Am I too old for UPT?
Hey everyone,
I’m turning 30 soon. I have 9 years prior service enlisted in the USMC and ARNG. I’m about to take the AFOQT and TBAS, If I can get highly competitive scores, I plan on immediately starting my PPL. At the same time I will start applying to units. As my hours increase I’ll update that into my applications, but I plan to apply right away. I only want to fly fighters (which I know makes it much harder), but I’ll apply anywhere in the country.
I won’t have a PPL until I’m near 31. Do I need to give up the dream to fly fighters? I’ve worked so hard for this already, but I just can’t do anything about my age. A lot of people are already telling me it’s already too late.
Nope just work hard get good scores and knock out that PPL. 10 years enlisted and I got picked up at 32.
NickR hell yeah man really? For fighters?
jaredkluck@gmail.com Tankers
Hired for fighters at 33 with no PPL (but ~50+ hours of flight time), 4 years prior service. It's possible, but every day you wait to start you're making it harder on yourself. If it's something you feel passionate about, fully commit from the start.
First off, Errrah! (Former enlisted USMC now at KC-46 FTU, applied at age 30 so I know a little bit about being an old geezer applying). Second, great advice from everyone here on how to proceed. My only piggyback is that at your age you should really consider the possibility of also applying to tanker/transport/AFSOC-OA-1Ks in the OK ANG-B-52s in the AFR etc. Each of those brings something important to the fight that you might also find rewarding. Feel free to DM with any questions
jaredkluck@gmail.com I agree with the above members! Absolutely keep pressing not only for the PPL but for applications in general. A lot of the work of getting the PPL and getting interview-ready is platform agnostic. So the work you put in now can pay off with opportunities you likely haven't thought about yet.
The age issue is absolutely a realistic challenge that you will need a plan for, but does not mean you are disqualified. Age waivers are a thing, and different communities need different things at different times. Send me a DM if you want to talk about this more!
