Forum: Future F-16 crew

Hey there! Well I am looking to become a fighter pilot and so far this is the route I am going... I am accepted into the Ohio State University as a transfer student and am doing Air National Guard to pay for it.

I have the choice of being a crew chief for KC-135 which is in Columbus, F-16 crew chief which is in Toledo, and C-130 crew chief in Mansfield.

I would prefer the KC-135 just because you travel with the plane and it's very close where F-16 crew chief is about an hour and a half away. Just looking to see if being a F-16 crew chief will make my chances that much better to becoming a pilot as opposed to KC-135.

I am currently also accepted to UTSA in Texas. I live in Texas so Ohio is a stretch but I have always wanted to go to OSU. Does this plan sound good? Should I attempt to go AFROTC also? Thanks for the help.

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I'm not sure you can be in the ANG and ROTC at the same time.

Sure you can, we have had a several of guys do it, including my father-in-law. Two of the guys are for sure still in the unit are both pilots for us, and both also fly for major airlines. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I know it can be done. As far as which unit I would choose, our unit works closely with the Ohio KC-135 unit, in fact we are tied together for exercises and AEF's, and most of them are good people. I would not say the same for how they accomplish their mission. Their seems to be a culture of cutting corners in that unit. I can never put my finger on it, but that's just the feeling I have gotten the past 15 years that we have been working with them. I guess if you really want to be an F-16 driver then I would pick the F-16 unit. Seems like the benefits of being in front of the guys who are eventually going to hire you for UPT far out weighs any benefit you would get from begin a Flying Crwe Chief on the -135.

If you want to fly F-16's you need to be in a F-16 unit as Elliboom stated. As a crew chief the pilots will get to know you and you can go hang out in Ops and talk with them. As far as I know, you can't be in the Air National Guard and AFROTC. In the Army you can. I tried to get a slot when the age limit was up to 27.5. I didn't get one because I didn't hob knob. I had no one to coach me along. You really need to get your face and name known. Also, you need to get good scores on your AFOQT and BAT test. Some units require you to go out and have dinner and mingle with all the other pilots and their wives. They grade you on how well you interact with them in a casual setting. I am in a unit where they have been hiring pilots from outside of the unit the past few years. One pilot got a slot while in his last year of college. One was a banker and decided to try it and got it. Most units likes to hire from within, however, this unit is the first I've seen to go outside. I've only been in this unit since December 2007. Good Luck with your venture. Just keep in mind the F-16's are short lived. Once the F-35 comes online the F-16's will be a thing of the past. I have been a crew chief for 15 years now. I've worked Block 15 OCU, 30, and 42.

Thanks for the help. The other thing I have a question about is which one to drive. I really want a f22 slot but I don't know how the transition from a crew chief for an f16 to the driver of a 22 will work. I'm not sure if that's even possible. I know for sure I can do afrotc and air guard at the same time. I'm just not sure if I need to because I would prefer not doing afrotc because I really don't have alot of extra time on my hands but am willing to do what it takes. Thanks again for all of your help!

Join the 16 unit near you. go to college once you are within a certain amount of time for graduation you can start applying for a slot. The guard will send you to AMS (Academy of Military Science Guard commissioning program) once you graduate college. If you apply at a unit with 16's your gonna fly 16's. If you wanna get in an F-22 your gonna have to apply to the 192nd Fighter Wing Virgina ANG. Chances are they don't hire n00bs tho. so get an F-16 or F-15 slot then after a little time you can switch to fly the 22. Or you could go active duty graduate top in your class and get your choice of what you wanna fly. and you can join the guard then transfer to active duty.

If you say you know you can do ANG and AFROTC at the same time, I believe you. When I was in ROTC years ago, we had a 6 week summer camp (or cruise in my case NROTC). That was considered active duty. How does that square with ANG status? I also thought ROTC members were considered as "Cadets" which is a military rank. So, can you have two military ranks and be in two organizations at the same time? I'd be interested to hear.

I think crew chief experience would be very valuable as a pilot in the future. You'd know more than your peers about what it takes to get you in the air.

Why go ROTC when almost every state pays 100% tuition to any public college for it's guardmembers. Combine that with the Guard GI Bill and you school is nearly paid for without having the 4 years of BS that goes along with ROTC. If you just join the unit, go to school on the guards dime, and get selected you will have to goto 6 weeks of AMS in Knoxville Tennessee just like Racer said. Plus not being in ROTC will give you more time in the summers to devote to the guard and get your face in front of those guys doing the hiring alot more than being in ROTC will. The 2 guys we had that were in ROTC and the guard at the same time were only in ROTC because it was a family tradition to do it. But both of their fathers went active duty. As for the reason my father - in - law did it was becasue he just was not very smart and likes doing things the hard way. But he ended up doing 2 years of ROTC, not getting the full ROTC scholarship and then getting his commission in the very first AMS class ever, so in the end he quit ROTC after 2 years and did it the easy way.

