Does anyone know when this year's Active Duty UPT board will take place? Also, how different is it than a Reserve/Guard unit interview?

Thanks

 

L o l

 

The Guard/Reserve board is more a unit specific thing. You need to "rush" the unit and hopefully get invited to their hiring board. Then they pass their recommendation on to Reserve HQ, which mostly is just an after thought.

 

I've interviewed with a few units and visited others, but I've been thinking about applying active duty as well. Heard from a fellow interviewee at a unit that there was a specific AD board as well. I have no idea when or what the procedure to apply might be. I thought I'd see if there might be someone on the forum with more credible info than just a fellow applicant.

 

The Reserve UPT Selection Board is held every six months at HQ AFRC at Robins AFB, GA. Individual ANG units have their own boards--two commands, two procedures. The Reserve board considers the various unit packages against the number of UPT slots the command has coming up and selects the individuals. Unit commander recommendations count as does other factors--college record, flight experience, test scores, etc. A General Officer recommendation counts a lot, if your wing has a B/G.

GF

 

Not so much lately. The last couple AFRC boards have been a bloodbath. (Not sure if because of a budgetary constraint)

 

The AFRC boards have always been very competitive since their introduction in the mid-90s.

GF

 

I was an AD recruiting commander and can give you all the info you want. But basically you need to contact the local recruiter in your area and apply to be an officer. Most recruiting squadrons either have you initially work with the local recruiter or send you to one or two recruiters who specifically handle just officers. Either way they will review your application and schedule you for the AFOQT if you haven't taken it. If you meet the min criteria you can put in for the rated or nonrated boards which meet several times a year based on needs. We typically had 2 rated boards each year (Jan and July). You will interview with the Sq commander or another officer and he will write your evaluation for the board. The big unknown is that you can get anything from a nav slot to AWACS, to RPA but you can always say no if you don't get what you want. Boards are very competitive but timing is everything. It can typically take 2-6 months to get all the paperwork done so start early especially if you've been out of college a few years. PM if you want to get an idea of how your package will look based on your resume. I helped more than 20 get to UPT during my tour.

 

That sucks. When I went through 16 years ago or so, that wasn't the case. It seemed like what the unit wanted they got. After all I ended up being selected. Though I did manage to do pretty well in UPT. Hmm, and now I've been back at UPT now for a few years as an IP. Maybe I didn't do it right. Oh well. It's all good. Holly crap, 16 plus years, I just realized. Wow. A bud just pinned on o-5, and he felt old. I reminded him I was about 5 days older. lol. He called me an old man. *amn and now I have to solute him.....lol....

 

Ya I went through about a decade ago when it was thought to be a formality. I think 2 or 3 boards ago AFRC only accepted a little more than half of the sponsored candidates outright, and then about a quarter got "standby" slots to which many ended up going to UPT, and the rest got a thanks but try again in 6 months, despite their units falling below their programmed manning.