Not much to it besides doing well on the PFA, paying enough attention in class to pass the academics, and not getting caught doing something stupid. If you want to be a DG in OTS that's a different story, but don't be that guy.
Yep, dudes in reality about your 6 year point you should be able to take stock of your future in the USAF by what type of strats/push you are getting/have gotten. It pains me to see dudes not realistic with their lack of push at that point and still think they have HPO potential. I see people volunteer for some truly sh-t jobs/deployments/TDY’s thinking it’s the boost they need but in reality they are working twice as hard for half the results. I’ve seen a few buck the trend and get on the HPO track late but the personal cost was enormous. This is my experience looking back over 15 years and seeing how peers and subordinates ended up in the long run vs indicators early on.
Didn't have a clue back then...young, dumb, and just having fun...many friends bagged one or more in Her. Now just mentoring new owner/operators in their business jets. And looking over an old -1...my how things have changed. But I still miss Her.