Belgian looking for pilot slot in the USA

Coriolan · by **Coriolan** » 28 Feb 2008, 12:30

Hi guys

I'm 21 years old and I want to be an F-16 pilot or do something where I'm doing something in relation with the F-16. But the problem is that I'm Belgian, I'm wearing glasses, and I've got Hepatitis b. For my Hepatitis it's a bit complicated because I got it since I'm born, my mother had it as she was pregnant with me. It's a part of my body, and I'm feeling well, I'm not going to the doctor or something else, it's like a cancer it's there but not manifesting.

I'm Belgian and in Belgium you can't get a pilot slot if you are wearing glasses. I want to join the USAF or the USMC to be a fighter pilot. I really want to get enrolled in either force. But I need the American citizenship, I think that I have a chance in the U.S.. I wish I could talk with someone who 's already in, but it is almost impossible if you are not American, I just want to realize my dream, nothing else, could someone please help me to talk to the right people, I know that you can get an eye operation and in my case it is perfect.

I'm open for every solution to reach my dream, my father is ready to help me, so I hope I'm not foolish to ask that, but I have a dream.

Thank you for reading that, and this site is great

SnakeHandler · by **SnakeHandler** » 28 Feb 2008, 13:44

Your best bet is to go to an Air Force Recruiter. If you don't have a college degree then you'll have to enlist until you finish your degree and get selected for OTS if you want to fly. I'm not sure if you'll be able to get in due to your Hep B. But it never hurts to try. If you don't try the answer is definately no, if you do try the answer might be yes. You can enlist as an F-16 Crew Chief if they'll admit you with your medical condition. That'll get you to the F-16 pretty quick. Go to the Air Force Recruiter's website and request some information.

Coriolan · by **Coriolan** » 28 Feb 2008, 14:26

thank you snakehandler, thank you very much

ATC · by **ATC** » 28 Feb 2008, 16:03

I'm pretty sure you need to be a US citizen to be an officer.

SnakeHandler · by **SnakeHandler** » 29 Feb 2008, 11:35

Yeah, but he can work on that while he is enlisted.

-blaze- · by **-blaze-** » 29 Nov 2009, 19:28

Well im a bit late but better late than never you could got to www.airforce.com and chat(IM i believe) with the enlisted and possibly recruiters hope that helps

kori · by **kori** » 28 Mar 2010, 06:43

I believe you have to be a citizen to even be enlisted

egresstroop · by **egresstroop** » 29 Mar 2010, 00:11

Nope, you can gain your citizenship while enlisted. You should find Bushmaster78FS, even if he is Army, he did enlist as a foreign national and now has his citizenship. I believe though, that you wouldn't be able to get a security clearance untill you get your citizenship, so it would restrict the jobs that you can apply for.

moti · by **moti** » 29 Mar 2010, 10:32

Wow, so it is possible to be fighter pilot in USAF, even if you are not US citizen? Because where Im from, we dont have fighters and I thought that my dream of being a fighter pilot was impossible to achieve. So this changes everything. Who can I contact, cuz I certainly want to realize my life long dream? Any more information would help me a lot. Thanks.

moti · by **moti** » 29 Mar 2010, 22:20

I talked to some guy at USAF site live chat, but he really didnt know much. All he did was copy pasted something about getting green card. So can someone please give me contact to recruiter who would be able to tell me more about getting into Air Force and getting green card. I know that my chances are really small, but still i want to try. And Im gonna graduate from mechanical engineering (aviation) in University in few months, so i would have to start working on my green card asap. Any help would be great. Thanks

kori · by **kori** » 30 Mar 2010, 00:18

get your green card stuff set up, im sure it takes awhile, next step would probably be moving to america, get your BA degree, and try and meet all the requirements of becoming a officer in the USAF. Once thats done, apply for OTS and go from there, hope this helps

Bushmaster78FS · by **Bushmaster78FS** » 07 Apr 2010, 19:53

Let me chime in as a person who had your dream 10 years ago. I was 22 when I arrived, so you are really cutting close. It might NOT happen, so be prepared. I missed USAF age requirement, but I am content with being an Army Officer, in flight school and hopefully lined up for -64s in a few months. I am 32.

