deagan14

I am a recent higschool grad with my private pilots license, and I am having one heck of a time trying to figure out my future. I'm applying to the Air Force Academy and am a competitive applicant for the class of 2022 but I'm also looking hard into the Air National Guard. This year I will be attending a state school on a 4 year full ride scholarship and if I decide to pursue the ANG I will finish my schooling there and then apply for ANG upt slots out of school, if I decide the Academy way, I will finish my first year of school at my state school and then transfer. My ultimate goal is to one day become a pilot for a legacy carrier, but I know I want to be apart of the military in some aspect first. I've read all about how it's a bad idea to simply use the military as a stepping stone to the airliners, but that's not my intention. I WANT TO SERVE, and am simply looking ahead. As of now I'm definitely leaning towards the Academy if accepted, here is the pro/con list I've been able to come up with

USAFA (active Duty)

PROS:

Opportunity to attend an amazing school
With a PPL in hand I could likely get on the powered flight team
Much more adventurous and get to be based in different places around the world
I would never have any regrets wondering "what if"
You don't usually have to fly for a regional airliner after you serve

Cons

You don't know what aircraft you will fly (assuming you get a flight slot)
There's a lot of office work that goes along with the flying

AIR NATIONAL GUARD

Pros

Get to airliners at younger age
Still get the military experience along with training
I would know what plane I was going to UPT for
Build up seniority at regional while in UPT

Cons

Very competitive slots to compete for
You don't get to move around at all compared to active Duty
Wouldn't get the academy experience
More expensive for you would have to build up a decent portfolio of flying time to be competitive for a UPT slot
Possible regrets wondering what if I went to USAFA

So assuming I received an appointment to USAFA would anyone turn it down and try to join the ANG down the road? Thanks in advance for your help!

deagan14

The reason I am so lost without directions is because I don't think I could turn down such an opportunity to attend the academy, but at the same time I've read that so many people wish they knew about the Air National Gaurd before they went full active Duty

bababouey

You're going to want the freedom a guard unit offers you. I knew I wanted off active duty pretty quickly, 10 years of AFPC controlling your life in the greatest airline boom of all time is just too much. Talk to some actual grads about going to the zoo, not exactly rave reviews. Good luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Merle Dixon

Dude,

Active-duty sucks. The Academy sucks even more. Your Active-Duty Service Commitment (ADSC) with the AF is 10 years upon pilot training graduation. Stick with your current scholarship! Start hunting for an AF Reserve or Guard pilot training slot now. In this day and age via our massive pilot shortage, it is not too difficult for a college student/grad with flight time to find a Reserve/Guard pilot position.

I am a Traditional-Reservist part-time T-38 instructor pilot at an AF pilot training base. We have lots of students just like you- college grads that applied for Reserve/Guard pilot training slots and got hired. Many of them applied to multiple Reserve/Guard units and eventually got a job. The Guard/Reserve gig is the best deal there is.

propfails2FX

I think it's great that you and Flyguy4723 both want to serve your country as military aviators.

It's human nature for someone to recommend you follow in their footsteps if career goals have been met. So you'll get a lot of, "The Navy/Coast Guard/ Air Force is the best way to go."

It's hard to predict military pilot hiring five years from now. When I was a CAP Cadet in high school, the Air Force/ANG pilots I met told me to go the Navy route because the USAF had an excessive amount of pilots. I signed up for NROTC, and four years later, the USAF was desperate for pilots. I'm glad I went the route I did, but your takeaway should be that times change and so do pilot slot allocations.

The overall trend you'll hear from most military pilots is USAFR/ANG UPT slots afford the most amount of flexibility and are probably the best deals going. They are hyper competitive, but that shouldn't discourage you.

It would be great if a USAFA grad currently serving the 10 year after winging active duty obligation chimes in.

It's great that you are seeking advice. You'll be making an informed decision. I had USNA friends in flight school who never heard of professional pilot degree programs. They couldn't believe my studies focused on flying airplanes.

In advanced multi-engine training, I flew with other students who had been selected to fly ANG or USAFR C-130s. Again, a total shock to a lot of classmates. I remember hearing, "You mean, you know what squadron you're going to fly for? You stay with that squadron your whole career?"

Some career decisions will be better than others. None of them are really "Bad" if you end up earning a pair of Gold or Silver wings.

Their will be some luck involved. Most of the pilots I know have a personal story of fate working in their favor.

I wish you the best. Work your butt off in school, and keep an open mind.

CLazarus

I knew a lot of Zoo graduates in my USAF time, and frankly I don't remember any who came away with fond memories of the place. My UPT class was mostly fresh Academy grads and their mindsets reminded me of paroled prisoners. The best reason to attend is if you can't afford to go elsewhere and have ambitions towards a full career with maximum promotion potential, as the Zoomie Force is strong in networking. Since you already have a full ride and don't pine to wear stars, you really don't need to put yourself through the pain of Zoo education. And getting a civilian education has a lot of benefits all its own.

Aside from getting hired with the ANG, another avenue is ROTC if your school offers it or OTS. Anyone can walk on to ROTC and try to get a pilot slot, scholarship or no. One of my best buddies left grad school for OTS with a UPT slot in the early 90's, I don't know if OTS is even an option these days but when recruiting is tough like it is now I'd imagine it is. Considering the Active Duty pilot commitment is the same regardless of AD commissioning source and it seems you'd be happy flying any manned USAF platform, you should really look into ROTC and OTS. In the meantime, feel free to pursue the ANG path, it is a great way to serve and get a seniority number to boot.

khaki

If one of the Guard Units is driving distance from your school, you might consider joining part time enlisted (flight line or weapons loading best).
If you do good, they like you, and you are otherwise qualified, your chances of getting a UPT slot are immensely better. They love to hire from within.... IF they are impressed with you. Good luck with your choice.

C130driver

Dude it's not even a question : go guard! Serve your country while flying airplanes and silver lining: get on with a regional at 750 and get to a major quicker.

Scraggly Heron

There's really no advantage to going to USAFA other than not having to pay for it. Unless you graduate in the top 10%, it's not something that will be helpful for a career either. If you want networking opportunities, you'll get those in whatever flying unit you join.

I'm with C130driver on this--if you can get the guard slot, it's a no-brainer.

For what it's worth, whenever someone asks me where I went to college, it's always somewhat embarrassing to say USAFA. Not a good place to be, not a good place to be from either.

F4E Mx

Hedge your bets, get a civil engineering degree (ABET accredited) at a civilian university with a good reputation, then do the Guard thingy. If the guard/airline path works out fine, if the airline hiring goes south you still have the Guard slot. If both go south or you get tired of it, you have a very employable degree.