Stoker

Your scores are fine, especially if you're applying for an AD board. That said, it's really a whole-person concept, people with worse scores have been hired, people with better scores have been rejected time and time again. Nothing on your resume looks like a negative, though, so I'd guess your odds are good.

I don't think any Reserve unit would look at being a regional pilot in a negative light. The regional isn't really going to be "fighting for your time," you'll just drop mil leave when needed to meet your Reserve commitments (including training and initial seasoning, which I don't believe count against the five year total of mil leave you're allowed to drop without any repercussions). I do think that you're probably better off just getting onboard with a Reserve unit ASAP. Work for a regional in the meantime, but I wouldn't delay a shot at UPT just to fly an RJ. Better off to go to UPT, then do regionals, and get to the majors as soon as you can.

Question re: the FC1, the information I was given said that for civilians / those without uniforms, the attire is conservative business attire. To me, this means a suit and tie, but that seems a bit much for medical exams and when everyone else is wearing ABUs. Am I going to be OK showing up in khakis and a polo?

That's how the Navy does ship assignments for new ensigns, at least those graduating from the Academy. There's definitely more variation going on there, though, since I think they pick down to the actual ship (so it becomes, "Well I want to be based here, but this ship has better promotion opportunities, this one I might command sooner, etc.").

Just got a call from my recruiter, apparently I am selected for 17-01 after all. He said the board initially didn't review my package at all, which is why I wasn't on the list, but supposedly now I'm good to go. Big weight off my shoulders, I've spent the last six days trying to figure out what issue the board had with my application and how to fix it.

I was not on the selected list for the board, recruiter thinks my application may have "fallen through the cracks." Says my package is right about in the middle of those who were selected, to idk what's the deal. Honestly, I didn't think there was a big chance of being non-selected if you were sponsored. Can someone PM me a copy of the sharepoint results (assuming it isn't FOUO)? I just want to make sure my recruiter hasn't forgotten what my name is and am actually not on it (wouldn't be a huge surprise at this point).

Yeah, that's a very good deal. Obviously, moving into the UOQ is a lot easier than trying to set up a house off base, especially coming straight from OTS, but it would have been hard to give up nearly $12k a year tax free.

Good to hear some news. Can anyone confirm what, exactly, we'll be hearing from the board? Just select/non-select, or will we be getting class dates out of it as well?

I've heard conflicting answers, should we be receiving class dates, or just a "You're officially selected?"

Nope, I'm in the same boat.

The uncertainty about the economy works both ways, though. Yes, it would be awful to separate before retirement and then get furloughed from the airline, but what that means is that you're better off separating ASAP to start building seniority, because every year you delay going to the airlines is another 1000 people who get hypothetically furloughed after you, instead of before.

If they were really to attempt a "tactical track" for those not interested in leadership, I wonder if it would be possible to do some kind of "reverse brevetting." Pay and benefits of a higher rank, but wear the lower one.

I think the requirement to apply to the AFRC board is having successfully completed MEPS. I'm (as far as I know) waiting for results from the board next week, but I won't go for my FC1 until July.

How does the AFRC board notify selectees? Via my recruiter? Email?

So ART status requires you to accept local residency and this local taxes? Wow, way to make it even less appealing than AGR. Me, I'm going to do everything I can to keep my no-income-tax-state residency as long as possible.

Yeah, mine is an attorney, so between taking another bar exam and trying to find legal work in the UPT towns, there's just no way she's moving with me until after graduation.

Speaking of UOQs and BAH, what's the current word on "geo-bacheloring?" Almost certainly not bringing my spouse to UPT, am I going to be forced to live in dorms? Can I live in dorms and get some sort of partial BAH? Or just split a rental house near base with a couple other students?

Does anyone know if, as a civilian who has just been scheduled for an FC1, I am eligible to only do the MFS portion if I have a recent IFS? I had the full IFS done at Tyndall a few weeks ago, not eager for another day of achingly dilated eyes and stress. I know the answer may well be "shut up and color," but I figured I'd ask.

That seems like a good way to end up with your package on the wall of the squadron bar, a subject of mockery for years to come.

Cue the jokes about the C-5 always breaking in great locations.

Yeah, like I said I don't think it will kill the mid-range hauls. But even in your Denver-Phoenix example, if I'm moving a family of four, and some bags, your $87 Frontier flight is now more like $600. Is ten hours of my time worth $500+ in savings? Maybe. A lot of people will say yes, I bet. And keep in mind the driverless car side of the equation is going to get better over time. The first cars to come out with that feature will look just like a regular car, but ten years after that you're going to have cars with lie-flat beds or couches, designed in large part for comfort over long distances. If I can go to sleep in Denver and wake up in Phoenix (more or less), that seems a lot better than driving to the airport, paying for parking, paying for bags, getting groped by the polyester pants brigade, being at the mercy of wx / mx / labor issues, potentially getting "re-accommodated," having to rent a car at my destination, etc., etc. As far as the Elon Musk tube idea goes, the in-feasibility of that project is demonstrated by Musk's numbers depending on the state-of-the-art, never-before-tried, underground vacuum tunnel to cost only ~50% more per mile than an asphalt highway. This is when Boston's Big Dig took 25 years and $22 billion digging a 3.5 mile highway tunnel.

Honestly, I think automation's real near-term threat to airline jobs is not a reduction of the number of pilots needed per flight, but a simple reduction in demand for flights. We're (supposedly) five or ten years from a point where autonomous cars can drive point-to-point with no need for human oversight. What happens to the consumer demand for an airline ticket when that happens? I'd imagine a lot of people would be more OK with making a ten or twelve hour drive if they could sleep, drink, watch a movie, etc., during that drive. No security lines, bring all the liquids you want, pull over and grab a bite to eat, and you already have a vehicle at your destination. Obviously your NY to LA flights are probably safe, as is anything over water for obvious reasons, but I think driverless cars will effectively kill any airline routes shorter than an eight hour drive, and weaken the ones from eight to twelve hours.

I mean, I've been to MEPS a couple times in preparation for getting my FC1, and the number one comment I heard from the (almost literally) kids there when they found out I was trying to fly was, "Oh, I'd have done that, but I have glasses." The myth that you must have superhuman eagle vision is extraordinarily prevalent. Lots of misconceptions like that exist, I think. How many people know that the Guard and Reserve actually commission and train new pilots, outside of these forums and a few others like it? Not many. I didn't, really, until a friend in Reserve suggested I look into it. It's well known that the recruiters aren't exactly a well of knowledge and veracity, as well. I guess my point is, maybe the traditional method what the USAF has done for pilot recruiting is great for recruiting white guys, but not for other groups. I don't want pilot affirmative action by any means, but increasing the applicant pool by targeting demographics that simply don't apply in serious numbers would increase the quality of pilots by simple numbers.

When I was visiting Guard and Reserve units trying to get a slot, I met probably in total 200 potential applicants doing the same. I don't think a single one was female. Could it just be a lack of awareness of the opportunity?

Wow, that's seemingly a lightning fast time between actually getting the dates and the time you show up for OTS. I'm waiting around for the results of the May/June AFRC board and was expecting a much longer wait.