I want to be a military pilot. What can I do to start now to achieve this?

[MadDogJr]

Background: I'm currently nearing the end of my freshmen year of HS, so I assume I have a bit of time to prepare myself beforehand. My grades are pretty good with usually all A's and one B  taking all the honors I can. Both of my parents were in the Air Force and my dad was a helicopter pilot in SOCOM , so I have grown up with this mindset, and a few weeks ago I decided this is what I wanted to pursue. I, of course, would like to go down fighter or, like my dad, helicopter track. I know they are the very select few, and I would be happy flying anything, but that's why I want to start now. I also know that there is a lot I can't do now. Anything that I can work towards, including attitudes, would be helpful. Also, hoping for ROTC Scholarship where my dad went through, or USAFA where my mom graduated. 

Questions/Sort of Concerns: I have between 20/30 and 20/40 distant vision (20/20 correctable) and 20/20 near. I saw that these don't disqualify me, but I was wondering if this would ever be a problem (as long as they don't get worse). Also, physically, what should I know before going in. My cardio is sub-par, so how could that play in? Personally, I'm working to stop my procrastination habit.

Thanks

[viper154]

The vision you listed is fine. I believe the FC1 requirements are 20/60 or better before you need a waiver. They look at a lot more than just that though. Look at your other vision numbers and compare them to the regs, most of which can be found in the aviation med section of this forum. Physically, the PT test is a joke. The 100 is hard to get but if you go to the gym and run a few miles a few times a week high 90s are easy. Again, google AF PFT test and the numbers should come up. 1.5 mile run 100 is 9:10 or so, just passing is around 12:30. Good news, you have 3+ years to get better at running. 

 

Best advice, keep getting good grades, do all the extra clubs and shenanigans if you want the academy, and hit the gym/track. Even if you decide you don't want to fly, these things will all help you in life. Getting into ROTC is as easy as it gets. Don't get arrested between now and then, get accepted to a school that has the program, contact the det the summer you start college and say "hey I want to join" and show up when they tell you. Profit. 

 

Other tips. Look around this Forum. Their is a plethora of great info on here, some is easy to find, some is buried 30 pages from 10 years ago, so do some digging. Get some hours flying and make sure you like it. You would be surprised how many people show up to IFS/UPT thinking they are going to be the next F-22 triple ace, get a couple rides in the plane,  and realize this isn't the business for them. 

[YoungnDumb]

Two mentalities when it comes to getting a pilot slot, option one, go to the Academy where you are basically guaranteed a pilot slot.  Option 2, go to regular college, attend ROTC, and hopefully get a pilot slot.  Each comes with its advantages and disadvantages.  

The Academy route basically guarantees you a pilot slot, something like 500 slots a year go to 550 people who want them, so pretty good odds.  Now the down side is you will not have a "regular" college experience.  You will operate under some quasi military structure which in reality is just there to impress the tourists and make good publicity for the Air Force mostly by way of the sports teams.  You might find a great sport or airfield activity to make life more bearable such as ultimate frisbee or becoming a glider IP, but your joy will be short lived as you are made to attend SAPR briefings on a near weekly basis and are force fed blue kool aid and lame propaganda under the guise of leadership, which is ironic as that place lacks most of the basics of good leadership.  But again, what is your goal?  If you want the best odds of securing a pilot slot, go to the Academy.  Now if you go the ROTC route you will have more regular experience in terms of partying, football on the weekends, non mandatory fun, lack of constant SAPR briefings, etc.  But you will be actively competing for your pilot slot against other motivated people.  So, what is your end goal?  I say all this as a grad who used the Academy to get a pilot slot.  Was it worth it? Yes.  Would I do it again knowing what I know now?  Hell no.  Go drink beer, make a few questionable life choices, and enjoy life.

As far as physical fitness, the biggest thing that helped me at the Academy was the fact that I ran 10K's almost every weekend.  The altitude (7258ft) is nothing to snub at as I've seen a lot of people wheezing pretty bad after their run.  So getting in solid shape will definitely help mitigate that.  Additionally running, or any regular physical workout helps you build mental strength as well which you will need going through Basic.  Plus by being fit you don't draw attention to yourself by being the lim fac for the rest of your flight/squadron.

