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You don't have to sign it so don't let them talk you into it unless it is something you want to do.

Being a female is somewhere between being totally a non-issue or even a slight benefit if anything. Some of the coolest pilots I've met while rushing various units were female and the squadron I got hired by has a pretty high number of female pilots (I'd estimate about 20% based on the people I met). Go ahead and do well on your AFOQT/TBAS and start applying right away, but consider trying to get your PPL in the meantime. It will show them that you have a basic commitment to aviation, and it will also help you confirm that you actually do like flying. I personally don't know anybody who got hired without having at least a PPL and many units do list it as a requirement to apply, but I have met people who have interviewed without having it. Having the right attitude, which it seems you have, is probably 90% of what it takes to get there. Good luck!

Are you related to scoobs by chance?

I'm not a pilot yet but this info is based on what I learned from almost exclusively rushing KC-135 and C-5 reserve units for the past few years. So the below information is from information that folks in both communities have relayed to me but not firsthand experience. A lot of the C-5 reservists seem to go on at least one 6-8 day trip a month where each leg is about 8 hours. So you're looking at quite a few stops along the way. Seems like they almost circle the globe on a trip. In 4 years I've only seen my C-5 friends go on one (volunteer) 30 day deployment. Mix this in with some local training sorties. KC-135 is sort of multi mission since it does tanker, aeromedical, and cargo. I've heard of some guys just do a lot of stateside point A to point B and back aeromedical sorties and hardly fly overseas. Some of them do just a lot of Point A to Point A local refueling sorties. I've heard of a lot of guys continuously doing 2 week long TDY's to England or somewhere and others seem to like going on their 2 or 3 month deployments back to back. Of course you can just do some combination of the above as well.

When did you sign it? Everyone who got selected by my squadron has been told to not sign it unless they want to and there doesn't seem to be any backlash from that. What did they tell you? When did you enlist?

Thanks! The info that was relayed to me from my squadron was that the memo becomes mandatory for the November 2016 board but "encouraged" for people currently in the pipeline, so if this is the truth then I should be okay, but sounds like it is a deal breaker for you if you haven't been picked up yet. I am in a similar situation as you with the established business aspect so the 6 year ART would have been a deal breaker for me too. Looks like I got lucky but need to proceed cautiously.

Had you been picked up by an AFRC squadron yet or just been looking around?

Ok, the good news for you is that pilot candidates generally score worse on verbal for some reason. Average last board was 60. Bad news is that 9 is remarkably low. Considering that your post was grammatically correct I can only assume that the scoring algorithm did not work in your favor and you are probably not a retard. The other information you mentioned looks solid. Since you are in your last semester of school I'm guessing you have plenty of time to find a way to make this work, especially in the current hiring climate. AFRC seems to be way behind the curve getting applicants at the moment so if I were you I'd put a lot of effort into finding a squadron that likes you and would be willing to submit an ETP for your little flub. If you otherwise fit the "whole person concept" it might not be a big deal. Basically you will want to get sponsored by a unit who will submit an ETP request for you before the AFRC hiring board. If the ETP gets approved then they can submit your package to the AFRC board. My understanding is that you CANT get an ETP as an unsponsored candidate so find a unit first. I got an ETP on the last board for other reasons so it is still fresh to me.

Be sure to submit your package to your favorite unit so that maybe you can become a member.

No, in fact I think they would think it was weird and short sighted if you weren't exploring all of your options. Keep in mind that units are not only interviewing you, but you are interviewing them as well to make sure it is a good fit both ways.

Make sure to consider heavies as well.

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In your experience as a reservist, how much flexibility do Reserve pilots have in their schedule? Is there a minimum participation you see from them? Do they get forced into going on missions against their will?

So I got the word today that I was selected by the AFRC board and got a follow up e-mail to set up an appointment to enlist. How does that affect my civilian life before going to OTS? I understand it will take a little bit of time to get training dates and security clearance and all that. Do I keep working at my civilian job in the meantime? Also, do you get paid while being enlisted or is that just a formality? Anything else I should keep in mind?

I imagine there are already a lot of people who would be interested in doing that without it being crammed down their throat. Probably mostly younger guys who don't have a fallback career established and are interested in having a full time job. For an older guy like myself with his own consulting practice is actually makes it an impossible proposition where AFRC gets the boot. What that means is that AFRC will probably lose a lot of applicants who have already developed extensive professional and leadership experience before applying since quitting a six figure civilian job with good benefits is not more appealing than earning $40k a year with no benefits and being stuck there for 6 years. However, even today I have already heard from a couple sources that this memo isn't quite what it seems. We'll see how it pans out.

31!

Oh and I was approved with an age ETP - as an extra data point in case anybody was in the same situation.

And peculiar timing. Board results just came out and I was selected! Time to digest everything.

AFRC's problem: Hiring and retaining pilots Solution: Enacting a new program that makes it such a bad deal that nobody wants to join. Great job AFRC.

What is the point of being a reservist then? This sounds like an active duty gig.

I guess I'm confused - but what does this mean? Current commitment is 10 years right? So isn't 6 a good thing?

According to my recruiter results will come out as early as today for the June board, or could take up to a month. I'll let you know what I find out so you have an extra data point!

Seems like nobody is talking about the June AFRC board unlike years past. Is there a shortage of applicants again this year? Anybody hear anything back yet?

What score did you get on the verbal?