Originally Posted by JohnnyG

I can't speak for Guard and Reserve life, where I assume units tend to be more close-knit and family like, but in the active duty world it seems like the worst things someone can do who CAN potentially be competitive for a UPT slot is enlist. Like it or not, there was, is and always will be two different worlds for officers and enlisted. I've known people who've gone every route to go in military aviation. Once you're active duty enlisted, they are not likely to ever let you become a pilot. You can become a maintenance or logistics officer or something else quite easily, but you're just not the same as someone on the outside looking in.

Originally Posted by JohnnyG

One is a civilian pilot applicant, the other is an enlisted dude who wishes he could be a pilot. The latter sums up a substantial portion of the United States Air Force.

Originally Posted by JohnnyG

Again, I don't know the guard world. I'm just offering a differential opinion as I've seen it go down.

Originally Posted by Hueypilot

Keep in mind that AFRC tends to hire people off the street more readily than the Guard. Each ANG unit has its own culture and some entertain street candidates better than others. AFRC actually has a command-wide UPT board you can apply to without being sponsored by a unit, but be prepared to move because they'll assign you to one. You can also apply with a unit and have them sponsor you for an AFRC UPT slot. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Seaweed

I'm actually in charge of the hiring board at our unit this year. We're interviewing next week. Just some thoughts off the top of my head. We hire both from within & off the street at the same hiring board. We go out of our way to make it as fair as possible so no one group (prior enlisted folks within the unit) have an advantage over enlisted applicants outside the unit or civilians applying with no prior military experience.
As far as applying to multiple units goes we encourage it. It shows that the applicant has the drive to really serve/fly in the military somewhere and we explain to them that the culture is different in the units throughout the country and the fit may or may not be good at one particular unit or another.
I will caution you about the way to get to the airlines comment. If discovered during the interview that that was the premise for applying to the unit then that would most likely result in non-selection. We need people willing to serve with the understanding that they may be called upon to give their life for their country. The Guard is way different then in the past and we just cannot afford to hire people whining when asked to deploy for up to six months at a time in some of the armpits of the world. I get it. I'm a major airline guy as well but still deploy when called upon without complaint. ( OK without complaining much!). Our unit's philosophy is your family comes first, civilian job comes second, and the Guard comes third UNLESS we get activated then those priorities need to change. Sorry so long winded. Hope this helps someone.

Originally Posted by Seaweed

Great question Cats. I agree with Huggy that he could start rushing the units he is interested in now. We generally want to see guys with their degrees already completed but like Huggy inferred we'll interview guys (if competitive) without their degree finished with the guarantee they will be finished within an allocated amount of time. If they are offered a position and don't complete that requirement the offer would be rescinded. As far as type of degrees go, it really doesn't matter as long as they have/or are about to have one. We look at the whole picture when it comes to degrees. For example, a guy majoring in engineering may have a poor GPA compared to someone majoring in say business but we'll take that into account due to the difficulty of the degree program. Again, we look at the whole package.

Originally Posted by Montey

Do you have any advice coming from a senior in highschool?

Should I enlist while earning my college degree and hope to become an officer to fly in the ANG?

Should I have any prior flight experience before applying?

Originally Posted by FlyingBulldog

Does anyone have any recommendations as far as units I should look at? I constantly keep an eye on guardreservejobs.net. I would like to fly heavy aircraft, but would look at fighters, too.