Leaderboard

I had a 3.8 GPA at the “home of the world’s finest leaders” according to the football stadium ramp (welcome to thin air!), and here I am slinging UNSATS at T-6 students 😞 It was a 3.8 in English though, so adjusting for reality it would be a 0.69 in a real major.

Probably not ‘what’s bad’, but just ran my first PT test in the AF. I’m 37, not skinny anymore, and I weigh 230, but I took great pleasure in beating the skinny 20-somethings, by at least a minute or more, in the run. 38 inch beer gut be dammed.

I was bottom of my ROTC class, had a gentleman's 2.7 GPA, and (still) questionable leadership...but I did somehow manage to fly a bunch of members of congress around the world and pass my OME last week. 🤷‍♂️

I went through Sheppard with several guys that were Academy DG’s, who then went and got Masters at MIT type schools, aced that, then got to UPT and either washed out or graduated bottom of the class. Sometimes collegiate performance translates to piloting ability. Often it doesn’t. I put zero stock into someone’s pedigree when I make my assessment.

You are in ROTC still... right?

I’ll echo what trapped said. We were both picked up for that 2 years ago along with 10 other selects. My honest advice would be to think long and hard (sts) before retesting. You’ve got an AFRC UPT slot which is a lot more than what your buddies in ROTC can say. Last result is the one that counts and it would be a shame if you lost this golden ticket. Honestly, I’d broaden your scope to heavies which isn’t an insult, trapped and I are both going Heavies and there was only one guy in our board who got hired for fighters. As for the gender question, nobody cares. Be yourself, be a good pilot, and take a genuine interest in the unit and your friends in the unit. Treat them like family and they’ll do the same. But definitely have a keen ear when you start visiting units, you’ll know which units are a good fit and the units that fall short will leave you with some perturbation. Trust your sixth sense.

Short answer, yes. New-ish program where cadets can commission into G/R if they get picked up

Do you research on the PR mission and talk to some Pedro guys before selecting to go helos. Also, chances are your Cadre are all AD on a ROTC instructor tour. I’m sure they want what’s best for you. However, they only know so much about how the ANG and AFRC works. Trust, but verify and learn from early on as you get ready to begin your military career on the Officer side. No one will care more about career than you. Take your time, prepare and retest. Good luck. Cheers Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Hey man, I applied to the ROTC Reserve board 2 years ago and just commissioned. Getting fighters off the street with the reserve is tough. From what I hear, it's not uncommon to have around 100 applicants for 1 or 2 slots. I'd echo N730s advice. If you really want fighters, I'd recommend retaking the PSCM and AFOQT. It's not likely your scores would decrease much, if at all. With that said, if some of your scores were borderline to meet minimums for the AFOQT I wouldn't risk retaking them, but that's me. No idea for rotary, but your scores with a upt slot in hand would make you competitive for heavies. Heavy squadrons might think your scores are a little low, but already having a pilot slot should help a lot. Already having the upt slot was huge when I applied and interviewed. For me it made up for a lackluster 3.0 GPA. Also if you do retake the PSCM/ AFOQT and score higher it could open up a few doors in more selective heavy squadrons. Shotgun out applications to multiple squadrons you're interested in. Try to schedule a visit if they're willing. Every squadron is a little different so the best way to find the best fit is to visit and talk to the guys/gals there. Good idea. If possible get sponsored before UPT so you have plenty of time to visit/ interview with squadrons. If you don't find a home before UPT it's not all that bad since there would be an AFRC liaison officer there who would help you find one.

Let my start by saying it depends, every unit is different. We all have different expectations for our part time guys and those expectations likely change due to manning, deployments, natural disasters, sickness, health, blah, blah, blah. There are other options besides AGR for full time employment including Technicians and ADOS (if the squadron sits alert). All these answers are for my F-15C squadron, so take that for what it's worth. How many times a month will you fly? You need to make RAP (Ready Aircrew Program) - for our inexperienced pilots that is 8 sorties per month. Sometimes you can get two sorties in one day with a tanker or by double turning, but that's not the best training and can't count on that necessarily. We also ask our DSG's to sit a minimum of one 24 hour alert tour each month. When we are deployed or gone on a two week trip we ask our DSG's to either go with us or sit more alert at home since that mission never stops. All commuting is on your dime. I wouldn't say we let you pick and choose which days you work per say but we do work together to get the types of sorties that our DSG's need and try to get them in town when there's more flying so they get more for their trip as well as work around other life events and jobs. It's mutually beneficial to work together on the schedule. If you are an out of town commuter the unit will pay for a hotel for your drill weekends (or makeup) as well as AT (annual training) days. All AFTPs are on your own. If you are on an alert day you'll be sleeping at the alert facility so no hotel then. You only get paid for days you are on "a status" aka on orders. Your travel day is not included in that other than in some circumstances - but it's few and far between. Each airline handles things a bit differently as well. I'm a Delta guy so my answers are from that point of view (also I've been on mil leave since the fall of '15 so I don't have the most current info). Anyway, it behooves the pilot and the unit to not totally piss in the Cheerios of every airline out there because we don't want you to be the last person from our unit to get hired at Delta/FedEx/United, wherever. Most of the major airlines only count your mil leave against your 5 year USERRA limit if your orders are more than 30 days. In theory you could drop mil leave on 7 or 8 days per month and only work the remainder but in actuality that would be hard to swing. Particularly as a young guy (you are asking about right after UPT right?) you'll be working a lot of weekends at the airline. Other than drill weekend (or alert) most ANG guys aren't working weekends. You'll also be working a lot of holidays - federal employees don't work those (other than alert). When I flew the line you could drop one day in the middle of a 3 or 4 day trip and it would drop the whole trip. Not always the case anymore; I've heard of guys dropping a day of mil leave in the middle of a trip and the airline expecting them to be there to fly the other days of the trip. Not a place you want to find yourself. Also airlines are busiest when you want to be home with your family (Holidays, etc) if you drop mil leave over a long holiday (Christmas, Superbowl Sunday, Labor Day, July 4th, etc) they are going to call your commander and make sure you are actually working those days in the ANG. As a commander, I'm not going to put you on orders unless you are actually doing work for the squadron so those days likely won't line up as much either. Like I said, in theory it's possible but not likely that it'll work that way. If you drop any mil leave some chief pilots will be pissed. There's no magic number. Hope this helps.

