Originally Posted by
Navy123
I appreciate any advice or opinions people have for me. My background is I'm a Navy Hawkeye pilot currently serving as a T45 instructor pilot. By the time I finish my current set of orders I'll have 13.5 years of service, age 36, rank as an O4, have about 2300 hours TT and over a thousand as an advanced strike instructor pilot in the T45. I also have an MBA and a tour as a ROTC instructor. Given this, how competitive would I be to get hired by a fighter ANG unit? Totally open to any locations.
Anything is possible so I'd encourage you to contact units and see what they say. Navy pilots hired into my F-15 unit came out of the Hornet. I know of similar situations in F-16 guard units. With no real fleet experience in a fighter, you're not going to be the typical O-4 type pilot rushing a guard fighter unit. You're going to be competing with 2 and 3 tour instructor pilots and maybe a weapons school grad or two depending on the unit. So, you're probably going to need to find a unit looking to diversify and that's willing to use one of their "new guy" positions on you. Most likely you're going to need a full up B-course to get trained in the unit aircraft.
The good news is, the airlines are hiring like crazy so there may be full time positions available at some guard units as new airline guys in the unit switch to part time status. If you're willing to commit to a full time spot (again, unit dependent) they may be willing to consider you.
All that is semi-educated speculation based on my experience from a few years back. It certainly can't hurt to knock on some doors and see what they say. Good luck.