What are my chances with this background?

[Victor2]

So I am trying to become a fighter pilot in maybe the Gaurd or the reserves. I think Airforce would be the best place to go to get adjusted and then maybe transfer to the Navy later on but please correct me if I am wrong. So I am going to put some bullet points here of what I have done so far in life.

• First thing I will put down is background history. I was a farmer for four years when I started working for income, I then started working at a dealership for two and a half years doing a range of things from cutting up metal poles and other such things to gardening and landscaping and filling in holes with quick asphalt and leveling stones, as well as a valeigh. I went from there to college for almost a year maybe more, and I took an engineering associates degree course but failed miserably getting a C in materials class, a D in math and an F, in engineering graphics. I was still working at the dealership part-time and had a hard time keeping up with the work, but no excuses I just had a hard time with the math and EGR and with the course in general. I did do the best I could at the time and I finally had to stop because of not having the funds to continue schooling. So while I was there I went to their workforce solutions office and applied at CDS Tractor Trailer Training and I graduated with a Class A CDL and in April of 2017, I started working with Swift Transportation as a truck driver. I work there for 5 months, however due, to the fact that my trainer did not do a very good job at giving me the backs I needed to become fluent and due to that I struggled a lot with backing into spaces and a couple times in a parking lot and trailer yard had an accident and few other moving forward accidents in the yards. But other than that I did alright other than trip planning because he did not train me how to work from an atlas so that further increased my difficulty. However, I loved doing the job. From there I went to work for Lowes in Winchester, and was there for I believe a good 9 months to a year and then I resigned and I am now at the School of Discipleship where I am learning about everything from English to Systematic and Practical Theology as well as Bible Study Methods and still more to come. I major in Horse Barn and I have been learning a whole lot about caring for horses and riding though not the best yet I am working towards that. Here I am so far getting a 3.5 GPA and I just went through an ACBC Course which is a course that prepares us to be certified Biblical Counselors.
• Physically speaking, I am in pretty decent shape and started working out with a great friend here at school. I in November of 2018 however, injured my left knee when I ran around another friends car and hit his hitch on platform full speed trying to accomplish chores quickly. It is hard to move if I am sitting for a long period of time or if I have been bending down on it for long. I have been trying to contact the doctor to try and set up a second appointment to get it further investigated as to what to do next to help it heal properly and quickly as possible. 
• My age is 24 and the program only goes for a year unless further prolonged by the student himself/herself, and I have considered doing a second year here; however, with that in mind, by the time I graduate my second year, I would have turned 26 and in August of my 26th year graduate because on the 27th of this month I turn 25; what I am most afraid of is since the Airforce wants you to graduate their school by age 31, that it would hurt my chances of getting in to one of their schools. 

 

So with that in mind, and I have not had any major operations on my body either, what would your advice be to someone like me, who really desires to be a fighter pilot? Do I have a going chance? Should I get a bachelors in flight? Should I start school next year in flight school or OTS and how long would the selecting for OTS selection process be?  Should I give up? Is there a chance that I have been told wrong about the age limit? How also do I choose my base if I would like to fly like the new F-15x's, F-22 Raptors, or F-35s is that even a possibility?

Thanks for serving our country and people and God bless and thanks for any answers you have!

[ayz33]

Well you need a bachelors in something, not sure if your school is an accredited university or not. You'll need to have a good gpa to be competitive.

The required age to start UPT is 30(usually). You need to take the AFOQT and TBAS as well..try getting a pilots license or some flight hours to help with those

[Victor2]

On ‎2‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 4:54 PM, PilotCandidate said:

Well you certainly have a unique background!

I have absolutely no clue what accredation the “School of Discipleship” has but to even be considered to be a USAF pilot you’ll need a Bachelors degree. 

After graduating with a bachelors degree (preferably with high GPA; >3.0) you will be eligible to attend OTS and so on.

If the school you’re in now doesn’t grant bachelors degrees then you’ll need to find, and enroll in, a college that does. If this is the case, then you are, unfortunately, in for a long, uphill battle as most (Guard and reserve) fighter units won’t entertain applicants >28yo.

