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extender10

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Everything posted by extender10

  1. Thanks! I'm civilian so any word from the inside is reassuring. I think I'm pretty safe with my scores and everything, I just am bored and can't wait to move this thing along. Looks like January OTS dates are filling up pretty quick. Hope I can least get into a March class.
  2. Even if you could you won't have time to use it. Learn how to solve the puzzles without a compass rose. You need to be able to it in your head. Funny those flash cards exist, when I took it like 3 years ago I had to sign all kinds of stuff saying if I talked about the content I'd go to jail. Smoke em if you got em though.
  3. Michigan A-10 ANG unit is hiring https://www.guardreservejobs.com/newjobboard/jobs/fighter-pilot-a-10c/
  4. Anybody heard about this months AFRC board? Convened 5-6 Sept. Been about 2 weeks
  5. No problem! If you want to look at heavies at all I have a few emails you can contact. Also try and visit once or twice at a few of the squadrons you're applying to - it will be awesome for you to go "touch the dream" a bit and meet some pilots and see some planes, and it will help them out as well. In my opinion it's the most important thing you can do to get a ticket to UPT. edit: At my C-5 interview, every interviewee except 1 I had met before during visits, and two of the people on the board. At my KC-10 interview, 2 or 3 of the officers and enlisted personnel on the interview board were people I had met before.
  6. When you don't have your PPL, units may be looking at your 101-200 or 200+ hour PCSM score as their guideline. I was going heavies but every unit seemed to use that as a baseline while I was building time. By the time you're being pushed to the NGB or AFRC it will be your actual PCSM that matters, but you have lots of time before then to just get into the high 80s to low 90s if possible to solidify your chances of being picked up at the highest level. Especially if you're getting flight instruction that time will come while you finish up your PPL and fly a bit after. For getting in the door and being hired at the unit level I think that a 92 AFOQT pilot and a 3.75 GPA with some solid LORs makes you very competitive if your 200+ PCSM looks good too. I think it depends on the unit and who else is applying but you'd be up there I'm sure. I first started visiting the units down the highway my junior year of college with a 73 PCSM and like 28 hours as well, and by the time interviews came around my senior year, I had a 90 PCSM with 77 hrs after retaking the TBAS, and now a 96 PCSM with 102 hrs. And those hours I just built by flying a few times a month and dabbling in IFR instruction during the time between junior year and now. With your scores now and still some time presumably before interviewing, I think you'll be in really good shape because getting your PPL will be a big help and will add hours to raise your score. Good luck! edit: looked at my previous apps and updated my earlier scores
  7. Sorry, wasn't trying to insinuate that it should be a no-brainer to retake it, nor that it's a decision to be taken lightly, or seriously. I suppose trying to uncover the model behind the scoring with some scores would be insightful for those trying to weigh a decision on retaking the test. That was impulsive and I apologize. Congrats! You've gotta be pleased with that.
  8. I think I got off track. But my point was that if you retake it you'll 99% have a better score if you worked at it after taking your first one.
  9. Dude - retaking the AFOQT is free. After taking the first one, you have an idea of what every section looks like, what the pace feels like, and how the day goes from very early morning until end - how you should eat/sleep and stuff to feel your best and do your best. Study some more for the sections you want to do better on, review the stuff you feel good about just for good measure, schedule a second one, and go succeed. I guarantee you'll do better. Nobody can tell you exactly how much better you do - that's up to you anyways. As far as PCSM goes, AFOQT scores are only one part of the equation. For example, flying yourself into the next score jump (i.e. 81-100 hours if you're at 72 or something) will likely raise your PCSM by 2 or 3 points. Maybe go fly a different airplane with a different instructor so you can add it to your resume. Granted, this takes some money. I flew with a C-17 reservist that I met from visiting nearby units that was a CFII - it probably wasn't a huge addition to my resume but I got a letter of rec out of it after a summer of flying. Maybe go get a tailwheel endorsement if you meet somebody at your FBO. Little things like that won't impress people per se, but at least they're talking points that may help when you're bullshitting at a guard/reserve unit that you're rushing, and they count as hours toward your PCSM.
