Originally Posted by
Natty
Clay,
You do not have the time as a person looking to fly in the guard to screw around with enlisting as a lot of the UPT boards have 25-27 year old cutoffs, yes you can be 29.5 and still make it happen, as I did, but why chance it? If you enlist, they ask for 4 years minimum as a rule of thumb and remember you need to meet the boards requirements if you want a guard unit. Also, you might be able to get a service, ie officer recruiter, not enlisted, to pay off the rest of your degree. Then get commissioned and off to flight training. I have been an officer in two services and have too many
nightmare enlisted recruiter stories. They have a job and that's to meet their quota, just ask them. Hope this helps. Natty
OP is 20 years old. That is plenty of time. He can wait two years to start chasing this dream as on off the street candidate when he gets a degree. Or, if he finds the right unit that likes him and puts him in a loadmaster or maintainer slot he is doing a two year pre interview while he finishes a degree. It seems in my 16 years at UPT that there are plenty of prior enlisted (some prior AD) who have gotten to pilot training for ANG/AFRC at 24 to 25 years of age, and some all the way to the limit of 30. I've seen folks enlisted in one unit get picked up by other units. Just like investing, don't put all your eggs in one basket.