kmn0601

I am 22 years old and have always wanted to be a pilot. When I was out of high school I did not think that it would be attainable and I pursued another interest of mine which is nursing. I will be done with my nursing degree this coming December and plan on entering the nursing profession. Now that I am a few years older I am more determined that I would like to fulfill this desire. I have also always wanted to serve my country. I know that it is possible to get hired into an Air National Guard unit and possibly Reserves unit(?) for UPT. For those that are active or anyone with other knowledge, are there people in your unit that fly that have a civilian career not related to flying? I'd appreciate any feedback and thanks for taking the time to reply.

galaxy flyer

Sure, my Reserve unit had pilots with all sorts of civil careers--lawyers, finance, docs, even a nurse. But, a lot are civil pilots, too.

GF

PRS Guitars

Actually, a hospital nursing schedule would work quite well with a flying guard job. Typically three 12 hour shifts a week. It would allow you to work a full time nursing job and get 6 days a month in at your guard unit. Keep it local though.

NASA

Being an RN is the perfect back up to a flying career..You are golden, best of luck to you..Also, since being an RN is an extremely flexible job, you can easily do both...

kmn0601

Thanks for the feedback! Even though there are pilots in a Guard or Reserves unit that have a civilian career and as one of you mentioned there was a nurse that flew as a pilot. Are Guard units typically open to having its members having a civilian career outside of aviation? Do Guard units often hire off the street or is it very infrequent? I had previously taken flight lessons years before but I never got around to finishing them due to other circumstances at the time. Is not having your PPL when submitting an application to a Guard unit for UPT an automatic no deal or is it possible for them to still hire you? Correct me if I am wrong but from my understanding both the Air Force Reserves and Navy Reserves require you to have prior military flight experience and not be "off the street". I appreciate any advice or feedback.

galaxy flyer

Either AF Reserve or ANG units can select you for OTS and then on to USAF UPT. You will usually need to have, at least, a PPL to be selected "off the street". Unit members might not need the flight experience, but they probably still need some flight time. It can be really competitive or not very.

The Naval Reserve does not send pilots to Navy Flight School, you have to have AD time.

GF

PRS Guitars

It's definitely not a requirement to be employed in the aviation industry. PPC? Maybe, maybe not required depending on the unit. These slots are very competitive (varies based on airframe & location) and will require you to put some face time in (called "rushing"). One way to go, is to enlist and get a job that deals with pilots, (life support for example). Let them know all along that you really want to be a pilot there. Some units like to see this commitment, and hire from within. Over 50% of my buddies that were hired off the street did this. Do your research first though. A good place to start is the baseops.net forum.

You are very young, so lots of time to make this happen. If you really want to do this, I see no reason that you couldn't. The guys that wish they had, but didn't are numerous, and usually all that stopped them from doing it, was themselves. Put the effort in and you'll get picked up somewhere.