NABO

Hi all, I'm looking for some detail on the "type" of orders that would come with the 3-4 years of pilot training + seasoning in a guard unit. I'm a guard off the street hire anticipating starting the OTS/UPT pipeline next year. I'm currently in the process of switching civilian jobs in the meantime, and am reviewing prospective opportunities. As one would expect, I'm looking at applicable military leave policies as well. The company I plan to sign on with provides paid military leave for employees that are "deployed for an active duty tour for a declared military action (to include Homeland Defense)." This is what leads to me to the above query, as all I know about OTS/UPT/FTU orders is that they are normally Title 10 and are considered active duty. Are these sets of orders explicitly listed as training orders, and furthermore what are the different categories of orders that are applicable for Guardsmen (i.e. school vs combat deployment)? I'm essentially just trying to align actual AF terminology with that of the mil leave policy and see if my UPT/FTU orders would be eligible. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

You don't necessarily need to go through a recruiter to take the TBAS. I had better luck cold calling the POC/Test Controller listed for the Education Office at a number of Air Force bases within a day's drive of me. As far as I'm aware PCSM scores are universal through AFPC.

Hi all, Headed to Wright Patt for my FC1 soon. Can anyone give clarity on what the flight doc looks for when you're asked to perform the Valsalva? I know they look for movement of the tympanic membrane/eardrum but I was hoping to find more clarity on this. I have some scarring my on eardrums from childhood ear infections that otherwise do not affect my hearing or ability to equalize. The Valsalva in particular allows me to clear my ears, though I only hear the "pop" in my left ear. I had a civilian ENT observe this as well and they were able to verify seeing movement in the left ear drum but not the right. I have much better success clearing both ears with the Toynbee Maneuver (swallowing with nose closed) and have used this for scuba diving and unpressurized flights with zero issues (I hear a equally loud pop/clearance for both ears). If I combine this maneuver with the Valsalva, my ears will clear 100% of the time, however I'm not sure that this would generate the ear drum movement in my right ear that the doc may be looking for. That being said, should I expect the flight doc to be evaluating this solely on eardrum movement? I'm guessing they will also ask if your ears cleared, which in my case the answer would truthfully be a yes, even if not visible. In others' experience, could I expect the doc to "take my word for it?" If not, would additional baro chamber testing be expected or allowed? Upon recently reviewing my MEPS paperwork, the doc marked UNSAT for my Valsalva after previously marking and crossing out SAT, which has prompted my concern around this issue. This test seems partly subjective and it would be helpful to know the general outlook that the flight doc may have on this as far as eardrum movement and non Valsalva equalizations go. Interestingly, the Valsalva is mentioned in the Waiver Guide as the standard benchmark for evaluation but mentions the Toynbee and Frenzel maneuvers as safer alternatives to achieve the same result in the very next sentence. Any insight, advice, or recent experience would be greatly appreciated!

Guard Fighters, Off the street/ Non-Prior AFOQT/TBAS: June 2020 Board/Hired: September 2021 MEPS: December 2021 Enlistment: December 2021 FC1: ??? FC1 Stamped: ??? NGB Submitted: ??? NGB Approval: ??? OTS: ??? UPT: ???

#1: You're still in the goldilocks zone IMO. Similar to you, I started this process and took all my tests at 25, and got picked up for fighters of the street at age 26. Age is very unit dependent, some prefer young guys out of college, while others see value in someone with more life/professional experience. Through this process I've seen several people get picked up for fighters at 28, 29, and 30. Furthermore, this may vary by year as units decide to hire young one year and balance it out with an older hire the next. Overall, If you are competitive in every other way, I do not see age as something that will negatively impact you until maybe 28. That gives you a solid 2-3 years to apply/rush as hard as you can. Come interview time, you may very well be asked why you didn't start earlier or pursue an AD commission. Have a real and honest answer ready and it should be a non-issue. On that note though, why wait until spring to do your tests? Definitely give yourself 2-3 months to study, but you should want to get them done ASAP, as the last thing you want to be doing is trying to harass a recruiter to schedule you in time for the spring "batch" of boards. I made this mistake peak-COVID and wished I had started it earlier. #2: Echoing above, but this is again very unit dependent. IMO, the general rule of thumb is that local ties can always help you but the lack thereof won't necessarily hurt you. I've been at several rush events and interviews where it felt like there was only one or two guys from the opposite coast, but they were still invited out the same as the local guys. If the unit really likes you, they're not going to care where you live, as long as you can convince them that you're willing to drop everything and move there when that time comes. Sometimes though, with all other things even, they will go with a local guy as a tiebreaker. You can't control the board's selection process and there's really no way around that except to be yourself and show why you'd be the best fit for the squadron, both on paper and in person. I can only speak from my own experiences, but this is what I've found through the process thus far. Long story short, I think just about everybody in the "circuit" has had these same concerns at some point, it's only natural. Though I wouldn't let either of them prevent you from pursuing this with your full effort, and given your current situation I certainly don't think either would preclude you from getting a slot. Good luck!

Applicants were invited out for April and May drill weekends but they are trying to bring in different people for each rush event so I would expect there are pending invites for June/July weekends.

Anyone in the know regarding Tulsa Vipers? Their 2020 board was cancelled but I heard through the grapevine that they are just planning to re-invite those selected to interview last year rather than having a new board altogether.

Can anyone technically go to MEPS or get an FC1 without having already been hired or having some type of commitment? I was under the impression that you had to sign on the dotted line somewhere prior to these getting stamped.

That weekend was cancelled 24 hours prior due to a COVID outbreak in the unit. As far as I'm aware there were no in-person visitations this year.

Was wondering if this applied only to Reserve units or ANG units as well. Additionally I thought unsponsored candidates only ever go to heavy units so could we assume this clause doesn't apply to fighter units?

Nice. Was also in the dark regarding this one. Was the board recent?

Looks like Tuscon interview notifications went out today. I'll be there in November and I'm hoping to see some of you all there as well!

Has anyone heard a definitive no from Hawaii? Based on what others on here and the lead recruiter have said, we should've heard back either way, though only crickets for me. Definitely not holding out at this point but just curious.

Go Frogs! Scores are solid for sure. Definitely so if you're looking at heavies. If you just graduated, do you have a job lined up? It's obviously still early but the sooner you can add some professional experience to your resume the better. Shame the Flying Frogs wasn't around when I was undergrad, sounds cool.

Haha, forgot to add /s at the end. Bad attempt at a joke.