GreenArc

@goodflightcowboy @Metalhead731 @mp5g @admdelta @Wagyu I appreciate all of you a lot, and I will definitely be following your advice. In short, I think I was just over-thinking this, and I appreciate the course-correction from y'all. Thanks again, and all the best to each of you!

Google tells me this went live on their site 9 hours ago: https://www.158fw.ang.af.mil/BECOME_A_FIGHTER_PILOT/ F-35's out of Vermont: It states that 30 is the age limit...but it doesn't say that no waivers are being considered. I've spoken with two PoCs now that have noted that they won't hire anybody above the noted age, though both application outlines for those units didn't say explicitly as others do that they will not be entertaining age waivers. I'm starting to think it'd be smarter to just not ask if it's not explicitly stated, apply, and see if maybe someone on the board is like, "Hm, older, but I think we may actually like him. He's a long shot but let's invite him for an interview" rather than weed myself out from jump street. I'm 100% okay losing some coin on mailing packages and some dedicated time in prep to get in front of a board as opposed to never even arriving on anyone's desk for review...anybody got any thoughts/advice on that?

If you're in the St. Louis area, be sure to check out the 108th ARS out of Scott AFB just north of St. Louis. KC-135s with a board deadline of September 9th: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C8_7MOVeTXMCJUEANKTVkAH3RXlWQul6/view Best of luck from a fellow old guy looking to get to UPT!

I haven't seen this posted anywhere, but doing a little Google Fu yesterday and I found this: https://www.145aw.ang.af.mil/About-Us/Careers/ UPT board for C-17s out of Charlotte, with applications due on July 31st. PoC listed is super cool; please feel free to PM me as I've got the package requirements from them already. Age limit is 31, no age waivers being given to olds like me. Best of luck to anyone applying!

JSTARS out of Robins AFB, GA: https://www.guardreservejobs.com/newjobboard/jobs/pilot-14/ No waivers being given for olds like me, but I've always been intrigued by the platform and mission. Best of luck to anybody submitting for it!

Thanks a ton brother; that's a great idea and one I'll definitely keep in my back pocket!

Right on brother great insight and good to know! I had been mulling this one over a bit, and that's a ton with perspective.

The alcohol gift topic is actually one that's been on my mind of late, too, if I were to get an interview: Let's just say you've got certain persuasions that keep you from buying/drinking alcohol. Any other ideas for a solid, non-alcoholic "finishing touch" type of gift?

C-5's out of Dover! https://www.guardreservejobs.com/newjobboard/jobs/upt-candidate-c-5m-super-galaxy-2/

I’m super late, but I’ve been pretty happy with my Stag Arms AR-15. I gave the fixed mag a go, and the MeanLoader (https://www.meanarms.com/products/detail/ma-loader-for-ar15) hasn’t been terrible for it. Plus, I can have all of the furniture I’d like: https://www.stagarms.com/stag-15/stag-15-firearms/stag-15-rifles/stag-15-tactical-rifle-16-in/ It’s also an easy fix for a gunsmith whenever I live in another gun-friendly state to make it a full, normal AR.

You’re good people. Be safe out there!

@admdelta @pilotcrum @badger23 Thanks a ton for the help and correction here; my sincerest apologies if I introduced any confusion. I definitely see what y’all mean here now, and each of you are spot on. Best of luck to all who apply!

I think at the very end of this one it notes "*Rated/Military Candidates Only", so it looks like you already gotta be a BONE driver for this one, OR, maybe already in the service, depending on you interpret that...?

Thanks a ton, @brabus; that all makes perfect sense. And I didn't really even consider the "Murphy's Law" factors beyond those that could affect a commute, but that hit you actually doing your job once you're there: weather, MX, etc. Definitely gives me some great color and insight. Thank you!

