SPAWNmaster

I'm just going to leave this right here.... https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/12/06/enlisted-combat-pilots-the-air-force-is-launching-a-test-that-could-lead-to-that/

Have you gone to your med group? Sounds dumb but I spent months badgering my recruiters about my waivers and only got "we haven't heard anything yet". Walked across the hall into med group and spoke to a flight doc who was like "oh I have access to that system" and just pulled it up right then a there. Turns out Wright-Patt had submitted the paperwork maybe a month after my FC1.

PM sent! Thanks

Thanks brother!

I have the milcomp but like my own civilian business everything in the northeast is seasonal and shutdown.

More or less. They are trying to figure out how to put me on orders but the only option we are getting from NGB is to submit an ETP and rob from my MEST days (for MQT) which would make for a short seasoning. It just sucks because I have a wife and kid and my civilian job is seasonal (worst timing for all this unfortunately). Just trying to stay useful at the unit and use drill days until we can figure something out.

Unable. I’m guard so we come off orders after UPT and they PCS us back home. My last aircraft was a Huey which my unit has none of. As of right now I am just a civilian with about six more months before I go back on orders. My colleague is an airline pilot (hired right out of UPT) so he has some way to keep his Air sense but I don’t have that luxury.

Howdy. Both myself and a colleague at my unit finished UPT this past summer. Like many other MDS' our schoolhouse is extremely backed up and as a result (partially due to poor planning from the wing) we are facing a significant delay before we go to our B course. In my case it will be 9 months total of downtime (no flying) between UPT grad and going to IQT. I'd like to sell the idea of a fam ride program at my unit since the problem doesn't just affect me. Like I mentioned I have a colleague in the same boat and we have several new hires in the pipeline right now that will likely be in the same situation or worse. My thought was having some sort of structured fam ride progression that allows for periodic flying to keep guys like us entrenched in the USAF flying world...could be a way to keep our hands a little warmer and our brains a little sharper when we show up to school. Obviously it's on us to stay in the books but I think a case can be made that there's value in doing ground runs, going on the occasional contact ride, etc to bridge the gap on what would otherwise be almost a year of cold hands (or potentially longer for some folks). So far beyond the MDS vol1 and vol3 guidance the only other relevant literature I have found is in 11-401. In particular the 401 ANG SUP (attachment 5) has a ton of language on doing just this sort of thing. However, I'd like to hear from other guard dudes to see if it has been applied in such a context. A few questions.... 1) Is there anyone out there who has seen or run a program like this at their unit that I could talk to? 2) Can anyone recommend any other regs that might be permissive to such an idea without doing SMT waivers or sending paperwork up to NGB? 3) Any other ideas??? Thanks.

I literally just did this a few weeks ago and it was super easy. Don't pay anyone $250...get the Sheppard Air software (it'll take you less than two hours total time over the course of two days to get everything down to be ready for the test)...the software costs something like $30. Once you're done, schedule your test, pass it, fill out IACRA and get an appointment at the FSDO. Have all your paperwork handy (Sheppard can talk you through what you need over the phone or you can just ask the FSDO, it's pretty straight forward). Finally, I will add that you do NOT need to go through the local FSDO near your UPT base. Especially since some FSDOs are shittier than others and may not be very responsive or helpful. I happened to be in the Miami area for a few days and stopped by the FSDO down there and they had me in and out in an hour or two with ticket in hand. For IACRA make sure you are accurate and select the correct ratings and don't gyp yourself. For example as a helo guy we get the CPL IR for both fixed wing and rotary. I imagine for heavy guys you would get ME and whatever else corresponding to your training.

If a rated fellow were to have an undiagnosed pre-patella bursa (bursitis with retinaculum damage and potential arthritis) what would this member be looking at in terms of medical restrictions? Is this a permanently DNIF situation?

One thing I haven't seen in this thread or the original discussion in Track Select is the fact that this is already being done by the RPA Guard unit in Syracuse, NY. I have a buddy who was hired by them and was sent through UPT. I believe he went through the heavy track and now that he is rated is going to RPA school. Those guys are dual rated to both fly the RPA bird and also fly the chase plane (DA42?). I don't know much about it but it seems like a practical application of the dual qual concept.

