Choices: What should I do?

[WannaFly2019]

Hey all,

This will be a little lengthy and explaining what I've been through to get where I am right now.  For those of you who have an answer to any of my questions, I thank you in advance for reading through everything.  If anyone knows who I am personally, you'll probably know this is me based on the specifics I'm providing.  I just ask you don't say anything personal about me on here.  Thanks!

I'll start from the beginning and end where I am now:

I was allocated a pilot slot in my junior year out of AFROTC.  I have really competitive scores (AFOQT Pilot 99, PCSM 89, 140 hours, never below 99% on PFA, good GPA, etc.), so I was not too worried going into the slot.  In the following October, I was picked up for ENJJPT.  Yet, I had not been to WPAFB for the medical yet.  Come November, I was at WP getting my medical done (hi stuckindayton, you probably will know who I am if you're reading this lol), and failed due to eye issues.  I don't think it's really necessary to go into the details here (you'll see why later).

Now, I officially was DQed in March (no wavier opportunity, only ETP, which my Det did not put me up for).  I graduated and commissioned in May, so obviously it did not leave me many options for my non-rated job.  Therefore, AFPC put me in Weather, which was my degree.  For those of you saying now "you'll never fly, WX is crit manned," it's not anymore, it's over assessed as of the past few years since 2016, I heard that part straight from the horses mouth.  So, I graduated and commissioned and waited on my orders to come in.

Come late September of 2018, I get notification after communication with WPAFB that my condition is waiverable.  Around this same time, I was starting on AD.  My SQ/CC was all for me applying to the AD board, but unfortunately by the time I arrived on station, it was too late and we were way too close to the boards for an ETP to go through for my less than 1 year TIS.  However, around this same time I received my waiver for my condition and got my FCI back in hand (yay!).  My girlfriend, whom is soon to be fiancee (yay again!), is currently halfway through UPT at XL and will be in T-1s soon enough.  She's extremely interested in becoming a T-1 FAIP.

Here we are, current day.   I'm still flying and soon to be pursuing my IFR ticket, will probably be close to 200 hours by the fall.  I have a few options I want to pursue, but would like some targeted feedback by people living and breathing the communities now.  Obviously these questions are based upon if I get selected, I know that it's not set in stone and I have to re-compete.  I like to plan ahead.

1)  First option is going to be applying for the AD board come this September.  Hopefully by selection we'll be able to Join Spouse it and I can come to XL (that is, if she T-1 FAIPs).

1a) Now, saying that she does FAIP, then would she be able to leave the FAIP commitment early and follow me?  We both want heavies, and we really do not necessarily care what air frame when it comes down to it, we both just want to fly.  Essentially, would they allow her to Join Spouse from FAIP if we compete for airframes at the same time (guessing she'd be about 24 out of her 48 month commitment by this point).

2) I apply for Guard Units.  This is something I have always wanted to do in the end, but by the time they pick me up (if it were to happen), I wouldn't be towards the end of my commitment (I'd be about 24 months in out of 48, just guesstimating).  What are the chances that they would push a waiver/ETP?  I'm guessing the answer here will be "depends on the unit," which I understand.

3) I stay where I am and get out after 4 years and then go Guard.  I'm currently OCONUS, so if I were to stay OCONUS and she Join Spoused to me, then my DEROS would change to her DEROS and I definitely do not want to be stuck on a rock in the middle of the Pacific for 5 to 6 years.  This option, to me, is kind of last resort, as I really want to get to UPT if I can.

I know the way I wrote this might be a little  confusing to some and I apologize for that.  I wrote it kind of how I think aloud lol.

Thanks for your time.  If you need any additional information to help in any answers, I have no problem providing it.  Again, if you know me, please don't say you do lol.

 

[Uptapplicant2019]

Can't answer your question entirely, just want to point out what I've seen with my married mil-mil aviator friends... Unless you fly the same aircraft, the odds of you being stationed together is extremely poor. 

Air Force doesn't seem to bend much for joint spouse when both are pilots.

[Duck]

I know of a couple who were able to do some sort of “horse trading” etc to ensure that the wife (late rated UPT stud) ended up with identical orders to her husband who was a MWS guy. The caveat was that she had to “earn” the location. He had orders to a nice base but when she tanked UPT, they gave her the worst assignment for his MWS and AFPC amended his orders to match. So yeah it does happen. I would say be proactive. It might be a situation though where you get an assignment first and then they work through the FAIP drop to get her to join you later. That’s probably more likely than her getting early parole.

 

 

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[WannaFly2019]

1 hour ago, Uptapplicant2019 said:

Can't answer your question entirely, just want to point out what I've seen with my married mil-mil aviator friends... Unless you fly the same aircraft, the odds of you being stationed together is extremely poor. 

Air Force doesn't seem to bend much for joint spouse when both are pilots.

Hey thanks for the response.  That's really good information to know.  I have heard of people being able to JS to their Spouse's airframe, but obviously would be limited by available spots.  I think that's a good thing that we both don't want like... F22s.

[YoungnDumb]

On 1/22/2019 at 10:33 AM, WannaFly2019 said:

1)  First option is going to be applying for the AD board come this September.  Hopefully by selection we'll be able to Join Spouse it and I can come to XL (that is, if she T-1 FAIPs).

1a) Now, saying that she does FAIP, then would she be able to leave the FAIP commitment early and follow me?  We both want heavies, and we really do not necessarily care what air frame when it comes down to it, we both just want to fly.  Essentially, would they allow her to Join Spouse from FAIP if we compete for airframes at the same time (guessing she'd be about 24 out of her 48 month commitment by this point).

First of all, don't FAIP to Laughlin.  Just don't.

Second, if she did get FAIP'ed I would be extremely skeptical that she could jump year groups or anything to come and meet you, never heard of it.  Most likely is that she would stay in her year group but get an early departure (so 3-9 months prior to her 3 years post PIT).

Finally, just because someone wants to FAIP doesn't mean they will.  In all my time I only saw 2 people who had FAIP as #1 get it.  You have to be a good pilot to get FAIP'ed and the squadron has to not hate you.

[WannaFly2019]

34 minutes ago, YoungnDumb said:

First of all, don't FAIP to Laughlin.  Just don't.

Second, if she did get FAIP'ed I would be extremely skeptical that she could jump year groups or anything to come and meet you, never heard of it.  Most likely is that she would stay in her year group but get an early departure (so 3-9 months prior to her 3 years post PIT).

Finally, just because someone wants to FAIP doesn't mean they will.  In all my time I only saw 2 people who had FAIP as #1 get it.  You have to be a good pilot to get FAIP'ed and the squadron has to not hate you.

Thanks for the input.  Referencing the "just because they want to", yes I understand that, which is why I typed it out with a lot of "ifs".  Regardless, it's good to get more aspect on the changing year groups.  Thanks!

[ThreeHoler]

AETC isn’t letting anyone out of their controlled tour early these days. Haven’t you heard? We need to produce more pilots to fix the shortage!


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[Torch09]

On the FAIP commitment and early release/matching up with a spouse's MWS timeline:

I was in a nearly identical situation.  My spouse was due to finish her non-flying FTU and receive an assignment about 6mo prior to my FAIP commitment (3yrs from end of PIT) ending.  I spoke with my Sq/CC, she called AFPC to see what MWS FTU courses were available, and I departed my FAIP assignment 5mo early.  

If your (or her) CC is willing to let you/her go and suffer the vacancy, it shouldn't be a problem.  However, your/her CC also has the authority to deny that request and jack up your join spouse timeline.