Rama

Air Guard units are a good way to go.
you could still work in the civilian sector after training.

ThatOneAviator

I have heard about this and also the coast guard. I want to look more into these.

ipdanno

Realize that Air National GUARD (ANG) and Coast GUARD (USCG) mean two very different things. The USCG is a full time Active Duty federal entity, just like the Navy, Army, Marines and Air Force (shall we include the US Space Force?). The USCG has a Reserve component, just like the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force.

I know the AF Reserves (and ANG) will send someone to Undergraduate Pilot Training, and maybe the Army reserves, but I don’t think the Navy, Marine or CG reserves will send anyone to UPT. I’m not sure. I believe they get their aviators from separating active duty folks.

The Air National Guard is much closer to the Air Force Reserves than to the USCG. The ANG is primarily controlled at the State level, but all flight training is through the active duty Air Force, the same as the AF Reserve.

If one were to join the ANG or AFRes, one could expect about two-three years of fully active service, 1 1/2 of that at UPT+, the next year+ at your unit doing training and seasoning. Then revert to Traditional status and return to your regular (or new) job.

If your long term goal is to end up in the airline world, and you think you could make it through the military system, I think the ANG or AFRes could be a great way to start and accelerate your progress.

rickair7777

Correct. The Navy (and presumably the USMC) did hire OTS reserve aviators and train them decades ago, but no longer. To get a flying job in the sea service reserves you need to already have mil wings. It would be hypothetically possible to get trained by ANG/USAFR and then later transfer to a sea service reserve flying gig without having done regular active duty. But for the most part if you want to stay TR and avoid a ten-year AD obligation, ASNG/USAFR are the only options.


Yes. Best kept "secret" in aviation.

galaxy flyer

Just to clarify, in the ANG/AFRes, you still have a 10-year committment just to that branch of the service. You can move between units, even missions if you want to move or your civilian job moves you. There’ll be some negotiation as units typically don’t want to lose UPT grads they sponsored. Changing mission can get sticky and you won’t move into a fighter from a tanker.

tnkrdrvr

Actually, even fighter to tanker is negotiable. However, some negotiations may require a marriage/pregnancy with the chief pilot’s daughter/sister.

Akutan Bandit

There are no requirements, and it is all negotiable. That is the great fraud of military aviation. A Standard without standards.

I was offered a flight slot with NOAA Corps with no military wings, just a short orientation course and a Flight Safety type. You can’t make that **** up, so don’t try and call me on it.

When circumstances collide, and the needs are great, the powers that be will grant anything. Tom Cruise has real Navy Wings, that pretty much says it all.

B727DRVR

I agree 100% with JTwift.... I came out into the aviation world in 1991, only a few years after a huge avaition hiring boom where AA was hiring 2500 hour civilians and Commuters (Regionals today) were hiring at 1000 TT/100ME. Fast forward to 1991, and the worst hiring market in aviation history had emerged. 2 Legacy airlines, Eastern and Pan Am, had just gone out of business leaving thousands of airline pilots on the street. Concurrently, the old Solviet Union had its going out of business sale and the first Gulf War ended, so the Military through their Reduction in Forces flooded the market with thousands more pilots. Then, in 1993-1994, Delta and American both furloughed followed my most other airlines. I was at the same interview for a $1000/month Commuter job with my 1100 TT/100ME as a Pan Am B747 furloughed Captain. These were dark times.

Things got a little better and then 2001 happened. Thing got a little better then the Great Recession happened. Things slowly got a lot better, then Covid-19 happened. Now, things are good today, but luck is written in the ice and the sun eventually comes up. My best advice to dea with this is plan for the worst and hope for the best, get a non-aviation degree that you can fall back on if things go South again, and don't plan on having a significant other who doesn't work. After 5 furloughs and one cancer diagnosis, I have no idea how pilots, with our fragile careers, can make it in this business with just one earner.

Unfortunately, flying is a blast and it is what keeps us coming back.

Good luck..

LeakyStrut

Your plan to pay for school out of pocket instead of getting into huge student loans is a good one. However ten years is a very long timeline and life experience has taught me the longer the timeline the more likely life/doo-doo happens to hinder goals. (I.e. marriage, kids, health issues that may develop) I’d encourage you to bust your butt and work two jobs if need be to shorten that goal to more of a five-year plan. Stay away from any financial debt by all means possible. Drive a cheap car -no car loans. Minimal credit card usage <30% of your credit limit and pay it off monthly just to have a good line of credit going/building your score. The best way to save money is by tightening your current budget and making a little extra on the side where you can. Best of luck man