Forum: Future F-16 crew

I know a lot of people have posted things like this before. but i am starting my SR year in high school. i have no fly hours no flying license no ROTC. i want to go to a school like a Community College and then switch to like ASU. or U OF A cause i live in AZ. but what do i need to start doing now besides getting in shape. besides that what do i need to do

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Have you read the “Advise please - Pilot career with business degree” thread in the Military Community Future F-16 Crew forum? It has a lot of good ideas, especially dae00’s comment posted on 15 July 2007. Incidently, dae00, the person who started the thread in 2005, has been accepted for USAF pilot training.

Enlist in a Guard unit. While you're going to college that way you can also take advantage of the GI bill. My unit, the 162FW (Tucson) often has dedicated pilot training slots for enlisted unit members. In my career, I've seen several members picked for F-16 training. Contact the AZ Air National Guard recruiting superintendent there in Phoenix, SMS Darrell Gronau 602-267-2311 for more info. Good Luck!

56FWfan, You are still young and are ahead of the game by asking questions while still in high school. Nearly every option to become a USAF pilot is still open to you including the USAFA. If that is not the route you are looking for then you can also do as elquapo said, or join an ROTC unit while you are in college. Another option is to do as I did and go through college and then apply for a pilot slot through OTS. Any way you look at it the opportunities are there. No matter which one you choose, my advise is to keep your grades up, get into as many leadership roles as possible (because as a pilot you will be first and foremost an officer and LEADER) and stay involved in your community and volunteer work.

Check out Baseops.net and wantscheck.com... they are great resources for anyone wanting to become an AF pilot. If you still have questions feel free to PM me, I will be happy to answer any questions I can.

- D

Okay, first.... You have to go to ASU. If you go to NAU or UofA, you have no chance of being a CREDIBLE Viper driver, let alone a decent Officer. I don't care what you hear from this forum. I'm telling you that the Devils make better (if not the best) Viper/Fighter Drivers. Really... don't screw this up... please, for ghod's sake, stay away form UofA, E.R. and NAU...

(GO DEVILS!)

Cylon

Cylon knows what he is talking about, I agree 100%.

56thfighterwingfan wrote:

I know a lot of people have posted things like this before. but i am starting my SR year in high school. i have no fly hours no flying license no ROTC. i want to go to a school like a Community College and then switch to like ASU. or U OF A cause i live in AZ. but what do i need to start doing now besides getting in shape. besides that what do i need to do

I'm pretty sure ASU has a cross-town ROTC program where you could probably go to a community college (somewhere in the valley) and take your normal classes there, but you would do all your ROTC stuff at ASU. I'm pretty sure that ALL of your credits would transfer from your community college to an AZ state school. U of A may have a cross-town program, but as stated above, go to ASU, I doubt you'd regret it. (grain of salt; I've just visited friends that go there a couple times, but every time I'm there I wonder why I ended up at Riddle in Pr.)

As far as what to do, I'd just suggest staying in shape, do well in school and enjoy your time with your buds in your last year of high school. Check out each school, maybe talk to the det. at ASU or U of A. As far as the flying time maybe take an intro flight at a local airport or if you got the cash start taking lessons towards you PPL.

Good luck.

edit: check out my post from my jr. in high school:http://www.f-16.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3820&highlight=ROTC
and PM Apags27

Viperman was right on with what he said. As you can probably see I currently go to ASU and am in the ROTC program there, so please feel free to PM me with any questions you have about ASU or the ROTC program etc.

As far as flight time goes, it can only help. However it is not, by any means, something you need to have to get the pilot slot. Most people in ROTC definitely do not have them. So if you got the money, time, and interest go for it but don't feel you need to have it. There is really not much else you need to worry about before you go into ROTC just stay out of trouble and be in decent shape when you show up and you'll do fine.

apags27 wrote:

As far as flight time goes, it can only help. However it is not, by any means, something you need to have to get the pilot slot. Most people in ROTC definitely do not have them. So if you got the money, time, and interest go for it but don't feel you need to have it. There is really not much else you need to worry about before you go into ROTC just stay out of trouble and be in decent shape when you show up and you'll do fine.

"2"

What I said was unclear. Flight time helps, but it is not needed to get a slot (sts). However, I would suggest at least logging a couple hours, if and only if you have the money. An intro flight is probably somewhere in the $100 range. Even if you only log 0.6 to 0.9 hours you'll still get a limited look at what it is like to actually fly an airplane.

Not to take a dump on your dreams but you'll need to be born about 10 years earlier. These days, more and more F-16 pilots are being taken out of the cockpit for longer amounts of time during their commitment. The days of guys spending 15-20 years flying airplanes is definitely over unless you fly in the guard. I would be really happy to get 8-9 years flying the F-16. I would HIGHLY suggest looking into the Guard for several reasons. First, if you get hired you are nearly assured to fly the jet that unit flies. Poor performance in UPT and the BRAC are about the only two bumps in that road. In the future, they will be making many less F-16 pilots and fighter pilots in general. Getting in with the Guard means you're future will be more secure and you won't get as stressed and tired of the B.S. constantly thrown on top of you in the AF. Just my thoughts.

Magnum wrote:

Getting in with the Guard means you're future will be more secure and you won't get as stressed and tired of the B.S. constantly thrown on top of you in the AF. Just my thoughts.

Well, sort of. Your unit could transition from Fighters to Heavies, or Fighters to UAVs, or just lose their airplanes all together and you are pretty much stuck.

If you want a full time job, the Guard really isn't for you. There are some AGR and ART slots, but those go to the best. You pretty much have to be either a Weapons School Candidate or Grad to get those. You will have more of a 3/4 time job. You will have to fly outside of your drill weekend to keep your currencies. Yes, there is a lot less of the Day-to-Day BS of the Active Duty force, but there is a lot of Guard politics as well.

Now, that said and done let me tell you what I am doing: I am pledging some guard units that I think will be around for a while flying their airplanes, and I am applying for the Navy OCS, but not the Air Force, mainly because force shaping scares the bejesus out of me (as it should).

swanee wrote:

Well, sort of. Your unit could transition from Fighters to Heavies, or Fighters to UAVs, or just lose their airplanes all together and you are pretty much stuck.

That is the BRAC I referenced working for you.

swanee wrote:

If you want a full time job, the Guard really isn't for you. There are some AGR and ART slots, but those go to the best. You pretty much have to be either a Weapons School Candidate or Grad to get those.

Yes the full time slots are more difficult to get but your assessment of who gets it is off. First off, if you are able to get a full time slot prior to UPT (pretty rare) they have no way to see if you are a WIC candidate. Even if you graduate #1 in your UPT class it doesn't mean that you'll have the tactical knowledge and skill to attend WIC years down the road. I know plenty of guys that have no desire to attend WIC and are full timers. The unit has to pay to send guys to that course (which costs a lot of money) and you only have 1 weapons officer in your squadron so...

I'll buy that in the guard you have to deal with politics but I'll be that the queep you have to deal with in the AF is 10x worse. By the way pilots are not part of the Force Shaping deal. However, fighter guys are part of the TAMI-21 deal where they make fighter pilot UAV drivers for a long time.

swanee wrote:

Magnum wrote:

Getting in with the Guard means you're future will be more secure and you won't get as stressed and tired of the B.S. constantly thrown on top of you in the AF. Just my thoughts.

Well, sort of. Your unit could transition from Fighters to Heavies, or Fighters to UAVs, or just lose their airplanes all together and you are pretty much stuck.

from what I understand they give pilots the option to switch units or get retrained... i could be wrong though...

Forum: Future F-16 crew

What I need to be an F-16 Pilot