Trying to help triangulate this one for you, I came across this old UPT hiring post for the 78th ARS out of New Jersey: “Letter of Intent/Cover Letter to the Commander” The context there seems to suggest this may be more or less the same as a cover letter. Maybe that helps? The PoC at the 159th may be willing to shed some light too if all else fails! Best of luck with your application!

Pretty incredible to watch over the past ~20 minutes. I got goosebumps a few times and felt my heart beating faster than normal, too. An unbelievably awesome feat, and my wife and I felt our already tremendous American pride swell even more.

Just a bump here, as we’ve had this topic come up in the Upcoming Boards thread, and I felt this was a great place to ask instead of starting a new thread: For those who have commuted beyond the local area of their unit—from an hour or more out, let’s say—what would be the furthest you’d consider to be reasonable from a unit to remain engaged, current, etc? Would the amount of time be relative to the mode of transportation (flying vs driving)? It seems a lot of this is relative: the airframe, mission, domestic situation, employment situation, being a new vs. already seasoned guy, etc.; I totally get that there’s not gonna be some one-size-fits-all answer. I’d love any additional thoughts, experiences, or guidance on what anyone may find as a “reasonable upper limit” in terms of time for travel to your Guard/Reserve Unit—especially coming out of UFT. The answer may just be, “don’t try to get cute, move there”, and that’s completely fair. It would just be cool to learn from folks who’ve done this to help better inform the radius of units we shoot for if there’s not a viable option locally. I also want to reiterate how much I appreciate what happens on this board everyday, especially all the time dedicated to helping hopefuls like myself. Cannot say thank you enough!

Amen @FDNYOldGuy; and that's my goal! Life required me to get a few things in order on the personal side make sure family and the military would get the best of me they deserved. Sucks it took as long as it did, but it is what it is--it was the right call and one I think will pay dividends for all parties involved if I can make this happen. I'll definitely be hitting up my local unit as soon as the COVID-19 stuff allows...which probably isn't for another few months in NorCal. But, when the time comes, I'll be ready! I've also got almost everything needed, lined up, and ready to go. I just need to re-take the AFQOT and TBAS (I took them ~10 years ago, and apparently the formulas changed according to a nice lady at AFPC, and things like my once 92 PCSM is now sub-70, which was a shock when I first checked again recently) and after that it's just, "tell me what order you want it, where to send it, and when, and it's done." I'll keep pushing brother, and again, congrats to you and all the best!

EDIT: I'm an idiot, and somehow didn't see the later posts here :facepalm: Please ignore.

Right on brother; thank you so much and I'll do just that! And a huge congrats on your achievement, seriously. An incredible encouragement to dudes like me, and frankly just a great story of focus, discipline, and perseverance. You're the man!

@mb1685 @Splash95 Thank you both so much for this; this is a tremendous help and exactly what I needed. I'm not sure how AFI 36-2105 managed to elude me, but again, truly appreciate both of you jumping in and helping a brother out. And just for posterity and others who may be in the same boat (and please let any of the gurus correct me if I'm wrong here): 1. It seems like "age waiver" is a bit of a more "colloquial" in nature, and if you want an "age waiver", what you're actually after is an Exception to Policy (ETP) 2. UFT Eligibility Requirements and ETP guidance can be found here in AFI 36-2105, and specifically what you're looking for are the following points: 3.1.1. - "3.1.1.1. Regular Air Force applicants must not be beyond their 30th birthday nor have more than 5 years of Total Federal Commissioned Service by the date as specified in the Undergraduate Flying Training Selection Board Announcement message (generally two months after board convenes)." 5.1.1. - "An Exception to Policy may be requested when an Undergraduate Flying Training Board applicant does not meet requirements." 5.2.1. - "[An ETP can submitted when the] Applicant exceeds age and/or Total Federal Commissioned Service limits in Section" [brackets my own words for clarity] 3. Further, in regards to 3.1.1. from AFI 36-2105 the MEMORANDUM FOR RECORD from Brig. Gen. Dunn at HQ USAF/AlP notes the following (downloadable above): "I approve a permanent blanket exception to policy for the entry age and total federal commissioned service for undergraduate flying training as outlined in AFI 36-2105, Applying for Flying Training...Effective immediately, only individuals who are beyond their 33rd birthday and/or have greater than 8 years of total federal commissioned service by the date as specified in the Undergraduate Flying Training Selection Board Announcement message require an exception-to-policy to be considered for Pilot...AFI 36-2105 will be incorporated into a new consolidated publication which will implement the new parameters for applying to UFT...This exception will remain in effect until incorporated into AFI 36-2105." This is probably ultimately non-consequential in the grand scheme of a unit looking to bring an older guy on, but only remaining question here is likely one of those "free to interpretation" for each unit: I wonder how "only individuals who are beyond their 33rd birthday" is interpreted. Does that mean up to 32 and 364 days, 33 and 1 day, or 33 and 364 days, since you're technically still 33 up until that point. Either way though, again, a tremendous thank you to you both a for jumping in and helping a brother out!

