Husky
Ace
Exam Ready
AFRC Pilot
USAF Pilot
ANG Pilot
Forum Replies Created
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Think about LORs as a way to brag on you in ways that are inappropriate in a resume or cover letter.
Think about all the things you want the board to know. Perhaps you had a good deployment. Maybe you saved a kitten from a tree. Maybe you got good grades in college.
Well, the grades part is verifiable from your resume so don’t waste LOR space there.
But your commander could help explain your good deployment. So that’s a good use of that LOR.
Give the kitten piece to the next LOR writer.
Also.
It’s entirely appropriate to tell your writer elements to highlight.
“Sir thank you for.….it would be super helpful if you could highlight these aspects of my 2022 deployment….
I went ahead and drafted some prose for your consideration
(chat GPT. Write a LOR in a ton appropriate for a LTC that highlights these aspects)
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Nick dude welcome to the platform. Your timing is really good. 1 year is about right to go from decision to onboarding with a ARC unit.
Lots of good airlift options out there. Are you targeting a specific region?
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Broadly I would say. Realize you will have to close any door you open.
When describing your health history stick to confirmed diagnosis. It’s not the time to story tell about every sniffle you had.
Also, realize that doctors make mistakes and that sometimes that diagnosis of asthma was just a bad pollen season. If that happens it is fine to go back to that doctor and ask them to reconsider their diagnosis based on new data.
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In the recent past it seems (anecdotally) that most younger fighter pilots stay full-time. They usually want to complete their instructor upgrade and have too few hours to join an airline.
That said, individual results vary. Some folks are eager to go part-time and sometimes a unit runs out of resources.
If I had to throw out a number…75% stay full-time.
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Why this dance of pivoting the convo back?
The squadron folks are getting a sense of you are qualified AND if you are fun to hang out with. You know you are qualified so you don’t need to power sell your resume. Rather let people talk about all their favorite things in your presence. Connect when you can. They’ll remember you as a good dude.
Cheers!
Husky
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Now for the one on ones realize that anyone who has made themselves available wants to meet you. If they’re busy they’ll be in their office.
Just walk up and say Hi. There will be the initial “hey where you from” and then the conversation sometimes seems to lag. When that happens pivot to activities, not flying.
If it’s a coast unit I’d say. “Hey do y’all fish or boat or surf?” If they do just let them talk about their boat or whatever. People love talking about there favorite things and maybe you find you have something in common. If so strike out on that common thread.
Once they’ve talked themselves out on boats and you established a bond expect they’ll pivot the conversation back to you. “So John Doe what do you want to do here at the XXX squadron” and let it flow from there. They’ll ask you about flying, school and sports. Answer the questions but try to focus on what your enjoyed vice your accomplishment.
“Hey so do you get to fly much GA? Do you have your license” “Ya it’s been great – I ramp rat at the local FBO to get hours. I was able to scrape together a PPL in the mighty Cessna and now I’ve saved up for some foggles so I think the instrument is next; (now pivot the convo back) where did y’all get your start?”
Break
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Hey CGOM. What type of unit? Fighters? Airlift?
Theirs is a running joke in fighters where you are asked to introduce yourself only to be shouted down. If that’s the case then just play along and be a good sport.
In either case the large group ‘formal’ introduction is not the time to read your accomplishments. If it was me I would just say. “Hello I’m Kyle Martin, (from wherever if I was local) happy to be here. Thank you for having us out to visit.”
Break, Break
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JetWrench
Those are great numbers! You are very competitive for an airlift or spec ops aircraft.
I think the question now is: which path? ANG/AFRC direct hire? USAFR unsponsored board? OTS?
The answer is probably yes but sequenced from most desirable to least.
Check out my webinar in the video library “strategies for competitive times”
See you out there soon!
Husky
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Yikes. I feel like PTDY rule 7 (DAFI 36-3003) applies.
Lastly you might investigate if there is any prohibition on attending in leave status. Or if your commander can grant a special pass
Godspeed!
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Standby for belt feed pay period transmittion….
Will your SQ give you a Rescheduled Drill (RD) and authorize and alternate duty location? You might also be able to use a Readiness Management Period (RMP). Last option is to try to use and Equivalent Training allocation (ET) I think you get three a year.
