BTpilot

We know the same guy or very similar situation..


Good luck, man.. Just network the hell out of this if you want a shot.

LOBO

How about applying to the 340th FTG to either fly a T-6 or a T-1?

reCALcitrant

Octane was a captain when he got hired. He's also a wic grad. Those 2 things made a difference.

Jeepster8414

38/B-1 guy agreeing with previous posts. Very few guys have made it over to the 11F world, even mid to senior O-3 WIC grads have a tough time. Some of it's money for training, some of it is the mechanics, some of it is the tactical focus.. .it all adds up. T-6 looks really fun to fly, though...

Hacker15e

At IFF there is a baseline expectation that you are a competent T-38 formation pilot the second you walk through the door on day one of the course. There is no time allowed for getting "up to speed", as studs are expected to all ready be there.

T-6 FAIPs who re-qual in the T-38 prior to IFF get 9 rides (and unlimited sandbags and sims) to get up to speed -- and that is the allowance for a guy who all ready has 6 months and 100 hours of prior experience in the airplane. Some of them are up to speed in that timeframe, some aren't. Although flying the airplane is one of the hurdles they face, perhaps the bigger FAIP hurdle is getting the ego in check and getting into the student wingman mindset.

I know of a handful of ANG/Res guys who were prior T-1 trained and went through the T-38 qual at Randolph prior to IFF. In my experience, those guys had very limited success, with some of them not passing the RND requal, and some of them not passing IFF after that. Reasons for that varied -- I'd be happy to talk with you about that offline if you so desire.

thrust

Have you considered applying to the U-2 or B-2? Getting T-38 experience via those programs may lead to a guard/reserve unit taking a chance on you down the road... but even that sounds like a stretch.

pony172

Fly 6485,I would recommend that you try to get on with any flying unit you possibly can.The Guard flying units got whacked in 2013 with the budget. There are not enough F-35's to do a one for one replacement of the Viper/Hog. Look how many units got transitioned to RPA's. I'm not saying it's impossible, but highly unlikely you will get hired by a fighter unit in this climate. From my own experience when we tried this experiment, it did not work out that well for the squadron or the individuals. I would not try it again. Getting into any Guard/Reserve flying unit now should be considered damn good. You'll go a lot farther and be a lot happier. If you want to bum, go fly RPA. We have guys on basically permanent orders on leave from their airlines.

Hueypilot

The answer is "no" if you never ask, so if flying fighters is your dream, it wouldn't hurt to look into it. That being said, I'll state that it's unlikely you'll fly a fighter. Not impossible, but unlikely. If you want to get into the Reserves and still want to do something somewhat tactical, consider a C-130 squadron. It's not fast or sleek, but it can present more of a challenge than an airland-only C-17 or tanker job. There's also the 919th SOS that flies the C-145...again, not a super-sexy airplane, but it's a unique mission. Other than that, if you're bound and determined to do acro and fly fingertip, then I'd hit up the AFRC T-6 units.

L'il J.Seinfeld

Guard units will not be gaining flying missions if the manned variety.

LivingInMEM

Fighter units have hired plenty of heavy guys, USAF helo guys, USMC and USA helo guys, etc. They'll know how to get you trained; fwiw, a heavy guy who already graduated UPT is a more secure bet than a guy off the street. As far as the mission and hiring, they will hire as if nothing is changing until they get official notification that they are being disbanded/re-missioned.