Originally Posted by bpagtjosh

I'm 27 years old, and have been a Border Patrol Agent in/near San Diego for a few years now. I've been considering trying to join the Air Guard as a pilot. I feel that while I'm already serving my country, I would like to do more, but mostly I really, really want to fly something more than a Cessna, which is all I could ever afford to learn to fly on my own. I've been doing some reasearch and looking around these forums, but I thought some people here could give me some good insight.

I understand it's a bit difficult to become an Air Guard pilot. Will living in San Diego and having a house and a career that I don't wish to leave hinder me? From what I can find, most or all of California's Air Guard units are in the bay area. Can I commute for something like this, or are they looking for people in the area?

I've seen 30 as the max age for being accepted, and that you should start a couple years earlier. Are they looking for younger people with no prior commitments, or does someone "older" like me have an equal chance? I have a Bachelor's in Computer Science, I graduated with honors, and I'm pushing 6'5". I have no prior flight experience, although I'm going for an introductory flight at a local flight school soon. I guess I'm looking for a general idea of how good my chances might be compared to other people starting out, who may be younger, with flight experience, etc. I just don't know what the people who make the decisions are really looking for.

Also, I don't really care what I get to fly in the Air Guard, but I'm determined to be a pilot, ie not a nav, computer guy, etc.

My main question is what's the best way to get started? Should I just walk into a local Air Guard recruiter's office, or should I cold-call one of the actual California AG Units? So far all I've done is some Internet research, and order a flight-aptitude test study guide from Amazon.

Any answers or information is much appreciated. Thanks.

Josh