Many moons ago I posted on here asking for advice about juggling my small business while going through UPT. I got a variety of comments and direct messages ranging from "hire a manager" to "I can't see how it would work" to "a friend of a friend did something like that". I ended up hiring a manager to run the place while I was gone and gave up a big chunk of my salary to do it. But I trusted him, and with my wife's help running admin stuff from behind the scenes I was able to keep and actually grow my business. I just pinned on pilot wings a couple of days ago and wanted to come back here to thank everyone for the encouragement and advice. I also am back here to encourage others to do press with their dreams no matter how complicate their situation is. Presumably the core psychographic on the Guard/Res forum is someone who either has a job or plans on going back to one while flying for the military concurrently. UPT is incredibly challenging but it's not impossible while juggling stuff from back home. I had a full-time business that services over 1200 clients a year, have 6 staff that I had to manage and additionally had a wife and daughter that I brought with me to UPT that I had to play husband/father roles for. It was challenging but there are ways to get it done. Some things that worked for me: Compartmentalizing - Being good at this skill is essential whether you are a bachelor right out of college with no commitments or someone like me. I saw a dude break up with his fiancee, a bro's wife cheated on him with another officer in the squadron, another guy in my class who was a fellow business owner lost a partner while writing a PhD thesis...all of these things happened in the throes of UPT. Every single one of these guys shared the ability to switch hats quickly and prioritize and press. Being able to focus on the mission, put out the fire that's immediately in front of you and then go on to the next thing is an essential quality of being a USAF pilot in my opinion, and UPT seems to have a way of weeding people out who can't do it. Delegating - Being able to rely on my wife was the deal maker for this to work. She was incredible. Running the household, taking care of our daughter, running my business admin and ALSO working her job at a software company that she stayed on with when we moved for UPT (they let her work remotely) AND packing the house for multiple moves (4 military moves shipping 11,000lbs of household goods in the past 18 months)...she did it all. She was a champion and having someone that you can rely on is huge whether it be a parent, spouse, best friend, whatever. Know when to ask for help, people in your life will step up and you can't do it all on your own. Setting Expectations - When training my manager at the outset I made it very clear that he was going to have to be self-reliant. There were many days where I just wouldn't be able to pick up the phone and help him put out fires. Often he would forward angry customer emails that I wouldn't see until 3 days after he had already figured out how to deal with it. He had to learn a lot on his own or with delayed responses but it wasn't impossibly frustrating for him because he knew it was going to go down this way. Letting people in your life know (family, friends, colleagues) that you will be out of pocket is an important part of building the space you need to get things done and focus during UPT. Knowing your limits - I carried ORM points on basically every other ride. I didn't care what people thought although I got the sense it's taboo or some bullshit to admit weakness (especially during T6's). I wanted to be honest with myself and the crew in the back of my helicopter or other crews in our flight. I even found that my IPs became more honest and carried their own points when I added mine when they may not have otherwise. Having an honest conversation about the stressors in your life automatically helps make things safer because you can move on and compartmentalize. I also said "no" to rides. I was pressured by IPs to go when I felt I would be dangerous and I said no. It wasn't popular but I finished the syllabus on time and did well enough (#2 out of 8 for daily rides #3 for academics). I think being aware of your limits ultimately creates a culture of collaboration. Within my class, my stud bros and sis became more aware of everyone's inherent limitations and advantages which made us all work better together. We knew what we'd have to do when paired up with certain stick buddies or meshing with other crews on a ride. "Cooperate to graduate" can't happen if you don't know how to cooperate. Again, I am eternally grateful to all the advice I've been given and mentorship by those who've come before me, and guidance from the folks who held my hand at the squadron and had my back...including those who were willing to step up and take ownership when bad things happened (like when I came off orders in the middle of UPT). Thanks to all and hopefully this helps someone who is in a similar situation or someone who is considering going Guard but are worried they won't be able to reconcile all the forces in their lives asking for attention.

Dude keep plugging away. I was hired at 28 and got to UPT a few months before my 30th bday. And since that time they've been pushing and approving tons of age waivers. I saw a lot of them at UPT. We had a 36 year old in my primary class and 3 people in their 30's during my advanced class (30, 30 and 32 yrs old).

