Cameron_Robertson
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I remember a lot of little failures in my life, screwing up on tests or not hitting the standards I’d like, losing positions I wish I hadn’t. The ones I can remember most recently are screwups at my job over the years. Missing things here and there from distractions, or accidently saying something stupid, or hitting the wrong buttons and charging the wrong amount of money.
One of the things I’ve learned from the smaller ones in life and what helps with character is being honest about it. It’s harder to do than just saying it, especially if it’s something that you worry about that could impact your life. Early on I had a lot of responsibility handling expensive and dangerous equipment, a level that I had never had before in my life, and every time something went wrong I would think ‘that’s it, I’m done.’ But I realized that you had to be honest to learn, and thankfully the job was more understanding of that than others. Like I said, it’s hard to swallow your pride and fears and face the music, but you’ll have to regardless, and it helps yourself in the end.
I think that learning about honesty, betterment, and forgiveness may help me a lot if I had to lead someone. Knowing the importance of being forward when you mess something up, knowing that said honest gives them some strength of character and willingness to learn from it, and knowing how to teach them. To help learn from it while not burdening them with unnecessary stress and guilt from it; if they’re honest about it they probably feel bad enough already you know?
Sorry to type so much but I’ve recently been interested in this subject. I read through Jocko Willinck’s leadership book recently and there was a whole chapter on this. I remember one where there was a major field failure, I believe it was a blue-on-blue where a SEAL got injured. What surprised me was how every SEAL involved in it tried to take responsibility for what happened, even the injured man himself, but ultimately the commander said it was all on him. In the end though all was forgiven by the inspection, though I know a lot of people will carry the guilt of a failure with them still, especially in something so important.
The sad thing is, from what I’ve seen in my life and going over history, is people in general are not very accepting of mistakes. The higher you go in a position in anything, the military or business, etc, the more responsibility you have to take on for more numerous and increasingly important things, and with that more chances to mess something up. I don’t blame people for being afraid of this because the reaction can be brutal, and not conducive to bettering the person. If it’s something that can be major or dramatic, even if your own bosses are understanding, a lot of times other sources like the public are not. The unfortunate trend has always seemed like turning from regret and honest learning into a blood hunt for someone to blame and sacrifice, and usually the most major disasters come from a lot of different failures. Certainly, there are many cases where someone has messed up and deserves all the flak and fallout. But from everything I’ve seen, society, in general, is usually very trigger-happy to beat down someone who has failed as a total failure himself, and that’s just horribly cruel in some cases.
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EX has become my favorite, I’m probably going to go Navy but I’d adore to go to an Eagle unit after that. It’s a beautiful machine, simple and powerful. I wish we’d buy more of them honestly; I can tell they’re going to become a workhorse for the USAF in the future as the capabilities grow more and more.
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Work in volunteer organizations can help your resume.
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My name is Cameron, grew up north of Baton Rouge, LA. I got my degree in History years back and love to talk about the topic, especially the military category, could probably enjoy discussions about it for hours. My mission is to be a fighter, so I’ve been swinging between Air Force but more Navy recently, I wouldn’t be too picky. Most of my stuff is done, big thanks to BD for laying it all out for me over the past years. Right now I’m part of a ground crew at an airport, got my PPL there too.
I don’t really talk about myself much, don’t like to either, so sorry if this is a bit awkward. Grinding to get competitive has turned me into a workhorse so I don’t really have many hobbies, too busy for them I guess, most of what I do I consider work. I do enjoy reading and writing a lot when I get the time. Also picked up language learning as something to do over the summer; not particularly good yet, just something I found interesting.
Sorry I don’t have much more to add, never did talk much, but here’s an inspiring picture of a Dutch Viper with their lion coat-of-arms
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Hello there Sir,
I can’t speak for some of your stuff but with your scores, it may depend on what you want. 89 is great on a pilot score, I’m sure no one would question your ability; if you want to go fighters then a lot of units are saying you have to have at least 90 to be competitive. I think it’s just a thing of the times with so many applicants going to the Guard. But that’s just fighters; heavies often don’t have that requirement. That may be good as I’ve heard heavies are more ‘stable’ for families but that’s just a passing scuttlebutt I’ve heard so I could be totally wrong.
The nice thing about PCSM is it can go up just by building flight hours; you could probably max it out easily if you start flying as regularly as you reasonably can. If you don’t have your PPL yet, that is usually also an important thing that squadrons like. If you work towards that you could be getting two birds with one stone; either way I’d say some civilian flight time is a good hobby to pick up, can’t go wrong with it.
Mind you this is all from the current system, I have no knowledge of the old one. Wish I could give you more info but I hope this helped you in some way.