Please forgive me if I've missed something via search--I've tried numerous queries here, on other similar sites, ePubs, and generally via Google, but can't seem to find anything official that points to UPT age waiver availability for those over 33, and in my scenario, specifically re: an ANG UPT slot. In short, I'm working with a very cool and really genuine ANG recruiter of a non-fighter unit who's been super helpful in our initial convos, but I feel we may have some wires crossed re: UPT age waivers. Essentially, they told me that active duty cut-off age for UPT is 30, but on the AD site it says "Becoming an Air Force Pilot requires you to meet strict physical, medical, vision and academic requirements. Applicants must achieve qualifying scores on the AFOQT exam, meet all requirements and pass a selection board prior to age 33". Obviously, that's not relevant to me at all--they just happened to mention it--but with that seeming to be off, it makes think there's perhaps there's just overall confusion on waivers. More specifically for my situation, I'm also being told that for the ANG you have to have started UPT by your 33rd birthday, and that waivers with the ANG for UPT aren't able to be used to bypass that. In trying to confirm that, this site notes that "if an interested applicant can not meet the age criteria, an age waiver up to age of 35 years old is possible, otherwise an exception to policy is required. These are considered on a case-by-case basis. Waiver applications can be found in the AFI 36-2205" That AFI (apparently now AETCI 36-2605 per ePubs) doesn't seem to specifically call out anything about age, though...? Or perhaps the ANG falls under different guidelines? I'm trying to walk the fine-line here of "kicking down the door to your dreams/don't take no for an answer" and not being the know-it-all punk old guy who pesters a recruiter to the point they're like, "screw this guy, he's difficult and questioning everything--plus his waiver is more work for me/us--so I'm done. Later bro." They've got a tough job as it is, and the age issue is my problem, not their's--I get that 100%--but I also don't want to give up on a potential opportunity if there's simply genuine confusion that's the blocker that could be cleared up relatively easily. I can't seem to find an AFI/ePub doc that I can point to as a reference to that being an option. I've had several other ANG units tell me that age waivers are indeed possible with the ANG for UPT, and obviously we have several recent examples of that on this board as data points, too. Is there a specific ANG ePub-/AFI-type document that can be used for reference to confirm the official policy, or a place to find that on a state-by-state basis? If they come back and tell me, "Sorry, our squadron just doesn't want to consider age waivers," totally cool--I mean, sucks for me, but I get why they'd go that route. But right now, I'm being told it's simply not a thing at all for ANG UPT applicants, and I feel like maybe there's just some confusion to tactfully work through, and I'd love to be able to clear that up before re-engaging. A very, very sincere thank you for any help/guidance/wisdom you can provide.

Right on! I did some search and didn’t see anything specifically tailored towards this, so I’ll spin up a new one. Great call!

Sent. Thanks a ton brother!

That is music to my ears, as I'd love to apply and get picked up with them. Mind if I shoot you a PM with a few other questions?