Ft Rucker class 17-09 CV-22 to Cannon CV-22 to Hurlburt field HH-60G Davis Monthan HH-60G Moody HH-60G New York (Guard) HH-60G Patrick (reserve) UH-1N Andrews AFB UH-1N Minot

This is not necessarily true. In my case (guard rotary) I took essentially back to back orders from OTS to UPT. However I have had bad experiences during UPT having to come off orders briefly (which causes all kinds of crap to happen like my daughter taken out of daycare, spouse CAC card expires preventing her from getting on base, triggers on base housing to kick you out, etc.) Another issue I've run into is since our IQT schoolhouse is so backed up, I'll be sitting without any flying for minimum 6months. My unit is trying to work in SERE and downtime orders to mitigate the BIT and at least keep me paid but it's been a last minute scramble. Hopefully this doesn't come across as contrarian or whiney, I'm just trying to illustrate to OP that what is expected to happen doesn't always happen...e.g. there is always the risk of coming off orders unexpectedly, extended breaks in training with no pay, stuff like that.

In general it is said that the Guard lifestyle is a little better than Reserves in that the reserves are more similar to the AD culture. Guard is perceived to be more "relaxed" although YMMV depending on unit and frankly anywhere you go you'll still have to deal with most of the queep. Regarding your original question, cagg011 pretty much said it. Sponsored/unsponsored is an AFRES thing. Sponsored means you find a unit that wants you (you court them the same way as the Guard process) and they sponsor you for a specific airframe and location when you are done, unsponsored means you put in a packet to Big Blue and they will flip the coin and find you a unit when you come out the other end of pilot training (or you can use your time shopping for a unit once in flight school, which is fairly typical).

I took it about two years ago so not sure how dated my info is but I found AFOQT to be more of a distance game than a sprint game. Eat a solid breakfast, stay well hydrated, bring snacks, take advantage of any breaks they give you to stretch, meditate, whatever. And IIRC correctly you don't want to leave anything unanswered as you get points for questions you get right (meaning a correct guess makes you look better than taking your sweet time hanging over one question only to leave a few unanswered questions at the end).

Just a PIREP for others: I'm guard. My wife and daughter followed me to UPT. We got BAH, put it towards on base housing, was a good experience at Vance and also at Ft Rucker. We will be paying out of pocket for the TDY to ABQ to bring them with me. On a separate note - for some the personal decision of going accompanied/unaccompanied is a hard one. We knew from the outset that family cohesion would make me much more successful in training than going unaccompanied and having to work the additional stress from separation (the emotional upkeep), day to day remote family ops (mutual support, problems at daycare), whatever. So far has been worth it and frankly getting the full BAH that goes poof into on base housing has been well worth it IMHO. YMMV.

Marty do you do NY or MA at all?

We had a guy while I was in primary at END, was a guard heavy dude...did exceptionally well in T6s and was offered the chance to fly 38's. The decision went up to his guard unit who declined. So aside from all the other comments here about what is/isn't possible I've personally seen it come up although in this case didn't work out.

FR 17-06 CV-22 Cannon CV-22 Hurlburt HH-60 Nellis HH-60 Moody HH-60 Patrick (Reserves) H-1N FE Warren H-1N Minot Word on the street is that Kirtland's caught up on the Osprey pipeline and -22 pilot production will be ramping up with the drops coming back to Rucker. We went from nothing in months to two in one night, was a good night for the 23rd!

That conversation's above me but I know we are not ready for it and I have heard there is no plan yet.

SUPT-H is already a thing. I'm there now. Do you mean UPT straight to Rucker for rotary guys (skip T6)? If so then yes, we heard recently it's being discussed seriously, timeline within the next year or possibly sooner if they pull the trigger. But being aware of the capacity constraints here at the squadron I'm not sure how realistic it would be for us to fulfill that mandate. The primary contractor who hires our civilian IPs and runs the academics is scrambling to figure out how they might do it and there are lots of concerns from the Air Force side (including having to buy new TH's, what to do with students with no baseline airsense or instrument training from T6, etc).

I had the same experience. Lots of guys from my unit had Vance going back years. Sure enough I got Vance. Not really sure how it works although other guys who are in the pipeline for my squadron went other places. I'm at Rucker so get to hear about all the different bases from guys in my class and other classes here. Consensus is that Del Rio sucks, Columbus is OK and Vance seems to have the more relaxed training culture (at least from the student perspective when we all get in a room and talk about why X base was better than Y base). Various pros and cons across the board but I have yet to meet someone who went to Del Rio who had good things to say.

Shoot me a PM I might have some photos for you. Housing at Vance was pretty nice albeit small (1200sqft 3 bed was cramped for myself, wife and daughter).