Best option might be to get some AT or ST days and then see if they would let you take permissive TDY (PDTY), check the leave and pass reg.
If the travel isn’t reimbursed and greater that 150 miles (I think) you can at least deduct the cost from your taxes.
Standing by your questions
over.
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For your local unit, start talking to every pilot you interact with and go out of your way to find time in the squadron. They’ll vector you at the hiring POC and start to keep a mental note on you. Also find the first pilot in your chain of command and let that person know you are interested.
Certainly try to attend any open rush you can, but I’ve found that amongst fighter unit those are becoming less common. Many units hire without an open rush and instead integrate the rushing event into their hiring weekend.
Good Luck!
Husky
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Gotta Have Thud Ridge!
I love this book because it really captures the crazy, catch-22 aspects of being a tiny part of a huge war machine. The “I can’t believe we’re doing this” moments are timeless.
https://www.amazon.com/Thud-Ridge-Jack-Broughton/dp/1888237090
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We’ve been working hard to get more data from the field but the bottom line is that flying training is really in a state of flux right now. If you feel like it’s rapidly changing and different base to base – I would say you pretty well understand it.
XPW is a pretty small program – you can search for it on the main page. You need quite a few hours and it’s a heavy only track
IPT is still not quite a thing
The T-1 drawdown and the T-7 standup are still pretty flexible.
So for the next 5 years I think UFT is going to stay “in beta.” While the uncertainly can be frustrating – try not to sweat it, it’s uncertain for everyone and one way or another the USAF will get you where you need to be. Keep apply as normal and let the USAF arrange the deck chairs.
break,
What does it look like in 5 years???
Probably 9 months of IPT and then 3-4 months of T-6s and you get your wings. After that heavies go to the simulators for a bit and then directly to their aircraft. Fighters go to T-7s. Helos got to UH-1s or its follow-on.
Probably not super satisfying – but what questions can I answer?
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Found some interesting gouge on the internet that shed some light (see attached). It’s the USAF request for bids for IPT and it pretty well lays out what they’re looking for. Enjoy at your leisure.
Bottom Line: Sounds like a pretty fun flying summer camp. Looks like they’re trying to take you from 0 hours to multiengine + instrument in about 9 months. Dorms, gyms, civilian instructor. Could really be a blast.
Sounds like you’ll then come back for T-6s to go upside-down and fly form. I’ve got a little longer activity post on this you can search for on the main page.
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The rumors when I’m at my airline job is that they want to push it from 65 to 67 so a pretty small change. There’s precedent for it, in 2007 the age went from 60 to 65.
While the overall effect won’t be huge. It’s generally considered a ‘bad deal’ for the young pilots because it causes a two year plateau when seniority doesn’t move much. But it’s good if you are one of those pilots AND wanted to keep flying.
Husky’s spicy take:
This comes up now and again because pilots are the highest earning folks in a couple of congressional districts so those legislators care and most other legislators don’t care.
Husky very spicy take
Give it up man! Go get a boat and retire. Better yet, save just a fraction of that wide-body captain pay and spend your retirement flying something you own.
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Even if you can’t get that dream job on the first try – realize it’s pretty easy to swap units and also aircraft to some extent.
Let’s say you ended up getting assigned the March 135s (California), it’s a relatively easy thing to transfer to the 135s at Seymour (NC). Transferring amongst tribes is pretty easy as well (KC-135<->KC-46s, or C-5s to C-17s), and big wing to big wing is also pretty doable (C-15<->KC-46). Switching from fighters to heavies is possible, but heavies to fighters is a challenge.
You can also transfer from USAFR->ANG. Certainly after your 10 years pilot ADSC but also maybe before (I was able to transfer from a USAFR unit to an ANG unit while I still had a service commitment with the USAFR).
So that east coast location might be a destination and the journey might take you through some other places. I really enjoyed flying with different units along the way.
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I’ve worked unsponsored AFRC as both a coach and as a hiring manager (before coaching).
Knowledge of the program is super variable amongst the ANG/USAFR units. The ANG hasn’t done a great job of educating units on the opportunity sponsorship offers. But there are a few units that will definitely sponsor candidates.
My recommendation is to have the conversation with prospective units first (before applying to USAFR UFT.) The best way to set up this convo is as an alternate or non-select.
