AF Application
 

Good Morning Gentlemen,

I am an active flight instructor currently, and I have been working on my AF officer application for almost a year, and now I am finally finished, (Got the TBAS, MEPS, AFOQT, and officer interview under my belt), and now I am going up for a board in October. I hope to hear back in early December in the positive to get to pack my bags and go to OTS as soon as possible.

I would just like to see if anybody has any input in this situation, and I would just like opinions on these options.

Job security as a flight instructor, as we know is almost non-existent, and I always want to have a few options on my plate if things go to crap before I hopefully get good news from the military. I have some friends that want me to work with them for a charter company as a pilot, and since job outlooks are not too good, I am willing to work with them, but I would try to make a Guard or Reserve commission if I ended up taking that job. Right now, I am planning on going Active duty for sure, but if I lose my job as an instructor soon, and that charter job calls me, I would need to keep employment.

Do any of you guys have any information about ease (or not) of switching gears to go to Guard or Reserve and get a commission that way after all of this work is already done to try to recieve an AD slot at OTS? I want to serve, do not get me wrong, but I need to stay employed until that time comes, and I don't know when exactly that could be.

Thanks again guys, any help, advice or opinions would be appreciated.

Choxy

What does switching to Guard/Reserve have to do with staying employed until you get commissioned. The Guard/Reserve program is not an interim jobs program that gives you a paycheck until the AD is ready for you.

Sounds like you don't know what you want to do. You are willing to bail out of the AD option over a charter company job. That's all well and good, but you might want to figure out what you want before you do either one. Don't saddle your future squadron mates with a person who is not happy and therefore is a pain in the a** to be around and never carries his load.

Always sunshine from Mem. I don't think he quite understood your question (or maybe I didn't).

I think you want to go AD, but are trying to ensure employment till you get on. And are thinking that Guard/Reserve employment would provide that bridge until you get on AD?

If so...not really a great option. Getting a Guard/Reserve commission will, if anything, take even more time than getting an Active one.

Any idea how competitive you are? Baseops forums have a lot of good info on that subject.

If you are set on pursuing a AD slot, I'd stick with whatever civilian employment it takes to pay the bills till you can get on. There are a lot of cool flying jobs you can do now, that will all disappear when you come on active duty. Avoid debt, but go have fun.

Sorry guys if I wasn't too clear. My company has been consistently downsizing for the past year like many others, and I want to serve, but in the event that I lose my job before the boards, I will still need to support myself financially. That is where that charter job comes in. By no means did I want a reserve or guard job as a filler.

If you want to be a career military officer, artfully navigate large bureaucracies, go to high-level staff schools, and possibly reach flag rank then go AD. If you get to fly an airplane a little on the side, so much the better. But the problem with flying airplanes is that stuff happens in aviation, and the slightest blemish on your carefully crafted record will doom your otherwise illustrious career.

If you want to be a career pilot, go ANG or USAFR (or maybe Army NG/reserve) and fly airliners (or corporate) on the side. The AD is not what it used to be.

Really? When I read this..."I have some friends that want me to work with them for a charter company as a pilot, and since job outlooks are not too good, I am willing to work with them, but I would try to make a Guard or Reserve commission if I ended up taking that job" it makes me think otherwise. I think you should put forth all your efforts into getting the AD slot.

Choxy,
If you spend much time on this site, you'll find rickair's advice to be quite good. I'm not going to disagree that AD isn't about some of the things he describes in his post but I will say that it isn't always that way. I'm at 26 years of service and have flown the whole time. However, if rising through the ranks is a goal of yours, don't do as I have done. Lt Col is about as far as you'll get. That being said, I wouldn't trade my career for a 4 star general's!
Cheers,
Jethro

I agree with MEM. You are unsure about your military obligation. You can't just switch from Guard/Reserves on a moments notice.

I tried like crazy to leave my active duty job for a job in the reserves or guard. The reserves and guard wasn't the problem; it was getting the active duty air force to release me -- something they were unwilling to do. I had to serve my entire military commitment.

If you aren't willing to serve in the military for the duration of your active duty service commitment, then DO NOT JOIN ACTIVE DUTY.

If you are for real and aren't going to waste anyone's time and truly want to serve, go see your local guard or reserve recruiter. But with that being said, if you ditch Active Duty at this point, you may get some stink on you that you can't get rid of.

Good luck.

I still think his question is being lost in the funky wording.

Correct me if I am wrong, but you asking if you can just switch to the Guard/Reserve boards instead of the upcoming Active Duty ones... Therebye, being able to take this charter gig and ALSO still join the military as a weekend warrior... Correct?

Based on the very limited experience I have with the entry process into the Reserves, there is no way that you could just "switch over" to the AFRES boards. You would still have to be sponsored by a unit to get to the boards. Therefore, you would have to interview with individual units (ANG or RES), get selected by said unit, and then they would send "you" (your packet) to the national boards.

At this point, the only head start you have as far as the Guard/Res is concerned, it that you have all of the testing out of the way...That's it. You would essentially be starting from scratch as far as still having to "rush" units and land an interview.

Hope that helps answer you question a little better. Tough decisions for sure. Good Luck!

I think everyone got confused by what the OP was asking. I was in a similar situation so I understand. He wants to go AD, but since it takes a long time from the day you fill out the application until the day you actually get paid, he is trying to find out if he could switch to the ANG and possibly take a charter job if his current job comes to an end. It sounds like ideally, he would like to stay at his job now and go AD, but since it can take months to years to go AD, and he is not sure that his job will last that long, he is looking at other options. If he takes the charter job with his friend, he does not want to quit a week after he starts if the AF finally gets back to him. If he could go to the ANG, then he can keep the charter job so he doesn’t screw his friend and serve.

The same thing happened to me. I waited 12 months (6 of them without a phone call/returned phone call from the AF), so I found a 4 month 135 job. On my second day, the AF got back to me and told me my class date was in two weeks. Luckily, my former CFI was able to take my position so the company wasn’t upset (also, the CP is AF and knew they could call at any moment so he was happy for me). Unfortunately, going to the Reserves or ANG means you start all over again, so that is not an option. You could just take a job at Burger King until the AF gets back to you, but I can’t blame you for trying to keep/get a flying job while you wait.