Honestly though if you have questions about the Academy let me know and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

[guineapigfury]

If you're set on a particular airframe, find a guard or reserve unit that flies it and apply with them.

Edited April 22, 2016 by guineapigfury

[hispeed7721]

option one, go to the Academy where you are basically guaranteed a pilot slot.  

The Academy route basically guarantees you a pilot slot, something like 500 slots a year go to 550 people who want them, so pretty good odds.  

There is so much wrong with this statement...especially in recent years. 10-15+ years ago, yes, you could go to the Academy and be pretty much guaranteed a pilot spot. Since then the number of pilot spots per cadet class has gone down, significantly.

There have been recent classes where there were barely enough spots for 50% of the class. There have been classes where 90% of the class gets one...but that is definitely not the norm anymore.

Do not, in any way, make a decision to go the zoo based on a "guaranteed" pilot spot, because the only guarantee you'll have is to be sorely disappointed. There are some legitimate reasons to go to the academy, or at least there used to be. There are a lot of very legitimate reasons not to. But going because it's a guarantee to fly is one that will having you kick yourself for a long time.

[Rohhiram]

12 hours ago, YoungnDumb said:

Two mentalities when it comes to getting a pilot slot, option one, go to the Academy where you are basically guaranteed a pilot slot.  Option 2, go to regular college, attend ROTC, and hopefully get a pilot slot.  Each comes with its advantages and disadvantages.  

Option 3, join the Guard/Reserves. Find a unit with an air frame you want to fly, join the guard when you're 17, get help from them to pay for any college, be enlisted and do your Guard drills all through college, and then apply for a pilot slot with your unit after you get your degree. I know more than a few guys that took this route

[Switch408]

5 hours ago, hispeed7721 said:

There have been recent classes where there were barely enough spots for 50% of the class. There have been classes where 90% of the class gets one...but that is definitely not the norm anymore.

Yeah I think thats what YoungnDumb was getting at. Usually around 500 slots and only about 550 of the 1000 member class wants a slot. So odds are pretty good. My experience with this a few short years ago was that everyone that wanted a slot pretty much got one. The only people that didn't get one were literally at the bottom of the class and wouldn't have gotten one even if the whole class wanted one. We can agree to disagree, but I would maintain that (almost) guaranteeing a pilot slot is at least one of the main reasons to go. Don't suck, try a little, don't get caught with beer and freshmen in your room and you'll get a pilot slot at usafa. I had a blast there, but as previously alluded, I spent most of my time at the airfield. 

[Guest]

Yeah I think thats what YoungnDumb was getting at. Usually around 500 slots and only about 550 of the 1000 member class wants a slot. So odds are pretty good. My experience with this a few short years ago was that everyone that wanted a slot pretty much got one. The only people that didn't get one were literally at the bottom of the class and wouldn't have gotten one even if the whole class wanted one. We can agree to disagree, but I would maintain that (almost) guaranteeing a pilot slot is at least one of the main reasons to go. Don't suck, try a little, don't get caught with beer and freshmen in your room and you'll get a pilot slot at usafa. I had a blast there, but as previously alluded, I spent most of my time at the airfield. 

2006 we had more slots than qualified people wanting them. As a result, I know of at least one guy with poor grades who got upgraded from nav to pilot about a month out from graduating.

[Guest]

Option 3, join the Guard/Reserves. Find a unit with an air frame you want to fly, join the guard when you're 17, get help from them to pay for any college, be enlisted and do your Guard drills all through college, and then apply for a pilot slot with your unit after you get your degree. I know more than a few guys that took this route

This here is the best option though.

[YoungnDumb]

 

14 hours ago, hispeed7721 said:

There is so much wrong with this statement...especially in recent years. 10-15+ years ago, yes, you could go to the Academy and be pretty much guaranteed a pilot spot. Since then the number of pilot spots per cadet class has gone down, significantly.

