Get a pilot slot
Graduate top 1-2 in T-6's (track 38's)
Graduate top 1-2 in T-38's (for fighter)
Graduate top 1-2 in IFF
Kick a$$ in your fighter unit
- think 4-ship flight lead
- as many hours as possible
Do civilian higher education early
- science (engineering?)
Do PME early (online & residence)
Max your PFTs...always
Volunteer for everything (mil & civ)
Apply for TPS every chance you get
DON'T step on the backs of your bro's to do any of this....or you will only succeed in becoming "that guy"!
If you can do all that...and grad from TPS...you will be one step closer to your astronaut goal....but in the meantime, you will have created a very successful military career and made a lifetime's worth of friends and connections!
Being a military aviator is an awesome opportunity dude! To strap one of the AF's machines to your body and complete an aerial mission for our country is something many aspire to do, but never get the chance!
Me...i'm just a C-17/T-6 dude, but I love what I've done, seen and accomplished...and i've got the coolest buds in the world!
ANG/Res are a great way to go....I wish I would have known about them from the start....but might make the TPS part more challenging to obtain.