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What do they prioritize?
For those of you who have been on a board or have the inside scoop, how do they prioritize the contents of your application, especially fighter units? (i.e. scores, flight time, speciality schools, etc). Along with how they prioritize, what scores or qualifications are they looking for? I’ll provide an overview of mine as a template so others can fill in their own info.
-Age: 27
-Scores: P 85/ PCSM 75
-Mil flying: C-130 Instructor LM (1500+ hours)
-Civ flying: PPL (70 hours)
-Civ work: very little (I’m a true guard bum)
-College: BBA from AMU (3.0 GPA)/ CCAF in Aviation Operations
-Speciality schools: ATAC and CATS/MECOC (MAF tactics schools)
-Clearance: TS
-Medical: Civ: FC1/ Mil: AF FC3 (no long term DNIFs or restrictions)
Obviously there’s the whole person concept when you make it to the M&G/ interview, but this is for those of us who haven’t made it to that point yet and still have room to improve before getting an invite.
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1 Reply
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Each fighter squadron is different. The members of each respective hiring board within those squadrons change yearly, meaning different priorities, biases, etc. The point is, what I’m about to say are generalities but will at least provide a baseline.
A typical fighter squadron will receive 100-300 UPT applications for 1-2 available slots. Because there are so many applicants, they must make a cutline to start narrowing the field. The cutline can be any combination of AFOQT scores, PCSM scores, GPA, and flight time (objectively compatible metrics among applicants).
For example, a typical squadron may set the cutline at AFOQT Pilot and PCSM scores at/above 85, GPA above 3.0, and at least a PPL. That would probably narrow the field down from 200ish to 50-75ish.
They would then take the 50-75 apps and perhaps narrow it down more by including age and the other subscores of the AFOQT. This might get them to the top 40ish applicants. From here, they can dive deeper into the applicants to look for things like additional flight training, leadership experience, location, extracurriculars, etc. Some squadrons may conduct phone interviews or host a Meet & Greet to do one final level of cuts to the final 10-15 for in-person interviews.
Outliers that may make it through with lower scores: military members (esp if a member of that specific Wing or from the Spec Ops communities), college athletes, or some other unusual background.
So, here should be your personal baseline to make yourself competitive in a crowded field:
1. AFOQT Pilot > 90 (this impacts your PCSM too, so it’s a double whammy if you screw it up)
2. PCSM >90
3. PPL – This is expensive, time-consuming, and technically not required. But you are hurting your chances by not completing this. If you have to sweep floors and clean toilets at the local FBO to pay for flight time, you are not only building flight time but also demonstrating your grit, which will be required to complete all of your fighter training.
4. GPA >3.0 – For this conversation, having a 3.5 with a business degree is better than a 2.5 in mechanical engineering.
5. All other AFOQT subscores as high as you can get them.The emphasis on the AFOQT and GPA is one of the reasons we hired a dedicated tutor to help BogiDope members. You can take the AFOQT 2-3 times (3rd time requires a waiver) without penalty, so if your scores aren’t high enough, work with a tutor (either here or otherwise) to get above the cutline.
Hope that helps!🍻
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