Originally Posted by
Buzz
Spend the next 4 years studying your brains out and graduate with a 3.7 or better. Also during the next 4 years spend a bunch of time researching ANG and AF reserve fighter squadrons. Contact the squadrons that interest you and bug them about a job.
Originally Posted by
Buzz
Don't bother with ROTC or active duty. The best deal out there is getting hired by the guard or reserve, they will send you to Officer Training School (12 weeks), you'll then go to pilot training, fighter training, and then you will back with your guard or reserve unit full-time for a year or two, then you'll transition to part-time if you so wish.
The guard and reserve hire college grads off the street and send them through training all of the time. There is no better way to become a military pilot.
The Navy and Marine Corps may have a similar program, I don't know. Any input Navy and Marine bros?
Good Luck,
Buzz
Oops - Magnum beat me to the punch and we have similar opinions on a few things - can't hurt to hear it twice. Great minds think alike.
Generally good advice from Buzz. However, a few cautions and a little realism are in order:
1 - Guard / Reserve units have been on the chopping block lately. The fighter unit you manage to schmooze a job from at age 22-23 may be flying UAVs, heavies or closed down completely 5 or 10 years down the road. Getting your foot in the door and into the “Guard family” may be worth risking this. However, it’s not as stable an environment as it used to be. Moving every 3-ish years and possibly changing aircraft are part of active duty life, but lately G/R units aren’t exempt from some level of uncertainty either.
2 – Returning to your Guard/Reserve unit from UPT, fighter training, survival school, etc. and going part time after only 1-2 years might be possible but it’s not the best plan. A new fighter pilot who has a grand total of 1-2 years flying that fighter is not going to be proficient enough to go part time, IMO.
3 – There is no better way to become a military pilot BUT there is no more competitive way to become a military pilot too. If you look at how many pilots are hired off the street into G/R flying units each year across the U.S. you will be looking at maybe 100-ish people per year. Ruling out active duty options completely is not smart if your ultimate goal is a spot in a military cockpit. Keep your options open and don’t burn bridges.
Good Luck.