AlexLM12

I tend to think so. If I'm not mistaken, the official PDSM released on Jan 20th of last year, with CCs notifying selects the week prior/the second week of Jan. So yeah, if it follows from the past, it'll be next week

The way I see it, we are exactly 2 weeks away from being able to say "any day now"

MFS occurs after notification of selection, so not that, and if the board selects in November, I can only imagine the delay has to do with the holidays, and with the process of assigning people to different training classes, since we are all sort of sliding in to the normal pipeline of people flowing from the commissioning sources. That is assuming training bases and dates come with board selection notifications, which I'm not sure of. Does anyone know how long active duty selects tend to wait before heading to training? I know there won't be the standard "casual" status for us, and I'm hoping we won't just stay in our current AFSCs for a whole year or more.

Luckily I'm already at Wright-Pat, but this is different than the flight physical I already did that took an entire day? It seems like that's something they should do before they make pilot selections, but I did not know that, so thank you for the info!

For those applying to this board that got cleared for IFC I (pilot), we have to do Medical Flight Screening (MFS) as the final stage. I was given a medical extension so I just got cleared, and I have not done this yet. Has anyone else done the MFS yet or know how this process goes?

Yeah, I don't even think the F-15E would be my first choice as a CSO anyway, that would be B-1 or AC-130, but I've heard F-15Es tend to drop more than those two airframes and I would want any WSO spot on those or the BUFF over RC-135/AWACS/EC-130

Yes, I think the title of the program does indicate their intent for the platform. I only titled it as such because it is essentially a newly updated Strike Eagle, still with 2-seats, and was wondering if a Strike Eagle II would ever exist. I think it might but only if the F-15 C/D capability gets fully replaced first or if the current Strike Eagle begins to fail in some sense. I'm outside the field so I don't have any insight beyond what's publicly discussed.

Non-rated Capt here, attempting to go CSO at the next rated board, but do any CSOs in the business have any intel on how the Strike Eagle II replacing the F-15 C/Ds will affect the CSO career field? They will all be two-seaters/WSO capable I've read, but not sure if the AF will use WSOs in the air superiority mission. I imagine they still will for the current Strike Eagles getting replaced by Eagle IIs, but not sure. I've not been able to find any info on that, and I've been super curious.

Browsing on my Air Force computer so I just let it happen

Impropable attempt at thread resurrection: A lot of info here has been great, but must be dated by now. What is the ABM field looking like now with JSTARS allegedly on borrowed time, with us being out of Afghanistan/less deployments, and the increase in recent threats from near-peers like Russia and China? Are ABMs still getting a lot of action and flight time with newer technologies/space and RPA capes in existence? Am almost a Capt and am going to apply for ABM on the next rated board.

Yeah, that checks. I think it changes primarily based on manning requirements. If there are more applicants than positions anyway, why continually examine the medical literature to determine if some conditions can now be waiverable? It's easier for them to just deny and move onto someone who doesn't have the condition. It's not fair, but that's how the system functions. Eventually it catches up, and I'd imagine shortages might drive changes in waiver allocations. Yes, flight standards don't follow the most up-to-date medical science. One such example is that the Air Force medical guides, up until this summer (I believe the Navy still does), considered PPI-REE as a subset of a condition known as EoE, even though medical literature has for several years gotten away from that distinction. Does it matter? I'm not sure, but it demonstrates your point

Perfectly said! It's not worth dwelling on, even though I've always found that difficult personally, just because I've never been able to grasp the logic. I am getting excited about the flying opportunities once I get out though, and hope you are too. Even the civilian world offers more exciting stuff than you will ever have the time to pursue.

I actually think your solution would be appropriate. I'm not sure if the medical screening happens after contracting and selection for bait-and-switch purposes or if its a budgetary thing, but I'd argue that your method would still save money simply by helping out pilot applicants and ensuring motivated officers are are qualified and then retained. I've known a lot of fellow flight DQ'd officers who just do their 4 years as an LT (where you mostly learn and get trained) and separate right when they make captain and can actually put their skills and knowledge to use, to pursue aviation on the civilian side. The AF just spent $42K on my training for a career that won't persist past another 10 months if I go that route, and I won't use any of what I was just trained on in that timespan. All that is on top of the $20K+ in 2018 that I similarly haven't used. Point is, the AF wastes money on the officers it DQ's anyway by investing in them just to have them leave if they never come to terms with the flight docs decision. Seems like they could use that in a different way, and ensure that people in non-rated positions are those that actually want to do them.

Same situation here. I currently have an FAA Class 1, but have never been able to secure even an Air Force Class 3. Unfortunately one won't help secure the other in my opinion. It is frustrating that, for example, the FAA trusts you (medically) to fly a large plane with hundreds of men, women, and children onboard, but the Air Force won't trust you to fly a plane with a single crewmember, or in my case, won't trust me to even sit in the back of an AWACS, watch a screen, and talk on the radio. The FAA also gives you a chance to get qual'd with "demonstrated ability" tests to prove you can operate and fly properly despite medical conditions that DQ you, but sadly, the Air Force gives no such chance. Flight standards exist for a reason, though the Air Force flight standards seem restrictive to the point of irrationality at times. In my experience its because they are flight doctors, and may not have the depth of experience in certain disqualifying issues related to specialties like gastroenterology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, etc. This is probably why a lot of civilian doctors will claim there aren't any aeromedical concerns but flight docs disagree. Just my experience with a GI problem, but @stuckindaytonmight have a better perspective on it overall. Just because the Air Force is a little "ableist" with your condition, not every employer/AME will be. There are a lot of cool civil flying jobs that still run missions that serve your community. EMS transport, aerial firefighting, etc. That's what I'm looking into because it's the next best thing to military service.

I have been diagnosed with a medical condition that is disqualifying for ALL initial, untrained (which I am) FCs, and is not waiverable. However, it is not a permanent condition, medically (it can be controlled), though the Air Force might view it as such, given that it is in my history and could resurface in the future if I do the wrong things...namely, eat the wrong foods for a long time. My question is, does anyone know if an "X" in the MSD or a "NO" in Waiver Guide means a PERMANENT disqualification/non-waiverable status? Or, does it just mean non-waiverable so long as the condition exists? Is there some way to determine if the Air Force medical standards system views a particular issue as permanent or not? "Controlled" vs "Persistent/Severe?" Thank you to anyone that can help!

Thank you, I sent you a PM

I'm sorry to hear that, but I really appreciate you passing along that info. I will look into the MSD, and the fact that I can apply again gives me hope for a different rated position. I am currently a non-rated officer, so I meet retention standards, but not sure if I can pass a FC yet. The opinion/language piece could certainly be frustrating. I hope all is going well for you in whatever you are doing now

Hello, I was disqualified during my Class I Flight Screening after selection, and I'm currently applying for a Class III now to try and be an ABM. I understand that some conditions are permanently disqualifying from rated positions, but I have no idea if mine is (esophoria). Any idea where I can find out if I can even apply again? I've tried calling AFPC/AETC, and the base that performed the physical, but I haven't gotten much apart from the issue that DQ'd me the first time. If anyone has any info, thank you!

Thank you both!

Congrats to everyone that got selected! I basically just heard about this program, so too late to apply to this board. Does anyone know when the next board is? I heard September but I haven't seen that anywhere in MyPers or elsewhere. I'm trying for ABM, afoqt score is 99. Thanks for the help!