Life after upt

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Airlift/Tanker/Bomber or Fighter?

[Waldrop]

All of them. My first choice is fighters but I am about to start applying to everything available and going with the first one that picks me up.

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Upon returning from your formal pilot training program, you will be on full time seasoning days for about 2-6 mos at a typical heavy unit (sanity check on this from one of our airlift folks?) and approximately 2 years at a typical fighter unit. Both of these types of units, assuming resources are available (right now, with many pilots chasing the airline hiring frenzy, full time orders shouldn’t be too difficult to obtain) you can continue on full time status to focus further on becoming a credible pilot and build critical experience. During this period, living away from the base would not be wise as you would be full time. When/if you transition to part-time status, you can reassess your living situation but I would STRONGLY recommend keeping your commuting triangle tight (distance between Military – home – civilian job) to help w/ QOL. You will fly approximately 2-3 times per week in a fighter unit and will be busy studying and doing your additional administrative duty in the squadron when not studying/prepping to fly.

Hope this helps.

[Sharky]

Correct for heavy units. Typically 120-180 days of seasoning following the return to the squadron. Following the end of orders, similar pathways exist: revert to part-time status, be a Guard/Reserve “bum”, i.e. string along various duty statuses/orders to get a steady paycheck, or transition to full-time status, if that option exists (many Reserve units may offer a Temporary Developmental technician position for junior pilots). I have the same recommendations for choice of residence as well—minimize the number of days commuting between residence-mil job-civilian job. Having a *rough* idea of these realities going into an interview is helpful too. When we conducted UPT and Rated interviews, “what’s your plan following UPT?” was always a question. Though there’s no such thing as a perfect answer to this question, it did give us some insight into the candidate’s knowledge and expectations about the job long-term. Hope this helps!

[Waldrop]

Ok, my wife has a great job and I was curious if there was anyway for her to keep her job and me commute after completing all the training. We will do what ever it takes if I get selected but just checking all options.