Go to baseops.net and look at their ANG/AFRES job listing.
They often post listings for pilot hiring boards.
military flying provides excellent opportunities for getting awesome flying expirience with relatively little flying time. Where else can you pilot a KC-135 all over the world, and be a aircraft commander (captain) with between 800-1200 hours (1200 more liekly). Keep in mind that Air Force pilot training is a long hard year.

I have flown Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve. They all have certain advantages. I think the reserve provides the best of both active duty and guard. It is easier to move from reserve to reserve unit than guard to guard.

Guard ushually has the least BS when it come to getting the job done. They also get the most cush trips. On call to state gov then fed gov

Reserve get many cush trips too, but is still on call to the federal gov

Active duty gives you full time medical and a guaranteed paycheck every 1st and 15th.

Whichever way you go you might find out that it becomes more that you expected.

Good Luck
Boogie
737-700 & KC-135R/T/RT Driver

 

Vision stuff, copied and pasted from a post by a AF flight DOC on another forum

First, let me say that posting this using UBB is a pain in the A@*!!!!

Second, these are the Standards. What they will waiver (which is probably what you want to know) is inappropriate for me to post. You need to ask them.

Third, these standards are for Applicants. There are different standards for trained aviators.
Standards
Visual Acuity
Pilots
USAF 20/70 w/o a waiver. 20/200 with a waiver
USN 20/40
USMC 20/40
USA 20/50

Nav
USAF 20/200
USN correctable to 20/20
USMC correctable to 20/20
USA N/A

Other
USAF 20/200
USN correctable to 20/20
USMC correctable to 20/20
USA 20/400

Refractive Error (any meridian)
Pilot
USAF -1.50 +2.00 without a waiver, -3.00 +3.00 with a waiver
USN -1.50 +3.00
USMC -1.50 +3.00
USA -1.50 +3.00

Nav
USAF -2.75 +3.00
USN -8.00 +8.00
USMC -8.00 +8.00
USA N/A

OTHER
USAF -5.50 +5.50
USN -8.00 +8.00
USMC -8.00 +8.00
USA no standard

Pre-PRK (any meridian)
Pilot
USAF -5.50 -1.00
USN -8.00 +6.00
USMC -8.00 +6.00
USA -6.00 +4.00

Nav
USAF -5.50 -1.00
USN -8.00 +6.00
USMC -8.00 +6.00
USA n/a

OTHER
USAF -5.50 -1.00
USN -8.00 +6.00
USMC -8.00 +6.00
USA -6.00 +4.00

COLOR VISION
Pilot
USAF 10/14 PIP 1&2
USN 12/14 PIP
USMC 12/14 PIP
USA 10/14 PIP

Nav
USAF 10/14 PIP 1&2
USN 12/14 PIP
USMC 12/14 PIP
USA N/A

OTHER
USAF 10/14 PIP 1&2
USN 12/14 PIP
USMC 12/14 PIP
USA 10/14 PIP

Allergies are a tricky beast. I had allergies as a kid and took shots but I made it through Brooks. Just apply, let a AF flight Doc DQ you, don't DQ yourself! I had a long bumpy road to getting my medical approved, just started upt and still have to get surgery but I am not going to stop fighting until they throw me out!

You can go fly helos in the Air Force. I believe there are three helo units in the guard in NY,CA, and AK all HH-60 units. As far as how hard it is to get a helo out of UPT, it varies. My friend is currently un UPT down in XL and said like 4-5 guys in his class wanted helos. Pretty sure they only drop 1 per class. But you may get a class that noone wants helos, as always alot is based on luck and timing! If you want a helo let your flight commander know ASAP, if you are a good stud they will try to get you one. I have heard of quite a few people putting T-38's first and helos second, knowing if they didn't get fighters they would still be doing some cool tactical flying in helo's. Oh and if you want helo's don't apply for ENJJPT, everyone here goes fighters therefor not chance to track UH-1's!

On a side note, I had about 650 hours of fixed wing time when I took my first flight in a helicopter. Hands down that is the most fun .5 in my logbook. I would love to find a dual rated job to fly both fixed and helo's.

 

Not trying to discount what you are saying, just trying to point out that you should never DQ yourself. Don't think that one minor thing is going to keep you from going after you dreams.

 

Well. I have no allergies. Perfect vision. Havent been sick too many times. And my weight and height is good for my age.

So I want to become a commercial airline pilot without having to pay too much for flight school. So could I go into the air national guard reserve and they would teach me?

 

I would recommend that to any aspiring pilot who can qualify...you want an air national guard unit that flies fixed wing airplanes (anything fighters, tankers, transports...just not helos).

I would recommend this career path:

1) 4-year college (good grades, and technical major if possible)
2) Pilot ratings while in college, if possible (Inst, Comm, CFI, CFII, MEI)
3) Work as CFI
4) Get hired into regional, finish consolidation (6 months or bless)
5) Apply to Guard unit
6) Attend USAF OCS and flight training (2 years)
7) Return to regional (you now have the seniority to be a captain)
8) Get 1000+ hours airline captain time
9) Apply to major airlines...with 121 captain time AND the military background you will be very competetive.


You could join the guard earlier so you don't have to pay for all those civilian ratings, but ideally you want to accrue airline seniority while you are away at military training.

 

What he said! If you could get a seniority number before you went to training that would the way to go. I know many guys who have worked that angle and pretty much walked right into a captain spot (after gaining some more experience the in the jet first). But still...to miss out on those first three-four years or crap pay, would be nice. If I were to go to a regional after all my training I will be taking about a 25,000 cut in base pay, close to 40,000 if you include flight pay, BAH and BAS. Whereas if you had a higher seniority number and could get into a captain spot quicker the cut in pay wouldn't be as painful.

 

Ok, so during college I go to flight school? And, if I join the AF can't they take me to Iraq?

 

Yes. The military can take you anywhere in the world; good or bad (these days, it's mostly bad). Don't join the military to become an airline pilot because you won't enjoy it. People tend to think the guard and reserves are "flying clubs" where you can fly military aircraft, but not have to go to war. Well, think again. The guard and reserves are going to be used more and more heavily as time goes on. With more and more downsizing of active duty forces, the federal government will activate more and more guard/reserve units to pick up the slack. Our active duty forces are running on fumes these days. There are plenty of guardsmen and reservists in Iraq getting killed right along side their active duty bretheren. Granted in the Air Guard, you will be in a much safer place than the troops on the ground, but there are still threats. If you don't want to go to places like the Middle East, then it may be worth just spending the $35,000 at your local FBO and doing it the proverbial "old fashioned way".

 

So in your opinion it would just be easier to finish college (to have something to fall back on, just in case) and get a degree and either during or after go to flight school (i was thinking about ATP).

 

Yes, they can send you to Iraq or Afghanistan...or anywhere else they want.

If you're afraid of deploying to this war (or the next) please do me a favor and don't join the military.

I couldn't tell you what would be "easier" because we obviously have a totally different frame of reference.