Originally Posted by rickair7777

I would recommend that to any aspiring pilot who can qualify...you want an air national guard unit that flies fixed wing airplanes (anything fighters, tankers, transports...just not helos).

I would recommend this career path:

1) 4-year college (good grades, and technical major if possible)
2) Pilot ratings while in college, if possible (Inst, Comm, CFI, CFII, MEI)
3) Work as CFI
4) Get hired into regional, finish consolidation (6 months or bless)
5) Apply to Guard unit
6) Attend USAF OCS and flight training (2 years)
7) Return to regional (you now have the seniority to be a captain)
8) Get 1000+ hours airline captain time
9) Apply to major airlines...with 121 captain time AND the military background you will be very competetive.


You could join the guard earlier so you don't have to pay for all those civilian ratings, but ideally you want to accrue airline seniority while you are away at military training.