Is it realistic to go for ANG Heavies for a 30 y/o?

[benff89]

Hey everyone! First off, merry Christmas. 2nd I know I’m a little behind the game applying I just found out you could be a reserve pilot a few months ago, let alone not be a pilot to apply. ANG is the only route for flying within a 3 hour drive for my wife and I. Shoot it straight for me. Scores as follows:

Pilot 94 Nav 78 AA 67 Verb 67 Quant 62

PCSM 57 w/5 flight hours. 

GPA: 2.872 in Poli sci and religious studies  (I went full liberal arts in college and first half was rough)

I’m a 30 year old firefighter working in a city in New England and have been for the last 5 years. Worked for a large insurance company before that but traded the money to be a firefighter. My goal is to show the board I A) want to fly B) am dedicated to service and C) am not the guy I was in college as demonstrated by my work since then.

3 LORs (honestly don’t know any pilots personally to get letters from):

My fire chief from my fire dept  

My a lieutenant on my current department who was my instructor and has been in fires with me. 

my formal mentor from my days at Liberty Mutual. 

the units in the state I live in and am a firefighter in are both heavies so I’m hoping to gain traction when they open up. My goal is to up the PCSM with both flight hours and a TBAS retest in 5 months. Bottom line should I even expect an interview til I get that score up? I’ve really felt like I under performed that day and the score shows.  Thanks for the insight guys. 

Edited December 27, 2020 by benff89
Added clarification

[c130rob]

What is your PCSM at 201+ hours? Some units look at that PCSM to make the determination from what I have heard. 

[benff89]

10 hours ago, c130rob said:

What is your PCSM at 201+ hours? Some units look at that PCSM to make the determination from what I have heard. 

My 201+ score is 90. So I’m about 195 hours away from that. 

[Prayforwaves321]

On 12/26/2020 at 12:21 AM, benff89 said:

ANG is the only route for flying within a 3 hour drive for my wife and I. Shoot it straight for me. Scores as follows:

Pilot 94 Nav 78 AA 67 Verb 67 Quant 62

PCSM 57 w/5 flight hours. 
 

I’d finish your ppl and expand your search from 3 hour drive to CONUS.

[Metalhead731]

Fellow 30-year-old checking in. Just got picked up for a heavy unit this year. It's very possible. Keep flying to get that PCSM up and finish a PPL. Prepare a solid resume, cover letter, and start reaching out to those units. Might take some time given the state of things now but don't give up. Took me almost 2 years before getting hired. If you're up for it and your lifestyle would allow, I would expand that search as has been suggested, and commute. Good luck!

Edited December 27, 2020 by Metalhead731

[benff89]

5 hours ago, Prayforwaves321 said:

I’d finish your ppl and expand your search from 3 hour drive to CONUS.

This may be an extremely ignorant question but I assume that if you get picked up by a unit you are there to stay? My wife has agreed she would take a leave of absence for the years in training but her expectation is to return to New England so she can continue her career with the DAs office.

I was listening in on a zoom call for a F35 unit a few weeks ago and I couldnt help but notice tons of people from states where the 35 will be going in the next few years. Are they banking on some kind of transfer potential?

[benff89]

5 hours ago, Metalhead731 said:

Fellow 30-year-old checking in. Just got picked up for a heavy unit this year. It's very possible. Keep flying to get that PCSM up and finish a PPL. Prepare a solid resume, cover letter, and start reaching out to those units. Might take some time given the state of things now but don't give up. Took me almost 2 years before getting hired. If you're up for it and your lifestyle would allow, I would expand that search as has been suggested, and commute. Good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement! I’m not counting on it being a short quest that’s for sure. Congrats on the pick up! 

[FDNYOldGuy]

100%, bro. Granted, I hit a different timing window (2.5 years ago) than you are, but I got Reserves heavies at 36 when the limit was still 30. The limit is now 33, so you wouldn’t even need a waiver to get hired now. 

Problem is the squadron hiring boards have slowed to snail’s pace, competition has ramped up as the job market outside sours, and the Reserve UPT boards have become insanely competitive since Active Duty has taken Reserves UPT slots. 

Bottom line, you’re gonna have to pull up that PCSM. Recent hires with my squadron and others I’ve heard about are not getting selected for UPT by Reserves boards due to low-mid 70s PCSM scores. That’s passing for board standards, but they’re less likely to pick you over another Reserves candidate with higher PCSM. 

Guard doesn’t have this hurdle (I don’t think), but their pipeline timelines are much longer (which hurts with your age) and they also face limited slots/higher competition.

For sure, you’ve got a shot, but you need to put in a ton of legwork and hustle to try to get yourself as polished for hiring boards and ahead of the game as possible. Competition is stiff (sts), so you’ve gotta be on your game to get that call; even more so than usual. But, always possible!

[benff89]

1 hour ago, FDNYOldGuy said:

100%, bro. Granted, I hit a different timing window (2.5 years ago) than you are, but I got Reserves heavies at 36 when the limit was still 30. The limit is now 33, so you wouldn’t even need a waiver to get hired now. 

Problem is the squadron hiring boards have slowed to snail’s pace, competition has ramped up as the job market outside sours, and the Reserve UPT boards have become insanely competitive since Active Duty has taken Reserves UPT slots. 

Bottom line, you’re gonna have to pull up that PCSM. Recent hires with my squadron and others I’ve heard about are not getting selected for UPT by Reserves boards due to low-mid 70s PCSM scores. That’s passing for board standards, but they’re less likely to pick you over another Reserves candidate with higher PCSM. 

Guard doesn’t have this hurdle (I don’t think), but their pipeline timelines are much longer (which hurts with your age) and they also face limited slots/higher competition.

For sure, you’ve got a shot, but you need to put in a ton of legwork and hustle to try to get yourself as polished for hiring boards and ahead of the game as possible. Competition is stiff (sts), so you’ve gotta be on your game to get that call; even more so than usual. But, always possible!

I appreciate the feedback. That’s really the gut feeling I had when I took everything in about where I stood. Thanks for letting me know I’m not off the mark. Just gotta keep working.