From High School to USAF Fighter Pilot

[blu2blu]

My name is blu2blu
I'm from Texas.
I don't like SPAM, LIARS, FAKES
Love calling out losers.
Your english bites.

[cookderosa]

ROTC will help pay for college. I am not sure how much call the ROTC people at one of the colleges and ask. Don't overlook the navy! Naval aviation is excellent and the ROTC program may be a better deal than the air force. check into it!

I've been studying ROTC hard core for the past couple of days. This is the direction I'm encouraging for my son if he is still interested.

My rough plan for him is:
11th grade next year- continue with ALEKS maths, take 3-4 CLEPS.
12th grade- all online classes/CLEPS/DSST with APUS toward an AA/AS general studies type degree, hope to be close to finishing by the end of the summer.

If he is still interested in military, he can either go in at that time or start his bachelor's degree (with or without ROTC). If he decides not to do ROTC, I'd like to see him stay at a local college for his BA/BS anyway.

Fall- start ROTC at the university, transfer in his AA/AS.

This plan is very rough, and of course it depends on where his whimsy leads him between now and then.

[kellen1]

I just recently saw a short TV docum. on it and seriously looks like one of the toughest jobs out there. Fighter pilots are always subject to flying combat missions against enemy forces so be well prepared for that too.

[Prloko]

The AF fills it pilot roles through the AF academy (mainly). ROTC is not the best option for this. Also, my careeer field is full of academy pilot program wash outs. If your son makes all the entrance requirements but still washes out of the program (injury, medical, not fit for flight duty, etc), he will be expected to still honor his commitment and serve I believe four year minimum. The AF fills shortage career fields with wash-outs from high attrition programs, both officer and enlisted.

[rvadog]

To be 100%, there is almost zero chance of being a fighter pilot in the Air Force or even Navy without graduating from the academy. The vast majority of jet pilots graduate from the academy and EVERYONE wants to be a fighter pilot.

At 10th grade he may not need to know this, just dreaming about a fighter pilot might get him through high school, but that's the reality.

[jetmech68]

Removed by posting source.

[at2nfo]

Where are you getting your data from? I'm not trying to be rude, but ill share my data as far as the Navy goes. I'm currently an active duty Naval Officer. I was previously enlisted and completed my degree through TESC so that I could apply for a commission. At this time I'm currently in Flight School with around 200 other Naval Officers that were commissioned through the Academy, ROTC, and OCS. Where you commission from will not be an indicator on what you will fly. Your performance in flight school through the academic portion and your class ranking is what determines the aircraft you will fly. Lets say you want jets and you commissioned through OCS. You also have a class average higher than an academy or ROTC guy that wants jets. You will get first pick regardless of where the other guy commissioned from.

[JBjunior]

Where are you getting your data from? I'm not trying to be rude, but ill share my data as far as the Navy goes. I'm currently an active duty Naval Officer. I was previously enlisted and completed my degree through TESC so that I could apply for a commission. At this time I'm currently in Flight School with around 200 other Naval Officers that were commissioned through the Academy, ROTC, and OCS. Where you commission from will not be an indicator on what you will fly. Your performance in flight school through the academic portion and your class ranking is what determines the aircraft you will fly. Lets say you want jets and you commissioned through OCS. You also have a class average higher than an academy or ROTC guy that wants jets. You will get first pick regardless of where the other guy commissioned from.

They could be talking about sheer numbers. For example, out of the USCG Academy we have 20-25 members per year that go to flight school with 4-6 from OCS, and a mix of OCS/Academy that get pulled from the fleet before they make LT. We also take DCAs from Army and Navy primarily but the majority come out of the Academy.

[at2nfo]

They could be talking about sheer numbers. For example, out of the USCG Academy we have 20-25 members per year that go to flight school with 4-6 from OCS, and a mix of OCS/Academy that get pulled from the fleet before they make LT. We also take DCAs from Army and Navy primarily but the majority come out of the Academy.

Well I think the message that people following this should get is, every branch has its methods. No one has posted yet about the Army or Air Force but what has been posted should help. I think personally the Coast Guard has a great system by pulling fleet officers. For those who were interested in Navy Officer programs, please know that you don't have to be an Academy graduate to enjoy opportunities. I have met and worked for Officers in high positions in which I presumed they had that prestigious Academy background only to find out they were not Academy grads. From what I've personally witnessed and experienced, I feel OCS and ROTC still put out a better product for the fleet. There always seems to be that bred in arrogance from holding that academy title. These are my thoughts though, some biased, and some that are not.

[JBjunior]

Well I think the message that people following this should get is, every branch has its methods. No one has posted yet about the Army or Air Force but what has been posted should help. I think personally the Coast Guard has a great system by pulling fleet officers. For those who were interested in Navy Officer programs, please know that you don't have to be an Academy graduate to enjoy opportunities. I have met and worked for Officers in high positions in which I presumed they had that prestigious Academy background only to find out they were not Academy grads. From what I've personally witnessed and experienced, I feel OCS and ROTC still put out a better product for the fleet. There always seems to be that bred in arrogance from holding that academy title. These are my thoughts though, some biased, and some that are not.

As I am finishing up OCS our final writing assignment is Pro or Con, should we get rid of the service academies. One of the instructors at the Naval Academy just wrote a nice article on why the service academies should go away, in favor of ROTC and OCS due to many factors including cost ($400,000 for service academy grad compared to a few thousand for an OCS grad).