Originally Posted by
greenshoes3
Ok, so I've gotten a lot of great replies, and I'm sorry if this question has already been answered, but its hard to analyze all of this, ha.
What would be the best plan for me that would give me the greatest odds of flying some sort of combat aircraft (fighter or bomber)? Reserves sound great, but if active duty will yield better odds of flying fighters, then it might be military life for me.
Well, although it is slightly easier to get an Active Duty pilot slot, once you get to UPT, your chances of getting a fighter goes down (assuming all things equal).
If you get hired by a Guard or Reserve fighter unit, you are guaranteed to fly their airframe, as long as you finish in the top 50% of your class during the T-6 phase...if you don't get in the top 50%, you could actually wash out of UPT unless they can find a Heavy unit to sponsor you.
If you go as an Active Duty student, then you're in a straight-up cut-throat competition with all of the other kids to get into the T-38 (fighter/bomber) track. You will need to finish in the top 25%-30% (ish) during the T-6 phase to get T-38's, otherwise you will go Heavy's. Once you get to T-38's, it is still possible for you to get a Bomber instead of a fighter, or even UAV's or T-6/T-38 Instructor Pilot.
You may even decide that Heavy's are the way to go. One guy in my class wanted to switch to T-1's after a month in T-38's...no dice. He got B-52's.