-Cameron
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I certainly can’t speak with any real authority/experience on this matter but driving records aren’t as bad as, well actual felonies like burglary or something. All the same having that number of infractions may raise an eyebrow. Pilots do often have that ‘Maverick’ air about them but flying is done within reason; being reckless in the air can lead to accidents and deaths and I would think someone on the hiring board could construe that number of infractions to a bad habit of recklessness.
It is good that your record’s been clean for a while and I’m very much the kind of person that doesn’t like to hold mistakes, especially old ones, over people’s heads. It’s important to show you’ve changed and kicked that habit. Maybe take a safe driver’s course of your own volition? I know they’re tedious but it shows you’re aware of and fixing a problem.
Again this is all just spitballing, I’ve got no real experience with speeding tickets or anything like that nor with hiring boards. This is all just my personal speculation; I’m not sure if it helps or not but I hope it does. The others like yahoo may give better advice. Best of luck in your eventual applications!
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You sound like you have a lot going for you. WAS gave some great advice. In addition to his, since you’re a Sophomore, I’d say just slow your role and really focus on classes, especially since your GPA is giving you so much trouble. You’ve got a ton of time ahead of you so don’t try to do everything at once, you’re already ahead of the game so spend the next two years hammering in on GPA, there’s plenty of additional tricks to punch it up too like summer classes and the like.
Same with your fitness. Start heading to the gym if your college has one, or a local one. Go for a run, start swimming for fun, try to diet (it sucks but it’s not too bad, saves you money at least). It’s very good for your health and spirit, even outside the military requirements. Those are the important things. Even to what WAS said, you need to maintain a certain GPA and a standard of Physical Fitness to stay in ROTC.
At least that’s what I would do; if you have a weak spot attack it first and hardest. But you know your own situation best. Take what advice you think is applicable to your context and situation and do your best. I wish you the best of luck mate.
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3.2 isn’t too shabby I think. The most immediate way to offset that in particular is your PCSM and AFOQT score. Along with that getting your PPL and any additional ratings can also help, shows you’re a good and active learner. As the guys always say it is a full person thing. Stuff like volunteer work, physical fitness showing, doing good at work, leadership, all sorts of things like that which you can put onto your resume.
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We did have a chat group for the boot camp a while back but it hasn’t been used lately. I think this was the replacement for it.
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In terms of the Academy itself, I am not too sure unfortunately. I looked at it some but I didn’t have much info/knowledge about the path to wings at all in my position back in the day so I didn’t dive headlong into it. All my advice is simply what little I know for getting to wings in general.
In terms of that, it never hurts to start getting into aviation. I know starting flying is next to impossible for a lot of people especially in high school; for stuff at that age it’s outlandishly expensive per whatever you make, if anything, and topping on aviation studies alongside your many school classes is just adding more pressure and problems, but it can’t hurt. There’s a lot of good flying channels on YouTube and books floating around offering the most basic introductions, so it could help to dip your toes into it.
Beyond that, if you have time to spare, you could look at joining your school’s JROTC program (if it has one) and/or your local Civil Air Patrol squadron (if one is within reach, of course). Both will teach you some good traits to have not only as a cadet but as a person along with many other practical skills that you’ll need going into the military. Some early leadership and teamwork lessons, wearing the uniform properly, physical fitness, history and rules, etc. I do know CAP, if you are with them for some time, can help members towards getting their pilot’s license at a reduced cost, depending on the local team’s ability to do so, though again it may be worth focusing your time on school and not biting off too much that you can chew. I do know CAP offers it’s cadets as well as JROTC cadets a couple of free orientation flights if you’ve never been in the air before.
I wish I could give more info pertinent to your most-desired course, but the Academy is something I know precious little on the details about; it was always so high and away it seemed too distant for my reach. But as we said there’s multiple paths to flying, and in the end every pilot goes to the same training. Hope this helps somewhat, and good luck to you! Give ’em your all!????
-C.R.
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Seconding what Husky said, there’s plenty of options. It would probably be best to focus on your higher education; that GPA matters, not so much high school. And even if that proves a challenge, getting stellar AFOQT scores can smooth things out more.
Certainly don’t count yourself out just over high school GPA, everyone’s got something they wish they did better in. The best thing to do is learn from it, figure out what you need to do to be better and ask for help putting it into action if needed. You’ve still got a road ahead of you before getting your wings and the important stuff is only just starting!
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It’s pretty cool that they’re trying to hang on to all the fighter squadrons; it seems like a smart move with the way things are going globally. I know the USAF has wanted to expand in general including fighters for a while it’s just been a struggle. As the article states and as always they have to go through the politics first; just going off historical precedent, procurement can be absolutely crazy in this stage.
