2026 ACTIVE DUTY UFT BOARD

[Justwanttofly]

4 hours ago, LawnmowerofDoom said:

Did some number crunching today because what else do I have to do for two months? The number of Lt pilot selects doubled from FY23 to FY24 (11-22) then again from FY24 to FY25 (22-46). Total pilots were 70 70 and 100. Lts got 24 of the additional 30 slots while captains only went up by 3 in FY25 (48-51). Also all the CSO selects were Lts. Seems like a trend towards selection of more Lts and perhaps more slots allocated to the younger year groups. I want to say years ago the reg was the 5 years TFCS instead of 8 so perhaps 3-6 years is a sweet spot for "potential" when they score. 

Not to crap on anyone but I think preparing a truly competitive package and meeting the needs of the Air Force will probably be what gets you through the door. And further more already being rated makes things super competitive for you already because as a rated officer, you don’t really get put in leadership positions until your what a captain? Most Lt’s in non rated jobs are OIC’s as second Lt’s. 
 

Additionally, the way you are selected for this board may be the same way OTS boards go. They could only have a certain number of slots needing to be filled and depending on your board score if you don’t have a good enough board score it may not get you over the threshold to get one of those slots. 
 

Example, I’ve seen some packages of people explaining all that they’ve done in their current career field and all the good they’ve done but not really highlight their potential in the new field their trying to get into. So yes there may be an increase in Lt selections, but what careers fields are those Lt’s in, how many of them are rated, how many of them actually led and demonstrated the ability to take on a level of increased responsibility.