Yes, you can be in both the Guard and AFROTC. We had a guy do that last year. He was an F-16 Guard Unit and in AFROTC at the same time. When he commissioned he obviously had to sever ties with the ANG. Of course he wasn't full time with the Guard while he was in school. For what its worth, he was Active Duty enlisted, then joined the Guard. I think he was a Staff Sgt. In any case he's going to UPT in Del Rio now. But to quell any doubts: Yes, you can be in both.

The other question I had was about active duty. I would much rather prefer active duty after I graduate and get a pilot slot being active duty... Would this be wise? Would it pose any problems?

It's tough to go active duty from the Guard if you start out in the Guard. The only guys I know who went from the Guard to the Active Duty, were guys that we got from the Active Duty and then went back.

Whew, this is getting tricky. From what I understand, if you go through AFROTC you're going to be active duty. I've heard of a couple of instances of people commissioning into the Guard through AFROTC, but thats all I heard, and it was a long time ago. So I wouldn't count on that. So now even I'm getting confused. You want to join a Guard Unit and try and get a "home grown" slot from them but also be in AFROTC? I'm not sure thats what you're saying, but I don't believe doing that is compatbile. You'll have to choose how you want to compete for your pilot slot at some point.

Ok for clarification I do not want to do AFROTC I just wasn't sure if it would make my chances better at being a pilot in the end. I am for sure doing guard because of them paying for college and all. I am definitely leaning towards f-16 crew chief. I would really want to go active duty after I graduate college to be a pilot. Hope that clears things up. If you need any more clarification please feel free to ask.

That does clear up some things, but you need to make sure you can do what you want, because as I said in my last post I don't think you can go active duty from the guard just because you feel like it.

I talked to the recruiter at our base and this is what he said. Now understand that this was his thoughts on the matter without looking up any specific regs, or knowing anything about your situation. The guard and the Active Duty are two completely different services, and in order for you to go to the AD you have to first get out of the Guard then apply for the AD just like you were coming in off the street. That means that you will either need to finish out your Guard commitment, including the 2 years of inactive service or be granted a conditional release from your Guard commitment. Now your unit does not have to grant your conditional release, in fact he said that if you are in a critical AFSC your unit will most likely not get the release.

The two guys I know that went back to the AD had special financial circumstances that made it important that they gain fulltime employment someplace (airline furloughs), and since they were both former AD IP's it made sense for them to go back to the AD and go to the schoolhouse.

My next question would be why do you want to go AD so bad? The Guard is great and you don't have to deal with as much BS, however if it's really the AD you want then great, why not go ROTC and get you AD commission right away instead of spending 6 years in the Guard. Thousands of guys currently on AD have done it this way, it's a proven path to a cockpit, so that's always and option.

Another thing I like to caution people on is if you do go AD don't get to fixated on flying one jet out of UPT. Remember of the 20 or so guys in your UPT class less than half will get to go to the T-38 program, and that includes guard guys who end up in the T-1 program becasue they are going back to heavy units. So my guess is that about 1/3 of the class actually ends up getting the T-38 track, and of those guys some end up in Bombers, so if in the end you end up in something other than the F-16, don't feel like you failed. It's a tough business to be in, and everyone wants the same thing in the end, and there just are simply not enough slots to go to everyone.

I flew at Al Udied with a guy last year from the AD who was a Colorado Springs Zoo graduate. Before he even went to UPT told everyone he knew back home that he had gotten promised the F-15 out of UPT. Well in the end he barely made it through UPT and ended up flying tankers, and he was a crappy Tanker Toad at best. But to him flying the tanker was the end of the world, even though he was still getting paid well to fly around the world all the time, and it showed in his attitude about everything in life. He was a great guy, but he hated doing what he was doing, just becasue the -135 did not have a pointy nose.

That's the end of my rambling, good luck.

Thanks for the information. First off I will have no problem flying anything in the Air Force. I need to go guard to go to the school I want to go to which is Ohio State. The guard pays for the majority of the schooling. How does being a pilot in the guard work? Can anyone tell me a typical day is like? Is it similar to the AD? I am just wondering if it's 1 weekend a month thing also? Thanks again for all of your help and info.

Forum: Future F-16 crew

Want to be a pilot... Going guard