-
Guidance in my Path?
Good morning, to all the Bogidope members and the aviators out there. I wanted to create this thread as I continue to look for guidance and advice on how I want to pursue my career path. I’m currently halfway through my junior year at the University of South Carolina majoring in marketing. I have a 3.7 GPA here at the University of South Carolina and graduated from Gaston College getting my associate degree with a 3.5 GPA where I also played college baseball for my freshman and sophomore year. My father was a pilot in the Navy, so I guess I’ve always had some sense of passion and feeling like it’s in my blood. I’m just looking for a bit of guidance on where to go now. The following is my current ideal path however I haven’t been hit in the face with reality yet. My dream job would be to join the Air National Guard and fly F sixteens for the 129th fighter wing outside of West Columbia South Carolina. I plan on skipping enlistment and going straight to the Officer Academy after I receive my bachelor’s degree and I also plan on starting my ground school for my PPL before I graduate and then possibly getting around a little over 40 hours obtaining my PPL just to show that I am somebody who can and wants to fly. I’m currently spending a lot of focus on school studying marketing here as well and every day I study for the ASVAB as well as studying for the AFOQT and the TBAS. I’m currently 20 years old and at the end of the year, I’ll have around 102 credits.
The real reason I created this thread is because now I’m starting to feel the pressure. I know this is an extremely competitive slot and it’s not just given out to anybody. I know becoming a fighter pilot is most likely a dream for everybody therefore I kind of just want to see where I line up and I kind of just want to get some advice on if this is something I could continue to pursue. Like I said this has been a dream and a passion of mine since I was introduced to what my father did during his late 20s. My father was an F14 Tomcat in the Navy and was a Top Gun graduate so he’s been my idol for as long as I can remember. My family is a huge aviation family so the support is amazing, however I just want some more information from other people who have tried to do the same thing.
Becoming a fighter pilot would ultimately be my plan especially flying F16 as that would be my dream although I have other aspirations to fly for other guard units that is my number one pick. Although this is Plan B would just become a civil pilot and work my way up to having a corporate-level job. Since my Plan B is to become a civil pilot, I want to know what you guys think about the plan and How realistic it is. What are the things I need to do? Am I already on the path for it or am I way off? Not only am I looking for guidance here I’m also looking for people to give me a bit of a reality check.
I apologize for the length here. I just wanted to give full clarity therefore I can expect clear responses and clear answers.
-
1 Reply
-
there are many routes to becoming a fighter pilot and you’re heading in the right direction. this path is supposed to make you feel that pressure, exhaustion, and doubts; becoming a fighter pilot is not an easy task, and it never will be.
could you continue to pursue this? absolutely. their are a surplus amount of pilots in the military who weren’t even thinking of being one in college. you’re ahead of the game, sitting on a winning lottery ticket, but its up to you to cash it in.
your plan is realistic, and you know what is required. to reiterate what snip said on wikz thread, the main things that you should be focusing on is:
GPA, leadership opportunities (community service, clubs, etc) and make sure you knock the tests out of the park.
Good luck!
Log in to reply.