Forum: Future F-16 crew

I'm going to start applying to the Air Foce Academy this year. I noticed on the catalog that for someone who's 6'0 (my height) the weight maximum is 205lbs. I currently weigh about 240 lol. The thing is though I'm a lineman in football so I need my size. I'm not fat as far as actually being chubby goes, but I figure that the lowest I could maybe get down to by losing all the fat possible would be maybe around 220. I know they use the percent body fat too, but assuming I exceeded that too, would it be difficult to get a waiver for this even if I'm in good shape and can keep up with everyone?

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If you're over the max weight for your height, they will send you a form to go to a doctor, school nurse, etc., to take measurements of your neck, height, and waist. Then they have some formula that they put these into and determine your body fat. If you're under 20%, you're good to go. If you're over, I don't know what they do. That would be something I think you'd have to talk to the admissions office about. Here is a website that you can punch this data into to know where you are at: http://www.linear-software.com/online.html. Use the one that asks only for height, neck and abdomen, and when you do the abdomen measurement, its the measurement around where your navel is, not down on the hips. I went through this stuff last year when I applied so if you have further questions feel free to email me.

Edit: Another thing, there's a fellow 4 degree out here that is just huge and I'm pretty sure that he exceeds the 20% body fat and I don't think he's a football player, so I don't know whats up with that.

I think as long as you can pass the Air Force fitness test you should be OK with getting the waiver for the weight thing. Just be prepared to run at about 6,000 ft Above sea level( lots less breathable air there). Good Luck on getting in. I look foward to possibly launching you out someday.

WE NEED AN AFA SECTION!!! THIS IS THE FUTURE VIPER DRIVERS SECTION AND FOR PEOPLE SEEKING ANSWERS IN THOSE AREAS. NOT AFA BATHROOM MANNERS!!! CHEERS!!!

I think they put stuff here because they're asking advice on how to get somewhere that will get them into the Viper at some point. And the AFA is one of those places.

There are numerous questions that could be aksed or relate to flying a Viper one day, but do all of them need to be asked in this area? I just think that enough people attend or wish to attend the academy that we need an area specifically for the Zoomers. No harm or foul to those dudes! Cheers!

Since it is somewhat related - what about smaller guys? I'm 5'10" and weigh 120 lbs. Is this a bad thing? I am starting to work out a bit (people think it’s really funny I can bench 145) and I was wondering if being slightly lighter is going to have any effect on the selection process - or flying.

You're just a hair under the minimum weight for that height. Work out a lot, especially do a lot of lifting and that will help build up a lot of muscle mass and weight. Put down a lot of food thats high in protein too.

Forum: Future F-16 crew

Importance of weight to AFA