Originally Posted by
hypnotika
Mate, worst time to join any branch of the military due to Sequestration or mandatory cuts in defense budget. I sure hope you have zero medical issues, flawless background, perfect vision, and score high on entrance exams - in other words superstar on paper. Because in case you haven't heard the military trying to get rid of people and are being very VERY selective. Go back to college, pursue another degree maybe a Masters that makes you actually marketable. Use student loans to pay for flight training; seriously the government is subsidizing student loans and providing loans at a rate slightly above inflation - not for much longer once the Fed raises interest rates next year. Government is practically throwing free money at you and paying the interest WHILE in school. Go to a university that has a airport and some sort of affordable training/rental nearby to build time.... such as University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, or UC Davis. Go to accelerated training once you meet aeronautical experience for a rating/cert.
BS. This is where I actually side with John Burke and not SkyHigh. JB is unrealistic IMO in his approach to situations where you can not reasonably expect to have a positive outcome, but this is not one of those situations. This guy is young, could go into the military, become an officer, make decent money and benefits, get an education, all for free. In the worse case scenario, he has to get pilot certificates and ratings on the side. The idea that you have to do things "quick" is total BS, people will always be retiring until we figure out a way to make them live forever. There is no hurry or rush and the usual path to a career flying for FedEx or UPS probably takes around 20 years, with few shortcuts. Lots of people got hired at certain times because they came out of the military and there was a huge need, but the market is more flooded now and some of those old captains have no idea on the reality of the career path that exists today and how long it takes, how much of a struggle it is, how far you have to go into debt, etc.
The point is, if he can join the military, get into aviation in some way, he could find yourself significantly ahead, ESPECIALLY if he doesn' have the funds right now for pilot training. One of the WORST things is to go into significant debt to pay for college and flight training. You don't make 100K a few years after college, so you won't be paying that money back any time soon, and it will affect your ability to raise a family, have nice things, save money for retirement, etc.
DO NOT go into debt to pay for flight training and college. It's one of the stupidest things you could do at this stage IMO.