November 13Nov 13 Currently wrapping up F-16 crew chief training, and I want to check the current ANG fighter hiring climate. Age: 28 (turning 29 in January) F-16 ANG Crew Chief: Enlisted 9/24, shipped to BMT 4/25, heading back to home unit in about 3 weeks. Day Job: Legacy Airline 737 FO 5600 hours E145, E175, B777, B737 Type ratings Warbird and formation time (Pilatus P-3, Nanchang CJ6, Yak 52, T-33 Shooting Star (type rating expected Q2 2026) Volunteer SAR pilot, instructor, FEMA Incident Commander qualified (CAP) Bachelor's with a 3.8 GPA Current Scores: P:99 CSO:99 ABM:97 ACAD:89 VERB:94 QUANT:76 PCSM:88 I've posted here regularly over the years, but unfortunately, I still haven't gotten any interviews. Thank you to those who have answered in the past, and I apologize for being a broken record.
November 13Nov 13 Author Oh, I've also been working on my Glider Commercial addon while at tech school.
November 13Nov 13 Your age is a pretty glaring factor. It’s extremely hard to get hired by a fighter unit when you’d be going to UPT near/at the age waiver requirement. It happens occasionally, but data shows it’s very rare. I think many units won’t even entertain interviewing someone who’s in that position, regardless of how stellar their app is otherwise. When a unit sees your app vs. a very similar app (but the guy is 23), they’ll take the 23 yr old 9.9/10. Your best bet is keep submitting apps, but hit your home unit with all you got - put in the extra time to interact with pilots as much as possible, make it known ASAP to them you are excited to be a CC, but your ultimate desire is to fly in the Wing. Your home unit is probably your best bet given your timeline. If no luck by 30, I’d start throwing out apps to heavy units if you really want to fly mil. If you don’t want that bad enough/fighters or bust, then so be it, but be at peace with the decision and never flying for the mil (if it comes to that).
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