Originally Posted by
BeatNavy
Get a degree and your ratings, start an airline career as you rush various units in your early 20s, and keep working towards both careers. You can be a fighter guy and a major airline guy in your 20s.
It sounds like he might good to go making the “get your degree" part happen. But, "get your ratings" might be a whole other thing. Unless he's independently wealthy or doesn't mind racking up 6-figure debt, how exactly is he going to make that happen. And, why would he want to do that? One of the great things about becoming a military pilot is the fact that you don't have to pay for flight training. Why would you advise someone to pay for ratings when their goal is to get selected for UPT and fly in the USAF or ANG?
Being a competent fighter pilot usually means devoting a great deal of one’s early years doing that job to that one and only job. Talking about someone being able to be an airline pilot and a fighter pilot in their 20’s might be possible but it’s not common. New ANG fighter pilots spend several years getting experience and often take full time positions in the unit in order to accomplish that. If someone is truly set on using the ANG to make their way to the airlines, I think a heavy unit is probably a better option, IMO.
Back to the OP –
If you are going to pursue ROTC anyway, why wouldn’t you apply for a scholarship? The program is no different if the USAF is paying your bills or someone else is. Maybe the other scholarships you’re expecting could be used for room and board or other expenses.
However, if you really don’t need the scholarship and the ANG sounds like a better choice for you, then getting your degree without a military commitment may be the way you want to go. There are a lot of ANG unit out there and if you’re willing to cast a wide net and pursue lots of options, it may work out for you. The USAF does take college graduates right off the street, send them to officer training school and on to UPT (pretty much what you would be doing if you joined an ANG unit) – the only difference is you’ll be going on active duty. So, both those options would be worth considering after you get your degree just to keep as many options open as possible.
Just keep in mind – when you look at the hundreds of pilots trained each year by the USAF, a relatively small number of them come from ANG fighter units – or the ANG in general. Go after what you want, but the more specific you are in what you’re willing to accept, the smaller your chances are you’ll achieve it. The good new is, that the USAF needs pilots badly and probably will for the foreseeable future. It's a good time to try to become a military pilot.