I did enlist into the reserves where I want in Alaska I would be extremely far away from home (most of my family lives here in Alabama) and, unless I can get an ART or AGR position, it would be part time and I don't think that the 6 months of active duty upgrade training would leave me qualified to go get a civilian aircraft technician job. So id be leaving home with little security and trying to pay for college. And from what I've heard its extremely difficult to AD after joining the reserves so Its not like I can change my mind if I do. Thoughts?

[Lockjaw]

14 hours ago, h0lY_PeaNuT said:

 

Yea but would I really get to see and know the pilots that often? Plus, I'm 17 and if I did enlist into the reserves where I want in Alaska I would be extremely far away from home (most of my family lives here in Alabama) and, unless I can get an ART or AGR position, it would be part time and I don't think that the 6 months of active duty upgrade training would leave me qualified to go get a civilian aircraft technician job. So id be leaving home with little security and trying to pay for college. And from what I've heard its extremely difficult to AD after joining the reserves so Its not like I can change my mind if I do. Thoughts?

To answer your first question, here is a great introduction to something you'll hear a lot if you decide to pursue military aviation.

It depends.

But really, it does, based on what job you have. Crew chief? 100%. Backshop (i.e. Comm/Nav, Engines, Weapons, etc) will still get you interaction as well. They aren't pilots, but we ended up with multiple SMAs out of our maintenance community. We had a supply troop attached to our squadron. He is a SMA as well now. Be sharp, be motivated, and be friendly. At some point, make your wishes known to one of the pilots or other aircrew. They'll remember and can also probably give you good data. Our squadron has also seen enlisted aircrew from another MDS and comm personnel become pilots.

I don't have any solutions for your geographic dilemma or the Reserve to AD transfer chances. You probably need to sit down and pro/con list this decision, and then decide on your primary and alternate courses of action. I wasn't a prior E, so I can't help you there, but I know many success stories from taking that path.

[Neverupgrade]

16 hours ago, h0lY_PeaNuT said:

 

Yea but would I really get to see and know the pilots that often? Plus, I'm 17 and if I did enlist into the reserves where I want in Alaska I would be extremely far away from home (most of my family lives here in Alabama) and, unless I can get an ART or AGR position, it would be part time and I don't think that the 6 months of active duty upgrade training would leave me qualified to go get a civilian aircraft technician job. So id be leaving home with little security and trying to pay for college. And from what I've heard its extremely difficult to AD after joining the reserves so Its not like I can change my mind if I do. Thoughts?

I know you’re pretty focused on Alaska, but have you considered the ANG unit in Montgomery? F35s. Become a crew chief for them, stay close to home, get tech school and your bachelors done, then pursue a pilot slot in Alaska as an F35 crew chief, or, get picked up with Montgomery (being local is a huge boost to your UPT package btw). Plenty of opportunity later down the road to make that push to Alaska. The hardest part of getting a pilot gig in the ANG is getting the job first. Once you become a pilot, there are lots of opportunities for adventure whether permanent or temporary.

 

In terms of time with aircrew as a maintenance dude, you’ll get plenty especially in an ANG unit. I’m a legacy 130 DSG, but I know most of our maintenance dudes by first name. Our crews chiefs in particular because they fly with us when we go on the road. 
 

Probably not the same experience in a fighter unit, but I can’t imagine it’s far off. ANG ops/mx groups are small enough that if you put in the time to be good at your job, you’ll know most everyone involved fairly quickly.

[h0lY_PeaNuT]

3 hours ago, Neverupgrade said:

I know you’re pretty focused on Alaska, but have you considered the ANG unit in Montgomery?

yea I have seriously considered them since I'm currently only about 20 minutes away from Maxwell AFB. I see them fly over my house all the time (they are still flying the f16 but I think they'll have the f35 by the end of the year) and its always the coolest thing ever. I guess I just sort of have this notion that "the grass is always greener on the other side" and even though I've lived in Alabama all my life and love it, I suppose I'm just ready for something new.