Originally Posted by
Sliceback
I'd second that.
I'd recommend getting as much flying experience as possible. Instrument training is key. You'll be doing ground based SID's from day one. If it's cloudy you'll be doing SID's almost immediately. What's a SID? Navigation based departure path. It comes fast and furious.
If you can't fly, do an instrument ground school course from Jeppesen or Sporty's. Instrument knowledge, airspace knowledge, and weather are the biggest hurdles for our young Padawans. It is very confusing for the new ones to aviation, the classes without a Nav/WSO or some experienced CFII types struggle quite a bit. 90% of what we do in the AF is the same as civilian, just a few dialect differences on what your holding entry is, and some different filing restrictions, but most of the knowledge for the checkride ground eval in instruments can be learned in advance by anyone who already has a private. The days of showing up dumb and letting the AF teach you are long gone. Too much in the syllabus and too many outside distractions that suck time away. SARC training, DADT training, Wingman training, and the list gets longer each year.