Non-Rated OTS Selectee to Pilot?

[The Bad News Bear]

Hello all,

I plan on applying for the 18OT02 active duty board and had a question. I want to apply for a rated slot but because I got hit with a surprise deployment in July of this year I have not been able to take the TBAS as required to apply for rated. As such, I plan on applying for this next board as a non rated applicant on the advice of my chief saying that I can also try to become a pilot after OTS selection and that now would be the best time for me as we have the support of my group leadership and above to get the 2star to sign off on my LOR and that may change by the time the next AD board rolls around because our group leadership will have changed. My question is does anyone know how hard it is, or just what the route is in general that one must take to become a pilot or other rated officer if you have been accepted as a non-rated selectee? Thanks in advance.

[LookieRookie]

That's not going to happen.

[Switch408]

If all you're worried about with regard to applying next year is that you won't get the 2-star to sign an LOR, can you not just ask your leadership to send it up with the understanding that the LOR will be used for an application to next year's board? 

[HU&W]

I went to OTS from enlisted with later crossflow to UPT.  The odds are stacked against you.  If you really want to be rated, apply for it from the beginning, even if the politics seem less favorable.  If you want to be an O, and rated is a secondary consideration, apply now.

[Vimix22]

Applying to the non-rated OTS board would definitely be a bad plan. At best, you would likely serve 2-4 years in a non-rated job before having the opportunity to apply and get accepted to crosstrain into UPT. It is also one of the more difficult routes to get to UPT since they only hold 1 board per year and can take as few as 14 pilot selects depending on the yearly requirements. As others have said above I would recommend applying for UPT early, with your OTS application. 

[Uber]

Agree will everything above. Typically a letter of recommendation is good for a year. I did the OTS non-rated route and it took getting rejected 3 times to cross flow until I was picked up for UPT. That’s 5 years lost.

[AFZ06]

Don't do it. Wait and apply for what you really want. There is always a chance to cross-flow after OTS and apply to the UFT board. But your chances are much greater and it will make for a much easier road applying for pilot in the beginning.