I admitted to smoking back in the day (I did not have a record). The only way it "hurt" me was in the aftermath of the walker espionage scandal they disqualified all past dope smokers from holding communications officer jobs (nuclear propulsion, nuclear weapons, command opportunity, etc were all not affected ). I was actually pretty happy about not being assigned to COMMO...in fact the only JO onboard who had NOT smoked weed was a holier-than-thou pretentious p****k ....naturally he was not happy about becoming the permanent COMMO

 

Thanks for all the great responses guys! As soon as I'm able to PM I'll be shooting you guys a few more questions about the guard and reserves.

On that note, someone responded to my vision criteria of being about 20/60ish in each eye with a slight astigmatism in the left eye. Where can I find a military medical evaluation without having to sign any service agreements etc. How much would something of that nature cost?

 

BaronPete,

If you have any interest in civilian flying, definately get the CFI.

The ANG is the best way to do military flying if you also want to be an airline pilot. The ANG is good because you will not get involuntarily assigned to helicopter flying (which won't help your airline career much).

Start researching all of the requirements and the application process NOW...it's a complicated, drawn out process which will require a lot of initiative on your part (this actually helps to weed out the slackers).

Your vision is probably OK, but you will get a full medical during the process so you won'y for certain until then.

Your record won't disqualify you (be 100% honest!) but if there are other applicants who have clean records they may be considered first (or maybe not, hard to say for sure). The only way to find out is to apply.

Since pilot slots are normally competetive, here are some ideas to make yourself more attractive in your last two years:

- Get the GPA as high as possible, an engineer with a 3.5 beats a non-technical with a 3.7 as far as the UASF/Navy is concerned.

- Your flying counts as an extra-curricular activity, that's good. Other extra-c's such as clubs or volunteer work are good also (but don't let the GPA suffer.

- Get involved in some sort of sport (if not already). Intramural or off-campus stuff is fine.

- Any sort of leadership positions (sports team, clubs, even CFI).

- You will need letters of recomendation from teachers and people from your community (Doctor, etc). If you don't know any ex or current military officers, try to meet one. A letter from a military officer is weighted more heavily, because he/she should be able to judge whether you can handle what you're getting yourself into (a teacher may not have any idea about certain aspecxts of military service).

 

Rickair, I'm actually quite glad that you are contributing to this thread, as I have been wanting to pick your brain for sometime now in lurking these boards.

I'm majoring in Professional Flight Management because I want to fly professionally. I love doing it in spare time to, but nothing is more alluring to me than getting paid to do something that I cherish. Upon graduation, it is super easy to get a CFI position at the university (provided I get the rating) and I plan to do that for a year or so at least. I've only started seriously considering ANG because I want to fly aircraft that wouldn't ordinarily be available to the public. The thoughts started to pester me when I got some stick time in an aerobatic airplane the other day. I have never had so much fun in my life as to taking a plane vertical and rolling it.

As for the vision situation, I understand I will get a full medical during the process, but isn't that after I've already signed service contracts and such? I don't want to make agreements only to find that my vision is unacceptable and I have to become a mechanic or navigator. I just wish there was somewhere I could find out definitively once and for all.

As for the letters of recommendation and such go, I'm lucky enough to have two men that I consider to be second and third fathers to me who are airport directors of their respective airports. They know me front to back, side to side, and will go to bat for me in any walk of life.

Where would be a good place to start researching the application process and finding out what kind of package I'll need to get together. As I've stated, I'll graduate with about 350 hours flight time with about 50-60 of that being multi engine time. I'll have my commercial, instrument, multi, and CFI ratings.

Also Rickair, I'm like 20 some odd posts from being able to PM. Is there any way I can contact you instead of waiting out the posts? Instant Messaging, email, etc..just PM or something. I'm pretty sure I can still receive PM's, just not send them.

Thanks buddy and have a great Sunday!!!!

 

All military officer candidates get a physical BEFORE they actually join the military. In your case you will be able to apply for a pilot slot (and get the flight physical) before you commit to anything. If you do not complete pilot training, or fail a flight physical at some point AFTER getting your commission you may or may not be obligated to serve in a non-flying role (depends on your contract).


Pilots don't really have anything to do with airport managers. For military purposes you will want a letter from a (ex) military officer. For airline purposes you will want letters from professional pilots (preferably employed by the airline in question).

I'm not ANG...the best thing would be to find somebody who is who could walk you through that maze. The biggest step is finding, getting in touch with, and establishing a relationship with an ANG unit which may sponsor you. They may prefer people who are residents of their state, but the C-130 units at Charleston, WV and Cheyenne, WY may have difficulty finding enough locals due to being in the middle of nowhere.

Note: I believe that if you join the AFR you will be assigned an aircraft type (possibly helos) during flight school...I don't think you get to pick your squadron like in the ANG, which makes the ANG a very good deal.

There may be some info here: http://www.ang.af.mil/

I can't pmail you. I don't really want to post my email, I'll get spammed for sure.

 

Good point about the public posting of emails, I didn't consider that. I'll just ask now. I was reading the FAR about regulations on dui/drug convictions and the like. It seems it said something to the effect (don't have my book with me) of a drug charge warrants a suspension/denial of a medical for one year from the date of conviction.

I guess the question is do you think that will apply to me? I may have not read it correctly. I haven't received or applied for a medical yet, and my court date was in January. It isn't a large problem, but I was just trying to determine when, if not already, I would be eligible for my first class medical. Waiting until January is doable if I must though.

I realize I could just go and ask, but I'd rather not look so uninformed.

 

Hi Baronpete,
I'm in the same boat, but just a little ahead in the process. For me personally I was lucky enough to have two individuals give me detailed info on the process, but there is a lot of info online also... baseops.com has a forum like this where you can find out allll the info you want.
you'll want to go find an accessions officer, he's like the equivalent of a recruiter except he does officers instead of enlisted. he will give you a CRAPLOAD of paperwork to complete which seriously takes hours and hours so you want to get started on that! he can also set you up for a flight physical which I heard the units like to see when you apply to them because they know they're not hiring someone who will just end up DQing.
also, take the AFOQT and TBAS (which will give you a PCSM score) as soon as you can, and see how you do. these will better determine your chances and you will need them as part of your package. in fact, I took these even before I went to see the accessions officer so that he knew I was serious. Barnes and noble sells an ARCO study guide for the AFOQT. you can take these tests only twice, so you might want to study that ARCO book, but if you are reasonably intelligent there is no reason you shouldn't do well. I took mine at the local ROTC detachment.
as far as vision goes I have similar vision as you, with astigmatism. I heard and read a lot of conflicting info about vision, even from recruiters and base commanders alike (you'd think they'd know better) but the best things is to find the rule book and see what it says. I had someone at the ROTC detachment (when I dropped in there to take the test) look it up in one of their very thick books and it said 20/70 correctable to 20/20.
I think the hardest part is trying to contact the individual units and hustling yourself for an interview. That's the part where I'm stuck. My accessions officer gave me a list of units but half the phone numbers weren't even current.

 

Wow, kalyx! Thank you very much for the info man!

 

It's actually: www.baseops.net

 

I'm not exactly sure how that would apply to your medical application if you don't have one yet. I suspect they would be more lenient about something that happened before you started flying. You may want to contact the local FAA FSDO and ask them about that.