  10. Thanks for clearing that up! In any case I should keep busy enough my first 2-3 years for it to work out.
  11. There are plenty of threads to search through.... I'm not through UPT yet but I can give you my two cents from what shaped my decisions up to this point. I think that if you want to fly as much as possible, tankers or heavies are a good bet. You'll log time quickly, and it will be heavy turbine time that is valuable for airline/cargo apps on the civilian side. KC-10s & C-17s both have really high ops tempos and you'll have enough hours to get your ATP and get competitive at airlines quickly, maybe even within 12-18 months of reverting to a traditional reservist/guardsmen which will mean you wouldn't have to be a bum for long, or hold an ART position for longer than you want. I really don't know much about how fast fighter time accrues. My dad was a C-17 pilot, I was hired to fly KC-10s, I really wanted to be a heavy pilot and applied to units accordingly. I think that the KC-10, C-17, and probably KC-135 fly most... I don't know much about the C-130, but you will deploy for tactical airlift and get to do some awesome flying and build good time - as far as I know turbo prop time will count for your airline apps. My KC-10 unit sees most guys and gals do a 60 day deployment to Al-Dhafra every 16-18 months. If you figure that in with all of the other flying the KC-10 does they were saying I'd get 600-800 hours a year easy. After UPT, KC-10 schoolhouse, and seasoning orders it would only take me another year and a half or so, maybe two, to start applying to airlines and be competitive, even less if I deploy and fly my butt off. C-5s will fly significantly less - the unit I applied at was saying 300-400 hours max a year, and not all of it would be PIC because they fly with very large crews, trying to fit peoples currencies in etc and it all adds up as "other" or SIC time as far as the FAA is concerned, so you'd have to figure another 2-3 years in if you want to be competitive at airlines. It all comes down to your own flying goals i guess. If you want to fly with a crew and have a quick transition into having a secure civilian aviation career, go heavies. If you want your ANG/reserve experience to include flying many will never experience, learning about weapons and air to air combat,etc, go fighters. Personally, I wanted to fly a huge jet with a crew and see the world more than I wanted to learn air to air combat or air support. Both paths have different monthly currency requirements meaning that the bare minimum for some heavies will be different than other heavies, and certainly different than a fighter, so that's something to take into consideration as well.
  12. Sounds about right. As far as waivers affecting your AETC standing, who knows. If a waiver is granted, it's because the doctors/techs met and thought you were in good enough shape to send a waiver up to the SG with a good chance of it being approved. Unless you have like 5 waivers for different parts of your body (they would have sent you home at that point haha) I can't imagine it being a problem. I had to get a waiver for PVC/heart stuff I had no idea about until showing up to Wright Patt. Stayed two extra days and did an echocardiogram, Haltor monitor harness, and treadmill stress test and fasted every morning for an EKG. Still got a waiver, still got it approved. I think that having a good attitude around the techs and flight doc helped a lot - eventually I got the feeling they were on my side and felt good about sending my waiver up to get stamped. If you were a stressful wreck at the possibility of having a waiver or two, they'd probably see it as a sign of you not handling future medical adversity very well.
  13. I would take the AFOQT and TBAS asap. Don't wait until you're within 3 months, you can take them now. That way, you have time to retake them if you want sooner, and you have some scores to put on your resume when you visit units. (Edit: I guess this doesn't matter if you're going active duty). I started rushing units my junior year of college and was hired at two units 5 months before graduating at age 22. You're in a great spot right now - in my experience being young was more of a positive than a negative if you're well spoken and prepared. I had 85 hours, PPL, AFOQT Pilot 98 and PCSM 93 (it's now 96 since i've been flying more). I had a 3.45 GPA and a Materials Engineering degree. My buddy was hired with an Econ/Poli Sci double major. Your recruiter is there to help you meet the requirements for the process, but don't let them discourage you because of your college degree. I'm not sure what a city major is... but think about if you've had any friends or family with military history, your employers, and definitely football/tennis coaches or professors for LOR.
  14. haha for sure
  15. LOR should be addressed to the unit commander or chief pilot usually. Most units will have a hiring point of contact who can help you put your package together and give you those names. You can have your LOR writers write the letters and you can change the names at the top when it's time to distribute them. Edit: Or, this early on, you could just write "To Whom it may concern" while sending out packages. If you get an interview, you can revise your LOR if necessary.
  16. There are 13-14 classes a year - so roughly every 3 weeks of the FY. My unit always ends up at Laughlin it seems - from what I've heard from ROTC dudes Vance is the most requested - so if you preference Laughlin or Columbus you'll probably get it easier. I don't know though. I lived at Laughlin ages 1-5 when my dad instructed there, and my grandpa flew U-2s there so I'm gonna be requesting Laughlin first. Thanks! And wow - I've been reading through that blog (airforcejourney.com) somebody shared. I thought I read all I could about OTS and watched enough videos to get an idea... that was an information overload/gold mine! Gonna have to keep biting off chunks of that night by night.
  17. Oops, just read link - great resource!
  18. I think 18-01/02 start next week, 18-03/04 start 09 Jan and 17 Jan, 18-05/06 start Late March. Odd class numbers (I think) are civilian classes and even numbers are prior service, their program is a week shorter. But I am no expert, off the street as well. Sounds like we could be showing up at the same time - I'm a reserve KC-10 hire looking at a Jan or March OTS date. Good luck!