I apologize for my smart ass question. But I am genuinely curious about how UPT next is working out. I saw them flying all the time when they were at Bergstrom, as their trailer was right next to my T-hanger.

I don’t think you’re risking anything by retaking it as long as you study. If you don’t study or prep, you shouldn’t expect to do much better. I know a lot of AFROTC and NROTC guys that seem to think there’s no need to prep for the aptitude tests. Don’t be one of those guys. Honestly, I’d be shocked if you got an interview at a fighter unit with those scores. Everyone I interviewed with were over 90s. Most high 90s pilot scores. You can easily score in the 90s with a little preparation. Then you will have a better shot at getting interviews. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

Randolph has B models for Det 24. The AF borrowed them saying they would fix them.

I’ll feed the troll, it’s both. From a CAF perspective we have already seen what cutting the F-16 B course syllabus does to the CAF units, they call and bitch about the new graduates ability, some even FEB’d. When these students hit the non-UPT world, they are going to be thrown to the wolves. Lacking proficiency in the basics? Wash out of IFF or the B course. Somehow get to a CAF unit and do something dangerous? Have fun in your FEB. It isn’t these students fault they are part of this “experiment” but the bro’s aren’t going to let them kill anybody much less themselves. It simply isn’t the CAF’s (or any combat unit) responsibility to teach what UPTN is skipping or leaving out. There will be some success stories I’m sure, but some students will be a joke. I give this another few years before the USAF is on to some other “good” idea. The CAF isn’t going to lower their standards because AETC did, the whole thing is a bad idea.

Copy. Agreed un-fornicating that which exists now is preferable (cost/risk/timing/possible) but... if restarting the Raptor line is a NO GO, then while the 35 line is open, exploring what is possible (perhaps not practical) would be wise IMHO. A reverse of the process that developed the A-7 from the F-8.

Story time: when I was TDY to Al Dhafra, the U-2 pilots could go in to Abu Dhabi and get massages with an American chiropractor. Apparently, the Emir was in Minnesota a few years earlier, used their services, and asked them to set up shop in Abu Dhabi because he was impressed. I head downtown the day after a flight, and during my consultation with the American doc, I discussed my neck issues, explained that I had almost no feeling in my 4th and 5th finger in my right hand for the past 2 years, and he took x-rays. Finally, I go back for my 1 hour massage with one of the four masseuses. All four of them were from China, spoke almost no English, and apparently were pretty well trained. After about 10 minutes of her working on my back and neck, she has me turn over, and in broken English asks which fingers are numb. She proceeds to work my chest, pectoral and arm pretty hard. After about 15 minutes, she sees the tears working their way out of my eyes and in more broken English says "too hard?" "No! Keep going!" When she was done, I felt like my chest and right arm had been turned in to ground meat. But it felt great. About an hour later, on the drive back to Al Dhafra, the feeling in my fingers came back. And it remained for many years. I could hardly believe it. That experience made me a believer in massage therapy and chiropractors.

This doesn't directly help your issue, but i was in a lot of back pain recently and discovered some at home techniques that helped relieve quite a bit of the pain. I sent this on to a doctor to confirm that it would be safe, and they validated that this was a good technique. I hope this helps while you get all the other stuff figured out

Your honest opinion is honestly stupid.

Some of this has to be expected when you're picking people from the bottom of the barrel to make up for all the losses. I wouldn't want to fly left seat in a Cessna with some of the ROTC people I've seen get picked up for slots this last year. Bottom of the class, terrible GPA, bad leadership, etc. Are the washout rates going up at least to make up for some of this or am I just being green here. Anybody got the latest selection #'s? I feel like the training quality can only bring some guys up so much