College degree, US citizenship, secret clearance, these are your challenges lined up, and never forget you have also competition... Immigration will get the best of you, stay focused and persevere for your goal. I had a ICAO commercial pilot's license and flight training in the US however 9-11 extended my immigration process years and years. From my entry into US to naturalization, it took 7 years. This might not be the case with you but be prepared. As you have to be boarded for OTS by age 28 1/2, see what I mean by cutting close?

Getting a greencard is not easy. There are a few ways to get it, the quickest being the family sponsorship. Meaning getting married. Your relationship with a US citizen has to be in good faith, do not, I say again, DO NOT get into a contract marriage, you will get caught and be deported. Even if you are married, USCIS will put you in a temporary status where they will watch and consider the authenticity of your marriage. After 2 years, you will apply and remove those temporary conditions. Until then, you can't enlist. After the conditions are removed, you can enlist in USAF, and apply for your citizenship. In my time USCIS could hold onto your application as long as they wanted, therefore I sued them after waiting 19 months and got naturalized. For you, they will have 6 months tops, as that is the LAW for military members now. How old would you be by then? Rough estimate, 25-26 with maybe little college.

I hope you get the picture. You have a noble dream and it is not impossible. If not for 9-11, and USCIS being the most bureaucratic agency in the country, I could have been in UPT somewhere right now. I am pretty competitive and got selected into Warrant Officer Flight Training among higher ranking NCOs with a high place on the order of merit list. Was honor grad at my tech school as enlisted and Warrant Officer Candidate School.

Also I don't have much time to dig through policies for Hep.B but I can find that out for you later. There could be a waiver. If you have questions, let me know. My suggestion is go for it, nothing can stop you but yourself.

My dream is once I get rated as an Army Aviator, try to find a way to get a ride in a Viper and shed some tears.

Bushmaster78FS · by **Bushmaster78FS** » 07 Apr 2010, 20:05

egresstroop, thanks for the referral. I'd love to see genuine guys go for the challenge. I think I am the one of the very few naturalized citizens in Army Flight School at this time. You are right about secret clearance and jobs. In the AF, as far as I know, he won't see the flight line until he becomes a citizen, after that, he would be required to renounce his Belgian citizenship. My native country, being a NATO member, refused to renounce my citizenship, despite the fact I was lined up Candidate School. They demanded I go back and serve in their military and then they would. How stupid does that sound? So security office on base asked me the only legal doc I had from that country which was an expired pp and burned it before witnesses. I also had an additional one-on-one interview which native born US citizenship don't have. But at the end, it worked out. I think I went through miles and miles of redtape, but happy being where I am ... I will always wonder though, how would it have been if I ever made it to UPT...

Bushmaster78FS · by **Bushmaster78FS** » 07 Apr 2010, 20:25

moti wrote:I talked to some guy at USAF site live chat, but he really didnt know much. All he did was copy pasted something about getting green card. So can someone please give me contact to recruiter who would be able to tell me more about getting into Air Force and getting green card. I know that my chances are really small, but still i want to try. And Im gonna graduate from mechanical engineering (aviation) in University in few months, so i would have to start working on my green card asap. Any help would be great. Thanks

I stopped looking into OTS in 2003, but back then, in July 03, selection rate was around 60% with an average of 3.22 college GPA... Now that you are in a technical field, that is a positive, because although non-tech degrees are allowed to apply for a rated position as far as I know (such as pilot, nav, etc) it would be more competitive to get in. But there are other things that will factor in your selection, like the AFOQT scores, etc. My prior military record and resume helped a lot in the Army WOCS, I don't see why it wouldn't help you out since you will have to be prior service and AF OTS is similar to Army WOCS in training doctrine and selections.

Coriolan · by **Coriolan** » 01 Jul 2012, 14:57

Hey Bushmaster, how funny to find that we made contact again trough BMS forum and that now i'm the one waiting for you to fly with me

Life is really funny my friend.

Spooky aka Coriolan.