New to the site, I've searched the site a little - but didn't answer my questions. I'm a new Instrument/Commercial pilot. I'm really interested in joining the AF, AFR or Air National Guard as a pilot. I only want to be a pilot, because that's what I really want to do. I would be pretty disappointed to land a different gig for 8 years...

What is the process of becoming a military pilot?
Does having these certificates give me a great shot at getting a slot?
IS joining a bad idea if I only want to fly and become a better pilot?
Would I find out I have a pilot slot before I join?

Thanks for the help!

Feel free to send me more tips!

Air Warriors

Baseops Military Aviation Forums

First off, keep looking around and talk to as many military pilots as you can. Look up forums that specialize in military pilot training, there are several, there you will find lots of great gouge and very eager new pilots who would be happy to share their experiences.
Secondly, the gouge I'm going to give you is from a NAVY guy who's been in for 15 years and was a training command instructor from 2005-2011, so I have some insight but have a little "higher-up" perspective than a new ensign or 2nd Lt, so take that into account....all that being said, here's what I can offer you...
1. What is the process to become a military pilot? Go talk to a OFFICER PILOT recruiter. Do not waste your time with a general recruiter or a guy who is not in aviation. There are MANY things involved, Medical exam, aviation aptitude testing, physical fitness testing, must be a college grad just to name a few
2. Do certs help get slot? That I really have no idea about...I don't think so, but I could be wrong...I WILL tell you that the guys that had LOTS of prior flight time, SOME had a TOUGH time in OCS and flight school based on them not accepting military training and trying to get by on what they already knew. Military flight training is extremely dynamic and fast paced, and only maybe a quarter of what you knew before will translate to military flying.
3. Joining to be a better pilot to only be a better pilot? The military will make you a better pilot without a doubt. Not that a military pilot is better than his civilian counterpart, but what we will teach you to do during your military training can not be replicated in the outside world. AND we can take a OTS kid with ZERO aviation experience and make him a fighter/attack guy able to take off, fight air combat, deliver ordinance on a target then come back and land on a carrier, at night, in time for Midrats...and he will do that mission 3 years after taking his oath. YOU WILL NOT JUST FLY IN THE MILITARY....flying will be your secondary job after you get your wings, you will have to be a leader of men and women and be able to take responsibility for ensuring their safety, you will spend 10X more hours in front of a computer than you will in the cockpit.
4. Pilot slot when you join? Each service is different in that regard, so do some research on that. I know the Navy/Marines give you a pilot slot, which is yours to lose if you dont pass muster for any number of reasons. I have no clue about the Airforce...when I applied to the Airforce the Major that interviewed me asked what I wanted to do, I said "fly fighters!" she asked if I'd be willing to be a navigator, which I replied that I was joining to fly planes...I'd fly transports too...just wouldn't be a navigator....the Air Force never called me back!
Good luck and I hope this was helpful.
FLY NAVY!

Check out the Baseops.net site, many guard/reserve units put notifications for UPT boards on that site. I wouldn't venture to the active duty, I would stay with the guard/reserve.

As for the recruiter, think of the recruiter as an admin person, don't talk to them about anything else. You want to talk to the chief pilot of the guard/reserve squadron that interests you. They will be able to answer all the questions you have. Though once you find a guard/reserve unit you want to fly for, you need to put in some face time and get to know them a little. This way when they have their UPT board they already know you and it could give you a leg up.

Your certs are almost a must for a UPT slot in the guard/reserves so you're already ahead of the game. And obviously if you get selected in the UPT board it's a pilot slot so you will know before you enter whether or not it's a pilot position.

just my 2 cents.

Go Guard/Reserve. That way you are guaranteed what aircraft/mission you will do. It's somewhat tougher because you will do personal interviews with hiring boards, but if you go active duty AF you have a great chance of spending a large part of your 10 year commitment in a GCS trailer not actually flying. I speak from experience.

The time I had in C-17s was awesome, and some of the best few years of my life. It's all about timing, and when I came up for a follow on assignment, the Air Force needed bodies to fill GCS's so that's where I wound up. 10 years is too long to sign away and not be flying airplanes in my opinion. Go guard/reserve.

Well, first you've gotta convince the USAF that you've got Chuck Yeager's blood running through your veins, combined with a little bit of Steven Hawking's brain power and nerves of steel like Chuck Norris.

Once you survive the brutal year of pilot training, then the real challenge begins, since you've gotta ensure that you can keep your wings and get promoted. You'll need to deftly process travel vouchers in DTS, pull a few non-flying deployments to Afghanistan even though we're downsizing (someone apparently forgot to tell the USAF, and our wing just got hammered with 365 day deployments). Brush up on your Pashtu and Arabic skills. Don't forget that masters degree, and do SOS in correspondence so that you can be competitive for SOS in residence, otherwise you'll never get the chance to do ACSC in correspondence to prep for ACSC in residence. If faced with the difficult challenge between upgrading to instructor pilot or planning the next wing change of command, be sure to take the latter and establish a network with fellow company grade officers. You'll need to attend CGOC meetings and tell those support folks how much you like processing OPRs, EPRs, awards, decorations, fitness testing, budgeting, and if you're lucky putting together teams of your Airmen to help the cops guard the gate and help trans drive crew busses. Showcase your leadership by canceling local flying so that you can be the first squadron in your wing to complete Wingman Day training, Suicide Prevention hands-on training, Bystander Intervention Training, which is now SAPR training and needs to be re-accomplished ASAP so that we can do our 4 hour SAPR "top-off" hands on training by October. Get that Ground Chem CBT done ASAP, but then do it again because your CGO buddies insist that your CBT must be done within 4 hours of the hands on class. Cancel some more flying so you can get your self aid buddy care training done. Maybe even go shoot the 9mm, but don't be shocked when your May 2014 9mm training doesn't help you in June when you get tasked to do another non-flying gig in Afghanistan - you'll certainly need another round of ground chem and 9mm training.

Sadly, I could go on for about another day or so. The USAF ain't what it used to be.

Hence go guard/reserve....

Holy crap....at first I laughed when our SWO brethren would complain about all the administrative bullcrap they have to do....and then I read Riddler's post and it almost made me cry...WE have come to this now too....sad that we have to fight the administrative war at the expense of our ability to fight a real war that doesn't care about how current your SAPR training is or that you've done and tracked any of the numerous admin BS that takes up our days now....
Drones have the good life!! They don't have to do this!!!

Shack. Change some acronyms and you have the current state of the active duty Navy. I am retiring after 20 years on AD.
It was a good ride, but the smell of all the BS gets overwhelming after a while. The advice above about guard/reserve is spot on. That is the way to do it if you want to fly first and be a quad slide ninja second.

Go guard! (from an active duty 11F)

Good luck.