Timbo

On the subject of drawdown, do any of you know if the DOD is going to be closing some state ANG units, or consolidating them?

Or are the ANG/Reserve units going to be getting -more- work, as the active duty gets drawn down and some of the work gets shifted to the Guard?

FlyingBulldog

About how long should each segment of the process take? AFOQT, physical, application, interview? There is an interview, right? Anything else I'm missing? Also, how would I find out when the selection takes place at this wing? Sorry for the plethora of questions, it's just that no one I have asked so far around here seems to know too much about it.

Tweetdrvr

I am the glass is very empty person when it comes to the fiscal cliff and the inevitable drawdown. As I have said in other threads, I fear bad times are on the horizon. I hope it doesn't happen, but I don't see a way out without the DOD taking big cuts. The difference between now and 1992 post cold war drawdown was the Air Reserve Components did not take cuts then and there was room for folks who took bonus money to leave or found themselves RIF'd to join the ARC. Will the ANG take cuts? Yes, but not as deeply as AFRC. Why? State politics versus the AFRC being federal. Will ANG units combine? Maybe, but probably only within states, e.g take away transport planes and fighters from two separate units in one state and make them RPA or some cyber communications warfare totally non flying entity. Will AFRC units close? Maybe. Who is in jeopardy? IMHO units not located at big Joint Reserve Bases, but independantly located units on civil airports. Once again, all is just my opinion from a pessimistic person looking at it from the outside. As I have said before...I hope it doesn't happen.

Tweetdrvr

If you can't fly, do an instrument ground school course from Jeppesen or Sporty's. Instrument knowledge, airspace knowledge, and weather are the biggest hurdles for our young Padawans. It is very confusing for the new ones to aviation, the classes without a Nav/WSO or some experienced CFII types struggle quite a bit. 90% of what we do in the AF is the same as civilian, just a few dialect differences on what your holding entry is, and some different filing restrictions, but most of the knowledge for the checkride ground eval in instruments can be learned in advance by anyone who already has a private. The days of showing up dumb and letting the AF teach you are long gone. Too much in the syllabus and too many outside distractions that suck time away. SARC training, DADT training, Wingman training, and the list gets longer each year.

Timbo

You need to find someone inside that unit, and ask them when will they be having selection boards, etc. There is a phone number for Ops, somewhere, find that, make a few phone calls. Ask aroudn your neighborhood, see if anyone knows anyone who is a pilot in that unit. Find out what kind of beer that guy likes, buy him a case and deliver it to his house, and put all your questions to him.

It took me about 18 months, from the first time I contacted them, then took all the tests, the physical, and then the (2) interview boards, to finally be selected...and then about another 4 months waiting before they sent me away to AMS, UPT, etc.

I started bugging them as soon as I graduated college, at age 21, and got to UPT almost exactly 2 years later, at 23...and it was another 18mo. of training before I returned home, at age 24 1/2.

So...Start to Finish, age 21-24.

But every unit is different, there is no set time line, and it really depends on if/when they need new bodies. If/when the major airlines ever start hiring again, many guys will bail out of the Guard, which should create some openings for new pilots there....unless the units get -shrunk-.

lowtimepilot

Took me about 6 months to a year to get picked up. Everything in the Air Force takes longer than you think. Recruiters have to set up everything and they are really busy.

Study your butt off for the AFOQT, I took about a month. After you take that you need to take the PCSM, that will be at least a month later. Usually the interview boards are in the spring and fall. The spring is coming up so you won't make that one. Then it all depends on how many times you have to interview. I have heard of guys interviewing 2 times with the same unit and not getting picked up (that is a whole year). I got lucky and got picked up by both places I interviewed at. After you get picked up it will be 6 months until you get your physicals done and have all your stuff sent to the board. After that it will be about 6 months before you leave for OTS Officer training school. It is a long process.

ff615

Just some stuff here to help you out. Study for the AFOQT, from what I understand you're still in college so hopefully some math and verbal skills are still fresh in your brain. No, you absolutely do not need to go to a recruiter to get the testing done, the AFROTC at your school should be able to provide some guidance on this for you, also in addition to the AFOQT you have to take the TBAS, not a lot of info I can provide on that, do some research. Head over to baseops.net spend some time searching the site, search the forums over there put some time in researching however the members over in that site will absolutely rip you apart if you ask a question that has been asked and answered before, so don't be that guy. Start making some contacts with units, hint - baseops has a jobs page with a lot of helpful info. Good luck!

Sliceback

TBAS? Saw a study guide in Barnes and Noble last month. Also had AFOQT study guides. Man, has it gotten easier. Thirty years ago you walked in cold.

Graduated college. Started talking with AFR recruiter and AD Navy recruiter. C-130's and AD? Nah. I took all the tests and then started calling ANG fighter units.

Took about 6 months to get hired(second unit, hired by one guy in one day). A year wait for AMS, one month break and then off to UPT. Net time from start of applying to UPT was 20 months? Twenty two months later I was done with training and a Guardsman. From first contact with recruiter to Guardsman(MR status) was about 3.5 yrs.

ff615

The TBAS is another test that needs to be taken. The results from that test are combined with the pilot score from the AFOQT to give a candidate their PCSM score. The higher the score the more competitive the package, at least that's my understanding

FlyingBulldog

Thanks for all of y'all's help. This is probably the most helpful forum I've been on. I'm calling the ROTC office in the morning and going to see what they can help me out with. I'll also see if some of my dad's pilot buddies who are in the Guard can give me some info. Anyone know if I could just call up the MEPS in Memphis and ask about scheduling a physical? Or is that not something you can do on your own?