There is no such thing as Air Force OCS...Army, Navy, and Marines call it OCS, but for some reason somebody decided to call ours OTS. OTS is where ALL Active Duty and Reserve Officers go before any other job related training starts (Unless they were in ROTC or the AF Academy). (Reserve non-flying officers may go to AMS instead of OTS). Think Basic Training but twice as long, with a million Powerpoint Presentations. This is not just for pilots...when I was there, there was about 1 pilot to every 8. I can't emphasize enough that you're an Officer first, pilot second; so the first few months of training you will not see an airplane, you will be fashioned into a Military Officer first...later in your flying career, you may be Squadron Commander, Director of Operations, etc.., if you lose your medical, you may have to take command of something not aviation related, so all officers in all career fields go to the same Military Education, OTS then later Squadron Officer School, Air Command Staff College, Air War College, you will get to know Montgomery, Alabama very well.

So to summarize, to be a pilot you have to be an Officer. To be an Officer you have to attend a Commissioning Source. The Commissioning sources are:

1. The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO (ActiveDuty)

2. ROTC at various college campuses (Active Duty)

3. Officer Training School (OTS) in Montgomery, AL (Active Duty or Reserve)

4. Academy of Military Science (AMS) in Knoxville, TN (Guard)

i appreciate the information! it sounds like a very long process, how long does the entire air force program take?

Ok my $.02. There is a reserve rescue unit at Patrick. Also, a couple of associate units around the AF flying helos. The B-52 (I know) and C-130 (I think) can not have eye surgery. Have combat settings on the pressurization. Fighter guys etc. are ok to have it. All of the above is right on. Go reserves and pick your airplane. You will have the freedom to sign up to go fight when you want, work full time at the unit, part time if you wish, or do the minimum at the unit and work a different full time job. It is indeed the most flexible. Oh did I mention you can switch air frames pretty easily too.;)

Well in my case:

OTS: 3 Months
UPT: 13 Months
FTU: 5 Months (FTU is where you learn your specific Airframe, the length varies depending on your Airframe)
Land and Water Survival: 3 weeks

Total I had 22 months of Formal Training before flying with an operational unit.

so i just talked to an air force recruiter. he told me if i was accepted into OTS (which is competetive) then joining the UPT would be easy. how much truth is there to this? he also said all pilots in the air force would be deployed out the country.

kind of sounded like he didn't know what he was talking about. what are your experiences?

Recruiters are below used car salesman on the morality food chain. There are some good ones out there but you won't know until it's too late if you get screwed. I was under the impression that you can get a guaranteed pilot slot prior to going to OTS. Btw, don't also check Nav on your app. Talked to a recruiter about flying before I got my guard slot. He recommended to do that just to "get in". Your odds of cross training to pilot are low, the AF is short on Navs! If you want to be a pilot, sign up as a pilot only!

Yes, don't check Nav! I work with a Nav now that wants to be a pilot and he's done nothing but try and try to cross over early and he could've done it if he had the waiver. He didn't get that in and they denied him. Now he just has to wait and try again (sounds like a big pain in the a$$) I also work with a pilot that used to be a navigator, so it can be done. Right now though he's a Capt co-pilot about to go up for his Maj board. I'm just a enlisted FE, but from what I understand it's pretty hard to move to the next level, especially Maj as a Co-pilot. So, try and avoid the whole a$$ pain and just check pilot. As for everyone else out there wondering about going to the desert, I've been in for coming up on 8 years and the only desert that I seen was while I was in New Mexico. It's all hit or miss on what you're on or where you're at and definetly timing. I just went through my AEF at homestation. Although it'd have to pretty improtant to pull us with Uncle Kim and his constant antics.

Ya that's wrong. You get a UPT slot before you go to OTS...Once you get through the UPT Board, OTS is just a part of your training rip and is implied...that is, you're going to OTS. Everybody at OTS already knows what they're going to be in the Air Force. If the Recruiter is trying to sign you up for a job other than pilot and telling you to compete for UPT after, its bull******, I know guys that got tricked into being a Navigator who never wanted to be a Navigator, but the recruiter was just trying to fill slots that were undermanned.

I would think that somebody with a couple ratings and certificates would pretty much be a shew-in (spelling??) compared to somebody with no time at all..

what is the deal with people entering with a couple certs and rats opposed to a total newbie?? is it just test results???

It can be done
 

Overall, I concur not to check the Nav block---becauase guess what, you will end up being a Nav and not a pilot. I can speak to that first hand. Now having said that, it was my only option because no eye waivers were granted to ROTC guys. I spent four years in the trunk of an F-4E before I finally got picked up for UPT (eye waivers were granted after on active duty). The 4 yrs I did spend as a WSO were some of my best years in the AF. I learned more about flying with some of those crusty old fighter pilots then I ever did in UPT, and by the time I got to UPT I already knew how to fly a jet and was familiar with the rules, regs, and environment. It made UPT a lot of fun and gave me a huge advantage over my classmates when it came time for class rankings. So----it can be done. But don't check the box. If there is absolutely no other way to get in a cockpit then I'd do it. It beats being a base civil engineer which is what I was slotted to do!

Jolly

Ok Eugene. I'll explain it to you. The Reserve/Guard are ACTUAL military. It's not weekend warrior dress up time. We do go kill people and they try to kill us back. So, yes they can make you go to Iraq. If you are uncomfortable with this idea maybe you shouldn't join the military. It could really get in the way of important things.:rolleyes:

Big advantage
 

Same in my UPT class (Webb, 72-05). The #1 graduate was an F-4 backseater who had his choice of F-4, RF-4, or F-106. He took the RF-4, to the surprise of some, but presumably knew just what he was doing.

Yes, there are Guard and Reserve Pararescue units in New York and one in Kentucky that fly helos

Ya, the Commander's Trophy in my class went to a NAV, but the only way he got to be a pilot was by palace chasing into the Guard...which was a long-shot.