FOX3

Yup all of that checks — I’ve either directly met people from each of those 3 categories or someone who has a friend from one of those 3 categories.

I'm currently in UPT 2.5, and have talked to a few people who were Guard fighter selects that did not track 38s. They got their wings still, since it happens after the T6 phase completes, and they are now kinda scrambling to find another Guard (non-fighter) squadron to take them. It's in line with the new "universally assignable" mentality that big blue is pushing for with getting winged after T6s. As I've understood it, your service commitment is firm after getting winged, regardless of 2.5 or not, and regardless of whether you track the airframe you were originally hired for in the process of getting winged.

Hey, I'm happy to see this question here since it's also a big interest of mine. Check out the convo here a bit, but note that it's like 3-4 years old now. From people I have talked to (instructors and graduates of TPS, members of my squadron, etc.), it is certainly possible for ANG (I think also Reserve, but I specifically only asked about Guard) pilots to go to TPS. I obviously can't speak to specifics of how it is viewed from a squadron perspective for your squadron, but I know that my squadron had a pilot (a Major) recently leave for Guard-specific role in the test community somewhere in Arizona. I'm blanking on the name of the program, but it sounded very similar to TPS; I'll post here if I can track down what it was called. Squadron leadership seemed very supportive of the career move. Best time to do it is totally dependent on your career goals, but noting from the link I provided above, you do transition into an Active Duty role, so keep that in mind. I'd definitely be interested to hear what other people have learned about this topic too!

Hey everyone, quick question that I couldn't find answered elsewhere: is IFF typically treated as a TDY after receiving PCS orders to the FTU location? I'm just wondering how it works with family who will be living with me during training -- is it typical to get some time to move to the FTU location and then start IFF, which would give my wife and kid the opportunity to settle into the new place and start school up while I'm away for 6 - 8 weeks? For context: I'm a Guard guy about to start UPT in a little over a month, just trying to think ahead a bit. Thanks in advance!

Bit of an update after a couple busy months. Just got my Training RIP for UPT right as I was finishing up IFT! AFOQT/TBAS: December 2018 UPT Board: May 2019 (selected as alternate) Alternate to primary: got the call for the big leagues February 2020. MEPS completed and signed off: May 2020 Enlisted and gained by the unit: June - July 2020 NGB approval for FC1 and OTS: 01 Dec 2020 FC1: 09 Feb 2021 OTS: 06 Apr 2021 - 28 May 2021 (Class 21-04) IFT: 7 July 2021 - 13 Aug 2021 (Class 21-16) UPT: UPT 2.5 at Vance AFB T-6 Phase: 1 Nov 2021 - 17 Jun 2022 T-38 Phase: 20 Jun 2022 - 05 Jan 2023 IFF: ??? FTU: ??? Feel free to hit me up with any questions about the training pipeline up to UPT! Happy to help where I can.

I feel you there -- I would've done that 100% too! Good luck with getting everything set up, and let us know how it goes.

This was definitely not my experience. Once I was gained by my unit, I got the process starting to get a CAC, get a government travel credit card (GTCC), and get DTS access. I’m Guard, btw so this may be different for you if you’re in another component. My FC1 travel was completely booked through DTS and paid through my GTCC.

Hey thanks a lot! I'm Guard, and yes I enlisted and was gained by my unit well before dropping OTS dates. My timeline post is actually in this topic here.

I'm in the Guard, and I actually happened to get OTS dates just before my trip to WPAFB for my FC1. I'm honestly not exactly sure what process my recruiter/POC in my squadron went through to make that happen, but I'm still set to go to OTS while waiting for a waiver to clear FC1 at the moment. EDIT: clarifying I'm in the Guard, since it's likely different between Guard and Reserves

Hey y'all, I stumbled upon this post in r/airforceots on Reddit about the April, July, and August OTS classes being on "hold", particularly for those going rated and doctors/nurses. Anyone else hear anything about this that can confirm or refute? I just got confirmation to attend OTS for the April class (21-04) as a Guard pilot candidate. Supposed to be receiving my orders on Monday. Thanks in advance to anyone who has some additional insight!

I am also interested to hear any insight on this topic. Anyone have experience with this?

On the off chance you hadn't seen them before, I found these training flashcards for spatial orientation practice super helpful.

I'm almost exactly in the same position as you. Went to MEPS in June, and am waiting for FC1 right now. My recruiter told me once I have a background investigation open for an interim security clearance, he can submit to NGB for an "approve to appoint" (A2A) and then I can get my orders for FC1. I just had my first background investigation interview last week to kick off the process for the security clearance.

I was given some great advice regarding this approach. I think it's important to be well-prepared but not come off as overly rehearsed/mechanical. To that end, the advice given to me was: for each question you saw online or could think up, come up with 2-3 solid ideas to build a response out of. These could be simple bullet point ideas that would allow you to organize your thoughts and have structure to your response, but would give you the freedom to build a conversation rather than sounding like it's scripted. Plus, I've found that when I try to script responses out, stumbling on a small part of it can throw the whole thing off; instead, if you have a structure but the freedom to fill in the gaps, it can allow you to control the timing and read the room a bit more. Ultimately though, you've got to make sure you're not trying to fit yourself into an image you think they want; that just never comes off as genuine, in my opinion. Another bit of advice that went along with that was: show how you demonstrated a quality. For example, rather than just saying "I'm hardworking and dedicated", give examples of how you demonstrated great work ethic and dedication to a task (e.g., through excelling in a challenging field of study, as evidenced by these grades or these awards or these projects that you led, etc.). I never did the Bogidope interview prep course, but have heard really great things from some of the dudes on the circuit about this.

Is this also true even if you were hired by your company prior to your enlistment? I've been looking for a definitive answer as to whether this true, since it would be great to have the fallback during potentially months-long gaps between training phases. I just figured that if I wasn't enlisted already when I was hired by my company, they have no obligation to hold that up.