yervis

Took about a month I think.

See: https://afreserve.com/downloads/AFRC_UFT_Guidebook.pdf If you don't have your private pilot certificate it looks like you'll attend Initial Flying Training before you attend Undergraduate Pilot Training. You've already been accepted by a unit. Relax. 👍

During my FC1 the phlebotomist stuck me with the needles for blood draws and drew blood then essentially said “whoops, you’re not allergic to shellfish are you?” after he applied the iodine swab to me 😅. Not allergic to shellfish, but it makes you wonder what else they’re missing.

Simple solution, but would have to come from someone with authority to make it happen. Two steps: 1. Cut the red-tape that currently surrounds pilot applicants. For instance, going through MEPS, just to go to the FC1 later on that is more stringent, but more professional/thorough/makes less mistakes than MEPS? Cut out MEPS. 2. Create an office (or whatever it would be called) that is a single point for the Air Force that has the authority and single objective to help out pilot applicants having issues and get them squared away with wherever their issue is hung up at. If the AF wants to claim they have a retention shortage, one solution is with helping applicants who are so dedicated they’ve put their lives on pause + spent thousands on personal physicians to try to prove they’re fit for the AF. These dedicated applicants would then go on into the AF knowing they were genuinely helped out and not stepped on by some illogical bureaucracy, which in the long run, may add one piece to their personal decision to stay in longer.

I had my FC1 a few months ago. In the examination room with the physician he signed into the literal FAA website, the same one the physicians use at an AME's office outside of the military. FAA logo and everything. It wasn't some database linked to it, it was the same thing. I could see it plain as day on the screen three feet from me. I even had to update my FAA MedXpress prior to having the examination, and gave the physician the MedXpress confirmation code. Once I was done with the physician's examination, they handed me an FAA class 3 medical, the exact same paper I got when I started civilian flight training (which is needed to start UPT apparently), but their staff said I met class 1 standards and a month later I was told my FC1 was approved. I did ask if EVERYONE in my examination group got a class 3, and they said yes that is standard procedure. You may have an avenue here. I agree with you it's a ridiculous system. I had my fair share of roundabouts so far dealing with it. One option would be to go to your U.S. Representative's website and usually they have some sort of link for military academy requests. I would do that and explain your situation in there + calling their office(s) so you can get an email sent to them. Another option: Contact news media about it if they'll listen. Small newspapers/media outlets may run with it. Don't leave any reasonable option off the table.

That is what I was told too by the unit that hired me.

Congratulations!

Exactly the sort of guidance I was looking for. Thanks @brabus.

Reading the U.S. Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet 3 for USERRA it states: ”USERRA establishes the cumulative length of time that an individual may be absent from work for military duty and retain reemployment rights to five years (the previous law provided four years of active duty, plus an additional year if it was for the convenience of the Government). There are important exceptions to the five-year limit, including initial enlistments lasting more than five years, periodic National Guard and Reserve training duty, and involuntary active duty extensions and recalls, especially during a time of national emergency. USERRA clearly establishes that reemployment protection does not depend on the timing, frequency, duration, or nature of an individual's service as long as the basic eligibility criteria are met.” Would the weekend Unit Training Assemblies every month be considered “periodic National Guard and Reserve training duty”? What about the additional days a pilot would be at the unit working that do not fall on days that are a UTA? Are seasoning orders considered exempt from the 5 year time like all the initial training (OTS+UPT, et cetera) is?

Congratulations dude. When did your board convene? Curious how long it may be to hear results when mine convenes.

If they offer it and you're abiding by your employer's policy, I wouldn't think it would be unethical to use it every year. That's why they made it a thing. Add onto that you work for a corporation and not a small-business, and it makes the answer even more clear. Assure your supervisor/administrative people you enjoy working with them and wish to continue your career there once seasoning is over and that would help a lot.

All staff were welcoming, polite, efficient, and knew how to do their jobs. Polar opposite of MEPS. There's a small café upstairs at the USAFSAM building that sells food/drink. Bring a warming layer as it's a typical cold medical building. One of the small waiting rooms had an older television with VHS and DVD players built-in, so if you want to bring movies for everyone to watch go ahead as the tv is for your use. Cell-phone reception is about non-existent everywhere in the building where you'll be authorized to be at, so take their recommendation to bring paper reading material seriously or download games/entertainment prior to arrival. If I could do it again I'd bring a travel pillow. You can bring a bag to carry your stuff. Bring a water bottle. The day prior to starting the examinations I went to what they called the "pass and ID" office to get my paper document I would present with my ID card (driver license) to Security Forces to get through their gates. I included an image of the building on this post (excuse the atrocious quality, allowable data limit is small). You might get an email sent to you from your sponsor (person at the USAFSAM building sponsoring you to get on base) or from the visitor center/pass & ID office with instructions on how to do this. Your sponsor can get you maps of the base. Wright-Patterson AFB is weird as there is an Area A and an Area B of the base, and neither area touches each other. They are split by publicly accessible roadway. So if you're lodging at the Wright Patterson Inn (on Area A), you'll leave Area A, then have to go to Area B and go through their Security Forces gate then proceed to the USAFSAM building. Then reverse the steps to go back to the Inn once the day is over. The Hope Hotel is what they use for your lodging if the Inn is too full. The Hope Hotel abuts Area A, but is actually publicly accessible and is not past the Area A Security Forces gate (but is right next to it). The Hope Hotel sucks; it's run down and broken. The best part though was getting woken up by Security Forces doing a high-risk vehicle-stop on a food delivery driver who drove past the gate into the base using the exit lane. That was cool to see. The wi-fi connectivity was spotty. I brought a PS4 and paid for hot-spot internet on my cell-phone so I had something to do while at the hotel for hours each day. I definitely recommend doing that. If you currently have an FAA pilot certificate, but have not used FAA MedXPress before, get set up with it prior to the visit. I had not used it before, so they asked me to get set up with it while I was there and they renewed my expired medical certificate while I was there. Was nice of them. They'll need the confirmation number. pass&id.jp2

Something good happened. Nearly last minute for office workers, I got orders for the flight physical and the order document addresses travel reimbursement up to a certain amount of money, what is authorized for reimbursement, and how to get reimbursed (submit two forms) along with all receipts.

It was refreshingly quick, but it doesn't matter since the entire process is so slow. For every quick 2 weeks, there's a 3~6 month wait for something else. 👎😑 Positive thinking though! I tried to get you and I answers for this, but I'm empty handed. I've called everyone I can reasonably think of. My Officer Accessions Recruiter, the unit's recruiter, the finance unit, and the squadron's point-of-contact for me. From what I gathered, it's all up to the finance unit for travel payment/reimbursement. The Airman in charge of the finance unit seemed squared away, but the civilian employees who run it full-time, not so much. Unfortunately the only workers who know how to potentially process travel payment/reimbursement for me are the civilian employees. I called last week, spoke with a civilian employee, and was told it was being worked on. Called today and was told I'd be called right back after the civilian employee went into a neighboring office to get more information. Was never called back, and after an hour I called again. I was told by someone else that the civilian employee that was previously speaking with me is no where to be found, gone, vanished. Still no call from said employee. Went to my squadron's point-of-contact after that who was as helpful as he could be. I'm going to pay for all this out of my own pocket, keep receipts/track mileage, and hope I get reimbursed at some point. As a heads up for you, I was told if for some reason the lodging at Wright-Patterson AFB is full when you arrive, get an unavailability letter from the staff at lodging so you can get reimbursed by your unit for paying out of pocket for a hotel off-base.

Reserve side here. I’m trying to figure that out as well. If I find out something I’ll let you know.