“Hey Johney you were a great candidate but competition was fierce. We would have loved to hire you but right now you’re our alternate.”
“Okay totally understand, we’ll What if I got a USAFR UFT slot and you all sponsored me? Would you be willing to bring me on that way?”
“Absolutely!”
“Okay I’ll send you some background information on the program and I’ll get the paperwork ready. Do you have time next week to reconnect?”
“Wednesday at the golf course.”
“See you there!”
Cheers!
Husky
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Ya I’d second what Slap said. When I was a hiring guy I lost and gained folks in these situation. There are always ready alternates eager to jump at the chance and most units are jealous – they only want to love people who love them the most.
A difficult convo but I’d recommend your friend have it as early as possible.
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Unlikely that you’ve been ghosted – that’s just not really how most units operate. More likely they’re just really busy and lost track of following up (because really busy is definitely how most units operate).
I’d recommend a voice call – start with your POCs and then if you don’t have any luck it’s fine to call the squadron can confirm the times – that’s totally a normal and professional thing to do in the circumstances.
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Reattack.
Some folks will skip the part-time + regionals and just stay full time.
Advantages
- more flying, competitive for weapons school, probably better cash flow initially
- Higher value pension (ANG or Regular)
Disadvantages
- Get to the airlines later.
- You’ll likely make less money over the course of your aviation career (maybe 5-10% less)
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Absolutely. Most guardsmen and reservists have multiple seasons of part-time and full-time.
The classic ANG-Airlines flow is.
Full-time to get to 750 hours and IP. Apply to the regionals.
Part-time at the regionals to get to 2,000 TT and Captain. Apply to the majors.
- Fly a lot with the unit to stay tactical and make money
Part-time with the Majors initially and then back to full-time ANG.
Full-time ANG for 2-3 years. Be a mid-level officer and IP. Become a Mission Commander and Flight Evaluator.
Back to part-time Guard + Airlines.
- A couple of 60-90 day deployments to stay sharp.
Come back full-time for 2-3 in a leadership role. Commander, DO, Chief of Stan/Eval.
Back to part-time. Upgrade to captain at the airline. Buy your captain house. Fly part time with the ANG unit. Deploy as desired. Retire at 20 (or later if your medical holds out).
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I had one of the moments during my topography checks. “Huh. I’ll have to send this one off to get reviewed”
Ended up being nothing but the waiting was stressful. It sucks and we’ve all been there. Wishing you good luck!
Cheers
Husky
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great to hear – getting those test scheduled can be such a hurdle
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Death on call!
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Dude those are great questions and truthfully the USAF is struggling to answer. .
I’m an F-16 FAC(A) (Misty) and so CAS is my bread and butter but F-16 FACs are relatively uncommon and even rarer of the F-35 side.
The SEAD (weasel) mission is definitely transitioning to the F-35.
CSAR (Sandy) has traditionally been a A-10 only mission. We looked at transitioning it to other platforms but there’s no clear successor. So stay tuned to see what happens.
I think the F-35 will dominate the USAF primary missions of Air interdiction, Counter Air (including SEAD) and strategic attack. CAS, FAC(A) and CSAR I think those stay with 4th gen for the time being.
but the enemy gets a vote so stay frosty.
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Also know as Fat Amy.
I’ve heard that it’s called tuxedo penguin because it looks a lot like a penguin sliding on its belly.
Panther, but I don’t know why.
But it’s like your siblings. I can call it Fat Amy, but no buddy else better.
And they slay at red flag.
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Welcome Edward! Great to have you join. Ya the OA-1K looks like a hoot to fly, and you get to shoot rockets! With a degree in fire science are you looking to do the fire suppression mission? You can do it both in the USAF (CO, CA, and WY) or be a guard OA-1K pilot by night and the OV-10 firefighter by day.
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I had a similar experience in UPT. We had a dude with like 2,000+ hours, MEII. And he was good in (ahem) T-37s, but could not handle the T-38 and actually dropped out (before washing out). It was crazy to see how little total hours mattered in the end.
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While I’m not sure this particular change will affect rated positions specifically I think it’s part of a broader shift towards a more age permissive environment.
Generally heavy units are less age sensitive but we’ve had 32 year-old bogidopers get hired for fighter jobs.
Cheers!
Husky