 

Your best course of action today would be to call a recruiter (or ROTC program) and get an AFOQT and TBAS test scheduled. Without either of those, you won’t be able to apply for anything and no one on this forum will be able to give you an accurate evaluation.

Also, look into a local flight school and buy a discovery flight to make sure you actually enjoy flying. 

 

TL;DR- get a bachelors degree, take AFOQT and TBAS, apply. 

Truth is, you’re late to the game right now. If you truly want this, it’s still yours for the taking. But you need to get on this ASAP

Thank you for the answer, yes it is kind of discouraging that I am getting such a late start ugh. On the otherhand, knowing that I have had a hard time with math, would flight school be a good idea instead of starting out with a degree like engineering? Or would it be better just to get a mentor through the whole process and get an engineering degree? Also can I take practice tests for both tests? What schools or universities would you suggest I apply or look up for like flight training or anything aeronautical?

[Victor2]

On ‎2‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 5:02 PM, ayz33 said:

Well you need a bachelors in something, not sure if your school is an accredited university or not. You'll need to have a good gpa to be competitive.

The required age to start UPT is 30(usually). You need to take the AFOQT and TBAS as well..try getting a pilots license or some flight hours to help with those

Okay so my question is what is UPT? I have heard of OTS, ROTC, AFA but not UPT. Also I will ask you the same question as I asked the last man, what schools would you suggest I go to, to get an bachelors and what degree would you suggest I get it in? I have looked up University of North Dakota, Bridgewater, and Embry Riddle. Is there any others?

[pawnman]

2 minutes ago, Victor2 said:

Okay so my question is what is UPT? I have heard of OTS, ROTC, AFA but not UPT. Also I will ask you the same question as I asked the last man, what schools would you suggest I go to, to get an bachelors and what degree would you suggest I get it in? I have looked up University of North Dakota, Bridgewater, and Embry Riddle. Is there any others?

Undergraduate Pilot Training.  

[Victor2]

1 hour ago, pawnman said:

Undergraduate Pilot Training.  

So where could I go to find this Undergraduate Pilot Training and also on an side note, what it like in the daily life of a fighter pilot and does Airforce pay well in that area of expertise? Also do you get much free time? Is it possible to fast track a bachelors into a 3 year program?

[ayz33]

8 minutes ago, Victor2 said:

So where could I go to find this Undergraduate Pilot Training and also on an side note, what it like in the daily life of a fighter pilot and does Airforce pay well in that area of expertise? Also do you get much free time? Is it possible to fast track a bachelors into a 3 year program?

Just gonna let you know right up front that you have a lot of googling to do, as well as familiarizing yourself with the search function on this site

[Victor2]

Could you please explain. I understand the familiarizing yourself part with the search engine, but the googling part is what I am having a hard time with.

[nsplayr]

https://lmgtfy.com/?iie=1&q=undergraduate+pilot+training

Has to be a troll or honestly ya ain't gonna make it in pilot training if you have zero idea how to google something.

You managed to find this forum so I mean you're not completely illiterate but FFS, search around, learn the basics (you need a 4-year undergraduate degree from an accredited university, you need to get commissioned, you need to apply for an earn a pilot slot, you need to complete UPT, etc.). Most of that info can be found using the good ole' internet using a some simple search terms in google.

Good luck and god speed, I think you're gonna need it!

[Victor2]

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 9:08 PM, nsplayr said:

https://lmgtfy.com/?iie=1&q=undergraduate+pilot+training

Has to be a troll or honestly ya ain't gonna make it in pilot training if you have zero idea how to google something.

You managed to find this forum so I mean you're not completely illiterate but FFS, search around, learn the basics (you need a 4-year undergraduate degree from an accredited university, you need to get commissioned, you need to apply for an earn a pilot slot, you need to complete UPT, etc.). Most of that info can be found using the good ole' internet using a some simple search terms in google.

Good luck and god speed, I think you're gonna need it!

Yeah I can actually kind of see why you said that lol. On a lighter note I just didn't know what terms he was talking about. But I have done that research no doubt and I have been looking as schools for flight training and degrees in that area. Do you have any advice as to which flight school to go to? What degree did you get? 

Thank you for all the info and Gods speed to you too fellow American!