2025 ACTIVE DUTY UFT BOARD

[PewPewBoom]

On 1/8/2025 at 8:40 PM, Olds said:

This wait is killing me!

Did anyone put RPA as #1 pick?

I did. I've been in for 13 years and don't intend on staying another 12+ for the pilot track.

[QUAG]

2 Fridays down 

3 Fridays to go

 

I am hopelessly opportunistic about a release the week of 24 Jan. “End of Jan tentative release”  is about as vague as we can get. 
 

 

[bpep887]

15 minutes ago, QUAG said:

2 Fridays down 

3 Fridays to go

 

I am hopelessly opportunistic about a release the week of 24 Jan. “End of Jan tentative release”  is about as vague as we can get. 
 

 

Yeah gonna be honest, this waiting game was hard the last couple months but it's unbearable now. It's impossible to not think about it all day 🤣

[Otter]

Based on last year's board and how long it took to get the budget approved I'm betting on no earlier than 31 JAN 2025. Similar situation for my OTS board back in 2019. Classic hurry up and wait game. I was an alternate last year and I'm holding out some hope that this year works out. Little background, 1000 hour MQ-9 IP w/ an LNO deployment, annual award, and a few quarterly awards.

Regardless of results, don't let comparison be the thief of joy. My alternate slot last year had me very bitter for the better part of the spring. End of the day, the board has there specific instructions for each year and they will not disclose those nor will they give you feedback on what made you a select, non-select, or alternate.  Sucks given the emphasis on feedback for everything that we do day to day - oh well.

Best advice is don't worry about the things you can't control. Best of luck to all.
 

Cheers, 

Otter

[SLAM28]

15 hours ago, Otter said:

Based on last year's board and how long it took to get the budget approved I'm betting on no earlier than 31 JAN 2025. Similar situation for my OTS board back in 2019. Classic hurry up and wait game. I was an alternate last year and I'm holding out some hope that this year works out. Little background, 1000 hour MQ-9 IP w/ an LNO deployment, annual award, and a few quarterly awards.

Regardless of results, don't let comparison be the thief of joy. My alternate slot last year had me very bitter for the better part of the spring. End of the day, the board has there specific instructions for each year and they will not disclose those nor will they give you feedback on what made you a select, non-select, or alternate.  Sucks given the emphasis on feedback for everything that we do day to day - oh well.

Best advice is don't worry about the things you can't control. Best of luck to all.
 

Cheers, 

Otter

I’m in a similar position this year as you were last year minus the K code. What was your PCSM?

[Otter]

3 hours ago, SLAM28 said:

I’m in a similar position this year as you were last year minus the K code. What was your PCSM?

Scores as follows:     Pilot: 84 // CSO: 75 // ABM: 75 // AA: 34 // Verbal: 42 // Quantitative: 29 // PCSM: 84 

I didn't retake anything for this board. I was swamped with LNO, Red Flag, Fleet Synthetic Training for the Navy and now Freedom Flag - been going non-stop since January of '24. I have a "wild take" that I'm a rated officer and a PIC, if the board wants to say that I'm not qual'd for UPT off my PCSM/ AFOQT then so be it. The PCSM is supposed to tell the board if we can pass flight training - with our aeronautical ratings we've already demonstrated that. 

Cheers, 

Otter

[SLAM28]

5 minutes ago, Otter said:

Scores as follows:     Pilot: 84 // CSO: 75 // ABM: 75 // AA: 34 // Verbal: 42 // Quantitative: 29 // PCSM: 84 

I didn't retake anything for this board. I was swamped with LNO, Red Flag, Fleet Synthetic Training for the Navy and now Freedom Flag - been going non-stop since January of '24. I have a "wild take" that I'm a rated officer and a PIC, if the board wants to say that I'm not qual'd for UPT off my PCSM/ AFOQT then so be it. The PCSM is supposed to tell the board if we can pass flight training - with our aeronautical ratings we've already demonstrated that. 

Cheers, 

Otter

Totally agree! Good luck!

