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So- after nearly a full year from this post, I'm still not sworn in. I was hired at 27 years old, I'm currently 29. July 2018 - Appointment Packet returned without action. Policy change requires ETP memo for Years in Service / Age September 2018 - FC1 complete at WPAFB November 2018 - FC1 Results sent back to unit December 2018 - ETP Sent to NGB for review. Told to expect 4 week process February 2019 - Still waiting. I was hired 22 months ago, and I still haven't been sworn in. I've had to complete 4 DD368's because they keep expiring, I've now had 4 different recruiters, and any progress made has been because I've gone around my recruiters to get things done. I emailed Army HRC after weeks of my recruiter telling me, "We're working on it," and got my DD368 within 4 hours. After being told there was no way to move my FC1 date from Nov 26 to any time earlier, I emailed the folks at WPAFB and got it moved to Sep 22. After being told the results of the FC1 would be complete after 30-45 days, and on day 46, the recruiter says, "just keep waiting," so I email the folks at WPAFB and get the results sent to the SQ OPS within 2 hours. After my travel to and from WPAFB, I'm told that I won't be reimbursed for my travel or lodging after driving my POV to OH, because I didn't use the right channels to reschedule the appointment. I was told my ETP waiver would be complete in 4 weeks from submission, but it's now been 8, and the recruiter says, "just keep waiting." At this point, I don't really care how something gets done, I just want it done. Can someone please give me some advice? Or the email / phone number for whoever approves ETP memos at NGB? Am I just in a super bad situation? I have a really hard time accepting that this is normal. Especially after looking at so many profiles with so many other hires that have dealt with similar situations in shorter periods of time.

Thanks! I was hired on by the guard, but no, I haven’t been sworn in yet. My recruiter told me that as soon as we get my appointment letter back from NGB he can set up my swear in. I’m just waiting for that to happen so I can get dates for everything else. I’m just in limbo for the time being.

I’m a prior Army Officer (non rated) 28.5 yrs interview/hire - April 2017 packet forwarded for approval - May 2017 medical DQ from previous military injury - August 2017 waiver granted - October 2017 MEPs -October 2017 final waiver granted - November 2017 DD 368 (release from Army to AF) approved - 30 January 2018 Appointment packet sent to State/NGB - 1 February 2018 I’m almost 1 year out from date of hire without swearing in, nor do I have any other dates or FC1 appointments scheduled. Obviously fighting the delay/waiver took a big chunk of time. How long should I expect it to take to be sworn back in/ reappointed?

Thanks! I appreciate the advice. I always try and fall back on, “be a good dude,” whenever I’m in doubt about something in most walks of life. I reckon flying well and being a good wingman is more important than whatever badges or stuff one would be wearing anyway.

No problem! I did the research because I don’t want to look like a jackass switching uniforms since the Army and Air Force have different regulations, so I’ve looked at them pretty closely. You can definitely wear all three on your ABUs, the reg just states that you can only wear two badges above your usaf tape, and the third would be worn centered on the pocket below the usaf tape. If you had a fourth, you could wear that above your nametape, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone but pararescue guys have more than 3 badges. As far as the nametag on the flight suit is concerned, the regulation just says you have to wear your aeronautical rating badge at a minimum. It doesn’t put a limit on how many badges you can wear on it. I suppose you could wear all three, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen that with pilot wings. I DID see a picture of a guy at UPT in a flight suit with HALO, Airborne, and Scuba all on his nametag, so I guess it’s possible, just probably not commonly done. I was confused about that very thing myself, because the Army issues badges like it’s cool, so I already have 3 coming from the Army, and that doesn’t include the Ranger tab, so I’m not sure if I’m allowed to wear them, even looking at the regulation. I guess to be safe, you could just stick with no more than 2 badges like the ABU mandates, but I don’t know. You could definitely give it a shot!

Yeah, dude, they totally do. The ALO that was assigned to my BDE in the Army was an A10 guy who flew helos in the Army as a warrant. He wore both his Army and Air Force wings on his uniform. The Air Force wings were obviously on top, but he wore both of them. Also, my buddy is close to finishing UPT now, and he’s an Army guy with Army wings on his flight suit, until he gets his Air Force wings, and then he’ll wear both. It’s like wearing Airborne wings underneath your pilot wings.

Yo, my dude- I checked AFI 36-2903, and the most current version authorizes Air Assault Wings, and pretty much every other Army, Navy, and Marine Corps Badge. Check out that AFI Chapter 10, bullet 10.5, then look at Attachment 5 for a list of authorized badges from the Army. Air Assault is totally there, and so is the Ranger tab, which is why I was asking. I’m not sure about how to wear the tab, but you’re totally cool to wear your Air Assault wings, bro. And hot damn email notifications are a great thing for this forum.

Thanks, man- I really appreciate it. I wasn’t an SF guy, but I do have my Ranger tab. I saw that the new AFI authorizes the wear of Army badges and tabs like the Ranger tab, but did he wear his? I’ve seen 2 pictures online of Air Force guys wearing a Ranger tab; pilot wearing a Ranger tab on his flight suit at his buddy’s Ranger graduation, and some PJs wearing them on their service blue coat sewn on their shoulders- but obviously the internet is filled with pictures of things that may or may not be allowed. Then again, I saw an article that said there are only about 40 Ranger qualified dudes in the Air Force, so maybe just no one sees it. Sorry for the late response- I’m pretty bad about social media, or discussion forums. Thanks again for the props, man!

For what it's worth, I hope this helps someone, and maybe someone more experienced can shed some knowledge on me. I was recently hired by the Guard to fly A-10s, and I definitely couldn't be happier, but my background is as an Army Infantry Officer. I found it really difficult to work the transfer process while on AD, and since I was already an AD officer, the AF wouldn't take me in the pilot program. I was able to talk to a bunch of units, but taking leave to go visit was nearly impossible because I was stationed OCONUS. I eventually had to get out of the Army entirely after my obligation was up, and go through the process from there as a civilian. First, I got my PPL, which I would encourage, because the Aviation Information portion of the AFOQT seemed to be pulled almost exactly from the PPL Written exam. Then I studied my ass off for the AFOQT, focusing on the MK, IC, TR, and AI portions of the test, since they directly influence the pilot score, and then went to a part 141 flight school on the GI Bill for my instrument rating, and those extra hours brought my PCSM up high enough that I had a competitive AFOQT and PCSM score. From there, it was revising my resume, visiting the squadron, and eventually interviewing. (it might not be the best advice, but I only applied with one squadron, because they were the only squadron that really felt like a good bunch of dudes that I could fit in with) I was hired about a month ago, and now I'm going through the effort of the paperwork to send me back to MEPS and getting reinstated. The forms are all simple enough, and the only thing I'm waiting for now is my conditional release (DD368) from the IRR. My recruiter has told me that since I'm already an officer with a security clearance, I won't need to go to AMS, and since I have enough hours, I shouldn't have to go to IFS, so the pipeline should be getting sworn in, getting the flight physical, and then reporting to UPT. (God willing) It's basically just doing exactly what civilians do, but with a conditional release from the IRR. It's not the fanciest way to get out of the Army and into the Air Force, but it was the simplest for my dumb grunt mind. For those of you who were Army guys before turning Blue, were there any things that stood out as drastically different from the Army? I think going from Army Aviation to Air Force Aviation wouldn't be too much of a change of pace, but I'm just trying not to get caught off guard going from Army Infantry to Air Force Aviation. The squadron seems to be a bunch of really cool dudes, so I'm not worried about the people- just the general climate change from one organization to another. Thanks in advance, and good luck to my Army bros trying to fly in the AF!