  19. You in the pile for this month's AFRC board? (yesterday and today actually, I believe!) What have you heard for timelines on approval? I was told to expect an approval decision in 3-4 weeks and class dates a few more weeks after that as well as UPT base preference. I was hired in February so I can't wait to have a date to count down to!
  20. I don't think you're going to get a very good answer for that. Getting there, it's a combination of MEPS paperwork going smoothly, proactivity of your recruiter, you not needing additional forms before the SG allows you to come to MEPS (I had to go to a civilian consult before FC1), and the cooperation of your sponsoring unit. Mine was 3 months after my civilian appointment, and I never was notified about passing/waiver until I asked my recruiter to go looking.
  21. As we like to say in here in Washington, Texas A&M "coug'd" it. And yeah, RIP Francois. He'll be back next year though. And FSU will still be ranked I'm sure.
  22. If you dedicate and study, and take practice tests, you can get all of your scores in the 70s. The verbal section is matching word definitions and likenesses, most of them, or at least similar level words, are in practice books. Quantitative is math, but it's not high level math - if you practice the problems and learn the concepts you can improve your score even if you're slow. Hell, if you send me your address, I have 3 practice books. I wrote in some of them, but they oughtta help. You need to buy prep books, take practice tests, and take this second chance seriously. If you study you definitely won't fail, and if you study you will increase your scores I'm sure. Try to start studying 6-8 weeks before hand, just like 1-3 hrs a week whenever you have time. Bite off a little more as time goes by. Peek at it for like an hour each day in the week or two leading up to the test. Take a few half length practice tests. Get a good nights sleep. Definitely retake it, the opportunity is there.
  23. Do you have any flying hours? Those are a big part of the equation. Your PCSM takes them into account and they're weighted pretty heavily in addition to the AFOQT/TBAS. Adding like 15-20 flying hours will probably have a bigger impact than retaking the AFOQT. It would be a chunk of cash, but maybe worth it if it can help secure a better chance of getting a pilot slot. 15-20 hours, if you live near a GA airport, wouldn't take more than a month or two if you stay on it and do it every Saturday or something.
  24. Had my FC1 at Wright Patt in June. Quick background: I was a competitive cyclist from age like 14 to 20, riding like 8-10 hours a week for years (a lot). I also played soccer year round from 5th grade through high school. I continued to do intramural sports year round at college and stated fairly active. As far as I've read, PVCs can become common in subjects with histories of endurance sports or high volumes of cardio/pulmonary stress like sports. In the months leading up, I joked with my family about how I knew I'd pass my FC1 unless they found "some heart condition I don't know about." I had never heard of PVCs and had no signs of arrythmia. Sure enough, I fail my EKG on the first day with no history of any cardio problems. I ended up staying 2 extra days. They said it was like I was a daily monster drinker who continued to drink them at my FC1... and I've never had any of that gross shit. Basically, I failed my EKG, and they had me come back in later that day to fit me with a Halter monitor - it's like a 24hr EKG harness you wear. They try to find the percentage of PVCs you had in a normal day. 24hrs later, they analyzed the data and ordered an echocardiogram for me. My echocardiogram took like 50 minutes because I had so many PVCs they could not get clean 7-8 second clips of each compartment of my heart without trying over and over and over again in each area. I put that up to stress. I eventually could see on the machine's monitor what PVCs looked like and couldn't help but fixate and get freaked out at the frequency, it was hard to stay composed at first because I thought my pilot dreams were slipping away. I continued to have a good attitude and treat the whole process like the doctors, assistants, and techs and I were working as a team to get to a goal of having me waived. I really think this is a key. Finally, after the echo - they had me do a treadmill stress test. You basically walk at a brisk pace as the treadmill inclines every 60-90 seconds, with a live EKG on a big screen next to you while a Lt. Col pulmonologist looks on and an assistant takes your blood pressure/pulse manually off your arm before each incline interval. After all this - they put me in for a waiver, and I passed. I'm not certain about the conditions of my waiver yet, but I know that I passed from my recruiter. My PVCs must have settled down on the treadmill test. The biggest bummer about my FC1 experience is that they weren't able to take the time to teach me about my potential condition. I didn't get updates day to day on my cardio health in general as it pertains to my day to day life. It makes sense - they are trying not to disclose anything so you don't become a center of attention among your peers or add to the stress of an already stressful process while dealing with 20+ patients. So now I have to go see a specialist on the civilian side to learn about what I can do to ensure I continue to pass waiver tests over the next few years as I begin my career. Again, as far as I know, in order to issue a waiver the docs and techs meet to discuss each case round table style before submitting a waiver to the AFRC SG. Your attitude has to play some kind of role in making yourself memorable as a candidate that would be able to roll with the punches of future health hurdles in your flying career. Sorry for the long post - feel free to PM me for more details.
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