There have been recent classes where there were barely enough spots for 50% of the class. There have been classes where 90% of the class gets one...but that is definitely not the norm anymore.

Do not, in any way, make a decision to go the zoo based on a "guaranteed" pilot spot, because the only guarantee you'll have is to be sorely disappointed. There are some legitimate reasons to go to the academy, or at least there used to be. There are a lot of very legitimate reasons not to. But going because it's a guarantee to fly is one that will having you kick yourself for a long time.

My gouge comes from my time at the Academy ('12 grad) where all but about 20 some people got a pilot slot.  Hell there were people in the 1000's who got a pilot slot (about 1050 in the class).  And word from many of my buddies who were the year after me was that the Academy had too many pilot slots and not enough people to fill them.  So while not fact, I would argue that the Academy does in fact just about guarantee you a pilot slot.  And yes, only about 50% of the class is a pilot, but that is also because only about 50% of the class wants to be a pilot.  There are a surprising amount of people at the Academy who simply want to go into contracting so they can Five and Dive then go work for some big corporation and have zero interest in becoming a pilot.

 

8 hours ago, ihtfp06 said:

2006 we had more slots than qualified people wanting them. As a result, I know of at least one guy with poor grades who got upgraded from nav to pilot about a month out from graduating.

Yup, happened with my graduating class as well.

 

[MadDogJr]

On 4/26/2016 at 11:14 PM, YoungnDumb said:

Honestly though if you have questions about the Academy let me know and I'll do my best to answer them for you.

Thanks. I was split between ROTC and the Academy. My mom graduated there back in 89', so it has always been a sort of goal and I visited it before. I'm learning to fly from my dad now, will this help at all? Also, I'm worried about being able to get in.

[YoungnDumb]

Honestly it doesn't seem to make a difference.  I've had students with 700 hours damn near fail out and I've had students who had literally never been in an airplane before (foreigners) who ranked in the top third.  It really comes down to attitude, if you are willing to forget what you learned and learn to accept the fact that the military flies a different way you'll be fine.  It's the guys who show up and think they know everything because they were a CFI that are the pains in my ass.  Show up, be humble, use your skills to help other out, and you will do fine.

Don't worry about getting in to the Academy.  Since one of your parents went there you have a pretty good shot at getting in.  Maintain good grades, participate in everything, and be active in sports and you shouldn't have an issue getting in.  I would recommend when you get there to really spend some time talking to cadets about what it is actually like.  The Academy has a very good propaganda team and often is very good at masking what life is really like there.  Again, my 2 cents would be to go to college and do ROTC, or like someone else mentioned join the Guard.

[hispeed7721]

Don't worry about getting in to the Academy.  Since one of your parents went there you have a pretty good shot at getting in.  

I promise I'm not just trying to be a naysayer to everything YoungnDumb says. But unless things have changed drastically in the past 15 years, your parents going there has absolutely ZERO to do with acceptance. It certainly doesn't give you "a pretty good shot at getting in."

Unless you bring it up in an interview, or know someone in a position of power who knows they went there, no one in the admittance chain will ever know about it.

Maintain good grades, participate in everything, and be active in sports

This is better advice. Do great in school (in all areas), do well in your interviews, and above all else - figure out if you actually want to go there. Talk to people, face to face, who have been there recently and who will give you a no BS rundown. There's good and bad, and you've got to figure out what your priorities are and what you want out of it.

It sounds like things have changed recently for flying spots, which is always good. Maybe that's the only thing you care about, and are willing to put up with all the other BS just for that. There's plenty of options, just get a good sight picture on each of them.

[hispeed7721]

I'm learning to fly from my dad now, will this help at all?

I'd agree with YoungnDumb wholeheartedly on his reply to this. Go into UPT knowing you're going to have to learn their way of doing it.

The biggest advantage of any prior flying is just having some semblance of SA when you're flying around, and being able to actually talk on a radio and keep flying at the same time. Don't get caught up in the procedures or the mechanics of it all. But airmanship is something you can develop that doesn't change from GA to AF flying.