daddysocks

What are the backgrounds of most off the street hires? Are there many graduates with aviation degrees that join the ANG after college? Do regional pilots have an advantage in getting a pilot slot?

pony172

The best route to the Guard is to be a rated aviator from the AF or another service. There is no secret sauce for the off the street guys. Every unit is different. We hired who we liked and thought would be a good fit. They also needed to have some kind of aviation experience, such as a PPL or flying job. In my experience (fighter/transport) the guys with the most experience did worse. UPT did not care what you already knew. This was especially true in the fighter track, not as much in the transport track. BTW, Sunday morning of drill I went up in front of the entire group and asked everyone if they had a major problem with anyone. This was to give my enlisted folks a last chance to voice any concerns from the night before. More often than not, this could make or break you. Prior enlisted in the unit or otherwise got extra credit, but it was by no means a sure fire way to get a slot. To summarize, don't be a douche and show you have some grit and passion for something.

galaxy flyer

I sent everyone from an enlisted fuel truck driver (actually two) to a Atlas 747 F/O to UPT, including several in-unit loadmasters. I could put together a C-5 crew where both pilots and both engineers had been loads. Some had ERAU degrees, some had local state college degrees. Show you are passionate, met the quals (physical, written) and don’t give up on being selected.

The fuel truck driver came from halfway across the country, but visited with his wife and visited alone; I finally gave up and recommended him to the Wing King (a one-star, at the time). Came back as number one graduate in his class (ATC Commander’s Trophy) went on to be an O-6.

GF