Originally Posted by
Apokleros
Is it a good idea to become an army AD pilot and then hope to transfer into the USAF reserves/ANG one day (too old to start UPT unfortunately)? I am a current airline pilot, age 31, so army WOFT is still possible. Really don't care about the legacies; I just want to serve. The legacies will always be there.
If you want to be a helo only dude in the ANG/reserves, maybe. If you become an army pilot, even if you go army fixed wing, you still will have to go through full UPT for the Air Force and meet age/commissioned time in service limits or get waivers. Look up the aeronautical review board AFIs for the info on that. The AF used to have a fixed wing qual course with no waivers required and it was mostly army folks going through it, but they got rid of it a few years ago. Age waivers in the guard/reserves are being given until 35 right now fwiw. Finding a unit willing to give a waiver is probably the biggest hurdle. The ones I know that have done it usually do it for guys enlisted in the unit.
So if you are against army flying long term and just want to use it to get into the ANG/AFRES, it's probably not a great idea. If you want to go fly helos in the army (or king airs or whatever else) and then go fly helos or ospreys in the ANG/AFRES, it's doable. If you want to fly airplanes in the Air Force, you are better off rushing guard/reserve units, or just applying (unsponsored) to an AFRC UPT board, knowing that you'll probably be stuck flying heavies if you get selected on that board.
That's the long answer. What do you want to fly in the ANG/Reserve?