1nfrequentF1yer

Absolutely, that's why the takeaway I was trying to convey is that I don't see a downside on your behalf to get it done first (and as a matter of fact if that or anything else they let you knock out, do it at the earliest opportunity), but also not to expect that to speed up the whole process to OTS and UPT by any meaningful measures. Also, if you see your doctor regularly, and don't have any medical history, anecdotally you'll make it through just fine.

I followed the traditional process and although I don't see any downside with having you get sent to FC1 first I can think of a few reasons why that's not normally done in the grand scheme, and why I don't think it necessarily streamlines the process by that much. FC1/MFS slots are much more limited in terms of how many people they're able to see relative to MEPS. MEPS is intended to be an initial screening, so the thought is if you don't pass something at MEPS and cannot join the military at all, sending you to Wright Patt without that knowledge generates a lot of waste. MEPS is usually not the long pole in the tent compared to FC1/MFS. So, that's why I say it won't streamline the process by that much because MEPS is something you can knock out relatively quickly unless that's not true for your local MEPS for whatever reason. It took me like a month since getting the call to go to MEPS (middle of COVID) and 2 months after that go to Wright Patt. So when you roll up the whole timeline, it doesn't change much IMO. Since you're guard, you still need to: 1) enlist into the unit (which requires getting the thumbs up from MEPS), 2) put together your approval to appoint (which requires the thumbs up from Wright Patt), 3) get approved by NGB for your slot, THEN you would be put in for dates. Step 3 of the process is what takes the longest, from experiences of myself and others.

My company offers what I would consider to be very generous mil leave benefits to us. Obviously that's just my sample of 1. Except... I can't tell you what company and benefits we get (PM me if you want to know).

Your PCSM score is some combination of AFOQT pilot score, your flight hours, and TBAS performance. So a PCSM of 70 with 0 hours and a PCSM of 70 with 200 hours is a pretty different story. I'm not sure which camp you fall into here. GPA looks pretty good otherwise. Having taken the test once, if you know what you struggled on, then hammer those areas more. But if you don't know or didn't think you struggled on anything, then I don't really know what anyone of us here can tell ya besides trying again. Feel free to drop me a PM if you feel like there's anything I can legitimately do to help you do better next time.

For guard units, it's probably still possible to get picked up with those scores, but if you could do better, then obviously try and do better and retake. What's your GPA and PCSM looking like? With so many more guard/reserve applicants, the bar is also a lot higher now. Are you also interested in being a CSO? You said on your practice tests you were scoring over 90% of the questions correct. So take a minute and reflect... Did you just have an "off" day during the test? Were the test questions far off from those on the practice test? Was the test misgraded (this is very hard to prove and to contest)? You need to understand the cause so you're not trying the same thing without a new strategy. Taking some portions of the SIFT or ASTB that overlaps with the AFOQT will certainly give you more practice, but again, you need to understand why there's a big discrepancy between your practice scores and actual scores. The Baron book is what I used for practice, and it ended up to be fairly representative of the actual test. The AFOQT is graded on a percentile, but say, for a 32nd percentile of quantitative, that means you're in the lower third of some reference population that took the test (who makes up that reference population is pretty nebulous to us common folks). So I think it's a bit unrealistic to try and assume that your scores is due to others doing exceptionally well. But with that said, take his/her advice on highlighting other areas of your resume (flight experience... career... leadership/volunteer... passion... tell a good joke/personality?)

Short answer is no (as in nothing wrong with it). As a matter of fact, guard units usually prefer to hire someone local, all things being equal. Longer answer is also no, but if you aren't getting much luck with the local units, then either keep trying with them, or start expanding your search ie casting a wider net (or give up and move on with life). Besides location, the mission is also something to keep in mind whether it's one you truly believe in.

Went to Wright Patt for my FC1/MFS few months ago having done PRK with refraction error within the -8.00 to +3.00 limits. Can confirm this is to be facts.

If you're enlisted into the unit that hired you, then they should allow you to request an authorization in DTS for the TDY and book your travel through DTS (you'll need a line of accounting from your finance folks to fund that trip). Been said but my experience and experience I know of with other guard guys is that the unit will pay for it. So I'm not sure what's different about you going TDY to WP vs someone else going TDY to some other place. On the reserve side, the dudes I met at FC1 said they have to pay for it out of pocket and their recruiter will get them reimbursed.

I got approved by NGB same time you did, and got told like a week later I'm going to the August OTS class. Nothing on UPT yet since that's gonna be an FY22 thing for me so I don't know if that's been laid out yet.

Who did your DO send an email to? When you say DO I assume you mean your squadron director of operations. I would still give your FDO (force development office) a call. It's a fine balance between being annoying and getting stuff done but a lot of times that's what it takes because you have to be one keeping those that are pushing you through honest. So if it's been a month, I think it's fair to ask at least somebody, but don't be a douche about it. Be like "hey I know you guys are super busy, but I'm trying to get some information about my FCI being scheduled, if I need to do anything, etc". If they tell you you're being annoying then ask them (politely) to hook you up with some answers so they won't have to be bothered by you anymore 🙂

Not-a-damn-thing. Meet people, hang out, that's about it... Most/some units put you into student flight, but you might be able to "opt-out".

Has your base training office (FDO) requested an appointment for your FC1? The way I understand the process is that Wright Patt "gives" so many slots to NGB (assuming you're guard), and NGB magically gives you a slot. But your FDO has to add you to the queue. If they have, then I would ask them what the situation there is. If they haven't, then you should ask/have your recruiter ask/have your DO ask/have your Sq/CC ask them to do it ASAP.

Guard off the street heavy Applied: Jan 2020 Board/Hired: May 2020 MEPS/Enlisted: July 2020 FC1: Mid Oct 2020 FC1 Approved (with eye related waiver): First week of Dec 2020 Packet completed, send to JFHQ/NGB: JFHQ mid Dec 2020, NGB late Dec 2020 NGB Approved: last week of Feb 2021 and put in request for TFOT TFOT: Aug 2021 UPT:

That's interesting/hilarious since I applied to them a year ago, got the "Received" response, and never heard again either way. 🤷‍♂️

They will typically put you at a hotel they contract with for the night before. Then at 5 in the morning or whatever, you get on a bus and they will bus you onto the MEPCOM base. You'll then be asked to have all your stuff put away in this locker room kinda thing, and then get your medical file that you'll pretty much be carrying with you the whole time as you go through different processing stations. You then do some basic stuff like vitals, listen to a briefing, fill out some forms (check Enlisted on your paperwork, assuming this MEPS appointment is to enlist into your unit to get your commission stuff going), do a breathalyzer. Then off to the urine (they watch you), hearing, vision, exercise like the infamous duck walk/height/weight, and then a doc will look at you individually. They rotate groups in between these different activities, so the order you do them in will probably be different than what I've said. Then you can probably grab a lunch, chill for a bit, they tell you you're good to go, then check out of there and dip. Just wear something respectable, be polite, be patient, and listen to directions. In my experience, the docs there all seem really salty... I imagine them wake up in the morning and be like "f I gotta deal with these mfers today f f f". Don't let that scare or intimidate you per se, but those that work the receptionist areas were nice when I had a question for them.