[T28Trojan]

23 hours ago, Otter said:

Scores as follows:     Pilot: 84 // CSO: 75 // ABM: 75 // AA: 34 // Verbal: 42 // Quantitative: 29 // PCSM: 84 

I didn't retake anything for this board. I was swamped with LNO, Red Flag, Fleet Synthetic Training for the Navy and now Freedom Flag - been going non-stop since January of '24. I have a "wild take" that I'm a rated officer and a PIC, if the board wants to say that I'm not qual'd for UPT off my PCSM/ AFOQT then so be it. The PCSM is supposed to tell the board if we can pass flight training - with our aeronautical ratings we've already demonstrated that. 

Cheers, 

Otter

Iast year I applied with 98 pilot / 96 PCSM / 72 cso / 73 ABM / 29 aa / 33 verbal / 32 quantitative and didn’t get picked up. Non rated with average record.
 There was a person last year who got selected with 34 PCSM, that stung but good for them. I hope they become a flag officer one day lol. 
 

Otter, I think what’s gonna hurt you the most is that MQ-9s are gonna be around for while, tough to let someone cross flow with as much experience as you got under your belt. We gotta shoot our shot tho! Good luck everyone

[QUAG]

10 minutes ago, T28Trojan said:

Iast year I applied with 98 pilot / 96 PCSM / 72 cso / 73 ABM / 29 aa / 33 verbal / 32 quantitative and didn’t get picked up. Non rated with average record.
 There was a person last year who got selected with 34 PCSM, that stung but good for them. I hope they become a flag officer one day lol. 
 

Otter, I think what’s gonna hurt you the most is that MQ-9s are gonna be around for while, tough to let someone cross flow with as much experience as you got under your belt. We gotta shoot our shot tho! Good luck everyone

2 MQ-9 guys from my squadron got picked up last year. Both graduated flight commanders about to meet their major board.

99 Pilot/90 PCSM ENJPT select. He was prior enlisted pushing 32 years of age.

 

99 Pilot/99 PCSM Del Rio select. Normal ROTC dude. Applied 5 times before being selected.

 I don’t necessarily agree that they are hesitant to let RPA dudes cross train. We are at over 100% manning for the career field and they have a significant legacy pilot shortage. 
 

I think it comes down to luck and a nice package so to speak. 

Edited Sunday at 10:34 PM by QUAG

[coppy]

I just went through my package again and found a noticeable typo in my Letter of Rec. Hopefully that is not the determining factor in my case. LOL

I wonder if AFPC deviates from the board ranking, and for what reasons they might do that? I wonder if they take into consideration career field health if they veer away from the board.

Edited Monday at 12:54 AM by coppy

[Otter]

5 hours ago, T28Trojan said:

Otter, I think what’s gonna hurt you the most is that MQ-9s are gonna be around for while, tough to let someone cross flow with as much experience as you got under your belt. We gotta shoot our shot tho! Good luck everyone

Similar to what QUAG was saying, it's not uncommon for MQ-9 guys to escape to UPT. They are definitely hesitant but if you look at the results from previous years its totally doable. We are plussed up on numbers as well. 

The Air Force also has to play the balance game of retaining talent and pushing them to cross training opportunities. My old Chief Pilot here got out after being denied from UPT. Took his talents to the Airlines and used his GI Bill for ratings. Its a tricky balancing act especially with a 6 year ADSC career. 

We'll see what the board has in store for us "Magic Flying Robot" guys/gals.

Edited Monday at 04:22 AM by Otter

[T28Trojan]

12 hours ago, coppy said:

I just went through my package again and found a noticeable typo in my Letter of Rec. Hopefully that is not the determining factor in my case. LOL

I wonder if AFPC deviates from the board ranking, and for what reasons they might do that? I wonder if they take into consideration career field health if they veer away from the board.

The fact that it takes this long, I’m sure there is some deviation. 

[LegalPen]

Anyone hear anything? Who is brave enough to ask on the portal and/or email???

[coppy]

32 minutes ago, LegalPen said:

Anyone hear anything? Who is brave enough to ask on the portal and/or email???

I emailed them a week ago, no updates besides end of Jan and commander notification 3 days prior. However, a lot can change in a week.

[AngrySlam]

No word to MAJCOMMs yet

 

[QUAG]

On 1/13/2025 at 10:01 AM, coppy said:

I emailed them a week ago, no updates besides end of Jan and commander notification 3 days prior. However, a lot can change in a week.

Last year commanders were notified the same day the results were published.  Who knows.  
 

“end of Jan” is so relative. Did they split January into halves? Thus making the 16th the end of January? That would be the best possible outcome. 
 

