Do you have any anecdotes of how those with wife and kids handled it? More specifically, I would like to spend time with the boys camping etc. on the weekends to strengthen those bonds but my thought is I would need to forego a few extra-curricular/recreational trips to be with wife/kid. Presumably there is a balance to be struck.

Excellent scores. You’re well into age waiver territory; unless hiring has cooled down, you’ll either have to get exceptionally lucky, be a famous athlete or actor, or a social comedian to get a serious look right off the bat. I barely squeaked in at 32 and made a connection with a good unit with similar scores, but I consider myself very…

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Impossible to say what your odds are specifically with the information provided. Age is a poor determinant alone but typically, the closer to early to mid 20s, the better. I’d say unless you’re famous, have effusive charisma, or have close ties with a fighter unit, your odds of a fighter are close to zero. However, heavies are very much in…

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Thank you, sir! I’ll chalk this up to my lack of understanding of how these documents iterate. The language appears unchanged.

3.1.1.1. RegAF and AFR applicants must not be beyond their 33rd birthday nor have more
than 8 years of TFCS by the date as specified in the Undergraduate Flying Training
Selection Board announcement message (generally…

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I was previously trying to resolve whether my age (32) makes the guard a possibility anymore. Searched 36-2100 document on the Department of Air Force E-publishing to find more answers. This entire chapter (3) is “DELETED”. Published Apr 2021. Is your reference more recent?

Furthermore, as far as the guard goes, many units still have the…

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Thanks for the reply! To clarify, my corrected vision is 20/20. The surgery is not risk free and my eyes are otherwise healthy. My eyes pass the AF uncorrected standards, so, aside from being unnecessary for the AF, it would set me back 6 months and another medical check which is dicey since I am already 32 and have active AF opportunities in…

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Not to hijack your post, but I was told by some guard heavy members that they are thinking of doing away with T-6s for part time heavy units and going straight to T-1/sims since your airframe is immutable. I think many would be sad if that happened, but it does remove some of the “airsickness” risk, is what they mentioned. Wondering if anyone…

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Is it true that the National Guard is willing to process vision waivers?

I was in the process for applying to the Army Reserve but, upon learning my vision (2.00 ish) would be out of regulation with the army’s 1.50 myopia requirement, I was told it was not waiverable and would need LASIK/PRK.

Flash forward 6 months, I’ve been talking with a…

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Thanks for the background, that totally gives the insight as to why you’re kind of “locked in” for the two years and your perspective totally makes sense. I see nothing wrong with, while working, polishing yourself up to be the best applicant you can be. The test pilot aspiration is really cool! Something someone like me who was a bit of a bum…

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This all being said, nothing wrong with your plan of waiting a few years to apply. It is the simple fact that there is the risk associated in delaying which is in tension with the fact that, when applying to fighters, the younger you start, the better. Due to the nature of hiring, you could wait a few years and then there could be a…

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Disclaimer: I am a civilian but have been applying for long enough that I have a good barometer read on the hiring situation right now.

I am assuming you understand the commitment and the potential windfall of obtaining a reserve/pilot position; this is the aspect we tend to plug and it’s the mil pilot/airline pilot lifestyle. It sounds like…

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You have your 4 year degree (either of them insane individually, and you’ve got two!). Why not start applying for pilot positions right now? I don’t understand the angle of becoming an officer generally if your main goal appears to be a pilot slot. Is your first priority to become an officer?

For heavies, I’ve had multiple units mention the volunteer experience on my resume.

“Realize they have placed themselves in the bar to meet the candidates”

I’d say its 50/50 with the ones who’ve placed themselves in the bar to meet beers.

On a serious note, I do need to get better about approaching folks in the bars! It’s tough to look like a civilian idiot doing this. Met a few other folks who are current officers rushing…

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Hey,

We should connect and stay in touch going forward, as I’m very similar to you in terms of numbers and am starting to pivot away from Guard/Reserves due to the protracted rushing commitments and limited amount of time left.

I’d say we should be hopefully optimistic but definitely have a back up as my understanding is that the competition for…

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Any advice for a civilian trying to get a foot in the door? I’m likely most interested in WO, Guard or Reserve but also entertaining AD. I have yet to take the ASVAB and SIFT but have excellent and decent AFOQT and ASTB scores respectively, so hoping the biggest hurdle will be just getting them arranged. I’m trying to understand if…

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That’s exactly the reason I took it to the track. The physics of a car-on-bike collision aren’t in the rider’s favor. And, to your point, it’s always a Nissan. As for Altima’s of the sky, we do have Cubs and aerobatic planes that don’t broadcast; no better way to keep your local class E airport fun 😉

I raced the SV650. Middleweight class;…

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My crazy hobbies in the past have been motorcycle road racing (think crotch rockets) and enduro mountain biking. Lately I’ve been trying to reduce the statistics going against me, so, outside of flying, mostly the craziest thing I do is backpacking. Depending on the course, I suppose a round of golf could be considered “crazy”.

To your point,…

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The cheapest rudder pedals and stick will do. There’s a cheap logitech stick I use and thrustmaster pedals on amazon. Budget 100-200.

I’ve found Anki as a game changer for FAA ratings/checkrides. I would be curious if someone made a deck for the AFOQT but I could not find any based on that search term.

The only downside is decks are a bit of a pain to make manually.

Sorry for the late reply; if you’ve taken the test you’ve likely made a tracker already. If not, feel free to hijack mine! In the notes row is a reference to some of the resources I used. PDF refers to the online resource. I basically used the “Cadillac option” from the Bogidope article.

Sorry for the late reply; if you’ve taken the test you’ve likely made a tracker already. If not, feel free to use mine! In the notes row is a reference to some of the resources I used. PDF refers to the online resource. I basically used the “Cadillac option” from the Bogidope article.

I also have reasonably high AFOQT/TBAS scores. Im also rather old (Bush admin baby, the first one) and a long time removed from classrooms, school subjects, and bubble sheets. I devised a methodical and rigorous study regimen where I had to relearn (or even learn for the first time) much of the material. I have a system down including a…

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