OrionDriver

If you want fighters I'd say your best bet is to rush a Guard/reserve unit as an "off the street" hire. If you go active duty it will be your scores (and those of your peers) in flight school that determine what you get to fly. You could have the highest scores in class but if there aren't any fighter slots the week you select your platform, too bad. Though usually the top guy gets what s/he wants.

The system for platform selection is more or less the same in the Navy and the AF.

If you go Guard/reserve then you're going to training for the platform that specific unit flies - i.e. F-16s. However, if your scores aren't high enough in Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) then you won't get to fly fighters. I'm not sure what happens at that point as I didn't do AF training (though I'm in the Guard now).

Having lots of flight experience can be helpful in training. I used to teach at the Navy's flight school and we had a number of guys come through with extensive commercial flying experience. They roughly fell into two categories:

1 - (vast majority) Guys with lots of experience but the humbleness to shut up and learn it the Navy way, applying their knowledge appropriately. They did very well.
2 - (a few) Guys with lots of experience but thought they "knew" more than the IPs, which they sometimes did, but not how to do it the Navy way. They did poorly and ****ed people off.

I found the category 1 guys to be enormously helpful to me as an IP and also to their fellow students. You'll be in a good position to really help your peers be better pilots, just remember that you need to learn to do it the AF or Navy way (or Army, Coast Guard).

I applaud you for considering this path. You, career wise, probably don't need to. If you're on at Sky West now you'll probably be at a major in a few years. The military would be a cut in pay and it's a completely different lifestyle. But we need good dudes and we get to have a lot of fun!

Bassetjet

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I'm going to still try to get into a guard base but if no one calls I'll still be in the process of getting everything ready for the Marines. Marines seems like the best option(besides guard) since they guarantee the pilot contract and Navy/Air Force do not (right?). Also, fighters are a high percentage of their total aircraft count so a majority of their pilot slots would be fighters (I think I heard it's around 30%).

Some of you were talking about seniority and getting on with a major. It would be amazing to get on with a major prior to joining and accrue seniority but with my hours (less than 1000 121 pic and less then 3500 tt) I don't think I'm competitive for the majors. I'm almost tempted to get on with a LCC quick and then join so I could come back to a more lucrative job then I have now.

But that all being said, time is not on my side and I've wanted to make the jump and serve in the military for years and I'm probably at the point where its now or never. I'll need to get the age waiver regardless which I think is good until 35?. But given my timing I don't think I could get on with a major prior to joining.

As far as pros and cons, I think the biggest con of joining would be the possibility of lost career progression to a major by a few years. But with that being said, even if I'm in my late 30s and at a major but without have served, I think I would seriously regret not joining, yes it's potentially a lot of lost money but I'll have time later in my life to fly 121.

If you guys see any flaws with how I'm processing this out, feel free to correct me and give your insight.

cheap

You sound like you’d make a great marine; best of luck to you!


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AV8Tor16

20 years is no longer required to get some kind of retirement now, you just will not get the typical Federal retirement. Search Blended Retirement System if you want to know more.

rickair7777

This is true. Since 98% of the folks on this forum are already grandfathered on the old 20 year system we tend not to discuss BRS, but it's very applicable to noobs. It's a good thing if you think you might want to do less than 20 (unfortunately a bad thing for those doing a career, they basically give some of your retirement to the folks who get out before 20).

tanker

Not counting Reserve or Training Squadrons the Marines have 13 Fighter Squadrons and 5 Attack Squadrons for a total of 18 jet squadrons. On the non-jet side, again not counting Reserve or Training Squadrons. the Marines have 8 CH-53 squadrons, 17 Osprey squadrons, 7 Huey/Cobra squadrons, and 3 KC-130 squadrons. That is 35 non-jet squadrons each needing 2 pilots per aircraft

rickair7777

That last is a huge factor... many types have more than one pilot, and are staffed (squadron level) at more than one pilot/seat.

The OP should google service inventories and do the same math for the other services.

To account for different staffing ratios I would probably use these (SWAG) numbers unless somebody has better data, to account for the fact that some types are staffed at more than one pilot/seat.

Fighters: 1/aircraft
Helos: 2/aircraft
P3/P8: 3/aircraft
Mobility/Surveillance: 4/aircraft
Bombers/Others: 2/aircraft

Trainers have some first assignments but probably not a significant number.

Might be surprising which service offers best odds for fighters. Might be Navy... fighters are very central to Navy power projection and then have a lot of them.

goinaround

Does the USAF not have rated boards anymore? Am I crazy? Select at a rated board = UPT.

I'd to guard/reserve or nothing at all if it were me....

C17B74

The term “Rated” is for those who have been trained in the aviation profession by the military. Yes, Guard units (probably Reserve units as well) do have “Rated Boards” specifically for those who wear military wings as they interview their unit of choice and that unit is hosting a rated board. They are not mixed in with the initial UPT hiring boards, granted there are exceptions for rotary folks who need to attend a fixed wing course such as UPT or the fixed wing qual course (basically half of UPT if it still exists?). If hired, the rated folks will be set up for training for a units specific aircraft, unless previously qualified and current.

*This is a great way for units to accelerate manpower, talent, Instructors, Evaluators (unit conversions), etc. If the person is a right fit, it’s almost a free pilot without delay comparatively speaking.