My current job is making this wait unbearable. I instruct and fly (MQ9) twice a week and sit at my desk the rest of the week waiting for news. Good or bad, I don’t care. I just want to know if I need to prep for a move. 

[PewPewBoom]

9 minutes ago, QUAG said:

Last year commanders were notified the same day the results were published.  Who knows.  
 

“end of Jan” is so relative. Did they split January into halves? Thus making the 16th the end of January? That would be the best possible outcome. 
 

My current job is making this wait unbearable. I instruct and fly (MQ9) twice a week and sit at my desk the rest of the week waiting for news. Good or bad, I don’t care. I just want to know if I need to prep for a move. 

Is the wait what sucks? Or the job itself? 

[QUAG]

4 minutes ago, PewPewBoom said:

Is the wait what sucks? Or the job itself? 

The wait. I love my desk job. I’m the Chief of Stan Eval. There is just lots of down time which enables me to exclusively think about the board results. 

[AngrySlam]

Also in the same boat with unbearable wait. Feel like I ping my boss every 10 minutes

 

[PewPewBoom]

11 minutes ago, QUAG said:

The wait. I love my desk job. I’m the Chief of Stan Eval. There is just lots of down time which enables me to exclusively think about the board results. 

Haha, ok, as someone who applied for RPA that's good to hear. 

 

I know not everyone loves RPA, or any job for that matter, but it's good to hear you like yours. And I'm right there with you; Chief of Flight Safety and checking this forum and all of the AF pages 10 times a day for info; the wait sucks. 

[BeerForMyHorses]

6 hours ago, QUAG said:

Last year commanders were notified the same day the results were published.  Who knows.  

Last year my commander was notified 7 days prior to official release. My understanding is 7 days is the standard. Good luck everyone!

[QUAG]

10 hours ago, BeerForMyHorses said:

Last year my commander was notified 7 days prior to official release. My understanding is 7 days is the standard. Good luck everyone!

That’s wild! Our guys were notified same day lol. I wonder if our Wg/Gp/Sq dropped the ball last year. 

[QUAG]

16 hours ago, PewPewBoom said:

Haha, ok, as someone who applied for RPA that's good to hear. 

 

I know not everyone loves RPA, or any job for that matter, but it's good to hear you like yours. And I'm right there with you; Chief of Flight Safety and checking this forum and all of the AF pages 10 times a day for info; the wait sucks. 

Dude, RPA’s have been great! I’ve been home every night, work life balance has been sweet, airplane is reliable and effective and I’ve had a direct impact on saving friendly forces by prosecuting enemy targets. 
 

My BS is in Aviation and I miss being in the plane. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m willing to give all that up just to fly again. 
 

99% of folks who are RPA love it! I’ve never had a bad commander or DO, locations are not terrible. Deployments and TDY’s are abundant.  I’m not saying that will be the universal expierence, just mine. Only guys who don’t love it are AFSOC at Cannon. 
 

 

QUAG

[PewPewBoom]

56 minutes ago, QUAG said:

Dude, RPA’s have been great! I’ve been home every night, work life balance has been sweet, airplane is reliable and effective and I’ve had a direct impact on saving friendly forces by prosecuting enemy targets. 
 

My BS is in Aviation and I miss being in the plane. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m willing to give all that up just to fly again. 
 

99% of folks who are RPA love it! I’ve never had a bad commander or DO, locations are not terrible. Deployments and TDY’s are abundant.  I’m not saying that will be the universal expierence, just mine. Only guys who don’t love it are AFSOC at Cannon. 
 

 

QUAG

Man, can't tell you how nice it is to hear all of that. I'm sort of in the opposite position of you; I'm on a platform with a bad maintenance record and honestly just want a break from flying (primarily to have a more stable home life). I know "the grass is always greener...," but I'm hoping RPA will be a good fit for my family and I for the last part of my career.

Praying we both get the job we're hoping for!

[GoYankees2025]

First time posting here and happy for this resource being available. I wanted to ask if anyone has seen or heard of this happening. I am currently on the VML for this upcoming cycle and received an assignment. My PDD date was already moved to accommodate the release of the rated boards results. My assignment team called me last week to tell me not to schedule my HHG movements and that they were cancelling my assignment until after the board results are released because they heard I was being "considered". Is this normal?