In terms of the question:
1. I was actually lucky enough to meet a fighter pilot a couple years ago who was asked this question a long while back. Apparently the answer he told me was a straight ‘no’ because ‘he was applying to be a fighter, for that unit and that job. Not some different mission’; it was something along the lines of that, though he was more colorful with his wording. A pretty utilitarian and harsh answer for a board, but they must’ve appreciated the honesty since he still got picked up!
2. There’s tons of factors to consider. The unit itself, it’s mission and it’s own history since each is unique and may apply more to a new platform than another one’s transfer. The kind of people who are interviewing you, the abilities of the new platform that they are going to, all the new kind of people and the potential cultural change that will come with it. It seems like a question that’s a rabbit hole to fall down, it’s such a big thing and one thing leads to another.
Thanks for sharing the article Sir!
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Seconding what Jon said. Each squadron is different and it can really vary. Some do it annually, but the simple answer is ‘it depends’ for each unit and their individual situations.
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Hey, don’t mean to be a jerk or anything, but there is a minor error. Florida’s unit is the 159th Fighter *Squadron*, and is part of the 125th Fighter Wing; the 159th Fighter Wing is here in Louisiana, which encompasses the 122nd Squadron. Again, I don’t mean to be a jerk with such corrections, it’s an easy mistake to make, but I wanted to stop any confusion that could arise from this, as I’ve seen a lot of people get confused with applying to wings and squadrons that have the same number and going off in the wrong direction.
-Cameron R.
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I like doing my planks to this.
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F-15, the amount of power and ability it has alone is incredible. Airframe always looked the part too.
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The other guys got here earlier and seem to have cleared up the waiver confusion, or lack of waiver confusion. So I think the main question of the topic was answered. Still, I actually got my own LASIK done recently roughly a month ago. If anyone is interested in what it’s like going through it, I can offer a first-hand account while it’s still fresh in my mind.
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It’s a tad bit comforting to know that others have had a hard time going through the recruiter for stuff. I’m pretty late to this and the others have already given excellent advice that I’d second. The ROTC seems like your best chance. I’ve also heard of some MEPS that will just let you schedule it and come take it. Keyword being ‘some’; unfortunately with all these options it still comes down to just who you happen to run into. Certainly a headache but the good thing is that there’s a lot of people.
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I was actually fortunate enough to get some aerobatic time and some experience with Gs. I found myself using my core more than most other muscles, and my face oddly enough. If you don’t like running like you said then rowing is good, swimming is even better. Building endurance is best but I’ve found myself trying to tackle every angle I can with what’s available.
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As far as I can recall it was made to mimic actual aircraft control. So push forward (up on the stick) to go down and pull back (down) to climb upwards.
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I think it’s an alright move overall. With modern knowledge and technology ability has been able to decay less and less with age. Sure things may be a bit harder but if you take care of yourself health-wise and keep your exercise going you’ll be far more spry in your later years than you’d ever think, I’ve seen it plenty of times. I think it’s too much a defeatist thing where people just accept you get slow as you age and they just stop trying. If you are able to take care of yourself you’ll definitely be able to keep up with the young blood even in the military. Just look at Robin Olds as the prime example, shooting down MiGs in his 40s in a new type of plane and warfare no problem. Keep your inspiration going.
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I can understand that struggle man. I don’t have a lot of advice on this particular issue but know you’re not alone in dealing with this. I’ve been fighting over something similar and have gotten the exact same response as what you posted at one point.
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Oh, sorry my bad, yeah mine was for table reading. Apologies I misread. I barely remembered the blocks being there as it wasn’t very hard for me. I think I just visualized the collection as a 3D models and counted out each block on my finger to be sure in a similar fashion. Sorry again.
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It’s all about practice man. Mindless repetition more than anything. I found a good strategy when I was fiddling with it for the paper. I’d use a finger from one hand and put it on the X coordinate the question gave, the one from the other hand on the Y coordinate, and converge them both onto the number. Takes a bit of practice to not jump or skip on the paper, but it only takes roughly 3 seconds per question and gives me a near perfect accuracy rate.
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Awesome, great advice Sir, thank you very much for it! It’s good to get some vital info on such a hard question as that, guess the honesty is better understood than the flattery.
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As an interceptor it definitely has merit just on the airframe. It would probably need to be a newer remade model but give it the latest radar and armaments and it could definitely be a contender, especially as missiles keep improving. It’s unfortunate the platform was dropped and deprived the Navy of a proper long-range interceptor.
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I don’t know if there’s a set procedure or anything, but when in doubt it doesn’t hurt to just use whatever designation they themselves use in the ads/email/etc.
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It takes practice like everything does. Fitness is important but it’s hard to explain it; it’s a very different kind of pressure than anything that’s even close to comparable.
