Congrats! You got the call, what now?

All your hard work and dedication paid off and you got a call from your dream unit to come and fly with them, what now?

1. Soak it in and celebrate with friends and family! You have just been selected to start on the most incredible journey of your life.
2. Keep your head on straight and yourself out of the lime light. Goes without saying do not get in trouble with the law but other factors to keep in mind are injuries. Maybe take a year off from your annual ski trip, or bail out from that sky diving adventure this time. There is nothing worse than loosing that slot or getting pushed far behind for a preventable injury. People usually say, keep life simple until you get those wings.
3. Eat healthy and prepare yourself for your FC1 and training physically and mentally. Do not be the person that gets sent home from OTS day one because they cannot pass a PT test, I have seen this multiple times.
4. If you’re not currently in the military you can expect to enlist at the unit you were selected with. You’ll most likely join what is called “student flight”, can differ per unit, but it’s for those waiting to go to BMT. Don’t fret as most units don’t have you actually hang out with them, you’ll drill/UTA in the squadron.
5. Don’t quit your current job! As most know training can take a decent amount of time to get into so you can still keep working at your current place of employment. Some units may be willing to put you on orders post OTS if there is a gap in UPT substantial enough. That is case by case. This last note is totally up to you; Get filled in on USERA and what it is and what it means. Not planning on failing but if you’re in pilot training and your leg almost gets chopped off in a boating accident, true story, you have a means to provide for you and your family if you unfortunately got DQ’d. Again this is not your make a point of “ehh I’m not going to put in the effort” back up.
6. Gather all your information for your security clearance, SF 86. You’ll need to go back around 10 years and be decently accurate so get addresses, places of employment and its address, people willing to be interviewed, any traffic tickets or other things you have, etc…
7. Keep the squadron commander and the POC in the loop! You need to be proactive with getting your stuff done as most units will use regular recruiters to do the paperwork so keep on them and take a log of who you talked to, when, and what you need. Don’t wait for someone to call you.
8. Ask the POC to get you in contact with the most recent person to go to UPT before you and gather as much information as you possibly can both of how to get there, ie paper work, and what best way to prep. Realize treat this as a near rocks vs far rocks mentality.
9. There will be other paperwork that needs filled out so do it asap and correctly and get it submitted so you can go! Make a new email that is professional that you only use for this purpose so you don’t miss anything!
10. Be ready to get a call asking you to leave in a week, your answer should be “Hell yes”. Prep the family for what you’re about to do and that you get one shot at this. It is an amazing experience for both you and the family but remember it’s what you make of it.
11. Lastly be excited and enjoy it!